Ralph Lauren is betting that some people will be willing to pay over $4,000 for a bottle of perfume this holiday season. His "super premium" perfume titled simply "Love" will be launched at Harrods in October. The fragrance will come in a gold-plated bottle and wlll be aimed at luxury consumers over the age of 25. I haven't been able to find out any details on what it actually smells like yet.

Perfumer Mathilde Laurent has created a couple of new fragrances for women in the past couple of years and now turns her hand to the first men's fragrance for the jeweler in nearly a decade. Roadster is inspired by Cartier's Roadster watch. The cap resembles the Roadster's watch crown and the bottle is meant to be laid on it's side, evoking the look if a car tailight. The fragrance has notes of bergamot, mint, patchouli and vanilla and will be sold in Cartier boutiques and Bloomingdale's stores for a suggested $105 for a 3.3-ounce bottle. There's currently an interesting thread on Basenotes debating the scent.

[via Daily Breeze]

Leonardo DiCaprio's gorgeous Israeli model girlfriend Bar Refaeli appears in the ad campaign for Sean Combs' modestly-named new fragrance, "I Am King." The pix (above) portray Puffy (or Diddy or whatever he's calling himself this week) tooling around in Saint-Tropez and Monaco on helicopters, yachts and so forth with Refaeli (left) and another model in typical mega-mogul fashion. New York magazine reports the new cologne will launch exclusively at Macy's in December with a global launch set for February, and a women's fragrance ("I Am Queen") to follow in 2009; global sales are expected to total $100 million in the first year alone.

Angela Kim may have started with a successful career as a concert pianist but an allergic reaction spurred her to add the creation of Om Aroma & Co skincare and spa products to her resume. Crafted with caviar, champagne, truffles and chardonnay her luscious line of products sound like a fancy dinner for two but combined with amino acids and organic vitamins and minerals the decadent creams make a luxurious spread for your skin instead. From Arizona to Florida, California to Vermont Om Aroma products are available for sale in thirteen states and online as well. Her products are expensive but sound delicious -- I'm thinking the Sachet de Chamomile organic eye tea bags would be a great way to end the day.

[via ForbesLife]

I've never really associated Andy Warhol with shoes but he was actually a dedicated shoe illustrator before becoming a Pop Art phenom. To celebrate Warhol's 80th birthday, Bond No. 9 has created Andy Warhol Lexington Avenue, the third of the Warhol Collectible eaux de parfum from Bond No. 9. (the first two are Silver Factory and Union Square). The shoe covered bottle holds an eau de parfum that is a modern floral woody chypre combined with an epicurean brew of fennel, cardamom, roasted almonds, peony, Florentine orris, creme brulee, patchouli and sandalwood. Andy Warhol Lexington Avenue will be available in 100ml and 50ml sizes in September and starts at $135.

Makeup collectors will be swooning over the latest line from MAC. MAC has enlisted designer Manish Arora on a line with a palette brighter than Bollywood. The new Indian-inspired line includes lipglasses, lipsticks, blush and a colorful eye shadow set in a jeweled case. It will be available from October 2008 at Harrods.

British designer John Galliano is introducing his debut scent some 20 years after launching his fashion brand. "We had about 360 tests -- more than for a couture collection," he noted in Women's Wear Daily.

Galliano was involved with every step of the scent's development. Its outer box is designed to look like a collage or a book, reminiscent of travel tomes he makes following fact-finding voyages undertaken before creating fashion collections. The bottle's neck was inspired by collars appearing in Galliano's first fashion collection, Les Incroyables, and the flacon is topped with a Gothic G. Model Guinevere Van Seenus is the face on the box.

Galliano, who also is the couturier at Christian Dior, had thoughts of flowers, particularly of rose, peony, iris with its powdery side, and violet. The scent will be launched at the end of September in the U.K., through an exclusive with Harrods, and in Germany. On October 11, it is to be introduced in France, exclusively at Sephora, and then a few days later in Switzerland. The launch in the rest of the world will take place in 2009.

Prices vary: 90-ml. eau de parfum spray, 100 euros, or $158; 60-ml. edp spray, 80 euros, or $126; 40-ml. edp spray, 60 euros, or $95; 200-ml. body milk for 38 euros, or $60; and a 200-ml. shower gel, 33 euros, or $52, will be available at launch. A 150-ml. body scrub, 39 euros, or $62, will come out after the initial fragrance introduction.

Bamford & Sons, the bastion of top-drawer British style whose killer custom Rolex we wrote about a couple months back, has come out with a stunning fall collection that actually has us looking forward to the end of summer. In addition, the company is launching a new Bath & Body line to add to their already impressive lineup of clothing and accessories, which includes everything from cashmere blankets to limited edition sterling silver iPods.

Bamford's sporty classics with a bit of a natty twist - check out this cashmere shooting jacket paired with a purple cashmere sweater - are known for being extremely comfortable and well made. The company's motto is "A man's life should determine his clothes; not vice versa." Their craftsmanship and blend of "innovation and heritage" calls to mind a classic British sportscar with beautiful burled walnut inlays, chrome gauges and hand-stitched leather seats.

For fall, traditional items such as this shooting jacket, the classic pea coat, tweeds and trench coats are given a lighter, more contemporary feel. Organic, sustainable and natural fibers are used, never synthetics. It may surprise you to know that not only is this shooting jacket water-resistant, but it is treated with a natural moisture repellent derived from the lotus flower rather than any nasty chemicals. If you bought one of those beautiful $100,000 Asprey shotguns we wrote about, this is the jacket to do it justice.

Kate Moss may be losing her modeling contracts but she is still powerful as a brand name. She has announced her second fragrance, Velvet Hour which is being done for Coty. The fragrance celebrates dusk, and Kate's love of the nightlife, with scents like patchouli, sandalwood, amber, nutmeg and freesia. Sounds very bohemian. The fragrance is set to launch in the fall with a magazine ad campaign shot by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, and and TV ads directed by John Mathieson.

Moss isn't the only one with a new second scent. Mariah Carey is readying her second fragrance, Luscious Pink, for Elizabeth Arden. Carey's scent is described as a "sparkling floral" with notes of Sicilian bergamot, Tahitian Tiare petals, lily of the valley and pink peony, sandalwood and white musk.

NYC socialite Tinsley Mortimer (at left in photo, with her sister, Dabney Mercer) is pretty busy these days: a handbag line (Samantha Thavasa by Tinsley Mortimer), a clothing line (Riccimie by Tinsley Mortimer, sold exclusively in Japan), a design consultancy and the ambassadorship of her favorite fashion house, Dior. But "Tins" isn't too busy for a makeup launch with a purpose -- last month she debuted her namesake "Tinsley Pink" ultra-gloss for Dior Beauty ($24.50) at the Saks Fifth Avenue flagship store in New York. A portion of the sales of this limited edition lip gloss will benefit Mortimer's charity of choice, Operation Smile.

[Thanks to my friend Rose for this tip. We love Tins!]

Peace Keeper Cause-Metics is the first cosmetic line to give all of its after tax profits to women's health advocacy and human rights issues. This outstanding company has earned some serious bragging rights! They don't test on animals and their mineral based products contain no harsh chemicals or additives and are considered some of the most effective, yet gentle products on the market. They closely monitor the company's they work with over seas to make sure workers earn fair wages and are offered health care and retirement. Peace Keeper was started after founder Jody Weiss read an article about female genital mutilation, saddened and angered by what she learned, she immediately left her career as a sports agent in order to devote all her time to raising awareness and funds for women's issues. You must check out what this awesome line has to offer, their lip gloss is simply amazing ($16.50). I only wish I had discovered Peace Keeper sooner!

The first scent from Porsche Design Group will debut this fall. The men's scent -- "The Essence by Porsche Design" -- was developed jointly by the Porsche SE subsidiary producing high-end accessories and Groupe Clarins' Parfums Azzaro. As reported in Women's Wear Daily, "It is a name everyone knows; next to 'Porsche' is the word 'design,' which is something modern and in the l'air du temps," said Gérard Delcour, president of Parfums Azzaro and Porsche Design Fragrances.

OK ... but what does it smell like? One molecule -- Artical, from International Flavors & Fragrances -- was the starting point for the scent's "fresh aromatic woody juice." Azzaro executives envisioned an urban, cultured, intelligent, sporty, sensual man in the 25-50 age range as the user (that means you, Luxist reader). In addition to Artical, other top notes are juniper and blueberry. Among heart notes are Russian coriander, black pepper and Siberian pine, and in the base are notes of fir balsam, patchouli and incense. (I'm sure that clears things up for you.)

Around early October, the scent will be introduced in selective distribution, plus Porsche Design sales points and travel-retail locations in Europe, the Middle East and North America. In the United States, the scent will be launched in Bloomingdale's during the first week of October, then in Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom during the first week of November. The second phase, starting in early 2009, will include Latin America, Asia and Africa.

The Porsche Design U.S. collection will include a 1.7-oz. eau de toilette spray for $54, a 2.7-oz. eau de toilette spray for $70, a 6.7-oz. hair and body shampoo for $28, and a 2.5-oz. stick deodorant for $20. A 2.7-oz. "luxury" eau de toilette spray (in black glass, as compared to the blue glass in the rest of the collection) for $80 is scheduled to come out in the U.S. in November. Just in time for the winter holiday gift-giving season, of course!

His appeal is rather lost on me but scruffy young actor Josh Hartnett has been chosen as the face of Emporio Armani Diamonds for Men, the latest men's fragrance by Giorgio Armani. The new scent will be unveiled in June during the Spring Summer 2009 Men's Fashion Week in Milan and will be on sale worldwide starting in August. Armani is quoted as saying that Hartnett has "a charm and charisma that is magnetic. His individuality, allure and nonchalant way of being are all qualities which inspired me in the creation of this new fragrance." The face for the female version of Emporio Armani Diamonds is Beyonce Knowles.

Bernard Arnault, chairman of luxury goods monolith LVMH, says that despite dire economic predictions and reports of a falloff in parts of the luxury sector the company expects profits to actually improve in 2008. "We are in a position to meet our objectives for a sharp rise in earnings in 2008," Arnault just announced at LVMH's annual shareholders meeting, according to Women's Wear Daily. "Every time we've been [in a difficult economy] we've increased market share. We've started the year strong. We will not pull off [of the accelerator]. We are focused on innovating."

Arnault, whose company recently added Swiss watchmaker Hublot to its portfolio of luxury brands, singled out handbags as a strong earner. "There are tons of new leather goods," he declared. "The Richard Prince bag for Vuitton" - one of our Handbags of the Day -- "has been an immense success and we won't be able to meet demand," Arnault said. "We can't produce the pieces fast enough." He also predicted strong sales this year for Fendi, calling it "one of the most important Italian brands on the market," and Dior as well -- no doubt thanks to Charlize Theron's captivating fragrance ads (above).

When I was asked to try out the new Guess by Mariciano fragrance I wasn't terribly optimistic. I associate the brand with a certain level of girliness and was sure it would be another bubblegum pink juice. The fragrance is actually much better than that. It has an attractive triangular bottle with a fishnet motif that features a gold vine motif. According to The Scented Salamander, the vine motif will be distributed as a temporary tattoo in the Guess boutiques.

The scent was created by created by perfumer Barbara Zoebelein of Drom Fragrances for Parlux Fragrances. It has top notes of cardamom, Curaçao orange, starfruit and grapefruit, a heart of pink honeysuckle, peony and crystal jasmine, and a base of musk, vanilla, dulce de leche and blonde wood. It starts off a little powdery but in a half hour or so you are left with a warm and sweet fragrance of musky floral mixed with caramel. Very sensual and a nice summer evening scent. The line includes: 1.7 oz and 3.4 oz eaux de parfum for $49 and $65, a 6 oz. body lotion for $30 and 5 oz. body butter for $35.

Want your own bottle? We are giving away one 3.4 ounce bottle of eau de parfum (sells for $65) at random to a commenter who tells us about their favorite summer scent. To enter, all you need to do is leave a comment below before 5:00PM Eastern, Thursday, May 15, 2008. We'll randomly choose one winner amongst the eligible entries and announce the winner on May 16, 2008.

Some other important details:

* To enter, leave a confirmed comment below telling us about your favorite summer scent.
* The comment must be left and confirmed before Thursday, May 15 at 5:00PM Eastern Time.
* You may only enter once.
* One winner will be selected in a random drawing.
* One winner will receive the Guess eau de parfum (value $65).
* Open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older.

See complete contest rules here.

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