Scentsations

Charmed life

Although best known for footwear, Salvatore Ferragamo has made significant inroads into the fragrance business. Its latest scent Incanto ('I enchant' in Italian) combines fruity notes of peach and plum with jasmine, red lily, sandalwood and Jamaican pepper. The enchanting perfume (eau de toilette spray: $310/30ml; $465/50ml) is also available as a moisturising body lotion ($325) and a bath/shower gel ($270), of which the fashion house is particularly proud because they both contain something called sea silk. This cutting-edge ingredient is a pure extract of two marine algae, which is said to protect, elasticise and increase moisture levels in the skin by up to 22 per cent. The Incanto line is available from Seibu Pacific Place and Windsor House, Sogo, Wing On (Sheung Wan) and Lane Crawford, Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui.

Flower power

Hermes has taken its classic scent, Caleche (above), and given it another makeover. Its latest incarnation Caleche Fleurs de Mediterranee ($1,700/150ml) fits in with the company's theme for 2003 - the Mediterranean - and differs slightly from the original by including mimosa in its ingredients. About 300 to 400 kilograms of the tufty yellow flowers are needed to produce each kilo of the mimosa absolute oil used in the perfume so, fittingly, the fragrance is limited edition. Only 1,000 bottles are being released worldwide in November; Hong Kong has been allocated 27 so fans here will have to be quick off the mark. Each bottle will come in a white paper case, bearing a number from one to 1,000 with exclusivity guaranteed. Hermes boutiques are in Pacific Place and The Galleria, Central.

Seeing red

Fresh poppies don't smell so Kenzo decided to invent a scent for the wild scarlet bloom and introduced Flowerbykenzo in 2000. Fast forward three years and the sweet eau de toilette has been re-released, diversifying in look and fragrance into Flowerbykenzo Le Parfum. The sweet perfume now has notes of amber and almond to give it a softer 'oriental' scent and comes in a trio of brushed red metal bottles (15ml, 50ml and 75ml). These contain various concentrations of fragrance; the smallest bottle has the highest, which means you need to use only one drop at a time on the nape of the neck or the wrist. Each bottle costs $450 and is available from leading department stores and chemists.