Hey All You New Niche Nerds,
I found this wonderful new (to me) fragrance house and their idea through Perfume Shrine yesterday, and this is what they had to say about Le Cherche Midi:
This is the page on the Kickstarter site and they have 11 days to run till completion. There are clips and information on the new fragrances there and you can see the rewards for the pledges (yes, there is some instant gratification built in too)
As you can see the participation starts extremely low (just 1$!) so everyone can help out.
Le Cherche Midi 3 Pack
Nathan and I had to chat because originally it was only being shipped to the USA. So Portia, the most annoying Aussie on earth, wrote and begged for a worldwide shipping availability. Guess what? Within an hour Nathan had organised it so with a little extra payment you can get your lovely new fragrances shipped around the world. That’s the kind of Customer Service that deserves rewards! So I bought the fabulous 3 pack of 100ml bottles for under $200 including shipping! What a great deal.
If you happen to have $1000 lying around they will do a bespoke fragrance for you! I know it sounds a lot but Mandy Aftel starts at $1600 and Francis Kurkdjian goes from $15,000-$250,000. There are many in between too.
Jump to KickStart now and help this wonderful company grow by pledging some money, and get terrific gifts for doing so.
Le Cherche Midi Bespoke
http://www.bespokefragrance.com
Thank you!
Portia xxxx
AustralianPerfumeJunkies 
I’ve supported this – the #35 fragrance sounds right up my alley! I hope they reach the target.
Excellent work Margeaux. I think it will be a winner.
Portia xxx
I’ve got a question? Is Nathan Polish? Or does he have Polish roots? His last name – Motylinski looks and sounds very Polish
I don’t know Lucasai. You can write him on the Kickstarter site.
Portia xx
What is different about this brand from a dozen of other indie brands? The company exists for many years by now, they are sold in luxury stores (unlike many other small indie lines). Why do we want to support this one? What is so special about them? Kickstarter is a good place: people pay for really stupid things there so why not to do the same for a perfume? Regular people, I mean. But why should perfume bloggers and perfumistas support this brand? Were their previous perfumes that great? Are they extremely nice and pleasant people who we want to support just for that? Why else? Those are not cheap perfumes. They are much more expensive than many other true indie perfumes. I haven’t even seen the claims that they are using a lot of expensive natural ingredients. And they plan to launch new set every 6 month – so there is no guarantee that you’ll be able to re-purchase the perfume you liked.
So why?
OK Undina,
There has been some writing about them on the net http://perfumeshrine.blogspot.com.au/2009/10/le-cherche-midi-fragrance-reviews-gift.html, http://fragrantmoments.net/2009/11/02/le-cherche-midi/, http://www.fragrantica.com/designers/Le-Cherche-Midi.html. It’s not a lot but a start.
I’m not sure if your problem is with Kickstarter, like everything there are good and bad products on there but the amount of sales and buzz can be a decider in these situations.
I don’t know if they are extremely nice or pleasant people but their online interviews give me hope that they are genuinely interested in making good scents, as much as Neela Vermeire, Ellen Covey, Mandy Aftel or Andy Tauer ever did before I started trying and purchasing and writing about their work.
No they are not cheap but is that how you judge a perfume? I won’t know how they smell till they get here but the note lists look interesting and fun.
Yes, they plan to launch a new set every six months but that makes them no different to SOIVOHLE, Escada, John Paul Gaultier or even my beloved Slumberhouse and in all honesty the long life of a fragrance has never been a decider in my loving it, many of the fragrances I love are long gone from store or site shelves.
So why? When people ask for help to take the next step and we are in a position to do so then I think the great good fortune of our lives means that we/I can, if we/I choose, give them a leg up. I have in this case chosen to.
I hope that answers all your questions beautiful Undina. Have a great day.
Portia xx
Sorry, Portia, but no – I still do not understand why suddenly you felt passionate about this specific brand/these people and decided to support their new perfumes and not any of already existing and proved to be good small brands. I’m questioning not the support of somebody in general but the choice of the object for the support. It’s not a question of life or death. It’s not a question of somebody’s dream of the whole life – since it’s not their first perfume: they had enough money to create previous several takes about which nobody is raving. So why do you think they need/deserve that “leg up” now? Only because they asked and you can give?
Of course, it’s your choice, I’m not arguing with your right to do so or promote whoever you see fit even if there is no other reasons than “I wanted to do that.” I just thought that maybe I was missing something and you knew/read/heard something I haven’t (I did see all those links before I posed my original question). From where I stand I do not see anything novel or noble in this particular enterprise and I do not plan to support it.
Sure Undina,
I read and understand you.
There is nothing I can think of that you are missing, I love that they have asked and I can help.
Perfume Shrine was very excited about them in 2009, they won FiFi awards in 2008 and have been doing their thing from luxe candles and room fragrance and now to personal fragrance. You are right, they are not new and have released fragrances before. That they have not been raved about in many blogs is not necessarily a blight upon their product but more their marketing. Pineider is not being raved about either and their fragrances are beyond excellent, also Sigilli receives little attention but I wish they got more and have written about them on APJ to help rectify that.
You say you see nothing novel or noble in this enterprise, isn’t all enterprise both?
I am happy to support them and I hope the frags are good. If they are not I will be the first to tell you.
You are arguing about my choice to exercise the right to do both but I don’t mind, I love it. And i love you for taking the time to read and comment.
Portia x