Sandra‘s Closet

Kilian Hennessy‘s inspiration: At night, there are no rules but one: just be Smoking Hot! KILIAN PARIS newest smoky fragrance is a truly caramelized delight. It features Kentucky Tobacco Absolute, infused with a hookah drag of Apple-flavoured Shisha Tobacco and intense Bourbon Vanilla. Evoking everything from European clubs to Eastern hookah lounges, Smoking Hot redefines what a smokey scent is today, going almost where it’s too hot to handle.

Personally speaking, in general I am not a fan of smoky fragrances at all, but this one had me at first smell. It is so extremely interesting and contradictious. Its smoky part is so well counterbalanced with the sweet feminine side. It opens with forbidden fruit: a round Apple Hookah flavour blends with warm Cinnamon Bark essence. In a slow burn, notes of fire-cured Kentucky Tobacco Absolute emerge. Harmonized with Oakmoss, this resonant tobacco absolute leads into a Bourbon Vanilla, with balsamic tonalities. Also known as a Pure Jungle essence™ Bourbon Vanilla, it is of the highest quality Vanilla available, especially intense, and textured. When crossed with Orcanox™, a powerful sensuality comes full circle.

The perfume notes: Hookah Flavour, Tobacco Absolute, Bourbon Vanilla Pure Jungle Essence
Olfative family: The Smokes
Perfumer: Mathieu Nardin

This unisex scent is available for CHF 250.00. The bottle is refillable.
TO SHOP KILIAN PARIS ONLINE, CLICK HERE PLEASE.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Kilian Paris – © Sandra Bauknecht / Nadia Krawiecka
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«You never fall in love with perfection. You can be attracted to someone gorgeous but that’s not what will make you ultimately fall in love with this person. You fall in love with his/her imperfections and what makes them unique to you.» Kilian Hennessy.

KILIAN PARIS crafts in Can’t stop loving You a true love declaration: a perfume celebrating love, just in time for Valentine’s Day.

Created by founder Kilian Hennessy in collaboration with perfumer Alberto Morillas, Can’t stop loving You enters the Narcotics olfactive family with, at the centerpiece, North African Orange Blossom. A flower to express the emotion carried by the name of the fragrance, as it is the symbol of eternal love. Alongside with Paradisone, an ethereal jasmine compound suggests pure paradise.

Its heart is incredibly suave, featuring Honey absolute from Provence, a new ingredient in the KILIAN PARIS repertoire, for a delicious French touch. Vanilla absolute from Madagascar adds a doubly gourmand incitement to pleasure, while notes of Oak Moss bring an earthy intensity. Incense extract from Somalia lends sensuality, volume and endless mystery.

To increase the intensity of the desire, Can’t stop loving You is surrounded by one of Kilian Hennessy’s favorite ingredients, Labdanum cistus absolute. A strongly ambery, balsamic-like gum, hand harvested for more than 100 years in Andalusia, Southwest of Spain – a place dear to the founder, where he decided to settle down. Labdanum cistus protects itself from the sun and heat by producing a gum that envelops twings and leaves, a symbol of natural truth. Being also one of the most sensual raw material in perfumery, it brings warmth and an animalic dimension to the fragrance: «It is an ingredient that, worn on skin, has nothing comparable, it is sensuality in its purest state,» explains Kilian Hennessy.

This feature echo founder’s belief inspired by the divine Achilles’ shield, also engraved on the endlessly refillable perfume bottle, that a fragrance can be as much a weapon of seduction as a protective armor. Both luminous and somber, Can’t stop loving You is a narcotic floral fragrance that puts peace in danger.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © KILIAN PARIS and © Sandra Bauknecht / Flowers by Rosenbouquet.ch
DISCLOSURE: We may earn commission from links on this page, but I only recommend products I love. Promise! #KILIANPARIS #CANTSTOPLOVINGYOU

Rising in the East, intense sunlight infuses Sacred Wood and Rose Oud by KILIAN PARIS, two fragrance icons blended by Founder Kilian Hennessy and Perfumer Calice Becker almost ten years ago, are returning to the collection.

Sacred Wood is a homage to pure Sandalwood from Mysore, India—so rare it is now forbidden in perfumery, reserved for religious temples— while Rose Oud celebrates a firework of woods and spices around an incandescent Rose. Both creations also pay common tribute to their shared ingredient of Cedarwood, sourced from protected tree species in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, blended into a matrix of resinous notes like liquid gold. Exceptional woods like these take time to cultivate; mysterious and sanctified, they are an olfactive opening into a higher level of sensory pleasure.

Part of The Cellars olfactive family, Sacred Wood is a unisex portrait of Sandalwood, especially the most coveted variety from Mysore with its spicy, woodsy and milky facets that are simply incredible. Now prohibited, Kilian Hennessy recreates his olfactive ideal.

Sacred Wood opens with Ambrette Seed Absolute and Carrot Seed Essence for spicy and earthen elements, only to unfold into a multi-layered Sandalwood Accord with Cedarwood Oil Atlas sourced in Morocco and Amyris Oil from Dominican Republic. Copaiba Balsam Oil adds warmth with an animalic aspect of Apricot. A malted milky vapor rises like incense, for an exceptional and long-lasting sillage.

Part of The Narcotics olfactive family, Rose Oud depicts a burning blend of Roses.

Rose Oil from Bulgaria opens with a spark of Saffron and Cinnamon, while Rose Absolute spread luxuriously throughout, blending into a sweet Lychee accord. The fragrance unfolds a long-lasting dry-down based on Cedarwood Atlas Oil, that resonates with an Oud Accord built around woody and spicy Cypriol Oil from India, enriched by deep smoky notes of leather.

Two of the most coveted blends of KILIAN PARIS have made their come back. Sacred Wood and Rose Oud go higher—sourced below in the scent of wood, uplifted toward the light—both are windows into something beyond.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © KILIAN PARIS and © Sandra Bauknecht / Nadia Krawiecka
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True luxury should last forever … Personally speaking, being able to show your true authentic self is the highest form of luxury for me. Since an early age, I have followed that motto and I have always believed in investing into things to treasure for decades to come. Quality over quantity is the key. Luxury, like happiness, is the blurry notion of something good that happens. Everything you see on SANDRA’S CLOSET is part of this journey.

When it comes to perfumery, I am a huge fan of KILIAN PARIS. Twisting traditional French luxury with his own audacious take, Kilian Hennessy has created his contemporary vision of perfumery. With long-lasting accords that recall luxury fragrances of former eras, the House is uncompromising when it comes to the quality of the ingredients.

On top, Kilian Hennessy established a practice in tune with our times: a favorite perfume is bought only once and refilled for life.

With sustainability in mind, insisting on well-crafted design with timeless style, a KILIAN Paris flacon is perpetually refillable, making it an everlasting collector’s piece. Styled after elegant, sophisticated barware, they are beautiful scented objects of desire to last a lifetime. To the brand’s Founder, the words ‘disposable’ and ‘luxury’ are incommensurable. Luxury should live with us and go beyond us, like an object our great-grandchildren might find and cherish as part of their heritage.

«To me, a true luxury product must have in its DNA the capacity to be passed on from generation to generation. True luxury should last forever!» – Kilian Hennessy

HOW TO REFILL YOUR FLACON

1. Unscrew the cap and carefully remove the atomizer from the original Kilian Paris perfume bottle.

2. Turn upside down the refill and insert its end into the cavity of the original perfume bottle.

3. Rotate the refill bottle clockwise until the liquid starts fillin up the original perfume bottle.

4. Rotate the refill bottle counterclockwise to extract it from the perfume bottle cavity.

5. Tighten the original perfume bottle with the original cap.

While less waste and a lighter carbon imprint are the result of doing things a little bit differently from the start, KILIAN Paris understands that the gesture is small relative to what remains to be done and the future evolutions of the beauty industry in view. Sustainability, especially in the context of KILIAN Paris’s unique approach to packaging already in place, is an area where the brand seeks constant self-revision and improvement.

A KILIAN Paris perfume addiction is declared once and refillable always, making the brand an «eco-luxury» native, a small but significant gesture in leading luxury back to its lasting nature.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht / Sanjeev Velmurugan
The photos were taken at the KILIAN PARIS counter at Jelmoli Zurich.
DISCLOSURE: We may earn commission from links on this page, but I only recommend products I love. Promise!

Finally, here is my full report about the amazing private party hosted by KILIAN PARIS at Hôtel Plaza Athénée to close out Paris Fashion Week and celebrate its 15th anniversary. The evening was absolutely magical.

With my colleague outside at the bar, Armenia’s 1st blogger, @kamotovmasyan. 

KILIAN PARIS reimagined its festive and ultra-luxurious universe inside the iconic Parisian palace by taking over the bar. An impressive showcase was staging, allowing the guests to rediscover the brand most iconic creations of the past 15 years.

My girls: @annanooshin, @carasantana, and @ms_kuan.

Detailed outfit post coming soon… this is one of my favorite outfits of the season.

From the bar we moved to the party location inside the hotel where a photo call was waiting for us.

Founder Kilian Hennessy and my humble self in the photo booth.

Having fun with my dear friends, super stars from Malaysia @schaalyahya.

Friends of the brand were immersed into KILIAN PARIS’ world by perfectly embodying the brand’s motto «Don’t be shy!» at the red neon content corner while enjoying cocktails inspired by KILIAN PARIS fragrances.

My favorite KILIAN PARIS fragrances on display: Woman in Gold, Good Girl Gone Bad, Love and Rolling in Love.

Lena Mahfouf, the number 1 influencer in France, wrote a message on the mirror.

We could also leave our their best anniversary wishes on a giant mirror with Le Rouge Parfum scented lipsticks as pencils, and the celebration turned out to be beyond expectations.

We danced all night long to DJ Kiddy Smile’s set, who certainly had the perfect recipe to light the dance floor on fire.

With notable guests including Kilian Hennessy, Lena Mahfouf, Natasha Poly, Coco Rocha, Ashley Park, Sir John, Maria Borges, Maye Musk, Ellen von Unwerth, Brooklyn Beckham, Nicola Peltz, Bilal Hassani, Alison Toby, Leonie Hanne, Xenia Adonts and others.

Girls gang: @carasantana, @jessicakroy, @whoiscaitbailey, @xeniaadonts and my humble self @sandrascloset.

Shooting the beautiful anniversary packaging in between for KILIAN PARIS …

KILIAN PARIS family kicked-off this year full of celebrations and surprises around the world. 15 years, 15 locations! Stay tuned for more…

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht / KILIAN PARIS / GETTY IMAGES
DISCLOSURE: We may earn commission from links on this page, but I only recommend products I love. Promise!

On the second day of the three-day extravaganza with KILIAN PARIS to celebrate the Maison’s 15th anniversary, founder Kilian Hennessy invited to an intimate lunch at «La Suite Girafe».

Located on the 9th floor of the Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine, «La Suite Girafe» or LSG to its friends, was the former flat of the curator who had a private terrace with a panoramic view of the whole of Paris in the 1930s. Today it seats 100 people and is open for lunch and dinner. Famous Parisian interior designer Joseph Dirand created a beautiful space with stunning views over the Eiffel Tower.

In terms of cuisine, the emphasis is on the praise of iodine, with ever more refined dishes that give pride of place to the products. Like a Parisian seahouse, LSG offers a contemporary marine cuisine where seafood, raw and cooked fish in all their forms are combined. Don’t miss the famous pavlova for dessert, it is divine.

«La Suite Girafe» is open to the public (strictly by reservation only) and to members of PH1 (a private members club by Paris Society). It has been one of my favorite restaurants in Paris since its opening in 2021 and I can absolutely recommend it.

La Suite Girafe
1 place du Trocadéro et du 11 Novembre
75016 Paris
Phone: +33 01 42 25 25 59

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht 
DISCLOSURE: We may earn commission from links on this page, but I only recommend products I love. Promise!

The first weekend in October I flew to Paris with KILIAN PARIS for a three-day extravaganza to celebrate the Maison’s 15th anniversary.

We started with cocktails at the beautiful Kilian boutique at Rue Cambon, followed by a dinner at Bonnie, the new hot spot in the French capital, overlooking Paris and its stunning scenery from above. Please enjoy some impressions of the first night. The details of my look and the report about the next days will follow shortly.

«I want to put perfumery back on its pedestal by going back to the truth about perfume; back to the way perfume was made in the late 19th and the early 20th century, but adding a contemporary twist at the same time.» – Kilian Hennessy

Born into one of France’s most illustrious dynasties in fine liquors, Kilian Hennessy translates the sensibility and vision inherited from his ancestors into the realm of perfume. A culture of pursuing ultimate luxury, and his audacious rule-breaking approach, define his name’s sake brand, KILIAN PARIS.

After graduating, he then went on to train with the greatest noses in perfumery and worked for the most prestigious perfume houses such as Christian Dior, Paco Rabanne, Alexander McQueen and Giorgio Armani.

In 2007, Kilian launched his own namesake brand with the ambition of reflecting not only his distinct personality, but also to achieve a perfect alliance between elegance and uncompromising luxury. His «eco-luxe» philosophy that each bottle can be refilled and kept for a lifetime catapulted the brand to the top of the fragrance market and into a niche of its very own.

In 2022, Kilian celebrates fifteen years of perfume making and his foray into decorative cosmetics with a series of celebration around the globe, kicking it off in Paris. Stay tuned!

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht 
DISCLOSURE: We may earn commission from links on this page, but I only recommend products I love. Promise!

Cologne is classic. Kologne, shield of protection by KILIAN PARIS is next generation.
Splash into a Kool summer with an incredible sensory trip across freshness, intensity and time. Perfume is like a shield of protection to Founder Kilian Hennessy, emboldening our unconscious fears with a sense of security and the new Kologne is the ultimate olfactive expression of this belief. He created a scent for feeling protected anywhere, anytime, as an aura of purity and vitality in an instant spritz.

Cologne is named after the German city, where Italian perfumer Giovanni Maria Farina created the citrus, rosemary and alcohol blend Eau de Cologne in 1709; yet its origins go deeper.
Eau de Cologne was inspired by recipes from the Middle Ages, «versatile remedies» called Aquae Mirabile, or mixtures of antiseptic aromatic herbs used to «cleanse» the air. It also referenced L’Eau de la Reine de Hongrie, an herb blend used in the fairytale ‘Sleeping Beauty’ to awaken the legendary princess.

Founder Kilian Hennessy had been developing his own cologne for years, sparked by a desire to return to the roots and meaning of this unique genre of perfume. Together with perfumer Calice Becker, his own ‘shield of protection’ has been forged.

A playful garden of delight, Kologne, shield of protection debuts with luminous citrus notes of green mandarin, bitter orange leading into a heart of rosemary, mint and neroli. A sophisticated, woodsy dry-down is built upon cedarwood, cashmeran and a distinctive ‘sap’ accord composed of green vegetal notes.

Kologne, shield of protection’s perfume bottle is vivid blue, colored like the perfect summer night pool party with gun metal hardware accents. The bottle features KILIAN PARIS’s signature style: angular and elegant with art deco design undertones, as well as its iconic motif along the sides: concentric circles inspired by the divine shield crafted for the ancient Greek warrior, Achilles.

An olfactive armor, a source of personal power, and an immediate uplift for the Kraziest KILIAN PARIS summer. The new Kologne Kilian Paris is available now for CHF 240 (50ml). In Switzerland at Jelmoli Zurich, Globus Zurich and Globus Geneva.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © KILIAN PARIS
DISCLOSURE: We may earn commission from links on this page, but I only recommend products I love. Promise
www.bykilian.com @kilianparis #KILIANPARIS #KOLOGNEBYKILIAN

Let me introduce you today to a new olfactive family with two news scents from KILIAN PARIS: Angels’ Share and Roses on Ice. Both are inspired by the legendary liquors cognac and gin, respectively, served in refillable fragrance flacons styled like art deco glasses to recall the most fabulous of bars.

Kilian Hennessy with me

These fragrances are the perfect after-party scents, capturing the moment when the mood gets lit and extravagance sets in. Launching the olfactive family The Liquors, founder Kilian Hennessy felt it was time to pay tribute to his heritage, as heir to the renowned French cognac making family, and to his choice olfactory intoxicants for driving the night towards dawn.

Angels’ Share is perhaps Kilian Hennessy’s most personal fragrance creation yet, inspired by his eighth-generation inheritance of Hennessy savoir-faire in cognacmaking. Much like a Master Perfumer who crafts accords and essences in a perfume, a Master Blender combines the eaux-de-vie in perfect proportions for an exceptional cognac.

This creation goes deep into the cellars of founder’s mind and memory, and into its most mysterious dimension: «la part des anges» or «angels’ share»— an evaporation of liquor in oak barrels that lifts, while aging, like a silent offering to the gods.

This first-time collaboration with French perfumer Benoist Lapouza, Angels’ Share contains the essence of Cognac derived from the liquor to lend it a natural caramel color. Opening with this cognac oil, upon a blend of oak absolute, cinnamon essence and tonka bean absolute, the scent’s long-lasting notes of sandalwood, praline and vanilla make for a delicious finish, a rare concoction only angels should experience.

Anyone for notes of gin, distilled with rose and cucumber? As a first-time collaboration with perfumer Franck Voelkl, Kilian Hennessy wanted to recreate the tasting of «gin on the rocks» with a splash of lime—recalling his wife’s favorite drink. Roses on Ice opens with the aquatic freshness of cucumber and the aromatic uplift of juniper berries, creating an icy sensation, rounded in an accord with voluptuous Rose Centifolia. Upon a drydown of sandalwood and musk, the scent expresses the sharp—yet deeply infused—character of gin consumed in its ideal.

Instantly and addictively tactile, The Liquors olfactive family perfume flacons are trompe l’oeil objects reminiscent of art deco barware. Styled as a speakeasy essential, the weighted glass is engraved with the emblematic K motif to throw and catch light at all angles, finished with a golden, diamond-shaped plaque signed in white serigraphy.

Knock on the door, slip inside a hidden bar—and prohibition ends here, for The Liquors by KILIAN PARIS are the scents of late-night libations. Now the party starts getting good.

With curfews everywhere and no party going on until the pandemic will be hopefully over soon, we can only dream about having a great party while wearing the new scents. I explored the fragrances Tuesday evening at Widder Bar in Zurich. The launch was accompanied by two drinks created for the new perfumes. Please find the recipes below. We could choose one scent. My personal favorite is definitely Angels’ Share, a warm and embracing scent, that is perfect for the holiday season.

TO SHOP ANGELS’ SHARE ONLINE, CLICK HERE PLEASE.

TO SHOP ROSES ON ICE ONLINE, CLICK HERE PLEASE.

Each fragrance is CHF 169.00 for 50ml.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © KILIAN PARIS and © Sandra Bauknecht
DISCLOSURE: This post is not sponsored. However, we may earn commission from links on this page, but I only recommend products I love. Promise.

I am a  true addict when it comes to my daily fragrance ritual. Wearing fragrance well requires a little more skill and finesse. Where you put your perfume, matters a lot. Target areas such as pulse points of the neck, the wrists, inner elbows, back side of your knees along with a hair mist for an enhanced and multidimensional olfactive trail. I also love misting my scarf, or the seam of my coat, because they move with the air, which helps with the diffusion of the scent. Talking about leaving a lasting impression. And never rub your wrists together as it destroys the molecules.

By the way, the best place to store fragrance is not on the shelf but in your cabinet away from sunlight, and at room temperature.

Here are my favorites at the moment:

GOOD GIRL GONE BAD Eau Fraîche
A limited edition scent for summer – CHF 240

Adding a cool and aquatic olfactive touch to the original perfume Good girl gone Bad by KILIAN for the warmer season, somewhere between floral and airy, it is the season’s nectar keeping summer bees busy. The perfume opens with notes of luminous Orange Blossom from North Africa and Roses from Turkey and Morocco but in its heart this new blend comes true: Egyptian Jasmine Sambac is splashed with a watery uplift and the ever-voluptuous Tuberose that is gentler by a textured sensation of freshness.

WOMAN IN GOLD
A perfume as complex and dazzling as the woman who wears it.

Inspired by Gustav Klimt‘s famous «Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer», it is my favorite for the colder season or for romantic nights. As complex and glamorous as the work of art, it opens with a blend of tart Bergamot, ripe Mandarin Orange and Aldehyde top notes that leads to a heady Rose Petal heart combined with Freesia and Geranium. The drydown consists of smooth Vanilla Absolute peppered by Patchouli and Akigalawood. Those Kilian flowers are composed like a narcotic dependence.

Woman In Gold Travel Set – Eau de Parfum and Refills, 4 x 7.5ml
Perfectly sized to accompany me on my travels or during the day, this beautifully engraved travel spray atomizer comes with three additional refills.

KILIAN’s  first hair mist, under the scent of Woman in Gold perfume, is joining the season’s seduction arsenal as a protective and perfumed secret weapon of the finest order. It is the final touch to one’s hair styling ritual. Carefully considered to offer the best of scent and science with UV protective elements, it comes with hydrating properties to help protect hair against the drying effects of the sun. It is so long-lasting, the best hair mist I have ever had. I truly hope that this will stay as it is a limited edition at the moment.

Like Kilian Hennessy says: «In perfumery, it is as much about seduction as it is about protection».
Enjoy your weekend!

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © By Kilian and © Sandra Bauknecht
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