Moi moi, Diorling...

Chypres and cheerful - Dior's latest scent sensations 

Crone is beside herself with joy.  Not one, but three cheeky chypres landed on her desk recently - and she can’t decide which she loves most.  All are from Christian Dior, the fashion house which celebrates it’s 65^th this month and in Crone’s opinion is the One To Watch for scents right now. For they’ve pulled off that everso tricky coup - launching heritage-style scents with both a retro vibe and exciting on-trend credentials.

 Witness the rebirth of Miss Dior, the Couture house’s first fragrance launched in 1947. At the time, the trend was for obviously pretty, powdery perfumes.  Well, there’d been a war on, and girls were understandably into being girly for their guys. So was this woody, mossy and tantalisingly green newcomer the first real feminist scent? The almost knicker-wrenchingly hormonal combo of rose, patchouli and oakmoss have earned chypres (after Cyprus, home of oakmoss) the reputation of sorting the women from the girls.  Miss D certainly defined a new and sophisticated era of chic - or at least that’s what Crone felt when she first caught up with it at the start of the stroppy ‘70s. Out went the Aqua Manda (anyone else remember those Radio Caroline ads?  And who was Christopher Collins?) In came the saucy dab between the braless cleavage under the brown silk Biba blouse. God, but Crone felt so up herself with elegant aloofness…

 So crackling the cellophane around her brand new bottle of Miss Dior Eau de Toilette Originale felt like a reunion long overdue. Now let’s be realistic. Good old scents like Miss Dior have undergone various edits along the way as key ingredients either become too costly, unethical or unsustainable. The chypre family have recently fallen foul of the infamous ‘IFRA list ‘ - the ever-burgeoning number of ingredients which scent watchdog, the International Fragrance Association consider should be limited or banned.  Apparently oak moss - the defining soul of chypres -  is an allergen, so must be restricted lest someone in Seattle sneezes. (If they start buggering around with patchouli Crone will be forced to book the one-way Swiss ticket….) So right, the current Miss Dior doesn’t have quite the bite (more lemon, less green galbanum too) as the version she remembers, but under the auspices of talented Dior perfumer François Demachy, the old girl still has some of her own teeth.

 Demachy has also worked minor miracles with new Miss Dior Eau Fraiche - a healthy dose of patchouli gives it welly without overwhelming its bergamot freshness, while the hint of gardenia in the background gives it polish. spritz? But star of the trio for Crone is the divine Diorling. First launched in 1962, it’s incisively green, wickedly leathery and drenched in patchouli with the merest hint of sexy, creamy jasmine.  A scent to make you feel it’s all still possible? Respect to Dior for introducing proper grown up scent to a fresh new generation - and reminding this old Crone that whereas it may not get her laid, chypre really does make her feel cheerful. Happy Valentine’s!

Miss Dior Eau Fraïche, from £49, 50ml, Harrods then nationwide from 5^th March. Miss Dior Original EDT from £35.60 30m; and Diorling, £69.50, 100ml EDT from Christian Dior counters nationwide.

Talon contest

                                           Polish potential: are politicians the real drips?

Has it been claws out over the cornflakes in the Gove household this week? First, the Education Secretary’s plans to disqualify vocational courses - such as Nail Technology - from counting as GCSE’s hit the presses. The very next day, the formidable Sarah Vine, Beauty Ed of the Times, bezzies with SamCam and wife of Gove published a beltingly brilliant defence of the UK beauty biz and all work in it.  “This assumption that all things beauty are just well, a bit silly, irritates me,’ she snarled. ‘It’s not just that appearance is something we all care about, whether we like to admit it or not; it’s also that beauty is a very serious and substantial business, and an important sector of our economy.’ Go Sarah!  Latest figures (Mintel, 2010) show the total UK beauty market to be worth a staggering £14.27 billion with makeup accounting for  £1.275 billion and nail polish alone, £179 million. 

So that other bit of news this week - that nail bars are the fastest-growing businesses in the high street, making up 16.5% of all new outlets in the past three years -  seems curiously at odds with Grinchy Gove’s ‘pan the polish’ policy. There’s a recession on, dammit. Shouldn’t we be encouraging our youth by recognising skills that probably will keep them gainfully employed?  (As most of us will be working our fingers to the bone for the foreseeable future, it’s a moot point whether we’ll give a stuff if the technician rescuing our nails has a GCSE or not). But as Vine so rightly says, if the beauty biz was a male-dominated industry, like armaments or shipbuilding, we’d be trumpeting its successes from the rooftops. Instead, anyone remotely involved tends to be regarded as an air-head. Vine confesses that people are taken aback when she tells them her job’s writing about makeup. Shouldn’t she be doing something more serious?  Crone has literally inspired laughter from her own husband’s cerebral mates - while their wives have quizzed her covertly about skincare.  I could go on all night about how our pursed-lipped Northern European ethic regards physical sublimation either shameful or as a learning difficulty outed. But I’d rather quote Vindicating Vine one last time. The beauty industry ‘is a sector that offers great possibilities for employment and social mobility,’ she says. ‘It doesn’t matter which school you went to or who your parents are: if you’re good, you’ll make it to the top.’ Sarah, you’ve so nailed it.

Above: OPI Nail Polish in Dutchya Just Love OPI, £12 from the Holland Collection. For stockists and salons, call 01923 240 010 or visit www.lenawhite.co.uk

Barbie says no to tress stress

This is the lovely Barbie having a very bad hair day. So, speaking reassuringly in my most Concerned Crone tone, ‘Barb,’ I gently reasoned. ‘You’re so not alone, here girlfriend. Those bouff-heads at Charles Worthington reckon today’s the day when Brits are most in need of a serious hair fix, since stats show a 35% rise in sales of hair treatments each February 2^nd.’ Barbie’s limpid blue eyes widened in wonder.  I knew what she was thinking; how did I know such things? More to the point, how could she fix that blasted Barnett and fast? ‘Listen up, I said. First off, rake a Tangle Teezer through that mangy mane and you’ll sleek that frizz, no problem. It’s also brilliant at gently sorting dyed-to-death locks like yours, especially when it’s wet and matts up like wire wool.’ Barbie looked wounded for a moment, but I just knew she thought the new Compact Styler was rather fab. So I pressed on purposefully. ‘Charles Worthington Salon at Home Strength and Repair kit’s just the thing to restore dry, damaged and fragile hair. There’s a shampoo, mask and pre-wash Repair Oil that doesn’t half put back the shine and makes hair less brittle, too.’ Barbie was perking up now. She’d spotted my pink jumbo rollers - Poundland’s finest, don’tcha know. ‘Blow-dry your hair section by section. Then when each section’s still warm quickly roll it up and pin,’ I counselled. ‘Leave the hair to cool round the roller to set that smooth bounce. An all-over whoosh of Davines’ excellent Defining Glam Power Spray sheens as it holds that ‘oomph. Honestly, it’s what I do every day!’ I encouraged.  Fifteen minutes, a final Tangle Teeze and a root-zooming of hairspray later, Barbie was tossing the gloss like she owned it. ‘Where’s Ken?” I enquired mildly and she shot me a minxy kind of look that said ‘Who gives a ••••?” as she pulled out her crystal-studded i-phone. Dunno who she’s texting now. Surely not her hairdresser?

Charles Worthington Salon at Home Strength & Repair, £19.95, Boots and www.boots.com

Tangle Teezer Compact Styler, £12.24 Boots and www.tangleteezer.com

Davines Defining Glam Power Spray, £13.30 from leading salons nationwide.

Call 0203 301 5449