Usage: Like other scented signs, Arpege® bypasses thinking centers of our brain and "speaks" directly to emotions through the limbic system. Combining rose, jasmine, orange blossom, and ca. 60 natural oils and extracts, Arpege is a classic consumer product for the nose. The name, derived from the Italian word, arpeggio (a musical term for playing the tones of a chord in quick succession rather than simultaneously), reflects the perfume's stratigraphic "layers" of smell.
Media. The 1927 commercial--"Promise her anything, but give her Arpege"--became an advertising classic as memorable as the scent itself.
Message. Like other successful fragrances, Arpege has three, layered odor groups or notes. The top note (rose) registers first; the middle (jasmine) provides body; and the base note (musk) gives warmth, texture, and staying power. Initially, our nose detects the floral aromas of the top and middle notes, which smell sweet. Then the sexually stimulating erogenic aroma of animal musk registers, creating an "unforgettable" mood. (N.B.: The fruitiest commercial fragrance yet designed may be Calvin Klein's Escape, which contains apple, litchi, black currant, mandarin, plum and peach [Dyett 1992:95].)
RESEARCH REPORTS: 1. Regarding perfumes, the top notes are floral, and the middle notes "are made from resinous materials which have odours not unlike those of sex steroids, while the base notes are mammalian sex attractants with a distinctly urinous or faecal odour" (Stoddart 1990:163). 2. "Also winning favor among men is Shiseido's new women's fragrance, Feminite du Bois, a clear and effervescent blend of cedar [see TREE], spices, and rose" (Dyett 1992:95).
See also EMOTION, WWW.Chanel.com.
YouTube Video: "Promise her anything . . ."Copyright 1998 - 2020 (David B. Givens/Center for Nonverbal Studies)