The teen years can be a tough time, and for sure, teen girls have completely different needs than a woman.  They are looking to find themselves, experimenting with clothes and beauty products all while 'fitting' in and being accepted. 

Marie-Pierre Schmitz, the founder of BENTA BERRY says "Scents for teens and tweens are a real challenge and we have dealt extensively with their psyche, their wishes and dreams. The result and the positive response to benta and berry shows that we were right".

Marie-Pierre worked closely with perfumer Valentine Pozzo di Borgo to create a fragrance for girls with 'enchanting effects'. berry by BENTA BERRY is said to be 'good for you...good for other's. 

The scent has a high flirt factor, expresses confidence and fits a teens individual style.  With fresh, fruity aromas and floral notes that exude positive moods, this scent should trigger confidence and remain to be an 'acceptable scent amongst friends'. 

Photo Courtesy: BENTA BERRY/BeautyPress.com

An Interview with Dr. Joachim Mensing, Fragrance Psychologist via BeautyPress.com

Photo Courtesy: Dr. Joachim Mensing/ BeautyPress.com

beautypress: What is the reason for our wish to use fragrance?

Dr. Joachim Mensing: “Fragrance and perfumes are offers for personal transformation, indented to bring us from our ACTUAL SELF – how we feel, closer to our IDEAL SELF – how we would like to feel. Behind them is the secret wish to transform our selves unconsciously to give us for example, a more feminine, more sensual, more dynamic or self-confident appearance than what we really feel. They also create a certain atmosphere and emotional setting.”

beautypress: How do women select their perfumes and what are their preferences?

Dr. Joachim Mensing: “To choose a perfume is a very complex situation that we can only explain to a certain degree. The reason is that we smell with our emotional centre in the brain and have associations with our long-term memory. I encounter this phenomenon everyday myself. The decision seems to be somehow irrational and is taken spontaneously and connected with the remembrances and feelings that we had and would like to re-experience again. They seem to appear out of the blue. The fascination for a certain fragrance is hidden in our subconscious and linked with desires and moods that are difficult to articulate. Of course there is no doubt that there are more and very important factors for the decision to a certain fragrance like the image, the sympathy, the packaging, advertising but also recommendations and word of mouth.

Exciting is, that certain wishes and moods come up more intense in spring, e.g. the wish for change, for spontaneity and to enjoy oneself are overwhelming. We want to live a more playful and frivolous life, we want to live our fantasies, be creative and also be provocative. In the U.S. there is a definitive higher preference for fruity floral fragrance family during this time of the year.

Perfumes that seem to express this spring-feeling are e.g.

• Just me, Paris Hilton
• Life, Esprit
• Orange Tonic, Azzaro
• Daisy, Marc Jacobs
• Chance, Chanel"

beautypress: To what kind of fragrance family do these typical spring fragrances belong?

Dr. Joachim Mensing: “If you take all prestige perfumes of the U.S. market that are categorized into the six big international fragrance families: Citrus Green, Floral Aldehydic, Fruity-Floral, Floriental, Oriental and Chypre, the dominance of the Florals in the U.S. is clear to see. The US market is characterized (like the English) by the spectrum of beautiful floral notes, which come in all kinds of facets and crossovers, ranging from fresh-fruity to Aldehydebrilliant, to the cozy warm interpretations of the so called Florientals. Over 70% of all fragrances belong to one or the other Floral family. Year around the Floral –Aldeydic fragrances are dominating with a market share of close to 30%, but every spring, the fresh-fruity floral become the favorites of all Florals. The refreshing, flowery fragrance Happy perfume by Clinique is a good example.”

beautypress: What are the differences between a spring and a winter fragrance?

Dr. Joachim Mensing: “A typical spring fragrance smells mostly of fresh notes that belong to the type Citrus Green. Their market-share in the U.S. is about 15%. But in the Latin countries like Italy, Spain and Brazil, they have around 18-25 % share. The citrus green fragrances reach out to a more extrovert personality who wants to feel more dynamic and energetic. They hate the idea of professional routine and don’t want to be bored. They set a signal with these refreshing and stimulating citrus-green-aqua notes like:

• Eau de Lancôme, Lancôme
• Escale à Portofino, Dior
• Energizing Fragrance, Shiseido
• Concentré d’Orange verte, Hermès

On the contrary, a typical autumn/winter-fragrance shows the longing for romantic sensuality. It is the wish for more emotion, tenderness and comfort. It is also the expectation to be spoiled and to be cosseted. This emotional setting is covered best by the Floriental fragrances that have a market share of about 10% in the U.S. for the whole year. Even more important for this time of the year are the Orientals in the US, with a market share of over 12% for the whole year. The Orientals express with their depth, spiciness’, warmth and mystery (many of these fragrances are loaded with intoxicating and intensive ingredients such as musk, vanilla, exotic resins and wood), which we especially cherish in the winter month.”

beautypress: Do spring scents contain extracts of spring flowers?

Dr. Joachim Mensing: “Indeed, a lot of the citrus green family have the smell of young leaves and plants. The combination with hesperidic notes like grapefruit, lemon, orange, lime and modern aqua notes creates a sensation of fresh, ozone and southern which our long-term memory associates pre-dominantly with Mediterranean climate sensation.”

source: beautypress.com

Finding a fragrance is not an easy task, but what if we told you finding your perfect fragrance just got a ton easier?

It's true!

Givaudan, an industry-leading perfumery house, has created a unique app to help you select the perfect fragrance. iPerfumer is the first mobile perfume recommendation toold and is set to revolutionaize fragrance buying.

The app offers advice on which perfumes to try and is literally a personal fragrance consultant, conveniently in your pocket.

With tons of fragrance recommendations, it makes your decision a well informed choice, for yourself or when buying a fragrance as a gift for others.

Will you take part in the new generation of perfume enthusiasts and download the iPerfumer? Download this free app here, and let us know how you enjoy the iPerfumer.

Photo: Givaudan/BeautyPress.com

The London based skin care brand has produced a short film shot directed by Vince Squibb.  Rob Calcraft, Ren's founder, doesn't expect the film to impact his sales directly, but he does want to raise awareness of the brand.  "My sense is it's a very long-term game of persuasion", "skin isn't an immediate thing...it is a long term consideration [for the consumer]."

To mark the brands 11-year anniversary, get a glimpse of the video before it even launches on the Ren website tomorrow, right here! Just a note, the video is very sexy and amorous, with a naked couple frolicking, which the brand said feels "beautiful". The film is meant to embody the brand which is honest, bold, and rejects traditional images of airbrushed beauty.

What do you think of this video? Is it too sexy? Would you consider a purchase from this brand?

Kim Kardashian has been keeping busy after things didn't work out with ex-hubby Kris Humphries, and is making the most of 2012. Now, she is ready to release, this month, her fourth fragrance, True Reflection. 

Regarding her previous scents, she has said that she created GOLD to bring back memories of her late father, Rob Kardashian. She said: "When my dad would go away on trips he always came back with a special perfume for me. I hated when he bought perfume for his girlfriends, but loved it when he bought me a glamorous bottle of his favourite scent of gardenia. So when I was developing Gold, I thought of him and other happy times in my childhood."

And this scent, True Reflection? "This will remind me of success, working really hard and also my sisters. We were all together so much when I was making the fragrance that it reminds me of my TV show."

The ad campaign has already been shot and Kim wrote on her blog, "Here's a pic from my new True Reflection fragrance ad campaign... ultra glam! I LOVE red lips! My new fragrance comes out this spring and it is so different than my other fragrances! Xo. (sic)"

Adam Levine has joined the vast amount of celebrities who have their own fragrance line and feels it's time to get into the game of the world of fragrance. As if he's not busy enough being Maroon 5's frontman, singer/songwriter and not to mention the co-star of new reality TV show, the Voice, Levine has set his launch of his signature scent, labeled 222 by Adam Levine in May 2013. 

Levine has been working with ID perfumes, a division of Adrenalina Inc, who has been quiet about the juicy details of the fragrance, but at the moment, we know that it will be sold in 1 oz, 1.7 oz, and 3.4 oz at resonable prices. 

“Adam is a performer with tremendous charisma — both on stage and on TV,” said Ilia Lekach, chairman and chief executive officer of ID Perfumes, noting that Levine is also a vocal coach for NBC’s “The Voice.” “Endeavoring to capture that in a bottle has thus far been very exciting and we’re certain the final products will be even more so.”

If you would prefer your sweat to smell like Dolce and Gabbana Light Blue or CK One by Calvin Klein, then you're in luck! Lucy McRae, an artist based in the Netherlands, hopes to soon create a 'Swallowable Parfum', a perfume that can be ingested through a tiny capsule and omit a lovely fragrance as you perspire. We never thought we'd see those two words in the same sentence, ever!

"My main aim is to provoke and make people think in a completely different way about how makeup can be [used] in the future," said McRae.

Interested? This pill is still in it's research phase and by no means is there a release date yet, but McRae is working with another researcher, Sheref Mansy, to develop a prototype.

Where did he get this perspiration inspiration? That would be while he was watching a documentary on computer engineer Ray Kurzweil, who won the National Medal of Technology and wrote many books on how machines can, and will shape the future.

Companies within the beauty industry are constantly trying to come up with new beauty technologies and beauty regimens that come in pill form.  From sunscreen protection to anti-grey supplements, we will keep you updated with the latest industry news and on the pill that will turn your sweat into your favorite perfume scent.

This material girl has not only been busy working on her clothing line for the Spring/Summer 2012 season, but she has also been hard at work with her first fragrance ever, Truth or Dare. 

Giving 110%, she was very involved in the entire process and creation while working with perfumer Stephen Nilsen of Givaudan. Together, they worked on the shape and size of the bottle to the scent and aesthetic; perfection is all that Madonna had in mind.

The official perfume line doesn't actually debut until April 1st, however her ads for the new scent are out! The singer told Women's Wear Daily that "I have always been obsessed by fragrance and for years wanted to create something personal that was an expression of me but that other people could relate to as well: something honest, and yet daring, hence the name Truth or Dare".  Madonna wanted a floral scent, something that reminded her of her mother.  She also wants the scent to be addictive, sensual.  The fragrance has hints of gardenia, tuberose and neroli and base notes of vanilla, amber, and musk. 

Would you consider purchasing this perfume when available?

Sally Hansen has been busy, busy, busy collaborating with designers, celebs, and who knows who else is in the woodworks, in creating nail strip collections.

Most recently, we've seen and fallen in love with Prabal Gurung for Sally Hansen.  Prabal Gurung helped create colorful, intricate prints to beautifully translate his Spring/Summer 2012 colletion into nail art.  They are naturally a limited edition, so get these hot prints before they're out of stock.

Another fab collaboration Sally Hansen's been busy at work with is producing nail wraps designed by Avril Lavigne! What you probably imagine coming from this singer is exactly what you see, bright colors paired with black skulls, plaid, stars, glitter, polka dots, ombre glitter and checkerboard prints. The singer said, "They're reflective of my personal style and they're kinda rock n' roll - fun skulls, stars, plaid, sparkles."

Mercedes Benz has launched its first-ever fragrance. The classic automotive company has a line of high-end watches and eye wear, and earlier this year announced its plans to launch Mercedes Benz fragrance.

The scent, which was created by perfume house Firmenich, will be available in early 2012 as an eau de toilette, deodorant, aftershave, and bath and shower gel.