The four products in Chanel’s new Ultra Correction Lift Collection contain a resin from the Manila elemi tree, often used to heal skin in traditional Chinese medicine.

Chanel launches new skin firming line.

The Lifting Firming Day Cream SPF 15, for example, is described as “lush cream, luxuriously textured and delicately scented, delivers a very soft, matte finish, with ultimate comfort, for a visible lifting effect.”

The Lifting Firming Day Cream SPF 15 and the Lifting Firming Night Cream will leave your skin temporarily plumper and firmer.”

The total of six products range from $85 – $225, including the four Lift Collection items as well a Lifting Firming Day Fluid SPF 15 and a Sculpting Firming Concentrate.

Leave it to Neiman Marcus to bring us luxury laundry detergent.  (I’m still hoping for them to re-issue the trash bags -

Luxury laundry detergent at Neiman Marcus.

they were such a novelty and a dozen friends bought them for me for Christmas as whimsical gifts!)

Custom perfume artiste Francis Kurkdjian is launching his collection at Neiman’s and he is offering quite a bit more than just bottles of elegantly crafted perfume.

His line includes:  paper strip incense, candles, laundry detergents and even scented bubbles. These aren’t bubbles for tots – they they are child-safe — and they come in small bottles which sell for $20 each and are available in the scents of cut herbs, pear and fresh mint.

But to the piece de resistance:  the laundry detergent in his Aqua Universalis scent. The detergent has notes of bergamot, lemon, lily of the valley and musky wood and sells for $45.

~~ Raine Devries

Some people have a timeless fragrance that they use for years.  Others like to vary their collection; so if you are part of the later group

Bond No. 9 fragrances Harrod's for Him, Her, and Unisex.

and are looking for what might be THE new fragrance of the season, consider Bond No. 9.

Bond No. 9 has created three new fragrances for legendary department store, Harrods.  They include Bond No. Harrods for Him, Her or the Swarovski Crystal Edition which is unisex.

The elegant all-male scent features an herbaceous and woody combination with touches of lavender, sandalwood, violet leaf and musk mingled with rhubarb, star anise, chamomile, and pimento leaves.

The purely feminine scent expresses a tuberose base combined with leather, neroli, mandarin, chamomile, clary sage and nutmeg accents amid a background of amber, sandalwood and vetiver.

The sensual unisex fragrance highlights the rare Arabian ‘oud’ botanical resin paired with myrrh and

Bond No. 9 for Him and Her.

amber notes and sprinkled with black pepper, cumin and vetiver.

Both Bond No. 9 Harrods for Him and for Her are available in 50 ml for £100 or 100 ml for £178.

The Unisex Swarovski Crystal Edition is only available in the 100 ml quantity for £495 featuring a crystal depiction of the Harrods building in 1,600 emerald and white sparkling Swarovski gems.

~~ Raine Devries

Gucci’s new chief executive officer, Patrizio di Marco has unveiled his strategy for the Italian brand’s future. His strategy includes cutting production and multiple variations of the same style and solidifying the mid-range of the brand. Di Marco, who comes to Gucci from another PPR-owned company luxury leather brand Bottega Veneta, wants to balance contemporary fashion with the Gucci traditions, emphasizing craftsmanship and quality. Di Marco is also behind the lawsuit filed against Guess? Inc. last month.

Driving Gucci sales currently is the revival of the Jackie bag by creative director Frida Giannini. The bag which was named for Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, sells for around $3,000 has received fashion acclaim this season. Di Marco has nothing but praise for Giannini he is quoted by Bloomberg as saying that she “knows how to balance the fashion elements with Gucci’s heritage,” Di Marco and Giannini, shown above, represent the continuation of the Gucci aesthetic fine-tuned by Tom Ford in the 1990s, chic and soigné with a dash of lethal sexy.

Soap is an essential but it can also be a way to pamper yourself in a relatively inexpensive way. The “A Year In The Country” box set of goat milk soaps is a set of 12 soaps that offer scents for each month. Pine, patchouli, orange, wildflowers, thyme, lavender and cinnamon are just some of the scents.

The soaps are made from the milk of the contented Beekman goats of the Beekman Farm in New York. You may have seen Dr. Brent Ridge and Josh Kilmer-Purcell, the talented men behind Beekman farm in the May issue of Vanity Fair.

This small splurge will run you just $64.