- Photography by Corrie Side - Art direction by James Kershaw Each year there are specific signals mother nature sends out to let you know Spring has arrived. Fragrance houses also send out their own signals of a new season ahead with the launch of their newest offerings to entice the consumer. Spring 2015 looks to be another good one with a variety of perfumers launching all new scents, as well as new versions of established favorites and limited editions available just for the season. Launched by couturier Loris Azzaro in 1962, the French fashion/fragrance house of Azzaro debuted his first women's scent, which he named Couture, in 1975. This spring, the house launches another in a long line of Azzaro fragrances, Pour Elle Eau de Parfum. The scent is described as a sensual floral, woody-amber. The scent opens with cardamom and lemony-spicy notes, with a  classic floral heart of rose and lily warm, and base notes of olibanum incense and cashmeran wood. The fragrance is packaged in a refillable bottle and will debut in stores in late April. The venerable British house Burberry adds to its growing collection of fragrances with Burberry Brit Rhythm For Her Floral. This new version opens with notes of Sicilian lemon, orange and orchard fruit, has heart notes of Egyptian jasmine, lotus blossom and dewy lilac, and warms to base notes of ambery woods, driftwood and musk. See by Chloe Si Belle is the French fashion house's newest fragrance. The scent's top notes of neroli and birch leaf warm to milky gardenia petals and orange blossom and has a base of white musk. Eau de Gaga by Lady Gaga, the second fragrance for the recently engaged entertainer and fashion risk-taker is "for the adventurous woman and the man who loves her." It has top notes of sparkling lime, a heart of white violet and a base of instinct leather. Elizabeth Arden launches two new scents this season; both are variations of their original scents. Green Tea Bamboo has notes such as lemon, grapefruit, tamarind tree leaf and bamboo, warms to a heart of green tea, cucumber and violet leaf, and has base notes of orris root and mastic. Untold Eau Fraiche opens with mandarin and juicy pear calmed with white tea, a floral heart of jasmine, lily of the valley, freesia and orange blossom, and ends with notes of vetiver, cashmere wood and musk. Juicy Couture's Hollywood Royal star-encrusted bottle holds juice with top notes including candied apple and pear, heart notes of white petals, and base notes of cashmere wood, soft musk, vanilla and marshmallow. This spring, all of the limited edition fragrances come from fashion houses. Valentino debuts a limited edition version of their best seller Valentina with Valentina Pink Eau de Parfum. Housed in a matte finish opaque pink bottle, the scent opens with strawberry and blackberry musk, has a heart of centifolia rose and peony, and warms to a base of amber, praline and cashmere. Nina Ricci's Les Delices de Nina Eau de Toilette is inspired by strawberry candy. It has top notes of lemon, tangerine with a hint of raspberry, its heart notes are strawberry candy accord, mara strawberry, white caramel and gardenia, and it warms to a base of praline and white musk. The opaque pink apple-shaped bottle is topped with "melting" gold that symbolizes caramel. Marc Jacob's Daisy Eau So Fresh Sorbet edition opens with juicy mandarin, apple blossom and lotus flower, has a heart of magnolia and jasmine, and warms to creamy woods and musk. The Daisy Sorbet has top notes of pink grapefruit, pear and passion fruit, heart notes of wisteria, jasmine and Muguet, and base notes of violet wood and sheer musk. Thierry Mugler launches a new limited edition of their global top seller, Angel. Angel Eau Sucree Eau de Toilette is presented in a familiar star-shaped flacon. This edition's bottle has textured points which makes it appear to have been dipped in granulated sugar. The scent opens with red fruits sorbet, warms to caramelized meringue and finishes with notes of patchouli and vanilla.  

- Photography by Corrie Side - Grooming + Art Direction by James Kershaw - Model Travis D. at PHABRIK model + artist management The modern man likes to pamper himself just as much as his female counterpart with new skin care innovations and fragrances. Spring/Summer 2015 doesn’t disappoint as a variety of new items are entering the marketplace, but be on your toes as some of the new scents are special editions only available for a limited time. Jimmy Choo, the famed footwear design house, launches Jimmy Choo Man, its inaugural scent for men. The fragrance opens with lavender and mandarin essence, warms to notes of geranium and pineapple leaf with base notes of patchouli and amber-based woods. It is housed in a smoked glass flask-shaped bottle. The face of the scent is Kit Harington of Game of Thrones; he embodies the Jimmy Choo man: masculine, seductive, and with an innate sense of style. The house of Thierry Mugler is known for their tradition of launching limited edition versions of their best-selling A*Men scent every year. A*Men Ultra Zest is this year’s scent, described as a fresh, colourful creation. It is presented in the classic bottle shape, this time in a startling, vivid matte orange hue. The scent opens with notes of mandarin, blood orange and ginger, warms to notes of cinnamon, coffee and black pepper, and has bottom notes of vanilla, patchouli and tonka bean. One of the limited edition scents launching this Spring is Valentino Uomo Edition Noire, which follows a very successful debut last year of the original. This edition, housed in an opaque matte black version of the original faceted glass bottle, has notes of coffee, gianduja cream, musky white leather, cedar and bergamot. Mont Blanc’s Legend Special Edition, also available for a limited time, is a fresh version of its original with top notes of bergamot and lavender, heart notes of green apple and violet, and base notes of raw wood accords. It is presented in a deep blue glass version of the original bottle. Burberry, the British fashion house know for its iconic plaid and the invention of the trench coat, launches Brit Rhythm For Him Eau de Toilette Intense. It is an intensified version of the house’s best-selling scent launched in 2014 and is described as a sensual scent with a masculine smoky and leathery accord. The scent opens with cumin seed and pepper oil, includes heart notes of amber and patchouli, and finishes with guaiac wood and tonka bean. Calvin Klein unveils Reveal Men, the masculine edition of the women’s scent launched last fall. The fragrance’s composition includes notes of crystallized ginger, pear brandy, suede, agave nectar and golden amber. The scent is represented by actor Charlie Hunnam, best known for his role as Jax Teller in Sons of Anarchy. Once he has chosen his fragrances for the season, the modern man's thoughts may very well turn to his complexion. Clarins Paris launches two reformulated and repackaged men’s skin care products this June. Clarins’ research has found that due to higher levels of testosterone, a man’s skin is up to 25% thicker than his female counterparts. With a naturally more dense collagen fibre network, the skin requires increased energy to produce dermal fibres. The updated products include gymnema, which regulates the energy of skin cells, along with bison grass (a signature ingredient of ClarinsMen), which stimulates energy regeneration. It also includes organic goji berry to boost energy production, avocado peptides to stimulate collagen synthesis, and organic oat polyoses to tighten the skin surface. Clarins’ Revitalizing Gel fights the signs of aging such as dullness, fine lines and loss of tonicity, improves hydration with double hyaluronic acid and maintains a fresh matte appearance with zinc gluconate combined with tapioca powder. The Anti-Fatigue Eye Serum contains escin from horse chestnut and caffeine which stimulates lipolysis and microcirculation. Their draining properties help reduce dark circles and puffiness.

- Photography by Corrie Side - Makeup, styling + art direction by James Kershaw - Model Lauren B. at PHABRIK model + artist management Tropical corals, ravishing reds, luscious berries, popping pinks and over-the-top oranges embellish the season's most fashion forward lips and bring a healthy flush to cheeks. Textures range from matte to glossy, coverage from sheer to opaque. Giorgio Armani's Flash Lacquer Crystal Shine Gloss in Maharajah or Pink Blush is a great example of a sheer bright. Elizabeth Arden's Beautiful Colour Moisturizing Lipsticks are now available in eight new shades with a velvety matte finish. Clarins' new Instant Light Lip Balm Perfectors offer sheer glossy colour with the benefit of mango and shea butters to nourish and protect. Sure to become a cult fave item is the beauty house's new Instant Light Lip Comfort Oil, a treatment that is rich in luxurious oils such as hazelnut (an ingredient in all Clarins' face and body treatment oils), as well as mirabelle plum and organic jojoba. Many beauty aficionados are now playing with the concept of contour and highlight. Sculpting a cheekbone has never been easier. Clinique has stepped up this Spring offering not only the Scupltionary Cheek Contouring Palette in four colour coordinated compacts, but also two new shades of their wildly successful line of Chubby Sticks. Hefty Highlight and Curvy Contour were designed specifically to achieve the desired effect. Lise Watier's Expression Blush trio can be used to add structure to the face; the brown hue in the hollow of the cheekbone, rose for a healthy glow and orange on the temples to illuminate. This spring, eyes are enhanced with earthy neutrals in a variety of finishes, or awash in a range of verdant greens. Yves Saint Laurent's new Couture Variation 10-colour Eye Palette 1 Nu features shimmering, satin and matte finish shadows in a variety of depths and intensities. Their new Couture Eye Primer will make sure the shadows stay fresh and crease-free all day. Jane Iredale's Getaway Eye Shadow Kit, inspired by a weekend in the country, offers a generously-sized highlighter with four easy-wear neutrals in both shimmer and satin finishes. Giorgio Armani offers Eye Tint Fluid Eye Colour Film in Cold Copper or Gold Ashes for those seeking a neutral eye makeup effect. They are also releasing the Eye Tint in Emeraude, which exemplifies this season's trend for green hues eye makeup products. Clarins Garden Escape offers two shades of spring green with soft pinks: a white and a taupe. The eyes can be further enhanced with their Intense Green Crayon kohl. Lise Watier's Palette Expression combines green tinged blues with a shimmering bronze and soft citrusy pastels. A season to think big!

- Photography + Digital Art by C Side Photography - Article + Art Direction by James Kershaw A good skin care regimen may be your avenue to the fountain of youth. Meet some of this season’s newest and best from the industry’s beauty wizards. Fall 2014 is an exceptional season for new, innovative beauty products. A number of new specifically targeted serums and creams are being introduced . Many of these new items provide a range of benefits from lifting and firming (Lise Watier’s 24HRS Lift + Firm 3D) to dark spot correction (Clarins’ Super Restorative Night Cream, Clinique Smart Custom Repair, and Philosophy’s No Reason to Hide). Clarins’ Shaping Facial Lift Total V Contouring Serum helps to redefine the ideal 3V contour: a slimmer face, refined cheeks and a lifted, firmer jawline—this product is especially popular with Asian women but may be used by any and all ethnicities. Elizabeth Arden’s new Flawless Future products use ceramide technology along with a protective protein complex and skin brighteners to intercept the first signs of aging. Crème Ancienne from Fresh looks back to the first cold cream known to man for this 21st century formula. Soft Cream provides twenty-four hour moisture in a rich, yet weightless formula ideal for all skin types. Each jar of cream contains such fragile ingredients that each must poured in a specific sequence at a determined temperature by hand. The cream launches exclusively at Sephora in October. Of course, all of these products will work their best on a thoroughly cleansed skin. Clinique’s new Sonic System purifying cleansing brush removes impurities for clear healthy looking skin, and is more effective than hand washing, making the skin is better prepared to receive treatment.

- Photography + Digital Art by C Side Photography - Article, Makeup + Art Direction by James Kershaw - Model Lauren B. at PHABRIK artist + model management Brows are considered by many to be one of the face’s most important features. They can certainly make or break a “look”. Achieving the desired shape, colour and width of the brow has never been easier. Cosmetic houses have stepped up with new products from pencils to powders, incorporating the necessary tools/applicators for grooming.

- Photographs + Digital Art by C Side Photography - Articles + Art Direction by James Kershaw Scents to Fall For Every season, fragrance houses around the globe launch new scents or new versions of established ones to entice the consumer. This year is no different, here are some of this season’s best. The house of Marc Jacobs launches yet another version of the best-selling Daisy fragrance, Marc Jacobs Daisy Dream. The new fruity floral is presented in a silver capped daisy embellished clear glass flacon that reveals the scents sky blue hue. Calvin Klein, famous, or maybe infamous, for provocative ad campaigns, has an innovative approach to fragrance development for his various scents. This season, he debuts Reveal, a solar oriental scent. For the first time ever in a fragrance, it opens with a raw salt signature which is said to ‘’capture traces of the erotic scent of skin’’—very appropriate as the sexy print campaign features supermodel Doutzen Kroes along with British actor Charlie Hunnam. Prada, also a house known for innovation in fashion and fragrance, debuts Prada Candy Florale. This is the third scent in the Candy series, scents all created by perfumer Daniela Andrier. The fragrance is described by the house as an exciting floral scent with a romantic, powdery composition, full of life and sensuality inspired by an imaginary flower that smells like candy, or a bouquet of flowers on a countertop in an Italian ice cream parlour. The world renowned jewelry house, Boucheron, celebrates its first anniversary of the launch of its highly successful woody, floral Place Vendome Eau de Parfum with a limited edition version. The new version was created by introducing new notes such as Italian Mandarin and Bulgarian Rose to the original composition. The fragrance is presented in a heavy, black cabochon topped, textured metallic gold bottle inspired by the cobblestones of Place Vendome in Paris. Designer Vera Wang, known mainly for her iconic bridal gowns and seasonal fashion collections, launches a new scent, Forever Vera. Created by perfumer Honorine Blanc, the floral, woody musk scent is presented in a delicately hammered glass bottle with an elegant rope detail inspired by the designer’s Wedgewood collection. Another scent created by Honorine Blanc, this time for Juicy Couture, is the newest version of Viva La Juicy, which launched in 2008. The new scent is called Gold Couture Eau de Parfum and is described as a glamorous and decadent version of the original. Gold Couture is housed in a reflective gold bottle with a clear stopper adorned with a bow of point d’esprit lace. The house of Paco Rabanne adds to their selection of fragrance this fall with the introduction of Lady Million Eau My Gold! Created by Anne Flipo, the new Eau de Toilette is housed in a gold capped elongated glass version of the original bottle. Olivier Polge was asked to create a fragrance for the house of Repetto, opening a new chapter in its history. The house, an icon of French heritage, was founded by Rose Repetto in 1947. Her first client was her son, dancer and choreographer Roland Petit. Since then, the house has provided ballet shoes to such luminaries as Rudolph Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov. The elegant bottle that houses the scent bears an identical ribbon to the one used on the famous Carlotta ballerina; it is wrapped, knotted at the neck, sealed with the brand’s iconic lower case “r”, and weighted with a drop pendant. The fashion house Burberry, known for its instantly recognizable plaid and the invention of the modern trench coat, introduces what it describes as the most significant fragrance launch for women to date. The scent, created by Christopher Bailey, Burberry’s Chief Creative and Chief Executive Officer, in collaboration with Francis Kurkdjian is said to capture the fragrance of a London garden after the rain. My Burberry takes its name from the rather affectionate way people refer to their Burberry trench. Its glass bottle and overall design reflect the details of the iconic garment. The horn finish cap echoes the distinctive buttons, while the hand tied knot of English woven gabardine honours the fabric invented by Thomas Burberry more than a century ago. A Few for the Guys Thierry Mugler is one of the fashion world’s most dynamic individuals and the fragrances that bear his name certainly reflect this. Mugler was one of the first to incorporate gourmand elements in his scents. The original A*Men fragrance which debuted in 1996 contrasted notes of coffee and vanilla with patchouli. In the years since, the house has launched new limited edition variations of the original scent. In 2009, the house debuted A*Men Pure Malt. It was the first to combine the art of a haute perfumery with that of a master distiller. Inspired by whiskey production methods, Mugler allows the fragrance to develop for six weeks inside “toasted” oak casks. This original, innovative aging process in the world of fragrance is now patented by the brand. This fall, the scent becomes a permanent part of the collection. A*Men Pure Wood is the limited edition version for 2014. The fragrance is overdosed with notes of cedar and cypress that meld with into the original A*Men fragrance notes. All Thierry Mugler fragrances were created by master perfumer Jacques Huclier for Givaudan. Nautica is a fashion company started by David Chu in 1984, the company’s first scent debuted in 1992. This fall the firm launches Nautica Life, which is an aromatic aquatic scent. All of the scents exude a nautical feel in scent and presentation. Nautica Life’s clear glass cylinder allows the watery blue of the scent to show and also allows the novel detail of having what appears to be boat rope camouflaging the spray. Invictus, which in Latin means invincible, is the name for Paco Rabanne’s newest scent in their fragrance range. The trophy shaped bottle houses the scent which opens with a fresh marine accord, a complete opposite of their last offering, 1 Million Intense which is a spicy, woody, oriental scent.

- Photographs + Digital Art by C Side Photography - Article + Grooming by James Kershaw - Models Mark W. and Randy C. at PHABRIK artist + model management Facial hair trends tend to come and go in cycles much like fashion trends, just at a slower pace. Throughout the 19th century, most males sported some form of facial hair, be it sideburns, goatees, moustaches or beards. In the last century, decades seemed to each have their own facial hair trend. Pencil thin moustaches in the twenties and the return of Mutton chop side burns à la Elvis in the fifties combined with goatees in the sixties and full, bushy porn star ’staches in the seventies. The eighties, for the most part, was generally a clean shaven decade, but as we entered the nineties, facial hair again resurfaced as hip urban dwellers began sporting ‘soul patches’ and goatees. As the 21st century dawned, hipsters in large cities such as New York began to grow full beards and moustaches, some even reverting back to the waxed handle bar ’stache of yore. The trend is now global and young males everywhere are embracing the whiskered face. Some of the planet’s top menswear fashion houses are showing their newest looks on the catwalk and in print on full bearded and mustachioed models. Arguably, beards and other facial hair styles tend to make those able to grow them appear more masculine and powerful. Whether that is true or not, keeping the growth clean, conditioned and groomed is of utmost importance—and of course there is a wide array of products available to do just that. Here are some of the best the industry has to offer.

- Photographs + Digital Art by C Side Photography - Article, Makeup + Art Direction by James Kershaw - Model Lauren B. at PHABRIK artist + model management Sumptuous colours and iridescent or velvety textures characterize this season’s eye makeup offerings. Clarins’ new Ombre Matte cream to powder shadows come in a range of timeless rich, neutral shades, just like their Skin Tones mineral eyeshadow quartet. Lise Watier’s limited edition Quatour Feline, leopard print embossed shadows, impart a soft iridescence, as does her waterproof, long wear 24HRS Glam eye shadow pencils. Jane Iredale’s Celebrate eye shadow trio offers matte and soft shimmer shadows to be accented with her subtly shimmered “Jelly Jar” gel eyeliners in purple or green. Elizabeth Arden debuts their new line of soft metallic embellished Precision Glide Eyeliner pencils. A radiant complexion is achieved with products such as Clarins’ new True Radiance Perfect Skin foundation and new Tawny Pink Blush Prodige. Lips may be painted in a variety of textures to suit all tastes, from the gloss finishes of Jane Iredale’s  Puregloss or Fresh’s Sugar Shine Lip Treatments, to the rich satin finish of Clarins’ age defying Rouge Éclat Lipstick, to the matte finishes of Lise Watier’s Feline Velvet Lip Lacquer or Cliniques’ new Long Last Soft Matte Lipstick range. All these beauty products make Fall/Winter a truly beautiful season.