IUNX Paris to close?

Yes, unfortunately it's true. I knew this since a few weeks but I was asked not to say a word till an official statement was made by Shiseido. But since IUNX SAs are telling it to their customers there is no need to keep it a secret anymore...
Shiseido is closing both the IUNX Paris store and the Le Printemps counter in march. Fortunately Shiseido gave back all the IUNX rights to Olivia Giacobetti herself, so their might be hope that IUNX will reappear in a near future.
Thought IUNX was one of the bestselling brands at Senteurs d'Ailleurs here in Brussels, the line was too expensive to produce. IUNX needed more sales points imho, it was just too exclusive. Not in chaines like Sephora but stores like Barney's, Seagal's Apothecary and other specialists like Aedes. Shiseido didn't want to wait 10 years, like they did with Serge Lutens, to see their money back. Last year Shiseido closed down the "niche" make-up line Stephane Marais aswell, so I think that what matters to Shiseido at the moment is quick rentability.

This is bad. I was just starting to pick up the name to check it out in the near future. I hope some scents will still be around.

I'm in the same boat as you shifts - was planning to be in Paris around Easter to check out those delights...

I know Senteurs d'Ailleurs will be restocking before IUNX closes in March.

The news is offical now, it is featured in today's(16th feb 2006) headlines on www.cosmeticnews.com

Appartly the article explains that IUNX was owned by Fracis Giacobetti, Olivia's father.

I had bought a great "cyste" candle there. The shop was truly amazing with those fancy testers and sci-fi/japanese garden design. I recall I liked their hay and clean linen EDTs. Sad news. :'(

Yeah...I found a lot of their Eaux to be very nice and natural-smelling..
Were they pricey?

can't remember the price, not cheap, but nothing outrageous, maybe 40-45 Euros for 100 Ml. I guess the store is still open right now, and maybe they're having a massive clearance sale - one of us should volunteer to go...

Although I've sampled a part of their offerings, IUNX could perhaps be construed as good, but not warranting enough to capture a large niche.

It might not be here much longer, but one promising possibility is that they will be more available on the net with perhaps a cheaper price.

I was a fan of Eau qui Pique and Eau Argentine, both sweet and fresh.

this is from cosmeticnews.com

Shiseido to shut down niche brand Iunx



Japanese beauty giant Shiseido is disbanding another of its French niche brands. The company has decided to close its French subsidiary 331 International, better known for the brand it operates, fragrance concept Iunx. As a part of its fundamental restructuring measures aimed at transforming itself into a more robust structure capable of generating profits steadily, the company has resolved to dissolve this subsidiary, Shiseido said in a statement.

Iunx's standalone store on Paris's rue de l'Université and its corner at the Printemps department store (in its Printemps de la Beauté department) will close at the end of March, Cosmeticnews.com has learned. The other points-of-sale that sell the brand (the Taizo perfumery in Cannes, concept store L'Eclaireur in Paris and perfumery Senteurs d'Ailleurs in Brussels, Belgium) will continue to offer its products while stocks last. Shiseido said it expects the liquidation to be complete by the end of June.

The Iunx trademark will then be returned to its creators, photographer-makeup artist team Francis Giacobetti and Fabienne Conte-Sévigné, who own 2.42% of the subsidiary. Shiseido estimates sales for the brand in fiscal 2005 (ended March 2005) at ¥70m/$595,300.

Shiseido discontinued its niche makeup brand Stéphane Marais last year. It said it is standing by the activities of its subsidiary Shiseido France SA, which manages the Shiseido brand on that market as well as institute operations Carita and Decléor, fragrance business Beauté Prestige International (BPI) and Les Salons du Palais Royal Shiseido, which controls the Serge Lutens brand.

I would love to see some descriptions and recommendations from members who are familiar with the IUNX line. Senteurs d'Ailleurs still has some in stock and I would love to get some before it is impossible...

I heard their Guimauve body lotion is exquisite. And having made the candy (it's a French confection of strawberry & orange flower water flavoured marshmallows!) I would love to try it myself!

My favorite IUNX were:

Eau Juste: which smells of nature after dawn. Mint, violet, cucumber, wheat.
Eau Ivre: spicy yet cool (as in frech). Absinth and Immortal flowers (a spicy-woody flower you also find in Annick Goutal's Sable). Much more inspiring than Olivia Giacobetti's Fou d'Absinthe for L'Artisan IMHO.
Eau Sento: This is how I would imagine a Japanese wooden house would smell like. Dry, woody and spicy scent. Cedar and cypress.
Eau Blanche: Purity in a bottle. The scent of air drying freshly washed clothes. Iris and white musk.

Though the line is unisex, Eau Ivre and Eau Sento are more typically masculine.

L'Ether was also very very good. A crossing between different Olivia Giacobetti creations, namely Costes and Passage d'Enfer. It also reminds me of Tam Dao by Daniel Moliere for Diptyque.

Thanky you for your responses Ayala and cedricecentric!


Unfortunately L'Ether is nowhere to be found, but that was the one I was most interested in (mostly because it was an EdP). I can take my chances on the others and was looking forward the most to finding out what L'Eau Blanche and Juste were like. I find it promising that you list them...

Just thought I would bump this to let everyone know this line is being brought back at Hotel Costes in Paris!

Can't wait to try out L'Ether

Will all the fragrances be back?
I seem to remember reading that not all the fragrances would be available.

http://www.mimifroufrou.com/scenteds...giacobett.html

That is great news!

ATM not all of them are available, like it says in the article. But the rest will slowly be re-introduced over the coming months.


also - is it Iunx, or Lunx?

I will be visiting Paris this May and would like to locate IUNX. Can anyone confirm their whereabouts and any other recommendations and perfume destinations for my trip?
I checked the Paris thread in the City Guide section and am wondering if there is anything else new I should check out.
Thank you so much in advance!

Inux can be found in Hotel Costes, at least last year I was able to.

Thank you, Ascella!

Updating this thread.

1. Splash Forte was NOT swapped with Eau Sento. (read this rumor online)

2. Eau Frappé EDT will be launching this summer

3. Either 08 Eau Baptiste OR Eau Argentine will come also this summer.

This comes straight from Costes!

Thanks NeoTY26 for the update. I'm assuming Giacobetti will be the nose for the new Eau's?

Yes Mike the entire line is made by Giacobetti, but these are not new - simply the old fragrances slowly being released again. The line looks like this:

00 Eau Juste (Pure Water Fragrance)
01 Eau Argentine (Argentine Fragrance)
02 Eau Sento (Sento Fragrance)
03 Eau Ivre (Forbidden Fragrance)
04 Eau D'Azteque (Aztec Fragrance)
05 Eau Qui Pique (Burning Fragrance)
06 Eau Frappe (Three Lemons On Ice Fragrance)
07 Eau Latine (Latin Fragrance)
08 Eau Baptiste (Baptismal Water Fragrance)
09 Eau Blanche (White Fragrance)
Splash Forte
L'Ether

Bois de Jasmin comments briefly on them here

Eau Frappe sounds great. Lemons, lemons and more lemons? I hope it's a cheaper alternative to Acqua Viva, it sounds like it.

I was in Paris this weekend. IUNX has a new boutique on St. Honoré with Costes!!

I actually just got back from Paris two days ago and I got the chance to visit Iunx in St. Honore. The SA never mentioned that it will be closing at all.

It used to be its own independent boutique (kind of like Salons Shiseido) but closed and is now at the Hotel Costes. I'm sure to pay them a visit in a couple of weeks when I'm on my way to Grasse.

I've never tried any of these fragrances but this TPC page says they are coming back.

http://theperfumedcourt.com/Products...AUFRAPPEE.aspx

It's time for a new thread! This one was made when the line was originally discontinued in 2006. Since then they were brought back at Hotel Costes in late 2008, but only a selection of the original 10 or so fragrances. I just checked in with my contact and the ones currently available are 03 Sento, 06 Frappee, 09 Blanche, Splash Forte, and L'Ether de IUNX. And the prices recently have gone up!! Not sure how much. The 150ml EdT's were $140-ish and the EdP (L'Ether) was around $200 last year. Will report back.

I have only tried L'Ether and it is very nice.
I am looking forward to trying the rest of them.