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Fragrances: Middle Eastern Influences Dominate In The Coming Season
Posted on 25 August 2013 THIS year, the stars of the perfume world are scents traditionally associated with the Middle East, such as the once rare and expensive oud wood essence. This fragrant resin features a rich array of nuances, including of wood, leather and animalic notes. Several European fragrance houses have experimented with oud wood recently, creating warm and exotic perfumes. We take a look at some of the most remarkable fragrances of the season illustrating this trend. Musk Oud by Kilian One of the first European perfumers to draw inspiration from Middle Eastern traditions, Kilian presented the first fragrance from its Arabian Nights collection in 2010. Today, the line consists of five fragrances, all with oud wood at their core. The latest essence from the line, Musk Oud was launched last June. The nose Alberto Morillas prepared this intoxicating blend of lemon and mandarin notes, complemented by spicy cardamom and coriander, all over a base of sensual oud wood. The fragrance is priced at €295 for 50 ml. Damask & Oud by Hugo Boss The lifestyle brand released its Damask & Oud eau de toilette June 1 through its luxury menswear label, BOSS The Collection. Available only in an exclusive set of department stores, the fragrance is based on fine and rare essences including white pepper, saffron, rose, oud wood, guaiac wood and papyrus. The eau de toilette is priced at €110 for 50 ml. Flowerbomb Rose Explosion by Viktor & Rolf The famous Dutch designers have issued a new version of their popular 2005 perfume, Flowerbomb, which has been updated with oud wood and bears the name Flowerbomb Rose Explosion. On top of the fragrant woody essence, the perfume layers an ideal pairing of Turkish and Moroccan rose absolutes and a complex burst of mandarin, bergamot, saffron, jasmine, patchouli and amber notes. This new fragrance, launched in early August, is available at the price of €149 for 100 ml. Myrrhe Impériale by Armani Privé Giorgio Armani also pays homage to the Middle East in fragrance through the 1001 Nights collection, named for the folk tales of the Islamic Golden Age. Unlike its predecessor Oud Royal, released in 2012, the latest fragrance in this collection is not based on this year’s star essence but contains a masterful combination of other signature Middle Eastern notes, including benzoin, myrrh, pink pepper and saffron. Myrrhe Impériale eau de parfum will be available from the end of August, priced at €215 for 100 ml. Valentina Oud Assoluto by Valentino The Italian couture brand called upon world famous nose Olivier Cresp to concoct a new version of its signature feminine fragrance, Valentina, with a Middle Eastern twist. The new eau de toilette is based on an alliance of orange blossom and oud wood, with notes of cardamom, Bulgarian rose, leather, saffron and dry wood. The fragrance will be available from September, priced at €106 for 80 ml. – AFP Relaxnews Continue reading
Price Of Farmland Trebles In Decade And ‘Set For £10k An Acre’
The price of UK farmland has trebled in less than a decade to hit a record high, according to a new survey, as researchers predicted the average price of an acre could soon hit £10,000. Prices for farmland are climbing, a new survey shows. Photo: Alamy By Emma Rowley 7:00AM BST 23 Aug 2013 Interest from farmers and investors buying to rent land to farmers pushed the cost of farmland to £7,440 an acre across the UK in the first six months of this year – three times the price fetched during the same period in 2004, when an acre cost just more than £2,400. Commercial farmers want to expand production to take advantage of the long-term trend for rising food prices and economies of scale, according to researchers at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), who produced the data. While commodity prices have eased in recent months, demand for food is expected to remain on an upwards path in the long term, driven by growing populations and changing diets around the world. The appeal of farmland as a “safe haven” investment to rival gold also plays a part, researchers said. Farmland has outperformed a number of alternative asset classes, which – combined with tax breaks – has enhanced its appeal as an investment. Analysis by estate agents Knight Frank has shown that for years gold was the only asset to outperform farmland, but in the short term this situation has reversed as the price of the precious metal has weakened. “The growth in farmland prices in recent times has been nothing short of staggering,” said Sue Steer, spokeswoman for RICS. “In less than 10 years, we’ve seen the cost of an acre of farmland grow to such an extent that investors – not just farmers – are entering the market. “If the relatively tight supply and high demand continues, we could experience the cost per acre going through the £10,000 barrier in the next two to three years.” The most expensive farmland was found in the North West – where supply is tight – at £8,813 an acre, the RICS survey showed, while the cost was lowest in Scotland, at £4,438 an acre. None the less, prices north of the border touched record levels for the Scottish market. Some areas are already past the £10,000 mark, surveyors said. A 13.5 acre block of land near Antrobus near Northwich, which was suitable for potatoes, recently went for well over £12,000 an acre, said Andrew Wallace at Cheshire-based auctioneers Wright Manley. He reported “keen farmer competition for extra land”. Graham Bowcock, a surveyor, said last year’s wet summer and a tough winter and spring that followed did not seem to have diminished the appetite for land purchase. “The big [farmers] still want to get bigger but continue to be hampered by shortage of supply,” he said. “There are plenty of non-farmers waiting in the wings and many seem to have cash available.” On a long-term perspective, the demand for farmland looks likely to increase further around the world due to the finite supply of arable land and population and consumption trends. Analysts also say that rising demand for land for renewable energy sources such as biofuels will compete against food production, further increasing pressure on arable land. Against this backdrop, food prices will stick above their historical average over the medium term for both crop and livestock products as demand grows and production slows, according to a recent report published by the OECD think tank and the UN’s food agency. The twice-yearly RICS rural market survey, which began in 1995, tracks market prices for farmland across England, Wales and Scotland. Continue reading
Tibet Opens Up As New Domestic Tax Haven
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/657d21a0-00e4-11e3-8918-00144feab7de.html#ixzz2cmpNISU2 By Simon Rabinovitch in Shanghai Cayman Islands, step aside. Private equity funds looking to cut their tax bills have a new option some 3,600 metres above sea level at the foot of the Himalayas. The only catch is, they will be playing a role in China’s strategy to tighten its grip on Tibet. The government of Shannan prefecture, which lies in Tibet between Lhasa and the Buddhist kingdom of Bhutan, has started offering generous tax breaks and other sweeteners in an attempt to make itself a home for private equity funds and investment companies. Cities across China regularly compete for investors, but lawyers and advisers say the package of incentives available in Shannan, known as Lhoka in Tibetan, is unusually aggressive and is beginning to attract interest. The enticements for private equity funds to set up shop in Tibet are part of the Chinese government’s push to develop the region’s economy at the same time as establishing firmer control over it. Some scholars have called for a more flexible approach to the country’s restive Tibetan minority, but top leaders have vowed to take a hard line against anyone seen as agitating for independence. Of the 300,000 people in Shannan, more than 90 per cent are of Tibetan ethnicity. The investment companies that have been lured there are almost entirely managed by Han Chinese, consistent with the government’s strategy of encouraging Han to populate areas inhabited by minority groups. Tibet has set the corporate tax rate for investors at just 15 per cent, well below the national norm of 25 per cent. Companies that pay more than Rmb5m ($820,000) in tax can have as much as 40 per cent returned to them. The Tibetan government has also introduced a flat tax of 20 per cent on the incomes of some partners in private equity firms, a steep discount on the national rate where the highest bracket pays 45 per cent tax. And, unlike many other regions of China, it does not require that funds registering in Tibet invest in local companies; simply having Tibet as a domicile is enough. “Many places throughout China, especially big cities like Beijing and Shanghai, have been offering preferential policies to private equity firms. But over the past year, lots more investors have been mentioning Tibet and talking about moving there,” said Wang Jinghe, a lawyer with Dacheng law offices in Shanghai. Mr Wang said foreign private equity firms with renminbi funds in China would in theory be allowed to base themselves in Tibet but he had not heard of any doing so. Foreign visitors need special permits to enter Tibet and these can be difficult to obtain. Zero2IPO, a research and advisory firm, had no record of Chinese private equity funds establishing themselves in Tibet until last year when three registered there. Figures are not yet available for this year, but anecdotal evidence points to a growing flow towards Tibet. At the start of the year Dingxin Growth Fund established what analysts say is the biggest private equity fund to date in Tibet, a Rmb400m vehicle, though its mandate is to invest in property in other regions of China. “Every lawyer we spoke to suggested that we consider basing ourselves in Tibet,” the manager of a newly established fund told the Financial Times. Tibet is also emerging as a haven for investors who want to limit their taxes when selling off shares. Conant Optical, an eyewear maker listed on China’s venture capital stock exchange, announced on August 8 that its founder’s investment company had moved from Shanghai to Shannan in Tibet and reduced its overall stake. Golden Securities, an investment magazine, said in an article on Friday that it was “an open secret” that Tibet was the place to go to register shareholdings before selling them. The magazine said: “It’s not hard to see that Shannan has become a hotspot for listed companies that are cutting their holdings.” The government of Shannan reported that its tax revenues in the first half of 2013 reached Rmb726mn, a 110 per cent increase over the same period a year earlier. Continue reading
