Christian Dior has followed up last year’s Escale a Portofine with a new fragrance–Escale ?á Pondich?®ry, named after an ex-French Colony in India. They celebrated the launch of the fragrance at The Dune Eco Beach Hotel in India on March 21, 2009.

The three-day celebration featured Dior perfumer Francois Demachy and 40 journalists from around the world celebrating the scents of India at the popular 36-acre eco-friendly resort.

ÔÇ£It is a privilege and honor for us at The Dune Eco Beach Hotel to have been selected by Christian Dior to have their new Perfume being launched for the world, out of here. It is also a matter of pride for us as this happens to be the first launch of perfumes from Christian Dior in India. The Dune Eco Beach Hotel always strives to bridge the esoteric to the real and this honor of hosting Christian Dior validates thisÔÇØ, said Mr Dimitri Klien, Managing Director, The Dune Eco Beach Hotel.

The fragrance features notes fof jasmine, sandalwood, black tea and other ingredients native to the regioin. It’s a chic, exotic fragrance that is inspired by the area’s essence and culture. Look for the new fragrance soon.

Check out the other Christian Dior fragrances from their icon Poison to the sophisticated Miss Dior Cherie.

Yves Saint Laurent recently launched their newest fragrance, La Nuit de L’Homme. This cologne takes the classic masculinity of the original L’Homme scent and adds a little bit more sensuality. This is the third fragrance in the L’Homme collection.

The oriental fragrance features notes of bergamot, cardamom, lavender, vetiver, cedar and coumarin. It is a sexy, seductive scent that is perfect for evenings. French Actor Vincent Cassel is featured in the commercial campaign for the new YSL fragrance.

Check out the rest of the Yves Saint Laurent fragrance line, including colognes, perfumes, after shaves and much more. The YSL label has been creating fragrances for decades, beginning with his first fragrance, Y in 1964.

You may be a fan of Marc Jacobs’ fashions, but did you know he has a fantastic fragrance too? Like many fashion designers, Marc Jacobs has delved into the fragrance industry as well.

Marc Jacobs Eau de Parfum Spray is a fresh, feminine scent that isn’t too heavy. It’s youthful yet elegant. The fragrance features a blooming white flower scent that offers notes of gardenia, tuberose, jasmine bergamot, ginger and cedar.

The warm tones of cedar and ginger allow this floral to not be too flowery. You can get the 50ml (1.7oz) size of the Marc Jacobs fragrance for just ?ú39.99.

Marc Jacobs began his fashion career under Perry Ellis, then moved on to Louis Vuitton. In recent years, he has become known as a top designer with his own label. From gown to handbags and everything in between (including fragrance), Marc Jacobs’ success continues to grow.

The marketing campaign for singer Avril Lavigne’s debut fragrance has launched. The Canadian singer was in London last week promoting the scent, called Black Star. Black Star was created by Procter & Gamble Prestige Products.

“I wanted to make sure it was really me – me in a bottle,” she said. The bottle is pink and black with studs.

The fragrance features notes of pink hibiscus, black plum and dark chocolate. Sounds delicious.

Lavigne originally announced the name of the new fragrance on her official website, “It has been a pretty cool experience. It’s so me in a bottle….hahaha! I love the packaging,” she announced on her official site. “I wanted to let you guys know the name first … so…..(drum roll please)…….hahah….. The name is ‘Black Star’!”

The fragrance will be released in July in Europe and then be available in the United States and Canada later in the fall. It will be out in Asia in 2010. The Black Star fragrance collection will include perfume, aftershave, bath oil, bath soap, shower gel, body shampoo, and body lotion. The scent will be available as Eau de Parfum in 15ml, 30ml, 50ml and 100 ml sizes.

Lavigne describes Black Star as “young and fresh and edgy.”

With all the other celebrities in the fragrance game, from Britney Spears to Mariah Carey, now Halle Berry is about to launch her own brand of perfume. Last year reports of her debut fragrance began to circulate with Halle by Halle Berry set for Spring 2009

Daily Mail quoted Berry as saying, “(Before my fragrance) I was mixing other brands that shall remain nameless to make my own scent with fig and mimosa. With Halle, I added olibanum, which is an African root, which brings spice to the fragrance, and sandalwood, which smoothes everything out and makes it yummy.”

The top notes of her Halle scent are Sicilian bergamot, fig leaves and pear blossom. It also contains notes from freesia petals, hibiscus flowers and mimosa.

Campaign ads will begin in magazines in April and May, but you can check it out in this month’s Essence magazine. Halle joins a long line of other celebrity endorsers for Coty, including Jennifer Lopez, Victoria and David Beckham, Sarah Jessica Parker, Gwen Stefani, Celine Dion and Kate Moss.