Perfume counters at all departmental stores can now easily give you what you have been buying from abroad. Not surprising then that cosmetic companies now choose to launch their new perfumes in the Indian market almost simultaneously with the international launches.

Last week, two big labels were launched in India: Aigner Pour Homme and Balmain de Balmain. Headway Cosmetics, which has many other brands like Boucheron in its stable, has brought Aigner Pour Homme to India. This men's perfume has a fragrance of leather. The new fragrance is supposed to supply self-confidence and assurance of classic values during the challenges and opportunities of the new millennium.

The perfume is meant for "a man who has found his equilibrium, does not become lost in fixed conventions, but selects from the latest trends". Aigner Pour Homme costs Rs 2,600 for 100 ml. The fragrance is composed of a combination of fresh Mediterranean citrus fruits, exotic spices and warm woody fragrances like sandal and cedarwood. "Leather and musk evoke exceptional accents and underline the virile character of this fragrance," says Mr Peter Pias, export director of Aigner, who was in Delhi to launch the perfume.

The fragrance comes in three different products-perfume, shaving cream and body care gel.

The other new perfume is for women from the house of Pierre Balmain. Balmain de Balmain is supposed to be the mother of all perfumes and ultra-feminine. It is a couture perfume from Pierre Balmain, a couture house that has dressed a host of French and foreign stars like Brigitte Bardot, Marlene Dietrich and Katherine Hepburn. Since 1990, Oscar de la Renta has been the artistic director of this house.

This perfume, too, is meant for the new age woman and costs Rs 2,600 for 100 ml, Rs 1,875 for 50 ml and Rs 700 for 30 ml.