The tide will change

-

I have always approached fragrances as worlds to explore. 

Every perfume I meet takes me into a story, or an emotion, revealing the dream, the vision, the obsession of its creator, that is not me. 

I have always perceived fragrances as creative acts by someone who had something to say and used olfactory notes to do so, just like others create with words, colors, musical notes, or dance steps. The customer is only a witness to the creator’s vision, and can understand it or not. 

For me, meeting a fragrance still means meeting a universe of stimuli and stories. Sometimes this universe is so beautiful, evocative, formally perfect, masterfully executed that I sink gladly into it, its beauty speaks to me, exalts me, even if I am only a witness and it does not vibrate with my personal emotions and experience. 
I am trying to say that a scent is not beautiful because I like it. Or because it speaks about me. Or because it makes me feel good. That scent is beautiful simply because it is. Objectively. And that beauty I admire.

Now that perfume has become a very popular topic and everyone on social media is talking about it, I see the approach is changing. 
People hardly encounter perfume with curiosity, as something potentially enriching, or disconcerting. Many are not able to listen to its voice, and the story it tells. 

Focused on themselves, the public is attracted by fragrances that resonate with their lack of listening and empathy. Their social media discussions are popularizing extra-loud, basic perfumes aiming at advertising the wearer's presence, lifestyle, and existential choices. 

In practice, they envision perfume as a mirror, and use it to amplify their image x1000, self-hypnotizing for eight/ten hours, without ever getting tired. 

Urgh.

Phenomena are to be observed, not criticized, and I will not express any judgment over this. Simply, I detect a trend and reflect on how it is changing the market -and the definition of perfume itself.

As for myself and my choices... I am glad that not all brands focus on that type of customer. Many will continue to create formally perfect fragrances, full of complexity and interesting nuances: often beautiful, and often challenging to most people. 

And they will continue to do so because this is their way of expressing themselves.

Hold on, the tide will change.


Commenti

Posta un commento

Post popolari in questo blog

Fleurs de Rocaille (Caron, 1934)

-
Immagine
Ho ricevuto questa preziosa fialetta di Fleurs de Rocaille, il vintage originale, da Anna Maria qualche tempo fa e la ringrazio molto per avermi fatto conoscere questo piccolo tesoro di Ernest Daltroff. Fleurs de Rocaille significa più o meno “fiori di pietraia” o “fiori di un giardino roccioso”, ed in effetti pur essendo essenzialmente un profumo fiorito esprime essenzialità, minimalismo raffinato. Sembra fatto oggi da qualche naso innamorato della luce e del cristallo. Sul sito di Caron viene definito un fiorito aldeidato, ma non immaginatevi il N.5 di Chanel o White Linen di E. Lauder. Ha una sua delicata dolcezza impressionista, evanescente, che mi ha ricordato l’Eau d’Hiver di Ellena. Non per le note scelte, ma per l’intenzione, per la sospensione nel tempo e nello spazio. Non ho trovato la piramide; sento del garofano (sapete quei garofanini piccoli, color porpora?), della violetta, forse una rosa un po’ speziata, e sicuramente del muschio, ma rarefatto, non potente. Se avete ...
KEEP READING THIS POST*LEGGI TUTTO IL POST

Arancia La Spugnatura (Francois Demachy per Acqua di Parma, 2023)

-
Immagine
La spugnatura è una delle più antiche tecniche di estrazione meccanica delle essenze agrumarie ; si tratta di un metodo manuale che richiede maestria e precisione, e sono pochi, ormai, gli artigiani che sono in grado di farlo.  Per spugnare (o “sfumare”) un agrume, si divide il frutto a metà . Attraverso un apposito attrezzo -una via di mezzo tra un coltello ed un cucchiaio, denominato “cavatore”- l'artigiano scodella via la polpa da ognuna delle due metà, lasciando integra la buccia . Questa viene poi piegata e pressata sopra una spugna naturale, che raccoglierà tutta l'essenza contenuta negli otricoli. Quando sarà completamente imbibita di essenza, la spugna verrà poi strizzata all'interno di un recipiente di coccio, e l'olio essenziale così ottenuto verrà lasciato decantare.  Ogni artigiano riesce a spugnare circa un quintale e mezzo di frutti al giorno, da cui si ricavano poco meno di 500 gr di essenza .  Se le essenze agrumarie si estraessero ancora in questo mo...
KEEP READING THIS POST*LEGGI TUTTO IL POST

Perris Montecarlo new release: Vetiver Java by Gian Luca Perris (2021)

-
Immagine
Vetiver is duality made plant.  The visible part is a bright green shrub whose long and thin leaves point towards the sky. The invisible part is a huge taproot embracing Mother Earth with such an exceptional vigor, difficult to overcome.  Evidently, vetiver's essence, too, expresses the same duality -and Java vetiver even better than any other type. On the one hand, you smell the freshness, the clarity of a cold winter day, the “push” upwards , to touch Heavens. On the other hand, there's the woody-green, dry, earthy, warm, smoked facet, endowed with the primitive and unconscious elegance of wild creatures. You smell the powerful roots, the effort of freeing them from Mother Earth's embrace, to clean them, to dry them, to work them... the work of man, his desire to take possession of such an intense and intimate embrace, to feel wrapped in it.  Capturing both these polarities is not easy; the composer must be able to listen deeply to the rew materials, and build a visce...
KEEP READING THIS POST*LEGGI TUTTO IL POST