I’ve
recently been researching the trend for perfumers to respond to works of art in
their fragrant creations. It seems a natural concept. We already perceive many
perfumers as artists in their own right, as they create things of olfactory
beauty that offer us a sensual and emotive experience. Two leaders in the trend
are Scent on Canvas (who will be featured in a future review) and Olfactive
Studio, the subject of this post.
My beloved camera
With
a History of Art and Design Degree, I could spaff on for several thousand words
on this subject (and might do if you’re ever lucky enough to get me drunk in a
pub). As I waited for my sample kit to arrive I readied myself for analysis of
the photographic artworks that inspired the collection. I eagerly pondered how
a scent and an image could collaborate to create a multi-sensory experience and
how utterly this concept appealed to me. Then the box arrived. Before I smelt
it’s contents, I fell in love with it.
So
here you go, a review OF A BOX!
Here’s
the press blurb:
“Olfactive
Studio is an encounter between contemporary artistic photography and perfumery;
between the eye and the nose. Olfactive Studio is at
the crossroads of a photographic studio
and a perfume design studio. This is the first time ever that perfumers have
teamed up with photographers to draw inspiration from their oeuvres.”
Basically
what that means is that perfumers contemplate a photographic image and then
create a perfume that captures the feeling of it.
Although
my primary essence of geek lies within the perfume industry, I’m also rather
geeky about cameras. A few years ago, Ilford went bust. Photography geeks will
remember buying superb quality black and white film from Ilford and perhaps even
using their developing service. Their black and white prints of your pics came
with the tiny white border of the type that seduces Instagram users today. This
was of course in the days before digital photography became a mammoth
phenomenon. I miss Ilford enormously.
When my Olfactive
Studio ‘Discovery Kit’ arrived I held the box in my hand and breathed out the
word Ilford in quiet whisper of sentimentality. For it was almost a replica of
the box that Ilford used to contain your developed prints. It felt the same in my
hands, it utilised the same paper hinged opening, it even echoed the bold Art
Deco inspired typography. I rushed to my cupboard to search for an old Ilford
box and found one that I had defaced years ago with the word ‘Samos’ in what
appears to be red nail varnish (no, I don’t know why I marked this particular box of
holiday snaps with the rejection of a traditional ‘pen’). As I held the boxes
side by side I was struck by how clever the design of the discovery kit was. It
works almost as a secretive pun, to those old enough to clock the significance.
Deco-a-go-go twins
When I opened the box
I was design-whacked a second time by the interior. Each 4 ml bottle was
nestled snugly in the type of thick black foam cradle that lines and protects
SLR camera kit. By this point I was so joyful that I didn’t bother sniffing the
fumes. I just looked on with glee for far too long to be considered normal,
occasionally prodding at the foam and feeling the familiar ‘bounce back’ of the
protective material.
Foam fetishism
So what about the
perfumes? Well, they all smell pleasing. There’s a vibrant fruity/grassy
concoction, a sharp natural wood with a silky warm dry down, a spicy chai milk,
a luminous sparkly bergamot thing and my favourite (Chambre Noir, destined for
a future review) which is especially peculiar and charming, featuring leather, powdery
violet and a gourmand plummy nuance.
Enormous 4 ml samples
You should really take
a look at http://www.olfactivestudio.com, to learn
of the fascinating project and gain a much clearer idea of the notes of each
perfume, being as I’ve had my olfactive descriptions unusually stolen away from
me by a seductive box.
At 35 Euro for 5 x 4ml
samples, this ranks high up on the list of bargainous and beautiful sample
kits. I’ll be treasuring mine in a display cabinet next to my beloved Leica
camera..
