star shaped perfume architecture

HUMIECKI & GRAEF

You can visit this German luxury perfume label's website at www.humieckiandgraef.com

They describe their company as "memory mirrored in fragrance.... an emotional home base in a virtualized, globalized world."

Their "five uncommon fragrances evoke the atmosphere of lingering memory. Inspired by life's ardent narratives, the five distinctive moods are subtly yet intensely rendered."

The concept: "Cubism in a bottle. Individual fragrance concepts inspired by atypical, emotionally evocative motifs such as madness, melancholy, and fury, translated into select scent... For H&G, [perfumer Christophe] Laudamiel replaced the conventional pyramid shaped fragrance 'architecture' with a star shaped model. An innovation that enabled him to express emotional complexity and clearly distinguish different fragrance notes, allowing the scent to develop harmoniously and sustain itself on the skin."

Their fragrances really do sound lovely and interesting. I want to list the elements of each of their five scents first, without revealing the name and description of each... wouldn't it be fun to try to match the elements to their artfully composed descriptions? (wait, is it the other way around?)

The elements:

A: lovage, sensual musk, barley extract, frankincense, myrrh, Roman chamomile, absinth

B: birch tar, Guatemalan cardamom, soft leather, ginger, grapefruit, vetivert, Egyptian mimosa

C: soft amber, musky soft violet, soft petal, soft fir resin

D: cinnamon bark, frozen orange note, green pineapple, immortelle absolute, Vietnamese cilantro, green violet, peach kernal, ozonic red berries freshness

E: green banana, fresh mandarin peel, fresh lemon, Italian fresh mint leaves, rhubarb juice, bamboo sape accord


The five fragrances:

Skarb, "a fragrance about melancholy. Inspiration: The deep Slavic soul
Evocation: The bittersweet swell of sorrow and mysticism; at once rough and tender, deep elegance."

Askew, "a fragrance about fury. Inspiration: The demolition of the classical men's fragrance.
Evocation: An abundance of fire and explosion, energy and virility."

Geste, "a fragrance about intensity. Inspiration: A mature woman in love with a young man
Evocation: The softness of a young beau's skin with the purity of a crisp white shirt, the sweetness of freshly baked bread, and the mystery maturity brings to love."

Multiple Rouge, "a fragrance about folly and fun. Inspiration: Devil-may-care madness.
Evocation: A singular fruity note, a sort of futuristic wild strawberry. It is the moment when you forget the world around you, throwing caution to the wind, taking a dancing club with you."

Eau Radieuse, "a fragrance about desire. Inspiration: A futuristic remake of an Eau de Cologne.
Evocation: Celestial spheres. Light. Total clarity. You yearn for ease and are transported to a wondrous place on an unknown planet."



To find out which elements evoke which experience/memory, check out the website.... just kidding, (I didn't transcribe all of this for nothing) - the lists correspond directly with one another. Still, you should check out the website to see their um, evocative images... An androgynous young man with a single tear on his cheek, the torso of a nude muscular bearded man as he sits on the edge of a sofa, gripping a ceramic vase.... it's worth a cruise by.