A modern romance
SMELL IS VITAL WHEN IT COMES TO THE ATTRACTION BETWEEN LOVERS: KISSING IS BELIEVED TO HAVE EVOLVED FROM PRIMAEVAL SNIFFING TO DETERMINE A PERFECT MATCH. LEBANESE PERFUMER LUDMILA BITAR’S A Weekend in Fontainebleau by Ideo Parfumeurs WAS INSPIRED BY HER FIRST DATE WITH NOW-HUSBAND ANTOINE. “AT A DINNER PARTY I SAT NEXT TO A VERY HANDSOME MAN WHOSE FIRST WORDS WERE TO COMPLIMENT MY PERFUME,” SAYS LUDMILA. “HE DIDN’T KNOW I HAD MADE IT FOR MYSELF, SO IT WAS A VERY GOOD OPENING LINE!” THEY BEGAN TO DATE. “ONE OF OUR FAVOURITE PLACES WAS THE FOREST AT FONTAINEBLEAU – A FAVOURITE OUT-OF-TOWN DESTINATION FOR PARISIANS. THE SMELLS OF THE COUNTRYSIDE REMINDED ME SO MUCH OF OUR RELATIONSHIP IN THE EARLY DAYS – THE EXCITEMENT AND PASSION – SO WHEN I CAME TO CREATE MY OWN COLLECTION I THOUGHT I WOULD COMBINE A LITTLE OF THE FIRST FRAGRANCE THAT HAD MADE ANTOINE FALL FOR ME, WITH THE NATURAL SCENTS OF THE FOREST AND A DASH OF ROMANCE AND PASSION TOO!” THE RESULT? THE SEDUCTION OF NATURE AT ITS FINEST.
A ROMANTIC SCENTED GARDEN IN SAIGON SPARKS LOVING MEMORIES IN Cochine Tuberose and Wild Fig FOR FOUNDER KATE CROFTON-ATKINS. “THIS MARKS A VERY HAPPY TIME IN MY LIFE: NEWLY ENGAGED TO MY NOW HUSBAND, LEAVING MY DAY JOB IN LONDON FOR AN ADVENTURE INTO THE UNKNOWN, AND A REAL FEELING OF ESCAPE.” THINK WARMTH OF THE EVENING SUN, NIGHT-FLOWERING JASMINE >>
AND TUBEROSE BURSTING INTO FLOWER AND MIXING WITH THE AROMA OF DARK JUICY FIG TREES. “NOW, EVERY TIME I WEAR IT, I AM TRANSPORTED BACK TO THAT GARDEN, WALKING THROUGH THE TREES IN A FLOATING WHITE DRESS, THE WARM GRASS UNDER MY BARE FEET AND SKIN STILL WARM FROM THE AFTERNOON.”
a secret unveiled
A BEAUTIFUL TOKEN OF LOVE, Le Parfum de Thérèse for Frederic Malle IS A BESPOKE PERFUME THAT WAS FIRST CREATED IN THE MID-50S BY THE “FATHER OF MODERN PERFUME” EDMOND ROUDNITSKA, AS A SCENTED LOVE LETTER FOR
HIS WIFE, THERESE. BRIGHT, COMPLEX AND INCREDIBLY MODERN EVEN THEN, MIXING TANGERINE AND MELON WITH ROSE AND PLUM, IT HAS REMAINED A SECRET FROM THE ENTIRE FRAGRANCE INDUSTRY BECAUSE SHE WAS THE ONLY PERSON EVER TO WEAR IT. LURED BY PERFUMER FREDERIC MALLE, AS A WAY TO CELEBRATE THEIR MARRIAGE AND HER HUSBAND’S INCREDIBLE TALENT, THERESE NOW SHARES THIS LIFETIME SIGNATURE LOVE SCENT WITH US ALL.
“You can time travel with scent; it allows you to go back and smell the same emotions you smelt ten years ago” Charlotte Tilbury