WINTER EscENTIALS 2017


When we discovered the work of photographer Monika Holzner and stylist Rebecca Martin we just knew their sensuous minimalism would be spot-on for our 2017 WINTER EscENTIALS. In an elaborate photo session in Paris, the creative duo shot eleven carefully selected fragrances to inspire you to celebrate the many diverse and often divergent facets of the cold season’s charisma. Follow us into the winter wonderland to discover musical icicles, fruit-laden icebergs, molten moonlight, and other wintery curiosities.

PHOTOGRAPHY: Monika Holzner
STYLING: Rebecca Martin



I smell Winter!

Discover 11 essential winter perfumes.

 



01. Amouage: Opus III


winter fragrance amouage opus iii


I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says, ‘Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.’ 

―Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

 

Though trees and plants may look dead and barren, black skeletons against a white monochrome backdrop, there’s a lot going on beneath the snow and ice. Opus III speaks of secret forces busily synthetizing saps and fragrant molecules for the time of resurrection.


YEAR: 2010
PERFUMER: Karine Vinchone Spehner
www.amouage.com

 

 



02. Byredo: Blanche


winter fragrances blanche by byerdo


A lot of people like snow. I find it to be an unnecessary freezing of water.

―Carl Reiner

 

Director and writer Carl Reiner (9 Emmys) clearly never had the great good fortune to smell Byredo’s Blanche — or he’d have understood the pristine beauty of snow-covered plains: virginal, like fresh laundered linen; inviting, like the blank sheet of typewriter paper awaiting its next hit screenplay.


YEAR: 2009
PERFUMER: unknown
www.byredo.com

 

 



03. Æther: Methaldone



Our love is running into a burning building
Our love is scattered ash with a burnt-up feeling
Feel the heat so we started running
You know you saw it coming
But the memories are still in my mind
Burning like smoke and fire

—Sabrina Carpenter: Smoke and Fire

 

A winter fling brings light and warmth to the cold time of your year. But, what if the winds of passion were to stoke the smoldering embers in an all-consuming conflagration, making ashes and debris of your entire world? Our advice would be to merrily fan the flames, sweetheart — and splash on lots of Methaldone as olfactive soundtrack.


YEAR: 2017
PERFUMER: Rodrigo Flores-Roux
www.aetherparfums.com

 

 



04. Diptyque: Eau Mage EdP



I knew a girl who tried to walk across the lake
’Course it was winter when all this was ice
That’s a hell of a thing to do, you know
They say the lake is as big as the ocean
I wonder if she knew about it?

—Yoko Ono: Walking on Thin Glass

 

Two things needed to cross big waters: inquisitiveness and a great deal of patience — to wait for someone in a yacht to give you a ride (won’t happen!), or for the water to freeze over so you can walk across, following your own compass. Whichever way, don’t forget to take a really good perfume along!


YEAR: 2015
PERFUMER: Fabrice Pellegrin
www.diptyqueparis.com

 

 



05. Carner Barcelona: Black Calamus


black calamus by carner shot by monika holzner and rebecca martin


Melancholy were the sounds on a winter’s night.

—Virginia Woolf, Jacob’s Room

 

Winter’s the time to face your inner darkness and reconnect with your roots. Black Calamus envelopes you like a soft black blanket, providing the warmth and security you need for this strenuous process of reinvention — so you’ll rise like the butterfly from its cocoon, once your time has come.


YEAR: 2016
PERFUMER: Rodrigo Flores-Roux
www.carnerbarcelona.com

 

 



06. Map Of The Heart: Clear Heart V 1


clear heart v1 by map of the heart


Once I had a love and it was a gas
Soon turned out had a heart of glass
Seemed like the real thing, only to find
Mucho mistrust, love’s gone behind

—Blondie: Heart of Glass

 

Some things can get so cold, they trick the nerve endings under your skin into sensing the touch of something dangerously hot: think of icicles, flash-frozen rain on iron gates, cubes right from the freezer. The same is true for hearts, just the other way around!


Year: 2015
Perfumer: Jacques Huclier
www.mapoftheheart.com

 

 



07. Mona di Orio: Bohea Bohème


bohea boheme by mona di orio


With melted Snow
I boil Fragrant tea.

—Mencius

 

A cup of fragrant tea can make all the difference: be your perfect start to the new day, fight winter’s chilliness from within, bridge the gap between humans, when shared. Black tea-themed Bohea Bohème is all of this — a remedy to get you through the dark times of the year.


YEAR: 2017
PERFUMER: Fredrik Dalman
www.monadiorio.com

 

 



08. Stora Skuggan: Moonmilk


scent still life moonmilk by storm skuggan


At night, the moon shines into the cave so brightly the light itself seems to take form. It makes the stalactites glitter and gleam, dripping tears of white liquid into puddles on the rocky ground that never dry out.

—Conrad Gessner

 

This poetic report of a rare and mysterious geological phenomenon by a 16th-century Swiss naturalist serves as a perfect description of the latest, sandalwood-based olfactive creation from Tomas Hempel, founder of Stockholm perfume house Stora Skuggan.


YEAR: 2017
PERFUMER: Tomas Hempel
www.storaskuggan.com

 

 



09. Guerlain: Arsene Lupin Voyou


Arsene Lupin Voyou by guerlain


Music comes from an icicle as it melts, to live again as spring water.

—Henry Williamson

 

So it takes time and thermal energy to release melodious sounds from an icicle? The same forces will be effective in releasing the full olfactive beauty of Arsene Lupin Voyou! Despite a clean and slightly unapproachable opening, the warmth of your skin and a wee bit of patience will soon unlock for you the generous fragility of this scent.


YEAR: 2010
PERFUMER: Jean-Paul Guerlain
www.guerlain.com

 

 



10. Pierre Guillaume: Cadjmèré


perfume still life with cadjmere by pierre guillaume


Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand, and for a talk beside the fire.

—Edith Sitwell

 

Thank God it’s winter! What better excuse to retrieve your favorite cashmere garments from their closeted exile — or, even better, to go hunt for new ones. If this perfume were a cashmere sweater, it would envelope you in a nude-colored, comforting, semi-translucent cocoon of fluffiness.


YEAR: 2007
PERFUMER: Pierre Guillaume
www.pierreguillaumeparis.com

 

 



11. Agonist: Arctic Jade


winter fragrance arctic jade by agonist


It’s never too cold for an ice cream.

—Anonymous

 

Picture an iceberg bearing tons of ripe raspberries, the deep red of cranberries glistening below its glassy surface, and a cloud of vanilla-infused whipped cream to top it all off — the sole image we can think of to reconcile the cold beauty of the name Arctic Jade with the delicacy of its smell.


YEAR: 2011
PERFUMER: unknown
www.agonistparfums.com


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