Colognoisseur Esxence 2015 Final Wrap-Up Part 1- The People I Met

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This was a very different Esxence for me than any previous one that I attended. One reason for that was I spent a large portion of my time in The Mall in Milano with a microphone in my hand and in front of a camera. It is a different perspective to be sure and I want to thank every one of my interview subjects for making it so easy for me. I hope those watching at home on the web viewer could feel my excitement.

One oddity of every Esxence is I have to travel across an entire ocean to meet someone who lives in the US. This year that dubious honor goes to Saskia Wilson-Brown of The Institute for Art & Olfaction (IAO). On the first day of the show she revealed the five finalists in each category for the 2015 Art & Olfaction Awards. The simple creation of the IAO and the awards which carry their name already let me know what a great person she was. The opportunity we had to chat over all three days confirmed that. After spending this time with her I am more sure than ever that the Art & Olfaction Awards are going to be one of the premiere awards in all of perfumery sooner than later.

Andrea Rubini

Andrea Rubini

If there was one person I met who radiated the passion of doing something you love it was Andrea Rubini. I started Day 3 standing in front of his stand and told him to tell me about his perfume. Instead of business plans or sales strategies he started with a smile and the phrase, “I was born into a family of perfumers….” From there he proudly displayed the perfume which carries his name and he was equally as excited when describing the other members of the team behind Rubini Fundamental. In a show of 150 different brands it might have been the tiniest which had the largest emotion.

Another feature of every Esxence for me is I spend time with perfumers with whom I have not had an opportunity to meet previously.

Luca Maffei of Atelier Fragranze Milano was tapped by brand Jul et Mad to do two of their new “Les White” collection. Sig. Maffei was so joyously animated when speaking with me about the creative process behind Nea and Garuda it was infectious. He has a joie de vivre which translates to his perfumes.

The other perfumer I spent some time with was Stephane Humbert Lucas. I have been a big supporter of his work in the past but we had never had the opportunity to really talk about perfume for any length of time before. As he showed me his new Mortal Skin and Harrod’s Limited Edition there was a noticeable smile on his face as he watched my reactions. I think perfumers know when they have made something special and he seemed happy as he watched me connect with his new creations.

Believe it or not I had never met Bertrand Duchaufour prior to Esxence. He showed me his new I miss Violet for The Different Company. That a perfumer as prolific as M. Duchaufour also still displays the delight of creation is testament to his longevity.

If there was a rock star of this year’s Esxence it had to be Michael Edwards of the Fragrances of the World reference book. He was seemingly everywhere on the floor as I worked my way around. His SRO talk on how oud came to be part of western perfumery was one of the highlights of that part of the Esxence program.

Oh yes there were perfumes to be sampled and tomorrow in Part 2 I’ll call out the top 10 from Esxence 2015.

–Mark Behnke

Esxence 2015 Day 3 Wrap-Up: A Cruise on the Perfumed Ocean

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Every Esxence there seems to be one brand which starts to gain a groundswell of buzz. This year’s winner of that honor is Rubini. Founder Andrea Rubini gathered a team of creatives to help him realize his vision. A perfumer who prefers to be unnamed, package designer Francesca Gotti, and Ermano Picco. All four of these helped create one of the singular buzzworthy brands of the show. The packaging of Sig.ra Gotti is from recycled fiberglass from old boats. Don’t ask me what a boat recycling bin looks like. It looks like stone but is light as a feather. It is an apt metaphor for the fragrance called Fundamental. The scent itself is also something which also conveys lightness with surprising weight. Rubini Fundamental was one of the most unique perfumes in the entire exhibition.

Next was time to meet Stephane Humbert Lucas for him to premiere his new release Mortal Skin for his Stephane Humbert Lucas 777 brand. Mortal Skin is a brilliant realization of M. Humbert Lucas’ vision of a snake swaying and hypnotizing the wearer into a trance. It drew me in and never wanted to let me go. Before I left M. Humbert Lucas also showed me the limited edition for Harrod’s he is doing. He jokingly names it Mike Tyson because it opens with a fierce uppercut of intense notes. If you survive the first punch what remains reveals a sublime beauty.

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For the next hour I was treated to a tour of the ocean courtesy of Pierre Guillaume and his Collection Croisiere. The first four releases of an eventual eight were a tour de force in how to make interesting aquatics without resorting to Calone. Entre Ciel et Mer is like riding a surfboard under the curl as the spray covers your face before you emerge from the pipe. It is refreshingly icy for an aquatic. Paris Seychelles is for laying in the sun on the beach as you carry the warmth of the sun. The other side of the coin to Entre Ciel et Mer. If you’ve ever been in a tropical rainforest after a rainstorm has washed the air clean you will recognize the smell of Jangala. A really intelligent use of eucalyptus imparts a lung filling purity like when the world has been scrubbed clean. Finally if you’re on a cruise you need some suntan lotion and M. Guillaume’s Long Courrier suntan lotion accord is made of salty vanilla and sea spray.

After returning from my cruise I headed to Elizabethan England so perfumer Anais Biguine could introduce me to her new Jardins D’Ecrivains Marlowe. The follow-up to last year’s ultra-modern Junky, Marlowe strikes a more classical pose. It has a heady spirit exemplified by green tuberose. It exudes exuberance as well as grace. Mme Biguine has added another writer to her jardin.

This was my last day at Esxence 2015 as I will be on a plane as you read this. As always I want to thank the entire Esxence team for the invitation to attend and to be the face of this year’s Esxence TV. I am already looking forward to next year. Until then, Arrivaderci Perfumistas & Colognoisseurs.

–Mark Behnke

Esxence 2015 Day 2 Wrap: Will the Real Oud Please Stand Up?

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As everyone is aware the use of oud in perfumery has exploded. Day 2 of Esxence 2015 was bookended by experiencing a new fragrance using real oud and Michael Edwards speaking on the history of oud coming to Western perfumery. In between there was a lot more to see and experience.

I started my day out with Jul et Mad who were premiering the White collection consisting of Nea, Garuda, and Min-Shar. I was fortunate to have perfumer Luca Maffei on hand to guide me through the collection as he was responsible for Nea and Garuda. It was the latter which really caught my attention. Sig. Maffei spoke of his use of Cambodian oud in the heart of Garuda. What was very interesting was his use of rum to attenuate the strong medicinal qualities that particular oud has. The brief was to make Garuda glow like a room lined with gold in the sunlight. Sig. Maffei did that and then some.

The breakout brand of last year’s Esxence was Le Galion and the revival of perfumer Paul Vacher’s line. I was very interested to see where Le Galion would set sail for this year. Owner Nicolas Chabot presented six new perfumes to me. Of those six, three are brand new compositions. Perfumer Vanina Murraciole was responsible for the two new ones in the main collection, Cuir and Aesthete. Aesthete is the one that I like most. Both Cuir and Aesthete are leather fragrances but where Cuir feels like a throwback to the leather perfumes of the past, Aesthete feels contemporary. It is that modernity that draws me to it. Sig.ra Murraciole has made a pair of fabulous new addition that show Le Galion is well on their way to continuing M. Vacher’s legacy.

panorama-olfactive-studio-miguel-sandinha

Photo by Miguel Sandinha

If there was one note I was both anticipating and dreading trying this year it was the wasabi note promised in the new Olfactive Studio Panorama. As always it is based on a photograph. This time it is of the Sheats Goldstein house in Los Angeles by photographer Miguel Sandinha. As you can see in the picture above there are two modern aspects the skyline of LA off in the distance and the glass corner of the house on the right side. What you should notice if you want to get a sense of Panorama is that well over half of the picture is green. Panorama is a fragrance of unusual green facets. Perfumer Clement Gavarry and Creative Director/Owner Celine Verleure combined to make something very green and very current. What about that wasabi note? It is amazingly good in this perfume.

My favorite new discovery of Day 2 was X-Ray Profumo Amnesia. Inspired by the nightclub in Ibiza and not the mental affliction. Perfumer Ralf Schwieger has made a vibrant perfume which captures the beat of an oceanside club pulsing into the dawn from the night before. As with the wasabi in Panorama the keynote in Amnesia is another strange choice which works. Hr. Schwieger has developed a seaweed and sea salt accord. By itself it would probably smell like low tide and unpleasant. Forming the nucleus of Amnesia it allows all the other surrounding fresh notes to dance the night away on the beach with abandon.

Final stop on Day 2 was Michaels Edwards’ talk on oud and how it came to the West. Raise your hand if you thought YSL M7 was the first Western oud fragrance. Mr. Edwards showed us it was Balenciaga pour Homme which pre-dated M7. In a talk where he showed us a bottle of real oud extract worth $50,000 to start; we were given strip after strip to see how oud has been developed by the very best perfumers we have over the last few years. If there was ever a need to be shown that oud remains relevant in Western perfumery Mr. Edwards provided it.

That’s the end of Day 2. My final day is straight ahead and I’ll be dashing through the show like a madman.

–Mark Behnke

Esxence 2015 Day 1 Wrap-Up: Defending Heritage, Lauding the New

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This year‘s version of Esxence started with a panel on the pressures independent artistic perfumery faces. At last year’s edition the spectre of IFRA and the EU handing down potentially destructive decisions was real. One year later the panel hosted by Esxence co-founder Silvio Levi shows the beginning of a coordinated response by the niche perfume community. At the forefront are two national committees made up of a broad cross section of all sectors of perfumery in those countries. In France it is called Comite Josephine and in Italy, Asscociazone Caterina. They are working to first create a groundswell within each country before eventually banding into their own force to be reckoned with. We had five members of these committees speak about the pressures niche perfumery is under. There are many large hurdles to overcome but this roundtable made me feel that the people on this panel are ready to face them.

The other big panel was first a discussion between Professor Claus Noppeney and the Institute of Art & Olfaction’s Saskia Wilson-Brown on the value of a truly transparent award for the niche community. Ms. Wilson-Brown outlined the process this year’s entries went through and then after discussion with Prof. Noppeney on the beneficial effects of these awards. Much of this reseach is being done for Scent Culture Institute. The finalists for this year were announced:

IAO finalis1_layout_2

Artisan Category

A City on Fire by Imaginary Authors Perfumer: Josh Meyer

Eau de Celeri by Monsillage Perfumer: Isabelle Michaud

Foxglove by D.S. & Durga Perfumer: David Seth Moltz & Kavi Moltz

Tobacco Cognac by House of Cherry Bomb Perfumer: Alexis Karl & Maria McElroy

Woodcut by Olympic Orchids Perfumer: Ellen Covey

Independent Category

Ombre Indigo by Olfactive Studio Perfumer: Mylene Alran

Boccanera by Orto Parisi Perfumer: Alessandro Gualtieri

Pashay by Raymond Matts Perfumer: Christophe Laudamiel

Black Pepper & Sandalwood by Acca Kappa Perfumer: Luca Maffei

Skive by Canoe Perfumer: Jessica Hannah

Experimental

Catalin for The Contemporary in Austin, TX Creative team: Charles Long, Carrie Paterson, Karen Reitzel, Seth Hawkins, Emery Martin, Michael Mascha.

Chroma for Denver Art Museum Creative Team: Dawn Spencer Hurwitz

Crime and Punishment for the Minnesota Fringe Festival Creative Team: Mike McGinley, Charles Mc Ginley, Noah Bremer, Ben Heywood.

Famous Deaths for the Museum of the Image (MOTI) in Holland Creative Team: Marcel van Brakel, Frederik Duernick, Wander Eikelboom, Caro Verbeek.

In Libro De Tenebris for the Maggs Gallery in England Creative Team: Paul Schultze

Once again, as it did in last year's inaugural edition, the extremely transparent and fair process has led to a stellar group of finalists. The winners will be announced on April 17, 2015.

Between my television duties and the panels I did get a chance to try some new perfumes.

My first stop of the day was with Francois Duquesne and he presented the new Aedes de Venustas Palissandre D'Or. Perfumer Alberto Morillas has composed a spicy woody fantasia

I was very excited to get a chance to smell the new Neela Vermeire Creations Pichola. My early impression is this has all of the exuberance of Bombay Bling but with white floral providing the fun.

The new The Different Company I miss Violet was composed by Bertrand Duchaufour and if you liked the green vegetal accord from Penhaligon's Ostara you will see a different application here as it is used to provide a foundation for violets to rest upon. A gorgeous new violet fragrance for me to enjoy.

At Etat Libre D’Orange I tried the new Remarkable People and it is a fizzy flute of champagne sprinkled in spices. Another delightful take on tried and true tropes with a flair from ELDO.

That’s just the beginning. I’ll be back tomorrow with all of the comings and goings from Day 2 as I dive headfirst into the Spotlight section featuring new brands.

–Mark Behnke

Live from Milan! It’s Esxence 2015! Day 3 Schedule and Live Viewer

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Esxence 2015 is back on the air for all four days of the exposition.

Below is the live viewer which will stream all of the panels. If you also keep watching you will even see me interviewing the people involved in this year's event.

 

Here is the schedule of events for Day 3:

11.00 a.m. local/ 6:00 am US ET

Book presentation

Dillo con un profumo (ed TEA). The Scent of Design

The Author Mariangela Rossi talks with Laura Maggi, Managing Editor at Elle Decor and with Giorgia Martone Art Director of Magna Pars Suites Milano, the first Hotel à Parfum

 

12.00 a.m. local/ 7:00 am US ET

Workshop by Mouillettes & Co

Invisible Messages

The language of fragrances is invisible but it always tells us a story

with Maria Grazia Fornasier and Emanuela Rupi

 

2.30 p.m. local/ 9:30 am US ET

Book Presentation

Le lacrime di Mirra – Miti e luoghi dei profumi nel mondo antico

by Prof. Giuseppe Squillace, University of Calabria

 

4.00p.m.local/11:00amUS ET

Conference Perfume Wardrobe

with Marta Siembab, Senselier

 

5.00 p.m. local/ Noon US ET

Book Presentation

La sua voce è profumo

The Author Giovanna Zucconi introduced by Maddalena Scagnelli (voice and violin) and Franco Guglielmetti (accordion)