These days, you can bottle almost anything: a memory, a flavour, even a fleeting place. Imagine sealing the caramel smoke of burnt cane sugar, or the ache of a farewell on a ferry, inside glass. Yet, we have never dared to trap something that lives millions of miles beyond our reach. What if we tried to capture the scent of shooting stars?
Perhaps it sounds absurd, but sometimes, absurdity is simply the art of survival. This is the heart of Aesop’s Above Us, Steorra Eau de Parfum: a fragrance that does not mimic fire, but distils the sensation of gazing into the falling stars in the sky. Instead of chasing the literal, it conjures the instant you tilt your weary head upward and meet the vast, indifferent dark skies. It is the aroma of wonder itself, woven through every layer of the perfume.
Above Us, Steorra was never meant to be just a fragrance. Its origins lie in the abstract ache of inspiration: a poem titled ‘Shooting Star’ by Mayuzumi Madoka, a photograph of endless night, the bruised hues of amber resin. The creative brief challenged perfumer Céline Barel to bottle awe itself — using spice, woods and resins to summon wonder. It captures the question, “Shall we trust in the unknown?” The same feeling you get when the city’s synthetic roar dissolves, leaving only the cold, untouched promise of silence.
For Above Us, Steorra, she abandoned the familiar sweetness and powders of classic amber, reaching instead for a new, modern “Celestial Amber.” Emphasising the woods and earthy resins — frankincense, labdanum, cypriol — it is a resinuous, spicy and opulent expression of amber. Tempered by the cool lift of cardamom, bergamot, and elemi, these elements anchor the scent while hinting at weightlessness, echoing the paradox of being grounded yet adrift among the stars.
The opening startles: a gasp of emptiness. Barel deploys unfiltered cardamom, its almost-citrus spice cutting through the darkness. Paired with luminous bergamot and peppery elemi, the top notes shimmer with sharpness and clarity. The aim is to offer a fleeting glimpse of a shooting star’s path — the scent’s own flash of light across the void.
The heart of the fragrance plunges deeper into shadow, built on balsamic labdanum, glowing frankincense, and the powerful wood of cypriol heart. These notes are magnified by the fantasy of ancient resin, conjuring the memory of fossilised sap that once captured sunlight. This bridge between reality and imagination is the perfume’s secret passage.
And the finish? The base notes refuse to settle; instead, they invite you onward. Cardamom reappears, now woodier and spicier, entwined with warming cinnamon and the dark, rum-sweetness of vanilla bean. Instead of comfort, the base hums with cosmic resonance, a lingering trail left behind by a shooting star.
Steorra means stars in Old English. Above Us is a call to look up. This fragrance is for those who understand that smallness is the secret to belonging. It is a gentle ache, a reminder that even when neon overwhelms, true light waits patiently for your gaze
Aesop’s Above Us, Steorra Eau De Parfum is available at all Aesop boutiques and online.
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