L’Artisan Parfumeur opened its first Southeast Asian store at Takashimaya Shopping Centre, spreading scented good vibes at B1-33A.
Most fragrance Houses have somewhat of a Greek legacy to them where the art of fashioning one is passed down through generations, all in the name of upholding a certain kind of élégance. L’Artisan Parfumeur, however, started off as a joke. And it was quite the clever one.
In 1976, a chemist named Jean Laporte was jokingly tasked to create a banana scent for a friend who was attending the Folies Bergères, the French version of the cabaret. This success at capturing the natural quality of the fruit’s fragrance (it’s now called Bana Banana in more modern times), as floral as it is sweet and with what some might say, a “yellow” ripeness to it, eventually led to two more photorealistic scents: a grapefruit and vanilla fragrance.
Next, Laporte created L’Artisan Parfumeur with somewhat of a twist on the savoir-faire French fragrance Houses have been known for. Maintain the stringent quality it has been known for, add an old-world charm that never looks dated, and to give it a French twist, have a “what would so-and-so smell like?” mentality that creates intrigue.
At the L’Artisan Parfumeur store, one can play a fragrance game that proves quite entertaining. Spritz a card, ponder about its scent, and flip said card to the back to see if he’s right.
You see, L’Artisan Parfumeur frequently invites artists into its residence to craft what an idea or concept could smell like. What is the smell of venom which brings to mind danger and a feeling of unsettlement? Daphné Bugey of Le Labo fame created Venemum with the spice of Indian masala tea that provides a blood-pounding heat with sandalwood and rice vapours adding a false sense of calm.
What could a fragrance centred around cauliflower smell like? Some of us already don’t like it in our diets because of its astringent bitterness but perfumer Alexandra Carlin (thank her if you like Margiela’s Matcha Meditation) thought otherwise. By playing up the vegetable’s sweet accord and adding the zest of bergamot and tangerine, her creation called Tonka Blanc becomes quite the delicious scent that takes on a creamy aroma in the heat.
The store’s concept was inspired by the office where its founder Jean Laporte worked but we see it more as a cabinet of curiosities for you to engage all five senses. And its universe extends to soaps and candles too.
Here, the seven L’Artisan Parfumeur fragrances that’ll create a new scent-sation for you. While they’re not available online as of yet, the magic is heading down to try them out.
What would a dark Shamanic forest smell like? A concoction of incense, resins, and rich sap that lingers on the skin to give an air of mystique, of course. Tenebrae, $340.
The brief: Create a fragrance inspired by a magical underwater world. The product: green eucalyptus, soft rose, and woody cashmeran that scents one as if he’s in a tropical world under the sea. Abyssae, $340.
Could a citrus-heavy perfume ever be sensual? This one proves so—a sweet burst of orange blossom and neroli that dries down to white musk and tonka bean that creates a silk-on-skin effect. Histoire D’Orangers, $275.
Masculine-smelling musk and lusciously sweet blackcurrant sound like unlikely bedfellows but become quite the epicurean delight in the case of this fragrance which adds zesty orange blossom into the mix. Mûre et Musc, $275 for the EDP and $240 for the EDT.
The name of this L’artisan Parfumeur fragrance translates to Hell’s Passage which makes sense with its heavy dose of incense but white musk and lilies help to keep things light and weather-appropriate. Passage D’Enfer, $240.
The location: Provence. The temperature: Balmy. The situation: You’re lying under a fig tree. The scent: Fig that provides a milky-sweet opening, fig leaves that give a “warm air” quality, and cedarwood to ground the fragrance in reality. Premiere Figuier, $240.
Most ocean-inspired fragrances tend to be coloured in a shade of light blue but this one tints it a darker shade with more colours in the mix—a marine accord like the gloomy waves of Brittany, green satiness of seaweed, and white cleanness of cypress that mimics the calm after a storm. Un Air de Bretaigne, $240.
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