[caption id="attachment_2625" align="aligncenter" width="300"]
Nile River at Sunset[/caption]
If you missed our post yesterday about the
New Yorker article which details the creation of Hermès's perfume Un Jardin sur le Nil, be sure to check it out
here. After reading all about the creation of a fragrance based around the Nile, we couldn't help be start googling in search of images of Egypt.
Condé Nast Traveler didn't let us down, with this gorgeous shot of the Nile at sunset. Definitely a destination that's on our bucket list!
Last week we stumbled upon a fantastic article about perfume making from a 2005 issue of
The New Yorker. "Annals of Innovation: The Scent of the Nile" details the creation of an Hermès perfume, Un Jardin sur le Nil (
translation: A Garden on the Nile), and provides a fascinating insight into the incredibly complicated world which is perfumery.
From debates about how to create a signature across a line of perfumes to listings of the countless iterations which Hermès perfumer Jean-Claude Ellena created and tested before settling on the final formula for the "juice," the article details exactly how difficult it is to do what perfumers do.
Finally, the overall piece serves as a reflection on the different ways in which perfume is incorporated into major fashion houses, like Hermès. Hermès and Chanel both have in-house perfumers, allowing them to create a body of work that is cohesive and completely in line with their brands concepts. Many other larger houses and big name perfumes (such as celebrity perfumes) outsource their perfume factions, turning to external companies who employ master perfumers to create their scents. While this second tactic has been known to turn out some very successful fragrances, there is no cohesion, no authenticity or truth behind the perfume which links it to the ultimate message of the brand. By using the model found in niche perfumery, Hermès was able to create a body of perfumes which are distinctly Hermès and which represent all of the elegance, glamour, and class for which their brand is known.
Read the whole article
here.
With Amazon at our fingertips, it's easier than ever to discover a whole new assortment of things to watch, read, and add to our wish lists. As avid fragrance lovers, we here at Nomaterra have taken it upon ourselves to discover some of the finest books about fragrances around. Read on for to find out what we'll be bringing along to the beach this summer!
Perfumes: The A to Z Guide By Luca Turin & Tania Sanchez; This fantastic tome provides reviews of over a thousand fragrances, as well as a section answering perfume FAQs and a guide about how to purchase your next perfume.
The Perfect Scent: A Year Inside the Perfume Industry In Paris and New York By Chandler Burr; This book follows the creation of two different perfumes: Un Jardin Sur le Nil by Hermès and Lovely by Sarah Jessica Parker. Be sure to pick this up if you've always wanted to know how exactly the stuff in the bottle came to be.
Reeking Havoc: Unauthorized Story of Giorgio By Steve Ginsberg; The
Unauthorized Story of Giorgio tells the tale of Giorgio, a perfume created by Fred and Gale Hayman which took the world by storm. Americans spent $70 million on this perfume when it was first released, and its release caused quite the stir in the perfume world. Pick this up for a tale of scandal, glamour, and a look at just how intoxicating perfume can be.
