I was doing some fall cleaning, and came upon my old fragrance collection, which I started in my early teens. Some are classics, and some I'm slightly embarrassed for even buying, buy hey, I was experimenting! I think I may have even had a Gap fragrance at one point, but I threw that one out a while ago. It's amazing how my taste has evolved from fragrances like CK One and Tommy Girl, to indie perfumes, to creating my own fragrances for Nomaterra. One thing that hasn't changed though, is my joy for exploring different perfumes. There's nothing wrong with trying it all, from completely obscure brands that only ever came out with one scent, to best-sellers. Even with my own brand, I still enjoy exploring what's new, what's out there.
One scent that sticks out in this collection is CK One. CK One debuted in 1994, and was revolutionary for its time due to its forward thinking ad featuring Kate Moss and LGBT activist model Jenny Shimizu, and most importantly, for the fact that is was a unisex eau de toilette, a first of its kind. It now smells like nail polish to me, mostly due to the fact that its been aging in a box for over 10 years. What's interesting though is that CK One really started a movement in the creation of unisex fragrances, that is still very much alive now. You name it, and almost every designer and niche brand has at lease one unisex fragrance.
The last one in these row of oldies is Acqua Di Gio. Another renowned classic that's won its fair share of awards including a Fifi Men's Fragrance of the Year Nouveau Niche in 1998 and had been entered into the Fragrance Hall of Fame last year. This is what my husband used to wear, like many men. He's now moved on to wearing our Brooklyn Violet Leaf Cologne.
What fragrances do you remember experimenting with from your childhood/teens/early years? Do you still wear them? What do you wear now?
We've been hard at work all summer on new city-inspired scents, traveling to these great American cities, and finding out what makes them unique. We've done our research too. Did you know that Gardenia Manii, is a type of gardenia that can only be found on the island of Oahu? Gardenia is a succulently rich, jasmine and vanilla-like scent, and it is found as the key ingredient in one of our newest fragrances, Oahu Gardenia. Plumeria, an exotic Hawaiian tropical flower used to create leis can also be found in the Oahu fragrance. In addition, we are excited to also debut Boston Tobacco Leaf, Savannah Magnolia, and Malibu Honeysuckle (our favorite to wear right now in this beautiful autumn weather). Each of these new scents come in 10ml perfume oil roll-ons. What do you think these great cities should smell like?
You can try out all our scents in the Nomaterra
adventure set. Perhaps they will remind you of your hometown, a place you've been to, or a place you dream of going to.
Happy Adventuring!
Join us this weekend as we debut our fall collections. Nomaterra will be revealing all of their latest fragrances--Oahu Gardenia, Malibu Honeysuckle, Boston Tobacco Leaf, and Savannah Magnolia. Stop by from 10 am - 7pm, Friday - Sunday, at 731 8th Street SE in Capitol Hill, D.C. Can't wait to see you all there!
Found in our Boston fragrance, tobacco leaf can be used in perfumes to add a gritty smell and feel to the scent. It provides the fragrance with a sweet, slightly smoky, rich aroma. There are a number of types of tobacco, but the New England variety is called shade tobacco, and is grown along the banks of the Connecticut River, which runs from the Long Island Sound, through Massachusetts, to New Hampshire. Cultivating the leaves of shade tobacco is much more labor intensive than its cousin types, and as a result is used as an outer wrapper for some of the world’s finest and rarest cigars. Much of tobacco’s popularity historically stems ironically from it’s purported healing powers, from relieving pain to curing cancer. During the 1600’s, tobacco was so popular that it was frequently used as money. It wasn’t until 1836 that New Englander Samuel Green revealed that tobacco is an insecticide, a poison, and can kill. Tobacco is the most grown plant in the world that is not used for food. Try our Boston scent here, and be sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook!
Found in our Washington, D.C. fragrance, Cherry Blossoms are an integral part of the history of Washington, D.C. Donated by the Japanese in 1912 to United States as a gesture of friendship, 150 of the initial 3,020 offering, still remain. The first two cherry blossom trees were planted on March 27, 1912 by first lady Helen Taft and the Japanese ambassador’s wife, Viscountess Chinda on the northern bank of D.C.’s Tidal Basin. You can still view these two trees today near the John Paul Jones statue at the south end of 17th Street. The first cherry blossom festival was held in 1935, and now draws in approximately 1.4 million viewers (attendees?) each year. The peak bloom time is on average April 4th and the blooming period lasts only a few days to two weeks at most.
DC’s cherry blossoms are most of the Yoshino variety. Their smell has been described as a very faint and sheer rose-like and cherry blend, with a hint of sweet and spicy.
DC is the perfect fragrance for fall. With a variety of new and changing opportunities, from the return to school to the resurgence in work after summer, DC is assertive and powerful making it your perfect partner for the fall!
Come see Nomaterra this Saturday, September 7th, from 10 am to 6 pm at the Hester Street Fair. Hope to see you all there!
[caption id="attachment_2634" align="aligncenter" width="300"]
Ashikaga Flower Garden, Japan[/caption]
When we came across this image in our daily Pinterest browsing, we knew we had to share it. This gorgeous garden is the Kawachi Fuji garden in Japan. Full of gorgeous wisteria blossom arches, we can't help but think this would be the perfect place to spend every lazy summer afternoon.
Be sure to follow Nomaterra on
Twitter and
Facebook!
Happy Monday Nomaterra fans. We're very excited to introduce you to our new website, which we just launched last week!
It is now easier than ever to pick up your favorite Nomaterra products, as well as satisfy your wanderlust and need for travel tips with our blog. They're all together in one place at
Nomaterra.com! Be sure to check it out and let us know what you think.
Be sure to follow Nomaterra on
Twitter and
Facebook!
“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.”
-Eleanor Roosevelt
This quote, which is featured on the
Philosophy page on Nomaterra's
website, really describes the way we feel about life here at Nomaterra, and defines a big part of the motivation behind our brand. We hope you like it as much as we do!
Be sure to follow Nomaterra on
Twitter and
Facebook!
Nomaterra travel sprays are a breeze to get through airport security; we tucked this bag in one of those clunky plastic bins and were on our way to our gate in no time!
