Nomaterra: The Nomads at Elements

by: John Biebel

One of the fascinating delights of this year’s Elements Showcase was the new perfume creation to come from Brooklyn-based perfumer Nomaterra.  Their latest scent, Datura, is being released as this goes to press, and it is a stunner. Like all the Nomaterra scents, it is based on a geographic location and a botanical element. Datura celebrates the mysteries and revelry of New Orleans through the night blooming blossom also known as the Devil’s Trumpet.  From Nomaterra’s Instagram feed we read, “…this exotic, ornamental flower only blooms in the evening, and possesses powers that go beyond its heady and erotic scent. Since ancient times, Datura seeds have been used in shamanistic voodoo rituals to communicate with spirits, due to their hallucinogenic and trance-inducing properties. (It) naturally grows along roadsides and fencerows in New Orleans, as it feeds on the humidity and richness of the soil…”

This illicit purple trumpet, which perfumes the night air with a heady, sweet scent, is not only the beginning influence for the perfume, but also a perfect metaphor for the city of New Orleans. The scent itself is strikingly rich and velvety, undulating outward from a dark center like the fuzz of African violet leaves, and humming with saturated tones of dark florals and an ambery/woody/patchouli base. It’s a seamless blending of components, as no notes stick out to be smelled distinctly—it emerges as a complex and immensely wearable deeply honeyed flower.

I remarked about the incredible complexity of the scent to the co-founder and perfumer of Nomaterra, Agnieszka (Aggie) Burnett. “It took a long time to create,” she says. “There were well over a hundred iterations of the perfume before we found one that was right.”  It takes a while to put down the strip that I’m smelling, it’s that seductive. Clearly the trance-like properties of Datura have worked and I can see myself walking in the late summer down a warm Louisiana street, red curtains gently blowing in windows, trumpets playing distantly and trumpet flowers starting to slowly peel themselves open.

I move onto other Nomaterra creations, noticing how intriguing these interpretations of areas are. Brooklyn, another fairly new release, draws inspiration from the violet leaf. “You find violet leaves growing up through cracks and spaces in the pavement in many places in Brooklyn,” says Aggie, “so it became an important part of the fragrance.”

Brooklyn is a darker and dirtier experience that includes notes of metal, herbs, wood, and animalics. It’s gritty but composed with a certain fine-tuned elegance that is reminiscent of leather or a much darker fougère. Despite the opaque quality, there is something aspirational and expectant in this scent, the way traditional cologne can convey positivity. Though there is nothing traditional about the russet tones of Brooklyn, it is interestingly familiar, like the scent of leather gloves you’ve had for many years.

Taking a turn northeast on the coast, I arrive at Cape Cod, the fragrance dedicated to the wild beach rose. For those of us who see these roses in the summer, there’s something special about their simple single blossom frankness, and the stunning salmon-colored rosehips that emerge in the autumn. The perfume is a breezy, dry and lovely envisioning of this rose.  It uses Bulgarian rose, bergamot, lavender, amber, and some hints of ozone to capture the many moods of the beachside. It’s light, but distinct and lovely in its seeming simplicity.  It also manages to capture the saltiness of the air on the cape that envelops all the botanical life, giving it a kind of scented patina of everlasting summer.

Aggie Burnett of Nomaterra

Nomaterra’s fragrances are compelling travelogues that follow their creators (Aggie and her husband and collaborator Benjamin Burnett) in their journeys. They met when they were both studying at Columbia University in New York City, Aggie in Chemistry and Benjamin in Biochemistry, and they’ve been able to take this intense education and marry it with their keen creative impulses. The outcome has been a perfume company of artisanal quality, with a wide net of scent expressions to offer the world.

Nomaterra sells its perfumes, oils and candles at select boutiques and on its website.

Images: John Biebel