09/24/15 17:55:13 (4 comments)
by: John Biebel
Elements Showcase featured two African perfumers of fascinating distinction, and from far corners of the continent. Exciting things are happening in the world of African perfumery, and these houses exemplify unique approaches.
As you enter the Showcase’s main floor display area, you are first greeted by the smooth, luxurious and seductively shaped blown glass bottles that house the scents of Frazer Parfum. The brainchild and creative product of perfumerTammy Frazer, this intriguing perfume house from Cape Town, South Africa is nothing short of breathtaking in its scope, versatility and beauty of form. It’s hard to describe just how seductive these bottles are – so smooth that they demand to be picked up and stroked, much like beautiful glass marbles. Some are filled with extremely dark and amberyperfumes .
Some of the perfumes are so rich with their all-natural and organic components that they are opaque within their glass. I stared intently at a bottle of the luscious Namibiaperfume , a poetic sand-colored liquid that resembled beeswax and fluid stone. The colors of the perfumes seemed to speak directly of the soil, the elements; the very landscape that one envisions the continent to encompass.
Ms. Frazer’s induction into the realm of perfume is no accident. She and her sister, Jenny, are the grandchildren of Graham Wulff, inventor of Oil of Olay, so products that reflected care of the body were something of an inheritance. As Tammy began her pursuit in perfumery, she branched out into body butters, candles and solid perfumes, sourcing as many materials as possible from her home continent, creating sustainable models for this sourcing that would help to ensure their future availability. The perfumes are made out of a factory space that resides in the back of their brick and mortar shop in Cape Town. In nearly every way imaginable, this is a truly artisanal operation, from the local handcrafted African blackwood compacts that hold their beeswax solid parfums, to the minimalist porcelain parfum solide containers bedecked with geometric designs and abstractions of lovely South African protea flowers, it’s all local and all African.
Jenny Frazer, a lively and instantly endearing ambassador for the brand, explains with great conviction the sustainability that’s been built into Frazer as a perfumery. Making sure that the local elements can be sourced in a way that’s economically viable for local producers is of utmost importance, and reflects the wide but responsible net thatFrazer Parfum is casting in its operations. Jenny is also a former makeup artist for film and television, so has an intrinsic knowledge of beauty and presentation – she is the perfect host to this family of offerings.
photo from frazerparfum.com
Frazer currently supports three lines: The African Collection, based around specific places and materials sourced on the continent, The Chapters Collection, following rare materials around the world from their place of origin, and Bespoke perfume. The bespoke experience is fascinating and ranges from a lively Prêt à Porter discussion with Tammy, selecting a handcrafted perfume based on a review of scent elements, to a hand-in-hand session with her in her lab in Cape Town.
The perfumes incorporate an unusual sensuality and earthiness, revealing the rawness of natural materials. From the African collection, African Soliflore – Jasmineis a rugged, citrusy, almost animalic jasmine, with a bright green opening of lime blossom and backed with Ethiopian opoponax and ambergris. The center is spiced with bits of black pepper and basil. It’s a unique and versatile use of jasmine for both its light and dark sides and it works extremely well. The longevity of the perfume is impressive, lasting strongly for many hours.
photo from frazerparfum.com
Continuing in the African Soliflore tradition is Rose, a new imagining of this traditionally European ingredient in Southern Hemisphere surroundings. The compositional notes include rosewood, honey, pink pepper, rosa damascena, benzoin, black currant bud, and myrrh. This rose is starkly beautiful. Eschewing typical citrus or aldehydic accompaniments, it’s matched with the mysterious spikiness of pink pepper and the animalic fuzzy amber tones of honey. Black currant bud furthers the sweet-but-deep character of honey. All swirls slowly and deliberately around a center of clear, poetic rose. The result is a lovely natural bouquet with pulse and vitality. This, indeed, is a rose of African character and nuance, embracing both sun and shade simultaneously. It’s highly recommended for those interested in the boldest, brightest side of rose perfume, full of life.
photo from frazerparfum.com
After the Rains is a perfume inspired by the scent of earth after rain has fallen. It is housed in a lovely oval bottle with a smooth, rounded base that is meant “to be held in the palm of the hand, and the perfume applied with the glass stopper, on the pulse points,” Jenny explains as she dabs some of the scent on a card for me. I’m at once drawn into a world of inexplicable notes – green? Earthy? Ozonic? There is so much happening in this perfume, yet it rests so easily on the skin as I place a small amount of the wax perfume on my wrist. It is a sweet affair, but the kind that skin treasures – it seems to soak it in with love and thanks. It opens with a rich bouquet of cucumber, basil, black pepper, lime, mandarin, and grapefruit. It continues to a heart of magnolia and orange blossom and settles eventually with sandalwood and violet leaf. The entire life of the scent it is softly green, sweetly citrus, and smoothly accompanied by base notes that are more of an accompaniment than a final chapter. After the Rains is soul-nourishing and communicates that sense of promises fulfilled – all is right with the world now that rain has come.
photo from frazerparfum.com
Every Frazer perfume is available as pure parfum, parfum solide (in a wood or porcelain container), and scented shea butter. All containers are made from local materials by local artisans, and all perfume elements are natural and responsibly sourced. You may obtain Frazer perfumes from their website and from select retailers worldwide.
We travel northwest on the continent where we meet Belinda Brown, perfumer and entrepreneur who created her own company and line of fragrances, Blessings, under the tutelage of Roja Dove. This fascinating collaboration was born from a meeting arranged by a mutual friend. They immediately recognized their shared understanding about Belinda’s desire to recreate the scents of her childhood. She drew upon a rich bank of memory – the pale and lovely scent of amaryllis flowers, the fruit and flowers smell of the calla lily, and the rare shimmer of bird of paradise flower. She has a distinct memory of using a pomade called Stella on her skin, one that was full of lavender, jasmine and vanilla, and this pomade permeates her scents-memory of the past - It had to be considered as part of any perfume she created. Roja is considered by many to be Britain’s premier perfumer, and he was able to help bring Belinda’s perfume dreams to life. She and Roja worked a number of years to create the first perfume.
Belinda found inspiration in other places as well – from the gospel stories of Jesus being anointed with oils, to the ancient references to incense and balms of religious services. She traveled to Grasse in France to smell, test and select the rarest of oils to include in her first perfume, which she initially referred to as her own “alabaster oil”. This in turn became her first scent. The name of the perfume is “Blessings”, and they’ve been released in a series of colors, the first is Purple, and the second, Red. Belinda chose the name Blessings because she believes that her own life has been so full of blessings – and that everyone’s life should be equally blessed. Sharing these perfumes is a beginning toward that end.
The perfumes of Blessings were presented at The Elements Showcase by Christine Benson, representative of Beauty Brand UK of London.
The most striking aspect of Blessings Purple and Red is their unmatched beauty of presentation. They are glowing amber- and champagne-colored perfumes poured into crystal flasks that look like objects chipped away from the rocks of a mountain. They are almost ancient in their proportions; crystalline and delicate but with an epic sturdiness. Their outer packages depict trails of smoke, like etched waves flowing across the sky, or fog moving over water in the morning. The visual introduction to the world of Blessings is full of mystery and generosity.
The perfumes themselves are full of unexpected twists and turns. Blessings Purple is a study in refined delicacy and depth. It opens with an effervescent top note bouquet of citrus. Middle notes are jasmine de Grasse and rose de Mai, followed by a base of cedar, sandalwood, tonka bean and vanilla. It is a beautifully sweet perfume that still maintains a fresh-dawn delicacy and seems to sparkle like water on waves. The floral bouquet is abstract and seems to flow from blossom to blossom, never settling on one specific flower but creating a fragrant haze. The base is sublime, constructed with a light touch and is just enough to hold the perfume. Purple shimmers and moves, much like a trail of smoke.
Blessings Red explores another kind of balance, re-using some similar materials fromPurple, but toward a different result. Rose, jasmine and ylang ylang are at the center of this rich floral bouquet and all the other elements evolve around this. A sweet mandarin coeur has been added to lemon and bergamot at the opening. It lifts aspects of the floral bouquet into a higher, lighter realm. But the base of Red is a darker affair, employing an unusual combination of juniper, patchouli, cypriot, and clove to round out the composition. Belinda’s aim is serenity and peacefulness. The perfume succeeds as a cooling, sleek and mildly sensuous composition, revealing many nuanced accords within the scent itself. Like Purple, Red is a perfume about temperature – beginning as a refreshing floral but smoothing gently to a base of humming warmth.
Belinda has also created an understated and extremely refined unisex fragrance, Pour Elle et Lui. It is something of a tribute to bespoke tailoring, to things that “fit” one to perfection. The notes are beloved standards: Bergamot, lavender, sandalwood, cedarwood, vetiver, cardamom, nutmeg and pepper. It has the freshness of classic men’s eaux de colognes, but a modern sense of versatility and wearability. It’s spicy, fresh, and extremely optimistic. Although it pays some homage to the men’s tradition of lavender-based scents, it’s light and spirited enough to certainly appeal to women.Pour Elle et Lui is a sturdy, architectural scent of refined proportions that make it suitable for any occasion, and nearly any wearer.
Belinda Browns Blessings perfumes have been made available at Harrods in London, UK, and are also available online at her site. They will soon be available at select retailers worldwide.
Images from the event: John Biebel
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