THROWBACK TO ESXENCE 2022:
NADJA’S HIGHLIGHTS
Thanks to her passion, Nadja (@its_nadja_time on Instagram) left the world of metals as an engineer of metallurgy and plunged into the world of perfumes. She not only writes about fragrances, but is also the co-founder of the perfume project Perfumestry.com and constantly visits the largest perfume exhibitions in Europe, such as Esxence.
Image source: Esxence – The Art Perfumery Event
“Esxence was larger than in the previous years, these four days in Milan were filled with new olfactory impressions. I was overcome with joy of finally being able to have these long-awaited meetings, as the exhibition was postponed twice in the last two years due to the global pandemic.
I was honestly fascinated by the trends of this season, which were clearly visible: oud became more wearable and animalism was removed from it and diluted with various additional components. Fruity chords, figs, peach, and red berries (strawberries, raspberries, cherries) became the clear leaders. And, of course, the hemp trend is back!”
HIGHLIGHT 1: NISHANE
“This was the first booth I visited. This year the most famous Turkish brand Nishane released the Time Capsule Collection, where each fragrance is named in Esperanto – giving it a unique touch. My favorite is Tempfluo. It reflects the passage of time at the moment and changes for the new and better, and shimmers like a noble diamond in the rays of light. We say about such fragrances that they are seamless, that they cannot be divided into separate chords.
It is a holistic floral-gourmand. One spray fills you with the energy of a new day, a feeling of joy, filling the space with a sweet floral trail. Anne Flipo, who created Tempfluo, is definitely a magician!”
HIGHLIGHT 2: FRANCESCA DELL’ ORO
“Francesca Dell’Oro is brand that I know from my first perfume exhibition. Since I’m a long-time admirer of the brand, I was really curious to know what new product she would present this year. The trend for figs was in the 1990s, but to the delight of my husband (he is a fan of this note in perfumes), it has returned in recent years, and has even become very popular again this year.
Sainte +Figue makes us feel like new Adam and Eve. Even the logo on the bottle makes reference to this biblical story: a coiled snake that symbolizes the obscure tempter. The box also shows a drawing of a fig tree entwined with a snake. This fragrance is fresher and greener than most of the popular fig perfumes. The focus here is on the herbaceous-bitter aspect.”
HIGHLIGHT 3: STEVE MARTIN PERFUME
“Now, this is the booth that I cannot just leave unhighlighted. The founder of the brand, Yasir Al Safi, founded his brand in 2005 and since that year he visited each country and lived there for several months, to conduct deep research and finally – after many trials – get the result. Mr. Al Safi is the perfumer of all Steve Martin perfumes, that are dedicated to great rivers and cultures and made of several hundred components.
He also pays great attention to packaging details: the colour symbolizes the important aspects of the perfume’s inspiration, such as the colour which is the same as the Kremlin bricks of the Volga. The metal parts are made by hand, and the frame on the box hides a real papyrus, on which the name of the fragrance is written. Not to forget that the blotters look like a work of art, made out of cotton that does not contain a pH level like regular paper, so that the smell is most authentic and doesn’t change.
Unfortunately, I haven’t visited all these countries like Mr. Al Safi. However, I did see the Volga by which Volga River was inspired. It impressed me incredibly, touching all the fibers of my soul. It took me back to 25 years ago, when we picked red berries in the forest every summer. I adored the wild flowers and the smell of incense smoke from the church on the river bank in my hometown. The river seemed so huge and powerful, that with bated breath I wanted to look at the streams of water.”
A WONDERFUL EXHIBITION
“This exhibition featured an excellent variety of brands and styles, which undoubtedly delighted me and the audience of 9,000 people who visited Esxence over four days. I wish all perfume lovers to get acquainted as soon as possible with the new creations that my fellow perfume bloggers and I have written about. Cheers!”
MORE OF NADJA
Instagram: @its_nadja_time
Co-founder of Perfumestry
