Keshen Teo founded Prosody London back in 2017 and unveiled it to the public the following year. At a magical event in Fortnum & Mason, he talked through his desire to launch a natural fragrance brand that could sit alongside the likes of Guerlain and Chanel in terms of luxury and elegance. Many natural brands up to this point had struggled to break through to a mainstream audience, often because the actual fragrances were dense and unappealing to a commercial customer, but a training with Mandy Aftel had shown him how to add an expansiveness and an originality to his creations.
Very quickly his fragrances started to attract a very loyal following and this was backed up by glowing reviews. I first featured his perfumes back in 2018 and said, “With Oud Octavo, Keshen Teo has wrapped the subject in woods and citrus and the results are spectacular.” Now there were far more eminent reviewers than myself. Luca Turin said of the company, “Making organic fragrances is hard, and these guys are very good at it,” whilst The Perfume Society described the collection as “a joyous celebration.” Prosody London’s original series of seven fragrances were a hit, but what would be next?
The company’s latest collection is called “Ode to the Sun” and is an enchanting series of six natural colognes. With summer fast approaching, they’ve been designed to offer the wearer the feeling of being able to travel. With restrictions for many countries still in place, this collection couldn’t have come at a better moment. The series consist of the imaginatively titled Bebop Allure, A Capella Ray, Berry Blitz, Moiré Mimosa, and Pizzicato Bliss. However, it’s Ocean Commotion that I’ve fallen in love with. I desperately miss sitting on my favourite beach in Nice and, as soon as I smelled this fragrance, I was back there.
Ocean Commotion opens with the most beautifully arresting hit of crystal clear seawater, and by that I mean the smell that you get as you look over the beach at the ocean. It’s this azure blue quality that shines through and, alongside the merest whisper of citrus, makes you want to dive straight in. The main ingredients of the scent, which include marram grass and beechwood, help to give a dryness to the scent reminiscent of dunes or sun-scorched caves, but there’s also a hint of jasmine in the background to add the merest touch of floral colour. I always cause a commotion in the ocean, and this allows me to do that until I can do it for real.
Ocean Commotion, and the whole Cologne Collection, is available from the Prosody London website at prosodylondon.com priced at £65 for 30ml. [Sample provided by Prosody London]
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