When we read a book or listen to music, we're in control of the images that are conjured in our minds. From putting a face to the dashing hero or visualising a band as they record your favourite song, the freedom of your imagination is as important as the inspiration itself. When it comes to fragrance it can often be a little more constricting. We’re given the inspiration for the scent and pretty much guided as to how we should feel, but it doesn’t always hold firm. Gold Spot from Sarah Baker Perfumes is intended as an homage to Hollywood glamour but, in my mind, it takes you to the dangerously addictive world of adultery.
The idea of using childhood as the inspiration for a fragrance is always going to be fraught with dangers, quite simply because everyone’s childhood is different. What resonates with one person may not be familiar to another. Add into the mix a fashionable ingredient and you also have a second level of preconceived ideas that carries the potential to disappoint. So, when Sarah Baker announced that her latest fragrance would combine childhood memories and oud, there was a definite intake of breath. Could the inspiration and the ingredient really be brought seamlessly together and offer something truly original?
The idea of reconnecting with the past is something that has been at the forefront of many people’s minds over the past twelve months. That feeling of travelling back to simpler times, even experiencing the thoughts and feelings of forgotten generations, anything but the uncertainty of modern life. Perfume companies have tried to tap into this concept many times, with everything from the Pharaohs to World Wars, but one of the most ingenious has to be Neandertal. With a nod to the past both visually and sensorially, but celebrating the world around us, the company have created the sensational Neandertal Light.
