There have been many attempts to create fragrances that embody a place or a building, but these are always a little hit and miss. It’s very difficult to sum up in scent a particular environment because everybody will have a slightly different recollection or impression. To do it successfully you need your audience to be able to draw on a more universal memory. One example of a company doing just that is Carthusia with their theatre inspired Prima fragrance. With theatres currently closed, the chance to relive the smell of the greasepaint and the roar of the crowd was one that I simply couldn’t resist.
There’s an often repeated theory that the younger you manage to tempt a person to start using a company’s fragrance the more likely they are to stay loyal to that brand. Now, whether this still holds true in the current arena of thousands rather than hundreds of perfume companies is open to debate. The vast choice and availability of fragrance has made loyalty a prized possession in the industry, and that is one of the reasons why Carthusia has launched Junior. The scent is aimed squarely at the children’s market but it has also proved irresistible to adults who love their powdery floral scents.
One of the wonders of fragrance is that it allows perfume companies to weave elaborate stories that aim to entice and enthral their customers. Over time it often becomes difficult to separate the fact from the fiction but, if you like the fragrance that you’re smelling, does it really matter if the language is a little flowery? Exaggeration and embellishment are all part of the scented storytelling and it helps to weave a web of desire that draws us all in. Carthusia is a perfume company that is based on the island of Capri and, alongside a wonderfully colourful history, they also produce the impressive 1681.
