Experiencing the sights, sounds, and smells of an unknown country is one of the things that I love so much about travelling. Being in a totally unknown environment, and veering away from the tourist route, always creates incredible memories. With restrictions still in place on which countries we can visit, it’s thanks to ingenious perfumers and visionary creative directors that we can be transported instead through scent. Step forward Nick Steward, who is continuing his anthology of inspirational cities with the release of his latest Gallivant fragrance. So, grab your passport because we’re about to discover the magic of Bukhara.
Summer sees many people jetting off for their holidays and often means that they end up exploring a new country or city. This idea that “travel broadens the mind” is one that many perfume companies have tried to replicate with numerous travel themed fragrances, but it has often proved problematic for those that have attempted it. A person’s impression of a location is, for want of a better word, “personal” and so appealing to a wide audience can be difficult. One company that have excelled at this concept though is Gallivant and their new fragrance, Los Angeles, demonstrates the perfect balance between the impression and the reality.
We live our lives through a mist of preconceived ideas about everything from music to fashion and places to people, but just recently I was stopped in my tracks because of my own preconceptions about a fragrance. I had imagined that Tokyo by Gallivant would be just another cherry blossom inspired floral that once again celebrated this delicate petal. However, I couldn’t have been more wrong. Tokyo, the latest release from the company, recreates the early morning in the city and mixes nature with neon and tanginess with tranquillity. The new addition to the collection fits perfectly into the style, although its individuality cannot be ignored.
February is usually the month that we end up mourning the loss of one of Guerlain’s Aqua Allegoria range. The yearly discontinuation of one fragrance to make way for a new scent is usually met with mixed reactions, but the series always needed to remain at the accepted five and choices had to be made. This year marks a major break in tradition however with Guerlain not only keeping the current five and adding a new one but also reissuing another four from the Aqua Allegoria archives. So, let me show you the four have come out of retirement to make the new collection of ten, and see if one of them is an old favourite.
There is only one thing that is certain with Guerlain, Spring is the time when fans get to see the latest addition to Guerlain's Aqua Allegoria range. Started in 1999 with five fragrances including Herba Fresca and Pamplelune, the slogan was “inspired by nature, created by Guerlain”. More recently it became usual for one fragrance to leave each year making way for the new release, and so the collection always numbers five. This years casualty was the short lived Teazurra, a reworking of Tokyo from the Une Ville, Un Parfum range, which unfortunately failed to make its mark. Will this years "Iced Allegoria" fair any better?
