The fragrances that appeal most to me often invite me to slow down to appreciate their nuances and qualities. Der Duft Playground is one of those perfumes.
Maybe because of its name, I was expecting this 2025 release from the German brand and its founder, Anselm Skogstad, to be noisier and more obviously attention-grabbing. (Note to self: don’t be so literal, Richard. In this case, “the playground” – and the inspiration of freedom it brings – is in the mind.)
And come to think of it, other releases I’ve tried from the house have also been distinctive but discreet. Not a contradiction. Actually, a compliment.
Der Duft Playground starts out grassy to me. Interesting that the official note from the Der Duft website for this is honeydew melon, for which Google AI Overview tells me “some people also perceive a subtle, grassy undertone”. Bergamot adds to the freshness with its citric tones.
Soft fruity-aquatics mingle with the optimistic white floracly of tiaré and jasmine, while lily-of-the-valley imparts cleanliness. The synthetic Cashmeran (listed here as “cashmere wood”) often proclaims its fuzzy presence, but here it’s more about its subtle contribution to the warmth of a modern amber accord, with musks in support.
Apart from the initial grassiness, none of these afore-mentioned notes jumps out and says, “Look and smell me!” They blend in a way to create a whole that’s all quite gentle and soothing.
‘I’m happy to go with the more low-key version I’m getting in our still-quite-warm autumn’
I suspect Der Duft Playground will ping more in the heat of peak Johannesburg summer. But for now, I’m happy to go with the more low-key version I’m getting in our still-quite-warm autumn.
From the name (“the scent” in German) to the bottle, packaging and website description, The Der Duft aesthetic is minimalist. But that doesn’t mean I’m not getting much enjoyment from this fragrance, especially at bedtime.
Buy Der Duft Playground from the Der Duft website. Read my 2021 Anselm Skogstad interview here.
I’m sure many of us have fantasised some time or another about owning our own perfume store. The ambience, the brands we’d stock, how we’d do things differently… Well, Philip Hillege did just that in 2000 with Skins Cosmetics (shortened to Skins in 2024) when he and his business partner at the time, Michiel Poelmans, pioneered niche fragrance and skincare in the Netherlands.
Twenty-five years later, the original store in the “9 Streets” shopping area of Amsterdam’s Runstraat is well on its way to expanding to 16 in the Netherlands, three in Belgium and two in Germany. This major spurt in expansion is thanks to an injection of capital from Vendis Capital.
FIRST IN STORE: The OG Skins in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. IMAGE: Skins NL.
I’m based in Johannesburg, South Africa, where I’ve got to know Skins through its franchise deal with African Sales Company. Starting out with one store in Sandton City shopping mall in 2016, the local Skins tally now stands at six stores, with another four to five to follow in the future, according to Philip Hillege.
I got to see creative director Philip Hillege when he was in Johannesburg last year as part of the local contingent’s Meet the Creators event. But as it was all a bit of a whirlwind, we set aside time at a later stage for a proper interview.
FOUNDERS: Philip Hillege at the Skins Meet The Creators event in Johannesburg in 2024.
Here, Philip Hillege talks about 25th anniversary plans, how the market has changed in the last quarter century, how they select brands for the Skins portfolio and why large investment was necessary for the growth of the business.
AS IF ROLLING OUT MORE STORES THIS YEAR ISN’T ENOUGH, DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING ELSE PLANNED?
In what has become a tradition over the last five years, every year we launch a collaboration with a brand creating our own product, which also carries the Skins name.
IMAGE: Skins NL.
So, in June, we will be launching a collaboration with Juliette Has A Gun. We’ve been involved with this brand from day one. Now, they are a very big brand. The previous perfume collaborations have been with relatively smaller brands. So, yeah, a very ambitious project. It’s a matter of trust and friendship that we do this kind of thing.
COLLABORATION: The Skins and Philip Hillege relationship with Juliette Has A Gun founder Romano Ricci goes back almost 20 years. IMAGE: Say Who.
Also, we’re planning to launch body, home and fragrance products under our own Skins name, since the collaborations with Skins have been so successful and people trust us.
We’ve set up a separate team for that. I’m not sure if we will launch this year because a lot of testing must be done with stability tests, etc. We’re still in a process of developing the perfume.
YOU DON’T WANT TO RUSH INTO SOMETHING LIKE THIS BECAUSE IT OBVIOUSLY WILL CARRY THE SKINS NAME. SO YOU WANT IT TO BE AS GOOD AS IT CAN POSSIBLY BE BEFORE YOU LAUNCH…
Exactly, because we don’t make concessions. We will develop these products together with great perfumers of brands in our network. We will never take some formula off the shelf, so working on the formula and the texture is a big process.
“We will never take some formula off the shelf, so working on the formula and the texture is a big process” – Philip Hillege
GOING BACK TO WHEN YOU LAUNCHED IN NOVEMBER 2000, HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE MARKET THEN?
The market was very saturated, and still is, especially in our small country, the Netherlands, with department and drug stores selling the same brands and all about discounts.
IMAGE: Laura Mercier.
We were ambitious and I shall always make a little joke that the word “disruptor” was invented in 2001. We were a disruptor at the time in 2000, and it was our plan to shake up the market with brands which were all new to the Dutch market.
Aesop from Australia was one of the first of the seven brands of our portfolio. Laura Mercier was a few years on the market in the US. We made a list of cool brands with dedicated founders on board, which had a different mission and distribution. For example, Frédéric Malle.
We saw a new movement starting, also on service. In the Netherlands, all shops closed at six o’clock, and I was in my first job after studying at the Dutch company Herome Cosmetics.
When you wanted to go shopping, it would have to be on the weekend, because you worked from nine to six during the week. So we said we will open seven days a week, which was, at that time, rare, and until eight o’clock in the evening.
BUILDING CUSTOMER LOYALTY IS SO IMPORTANT IN THE RETAIL ENVIRONMENT. HOW DID YOU GO ABOUT THAT?
Salespeople working in a cosmetics store are pushed by targets for brands. Every week, there’s a different promotion. If you walked into a perfumery store, you would be pushed to that brand. So I knew that people would never get honest advice. And we always said from day one to all our team members, give personal advice, see what the customer likes.
Give them samples if they want to test it first, no pressure to buy because the buying pressure in our market was always buy now, get this discount or whatever.
“The customer loyalty from honest advice is one of the key factors in our service”
The customer loyalty from honest advice is one of the key factors in our service. Sometimes brands want to send a promotion girl for the weekend from Paris. But we don’t do that because it will send a wrong message to our customers, of pushing only that brand.
The thing we do in our stores are the events with the brand founders. These founders sometimes visit us for a weekend and then they are in the shop. Yeah, that’s fine. Even when we grow bigger and 25 years later, we really want to stay close to our DNA.
BENOIT ET MOI: Me and Ex Nihilo co-founder Benoît Verdier at the brand’s event in the Skins flagship store in Sandton City, Johannesburg.
IN THE 25 YEARS YOU’VE BEEN IN BUSINESS NOW, WHAT HAS BEEN THE BIGGEST CHANGE IN THE MARKET?
When we started niche was so small and the brands in our portfolio sometimes had 150 to 200 points of sale globally. Now maybe they have 1 000 points of sale globally, but I would say Chanel has 3 000 in France. So still very small.
The biggest change is the shift in the consumer’s mind. People really want something different from the well-known brands. If I look at youngsters, you have girls and boys of 15 years of age in our shop looking for cool perfumes, like a status symbol similar to sneakers 10 years ago. People are more and more open to brands with a real story. You see that with everything.
If I look at the beer market 25 years ago in our country, it was Heineken and a few other big brands. Now, there’s 80 different small beer brands.
“There’s a picture of the farmer on the cheese. It’s like Frédéric Malle who started with a picture of the perfumer in the year 2000”
Even look at cheese. In the Netherlands, we’re a cheese country. There were always little artisan cheese shops. And in the supermarket, you had the supermarket cheese. But now in our supermarket, there’s a picture of the farmer on the cheese. It’s like Frédéric Malle who started with a picture of the perfumer in the year 2000.
THERE’S BEEN A LOT OF BLURRING BETWEEN NICHE AND DESIGNER BRANDS IN RECENT YEARS. DO YOU THINK “NICHE” STILL HAS MEANING OR IS IT NOW MORE ABOUT “LUXURY”?
The word “niche” is not at this moment the right word anymore.
I always talk now more about artisanal perfumery because there’s so many big groups in the sector. If you go to the Esxence perfume fair in Milan, where I’m a member of the selection committee, there’s 600 applications and 400 places available.
NAME GAME: Philip Hillege thinks the term “niche” is outdated with all the changes in the sector.
TALKING ABOUT SELECTING, HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT CHOOSING BRANDS FOR YOUR SKINS PORTFOLIO?
We have a committee of six people analysing new options from 60 to 70 brands every month. We really try to get down to the founders and if the brand story is good.
”We have a committee of six people analysing new options from 60 to 70 brands every month”
And if the passion of the founder is there, because the counter reaction is that you see so many brands without a soul and with an empty concept. Luckily, there’s every year new founders from whom we do see the real passion. But it’s getting increasingly difficult.
Sometimes, a bigger group can buy the brand. But if the soul of the brand is still there and if they don’t go, suddenly, mass distribution, then we will keep the brand.
HAVE THERE EVER BEEN TIMES WHEN YOU WORRIED ABOUT THE SURVIVAL OF THE BUSINESS?
No, luckily not. Because we’ve always had growth, even there was a big economic crisis in Europe in 2008 and 2009 and we saw many customers losing their jobs. But we also saw new customers in our shop every day.
The hardest thing sometimes is cash-flow management, though. Because when you’re a growing company, the business requires a lot of capital. And the stock of a new brand, you always must prepay first. Our collection of brands is always expanding.
Building a new store, we never choose any cheaper alternatives. It’s almost a one-million-euro investment for one new store.
Now we have a very good structure with very smart financial people. And I have the nicest cash-flow sheets in Excel. But in the early days, it was my little notes and I had to do the financial planning myself without a good CFO. And it could happen sometimes that I could not pay myself a salary for three or four months. Because first is the staff, then the suppliers, then the landlords and tax.
So, of course, there have been moments sometimes when I had to hold my breath.
YOU DON’T HAVE TO MENTION NAMES, BUT THERE MUST BE QUITE A FEW EXAMPLES OF BRANDS THAT YOU THOUGHT WOULD DO WELL IN SKINS BUT DIDN’T SUCCEED IN THE END?
Yeah, of course. Every brand we select and launch, we want to always be in our collection, because our goal is long-term partnerships, like Diptyque, Aesop, Laura Mercier or Creed.
But sometimes you launch a brand, do a press day, activities, all the stuff from your marketing calendar and training, and you see after, say, two years, the customer’s not buying it in the end.
Then it’s very difficult to call the brand owner to say, “Sorry, you know, I like you as a person, we’ve tried everything, but the brand is not selling.” That I would say is the most difficult thing and is a learning along the way.
AND THEN YOU GET EXAMPLES OF BRANDS THAT DO WELL IN SKINS IN THE NETHERLANDS BUT NOT NECESSARILY IN SOUTH AFRICA…
Yes, for example, our Skins Boxes are a huge success both in the Netherlands and South Africa. People love them.
To buy these boxes with all the gift-with-purchase sizes and with a good deal of value, we always see a lot of traction after we launch them, with certain perfumes hitting the charts in the Netherlands and doing nothing in South Africa.
BEST-SELLERS: The Skins Boxes are hugely popular in the Netherlands and South Africa and reveal different preferences in these markets, according to Philip Hillege. IMAGE: Skins NL.
YOU’VE HAD MAJOR INVESTMENT RECENTLY IN THE BUSINESS. AT WHAT STAGE DID IT BECOME NECESSARY TO GO THAT ROUTE?
I started the business with Michiel Poelmans as a 50-50 partnership in terms of shares. After 10 years, he moved to America with a new wife and to start a new life, then I had another investor, a friend whose father invested the first loan into Skins. And along the way, until 2023, I was lucky in my network to have five friends who were also entrepreneurs and had cash to invest.
“I wanted to go to Germany because brands in our portfolio were all saying we have such a hard time finding the right partners there”
I saw so much potential in the market of opening more than one store per year. We needed more cash to go faster. I wanted to open five or six stores a year, and I wanted to go to Germany because many brands in our portfolio were all saying we have such a hard time finding the right partners there.
IMAGE: Skins NL.
As mentioned previously, building one new store takes, like, a million euros, cash, and then it’s dead cash because part stock and part just your interior, it takes a long time to earn it back.
I started thinking, how should we do this? We needed growth money, but retail and banks are a difficult mix, because retail is about bankruptcy in the news in the last few years, with many chains going bankrupt because of the Internet and changing consumer behaviour.
EXPANSION: The new store in Antwerp, Belgium, is part of the growth partnership with Vendis Capital, says Philip Hillege. IMAGE: Skins NL.
The only thing was to find an investor partner, so we worked with a speciality firm who seek investors. We had a good interest of 20 parties, which was a lot, even to the surprise of the advisory company.
We had many, many talks and really had the luxury of choosing the right partner, Vendis Capital, who we’ve worked with now for over a year. In the past we could only open one store per year. Since the entrance of Vendis as partner, our goal is eight to 10 stores per year divided over the Netherlands (the plan is around 20 in this country), Belgium and Germany.
IMAGE: Skins NL.
Vendis also provide us with lots of people. The right people.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN?
You have to imagine that all these 25 years, I was the one standing on the construction floor with the construction company [laughs], realising the show.
Really time consuming. Now we have a team of experienced builders to help with this. Also on finance, software development.
IMAGE: Skins NL.
ARE YOUR PREVIOUS INVESTORS STILL INVOLVED?
In the end, investment companies only want shareholders on board who work in the company, not shareholders with a passive role. They cannot carry too many silent investors. So my friend investors had to exit, too.
Now we have Vendis, Claudia Pouw-Dullaart the CEO, me and the management team as the shareholders. South Africa is a separate entity.
DO YOUR STAFF HAVE SHARES IN THE BUSINESS?
Yes, we have a separate part of the shares for staff, so they can also invest with their own personal savings.
It’s all very strict with tax rules, so we cannot give them any bonuses. It must come from their own savings. It’s a great way to have staff involved beyond obviously getting paid well or that kind of thing.
OPEN FOR BUSINESS: Staff celebrate the opening of the Skins store in Amersfoort, the Netherlands, in February 2025. Philip Hillege says staff have the opportunity to buy company shares too. IMAGE: Skins NL.
YOU SAID AT THE START OF OUR CALL YOU’RE GOING ON A BREAK TOMORROW WITH YOUR FAMILY. WILL YOU SWITCH OFF PROPERLY, OR ARE YOU GOING TO TAKE WORK WITH YOU?
I always carry my laptop, which I don’t mind. It’s my rhythm for the last 25 years. I have a nice holiday when I don’t open my laptop with a thousand emails [laughs]. So I just keep up a little bit. One hour a day maximum.
If you went shopping at a niche retailer, you could be forgiven for thinking that niche must be synonymous with big spending. And there are certainly many examples of that. But Essential Parfums proves otherwise.
Perhaps because the French brand founded by Géraldine Archambault in 2018 keeps concentrations at the lower end of the EDP spectrum, Essential Parfums keeps costs lower too.
MORE FOR LESS: Géraldine Archambault, the founder of Essential Parfums. IMAGE: Essential Parfums.
The house provides quality, distinctiveness and creativity at a most attractive price that’s even cheaper than many designer brands. When I saw the price on a bottle when I first started getting into the house, I thought it must be a mistake. But no, I’ll adopt that dreadful phrase, it is what it is. Even with our hideous exchange rate. (They’ve just gone the extrait de parfum route with Bois Impérial. Also very reasonably priced.)
My quick thoughts on some Essential Parfums releases below.
Every now and then one I come across a fragrance that reminds me why I love a raw material so much. This 2023 release is one of those perfumes.
Patchouli can be described as earthy, chocolate-y, woody and spicy, and all those qualities are brought out here, along with some ambergris muskiness via the synthetic Cetalox.
While earthy, it’s not dirty. Perhaps due to perfumer Fabrice Pellegrin’s use of the dsm-firmenich captive molecule Clearwood.
ESSENTIAL PARFUMS ROSE MAGNETIC EDP (SOPHIE LABBÉ)
Sophie Labbé enhances the fruitiness of the queen of florals with litchi in this 2018 release.
The sharpness of grapefruit and freshness of mint tempers the sweetness of vanilla, with clean musks in sensual attendance.
The 2018 Bruno Jovanovic creation Mon Vetiver is just that. My (kind of) vetiver.
The soft smokiness of Haitian vetiver meets the sharp freshness of juniper berry, lime and gentian. There’s woody muskiness from the synthetic Cashmeran, while patchouli enhances the earthiness of the title note.
It all adds up to produce a vetiver scent that’s easy on the nose and the pocket.
ESSENTIAL PARFUMS THE MUSC EDP (CALICE BECKER)
Created by Calice Becker, The Musc (2018) sees the Givaudan captive molecule musk Nirvanolide faceted with the fresh spiciness of ginger, floral tones of lavandin and sophisticated sweetness of beeswax.
Australian sandalwood brings woody creaminess to the seemingly simple composition. The result: powdery distinctiveness with contrasts of freshness and warmth.
Before Olivier Pescheux died in 2023, he created gems like this 2019 release. It’s everything I want a vanilla-centric fragrance to be: warm, spicy, cosy, creamy, not too sweet.
The woodiness in the mix, courtesy of cedar, ups the appeal. Although lots of effort must have gone into its creation, it doesn’t try too hard to please.
The title note comes to life with the bright citrus of mandarin orange and clementine in this 2022 creation.
There’s more freshness from notes of freesia and mandarin orange, with complexity from black tea and sandalwood. I always feel calmer when I wear it.
ESSENTIAL PARFUMS ORANGE X SANTAL EDP (NATALIE GRACIA-CETTO)
Let’s do some fragrance arithmetic, shall we?
Orange x santal = Yes, yes please.
There’s a most pleasing contrast of sweet and sour in the opening of this 2018 release. There’s also fresh aromatics from basil and cypress. Sustainably sourced Australian sandalwood brings on the creaminess in the drydown, with a touch of earthy oakmoss. The price, as with all releases from this company, also makes me a happy boy.
ESSENTIAL PARFUMS BOIS IMPERIAL EDP (QUENTIN BISCH)
Is it? Or isn’t it? And does it really matter?
There’s more than enough online discussion about the similarities between Essential Parfums Bois Impérial EDP and Marc-Antoine Barrois Encelade*, both created by Quentin Bisch. So I won’t get bogged down in that debate here.
First, there’s the citric spiciness of Nepalese timut pepper absolute mingling with the clove-ish tones of Thai basil in this 2020 release.
The highly accomplished perfumer then goes down the woody path with a combo of captive molecules from Givaudan (the fragrance company he works for) – Akigalawood (upcycled patchouli) and Georgywood (cedarwood) – and the earthiness of Indonesian patchouli. A good helping of Ambrofix gives it muskiness and staying power.
This is what I call a shape-shifter. Despite its seeming simplicity on paper, it reveals different facets with each wearing. Sometimes fresh and breezy, other times deep and spicy and then silky, almost ISO E Super-ish. But always intriguing and rewarding.
*For the record: it’s similar. And it isn’t. Hope that helps.
Essential Parfums are available in South Africa from Skins.
The fragrance market ain’t what it used to be and niche fragrances are on the rise. The steady decline of the celebrity fragrance category is gathering pace. Designer fragrances that used to fly off the shelves are increasingly being discounted.
The numbers below speak for themselves. These figures are for the world’s largest fragrance market, the USA. But these are international trends, according to industry analysts NPD Group, The Business of Fashion and Perfumer & Flavorist.Amid all the number-crunching, there’s a discernible shift to niche fragrances. They have added almost $250 million to the fragrance market since 2014.
66% –the decline of the celebrity fragrance market in department stores from 2011-2014
6% – the drop in overall fragrance sales from 2015 to 2016
1% – the sales growth of prestige fragrances
RETAIL BLUES: Designer fragrances aren’t the guaranteed hits they used to be.
Even South Africa, a land of mass market and designer fragrances, is not immune to these changes. Hence the recent arrival of Skins Cosmetics, the renowned Dutch niche beauty and fragrances retailer, in Johannesburg (www.skins.co.za). Skins Cosmetics strikes a good balance between big-name niche fragrances and more experimental niche fragrances. You’ll find everything from Aqua di Parma, Creed, Diptyque, Floris, L’Artisan Parfumeur and Penhaligon’s to Aether, Escentric Molecules and Le Labo at this upmarket store.
While it’s pointless to get bogged down in definitions, it’s always good to know what we mean when we use a buzz-phrase like “niche fragrances”. And why exactly are niche fragrances showing such growth. I asked two of my favourite bloggers for their thoughts on the above and this is what they had to say.
DEFINING THE VALUE OF NICHE FRAGRANCES
“If I were being really ‘black and white’ about this, the only honest, accurate answer is ‘nothing’. ‘Niche’, as a descriptor, does not signify any particular style or aesthetic. If the term has any value, it is only as a method of describing limited and/or independent production/ distribution. I would concede that the best so-called niche perfumes possess a clear reflection of the visions of their creators.” – Dariush Alavi of Persolaise (http://persolaise.blogspot.co.za)
THE ARTISTRY OF NICHE FRAGRANCES: L’Artisan Parfumeur Au Bord de L’Eau, inspired by Claude Monet.
“Niche perfumery is a very creative arm of the industry. Most of the trends that have become prolific in commercial perfumery started in niche. It’s an important place for generating and testing new ideas. Niche is a good incubator for creativity. Its audiences are genuinely interested in unusual or forward-thinking fragrances. They don’t want to smell like every second person on the street.” – Clayton Ilolahia of What Men Should Smell Like (http://whatmenshouldsmelllike.com)
BEWARE! THE SNOBBERY OF NICHE FRAGRANCES
These insights from Clayton and Dariush pretty much sum up the role and nuances of niche fragrances. I would also like to add that we need to beware the snobbery of niche fragrances. Just because it’s a designer/mainstream/commercial fragrance doesn’t mean it’s inherently crap. I have come across a fair amount of that snootiness online. Equally, just because it’s a niche fragrance doesn’t mean it’s better quality or more deserving of the cash you’re about to splash.
DAVID WHO?: The joy of new fragrance discoveries.
For me, perfumery should always be about the joy of discovery. The joy of discovering the classics of perfumery. The joy of discovering new variations on seemingly exhausted themes. And also the joy of discovering cheap and cheerful bargains. Ultimately, niche fragrances should increase our options, expand our knowledge and pleasure. So yes, be a discerning and savvy consumer, but snobbery is so self-limiting.
“Perfumery should always be about the joy of discovery. So yes, be a discerning and savvy consumer, but snobbery is so self-limiting.”
BARGAIN SHELF: Budget buys have their place too.
Clayton offers very useful advice to those who are just starting their discovery of niche fragrances: “Buy from a retailer who specialises in niche fragrances and let them help guide you in the beginning. With experience, most people will see common threads, maybe an ingredient or note they like, or a perfumer whose work they like, which begins to influence their buying.”
GOING DUTCH: Let Skins Cosmetics introduce you to Nasomatto fragrances.
Fragrance is such a personal and mood-influenced choice, so I hope niche fragrances bring you much joy. These are are some of my favourite niche fragrances:
Penhaligon’s Much Ado About The Duke EDP (2016)
British heritage brand Penhaligon’s has been in the fragrance biz since the 1870s and is one of the most celebrated companies in niche fragrances. From its recent Portraits collection, Much Ado About The Duke is an unapologetically sparkling rose, with notes of pepper, leather, wood, gin and tonic adding to its irreverent appeal. It was created by Daphne Bugey, the nose behind Jean Paul Gaultier Scandal, Le Labo Bergamote 22, Mugler Aura and Valentino Valentina Pink.
Etat Libre d’Orange Like This EDP (2010)
While the company founded by South Africa-born Etienne de Swardt is sometimes better known for its shock-and-awe tactics, it also produces top-notch niche fragrances. You can read my interview with Etienne de Swardt here (https://fragroom.com/2017/04/20/etat-libre-doranges-etienne-de-swardt/). This collaboration with Tilda Swinton captures the English actress’s idea of home, with cosy and comforting notes of ginger, immortelle, pumpkin, tangerine, vetiver and heliotrope. Created by Mathilde Bijaoui, it won the Fragrance Foundation France Award for Best Niche Fragrance in 2011.
L’Artisan Parfumeur Tea For Two EDT (2000)
One of the best tea fragrances around. It conjures up spicy-aromatic intimacy with notes of tea, tobacco, cinnamon, honey, ginger, star anise, gingerbread and vanilla. This treat from L’Artisan Parfumeur, one of the pioneers of niche fragrances since the 1970s, was created by Olivia Giacobetti. This nose also created Diptyque Philosykos, Frédéric Malle en Passant, Hermès Hiris and several other L’Artisan Parfumeur beauties. This is a vintage bottle below. So if you’re looking for Tea For Tea, it’s to be found in the company’s newish grey bottles.
Atelier Cologne Vetiver Fatal (2012)
Founded in 2009, this Paris-based company has made its mark in the niche fragrances industry with its cologne absolues. These cologne absolues combine the traditional citrus character of eau de colognes with longer-lasting natural materials. I am a big fan of vetiver fragrances and Atelier Cologne Vetiver Fatal is a gentler interpretation of the usually earthy theme. It features notes of Calabrian bergamot, Sicilian lemon, Tunisian orange blossom absolue, fig, Grasse violet leaves and Texan cedarwood. A super-fresh summer in a bottle!
Givenchy Into The Blue. Jil Sander The Essentials Scent 79 Man. Le Labo Vetiver 46 Perfume Oil. Paco Rabanne Black XS for Her. Salvador Dali Laguna. Van Cleef & Arpels Collection Extraordinaire Cologne Noire. Versace V/S Homme… These are just some of the numerous fragrances that England-born nose Mark Buxton has created over the last 20+ years.
During that time, whether creating fragrances for big names or niche brands, Mark Buxton has become a highly sought-after nose for his idiosyncratic and imaginative style. Even when he’s pushing the boundaries of perfumery, simplicity is the ethos of his creations.
His collaboration with Comme des Garçons placed the avant-garde Japanese fashion company on the fragrance map. Comme des Garçons, Comme des Garçons 2, Comme des Garçons 2 Man and Comme des Garçons Series 3 Incense Ouarzazate are all considered modern classics.
MARK BUXTON CLASSIC: Comme des Garçons Original EDP, the creation that put the Japanese fashion company on the fragrance map.
Ever creative and pioneering, in 2008, Mark Buxton took the brave step of launching his own fragrance company, Mark Buxton Perfumes.
“I DON’T LIKE USING THE WORD ‘UNISEX’ – IT SOUNDS
SO SEXLESS.”
I asked Mark Buxton some questions about his approach to perfumery, his Comme des Garçons collaborations, his own line of fragrances and the future of perfumery. This is what he had to say…
What was the most important thing you learned at perfumery school? How to construct a fragrance and the importance of each ingredient.
You have a long list of top fragrances to your name. How do you ensure that each one is different? They are all for different brands and images, so you have to adapt yourself to their needs and styles.
Is there an equivalent of “perfumer’s block”? Have you ever had to deal with that? No, it doesn’t talk to me.
Looking back at the classic Comme des GarçonsEDP, how do you feel about that fragrance now? Well, it’s been on the market for over 20 years, which is a good sign. Furthermore, I think the fragrance hasn’t lost its identity or originality. It’s become one of their big classics.
HOW GREAT THOU ART: My own fan-art tribute to Comme des Garçons Original EDP. Alas, the bottle is empty…
How’s your own fragrance line doing? Is it easier creating fragrances for your own range? I’m a very small company. The way the fragrances are performing is sufficient for me. You can always do more, but then the company has to grow with it. The fragrances are very different to all the other fragrances I have created. They are very personal for me – old memories, situations, people or accords I’ve scribbled down a long time ago in my famous scrapbook.
Your range is unisex. What was your thinking behind that? I don’t like using the word “unisex” – it sounds so sexless. They are fragrances anybody can wear. If you like a specific smell, wear it. What’s masculine or feminine in the perfume world anyway?
WHAT A FEELING: Emotional Drop / Emotional Rescue from Mark Buxton Perfumes.
Do you ever read reviews of the fragrances you have created? Sometimes, if they get sent or mailed to me. I don’t visit sites or seek interviews. I hardly go on Facebook and have no idea how all these blogs work. Perhaps I’m too old-fashioned or lazy.
What fragrances will we find in your home? I wear A Day In My Life and Emotional Drop [both from his own fragrance range]. I find Emotional Drop / Emotional Rescue is the best vetiver-influenced fragrance on the market.
Is niche the future for perfumery? Niche was the future for perfumery but it’s totally overflowed now. Everybody is bringing out a fragrance line and brands are copying each other. I think we are not far from moving on again, but where? That’s the big question. In any case we have to stay unique in concepts and creations, otherwise we lose our credibility.
VERITABLE VETIVER: A Day In My Life from Mark Buxton Perfumes.
What’s next for Mark Buxton? Well, I’m working on a few new concepts – let’s see what comes out of that. One thing is for sure, the MBP collection is complete with the eight fragrances.
Since its launch in 2006, Etat Libre d’Orange has gained notoriety and a large international cult following with its provocative perfumes and tongue-in-cheek humour. With perfumes such as Putain des Palaces, Attaqeur le Soleil Marquis de Sade, Fat Electrician and Encens et Bubblegum, Etat Libre d’Orange has walked a fine line between shock value and scentsory awe.
ROYAL WHORE: Putain des Palaces.
The man behind this Paris-based niche perfumery, Etienne de Swardt, was born and raised in South Africa. The name “Etat Libre d’Orange” is a witty word play on the Orange Free State, the South African province where De Swardt lived during his formative years.
After working for big fragrance names like Givenchy and weary of the conventions and limitations of perfumery, De Swardt launched Oh My Dog! and Oh My Cat!, his fragrance range for pets, which humans could wear too. Cheeky bugger!
My first encounter (“experience” is too tame a word) with Etat Libre d’Orange was with Je Suis un Homme, launched in 2006. Although that bottle was emptied many years ago, I still remember it as a heady collision between citrus, spice, leather and cognac notes. Not the usual, for sure.
I wangled my South African background to get an email interview with De Swardt. For a change, I had to turn off my overly vigilant inner editor to retain the drama and flow of his manifesto-like answers. So mostly I have shortened and explained his answers where necessary for clarity.
BOTTLED MISCHIEF: The Etat Libre d’Orange collection.
After more than 10 years in the industry, has Etat Libre d’Orange achieved what you set out to do? The objective is still too confused to measure a pertinent achievement. Sabotage will be the final destination, with all our narcissism, scented exactions, calculated pathos and endorsements of rogue heroes and heroines blended on one magnificent fire. I would love a purifying fire at 69 Rue des Archives [the address of the Etat Libre d’Orange store in Paris] to consume a decade “à tout faire de travers [doing it our way]”.
You started out as an agent provocateur in the industry. Is that still your motivation? I was born a sophisticated Shakespearean impostor, lost in between South Africa and New Caledonia. I was shaped by womanity, materfamilias, gay but elusive multiple (step) fathers, literature, cloud soaring, instants in the wind and, of course, my own departed. Hence, I am fucking confused and disturbed. But thankfully I have all the codes of vanity, arrogance and narcissism, knowing all that will be gone with the wind, revenged by our finitude and hazardous biology, so I bow to Diogenes’s cynicism.
EXISTENTIAL AESTHETICS: You or Someone Like You.
Using your latest fragrance, You or Someone Like You, as an example, briefly talk us through your conceptualisation and creative process. Just a good name to ignite the process and federate the passions, and a good extra bonus of existentialism with my knowledgeable Chandler Burr [the acclaimed American author, journalist and perfume expert] on board. Chandler is a crusader of aesthetics on the road less travelled. Alive and kicking this is what we are, knowing the end is a Greek tragedy. In the meantime, let’s be dramatic, frivolous and genuine.
With its notes of blood, adrenaline, sperm and saliva, Secretions Magnifiques created a huge sensation when it was launched in 2006 and still upsets or delights people. Looking back now, what do you think of it? My beloved virus, my favourite crime scene, why did you betray me, trapping for so long our land of plenty in a swamp of miasma, saliva, sperm and other encoded fluids of duplication and reproduction. I was born in 1970, the year of the dog, and I sniff around not like a perfumer, but like a hound, hunting high and low body intimacies.
SCENTED FREAK: Fat Electrician.
What’s your favourite Etat Libre d’Orange fragrance? I love all my scented freaks equally. They all speak my very universal disorders. Etat Libre d’Orange is a land of plenty, inclusive of all neurotic but charming darkness. It’s where a Fat Electrician shall dance an eternal farandole with a powdery slut, a leathery Tom of Finland, an abject ylang-ylang Charogne, the synaesthesia of a Nijinsky dancing the faun in 1912 at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, the eternal feminine killer’s kiss blending jasmine at twilight with a seductive cigarette, a naive Justine lost in between vice and virtue, but deliciously perverted by a Luciferian Marquis of Sade. They are all for You or Someone Like You.
Has your definition of success changed since you launched Etat Libre d’Orange? Penitence is my lot in life, stoicism and cynicism my brothers in arms. I hope that all these existentialism-scented manoeuvres since 2006 will help me to buy a Jonker JS-1 Revelation sailplane, designed in Potchefstroom, South Africa, by two talented brothers. Soaring is a place where everything starts and ends, driven by humility.
SOARING IS EVERYTHING: De Swardt’s dream Jonker JS-1 sailplane.
What fragrance are you working on now? Vos Beaux Yeux Vont Pleurer, inspired by the poetry of Ray Bradbury and David Bowie (Martian Chronicles + Serious Moonlight), the curse of beauty of Rock Hudson, Edna “E” Mode [from The Incredibles], Roxy Music’s Love is the Drug and WD-40 Multi-Use products to keep our souls away from rusted parts. Disturbed, isn’t it?
What are your thoughts on the current state of the perfume industry? Mutation and survival of the fittest.
Are your fragrances distributed in South Africa? No, we are too “incompris” [misunderstood].
BODY INTIMACIES: Secretions Magnifiques.
Apart from its name, does South Africa inspire your fragrances at all? Etat Libre d’Orange is the best blend of 21st-century Voortrekker spirit and existentialism à la française. Tell the Ruperts [the wealthy South African family who founded Richemont] that I don’t want to sell my house to LVMH or L’Oréal. But I would be happy one day to dance the carmagnole in the Great Karoo around the camp fire with protective laager people, my family, Walt Whitman or Alan Paton – the same universal, drifting, contemplative saga of pain and beauty on the limitless borders of New Caledonia, Colorado or Kroonstad. I am the true son of a Free State farm boy with vast memories of Bothaville and meat pie…
