Exploring 5 Contemporary Fragrances To Travel Through Space and Time

Smelling a perfume is something human beings are doing since the beginning of time. Each scent akin a rocket launched through time and space. With a single whiff, we can traverse the landscapes of our oldest, deepest memories or we can reach lost paradise and far away lands.

The roots of perfumery, can be traced back to ancient Mesopotamia. Preserved on an ancient tablet in Berlin's Vorderasiatisches Museum, evidence suggests that perfumes were already in existence by 1239 BC. The tablet, a scholarly compendium on perfumery alongside chemical texts like those on glass-making, introduces us to the first recorded perfumer in history: Tappūtī-Bēlet-ekallim, a woman of ancient Assyria.

Tapputi, the skilled distiller described in the tablet, was more than a perfume-maker; her role encompassed elements of art, cooking, medicine, and religion.

Since Tapputi times, perfumery has known many changes. Still, sprinkling oneself with fragrances, is a gesture that is lost in the meshes of time.

In the present time, the fragrance landscape is ever-changing, blending tradition with cutting-edge technology to create the perfect perfume.

Let’s begin a spacetime-traveling scented ritual with these five unique fragrances selected by Red-Eye to discover the most intriguing smells in the scene!

OFFICINE UNIVERSELLE BULY - EAU TRIPLE AMBRE DE MADAGASCAR

About time: Officine Universelle Buly founders, Victoire de Taillac and Ramdane Touhami, are time travelers. They blend together the best of perfumery tradition with the most modern techniques. Their signature is creating fragrances free from harmful chemical interventions. Their exclusive formulas draw from universal secrets that make beauty everlasting. Eau Triple Ambre de Madagascar is their new creation, a one-of-a-kind water-based perfume revealing a triptych made of jasmine, amber, and tangerine. Its hypnotic bouquet is ready to transport you to wild lush forests where grace is eternal.

AMOUAGE - CRISTAL & GOLD

Amouage has been writing the history of high perfumery for 40 years. To celebrate this special anniversary Amouage revealed again to the world the first ever made crystal bottles for the iconic fragrances Cristal & Gold. The sublime perfumes are enclosed in truly jewels-like bottles. Made in heavenly Waltersperger crystalware and with two iconic 14 karat gold lids, these celestial coffers keep a new version of the famous Gold Amouage. This new version Cristal & Gold is created by the maître parfumeur Alexandra Carlin. A perfume that takes the wearer back to the birth of the Maison Amouage and the cradle of perfumery: the majestic lands of the Sultanate of Oman.

CRISTAL & GOLD for her

This perfume, is a woody aldehydic floral, aged for 7 weeks, with a powerful concentration of 20% pure perfume oils in Eau de Parfum form. The bergamot top note melts with a heart made of jasmine and damask rose, revealing a sweet, warm, core scented like Bourbon vanilla. This sour to sweet combination makes this fragrance an ode to femininity and within a single whiff fills our imagination with dreams of Arabian Nights.

CRISTAL & GOLD for him

This fragrance falls into the floral chypre woody olfactory family. Aged for 6 weeks, it features a high concentration of 25% pure perfume oils in Eau de Parfum form. The top and the heart notes are corresponding to the CRISTAL & GOLD for her. The transformation takes place at the base notes where the perfume reveals a nucleus made of sandalwood and patchouli. The perfume’s personality emerges finally, marking the unmistakable trademark of this distinct chypre composition.

MILLER HARRIS - BLACK DATURA

Black Datura Eau de Parfum is the latest trendy fragrance launched by Miller Harris. It's a floral and woody perfume, offering a gender-neutral scent inspired by the Datura – also known as the Moonflower – a blossom that unfolds in the evening. Black Datura leaves a powerful and elegant impression, ready to unveil the night wherever it takes you. This unique fragrance is, in fact, a creation born in London. The master perfumers have translated the pulsating, glamorous, and mysterious essence of a London night into scent. With a single whiff, you'll feel elegant, captivating, and prepared to soar through the most electrifying night.

The journey begins with the hypnotic Datura, a flower that is beautiful and opulent yet poisonous in high doses. The fragrance explores its duality, emphasizing the contrast between black and white, danger and seduction. Pink pepper introduces a feminine and sensual tuberose, unveiling a dangerous yet captivating scent. This is further enriched by balsamic and dark woody notes, leaving behind an intense and elegant trail.

AMOUAGE - LINEAGE

Lineage is the exclusive perfume from the Odyssey collection. A new coming in the Amouage family inspired by the Masirah Island. This collection tells a story of a long exploration through inner and outer landscapes, an escape but also a come back. The nose of this fragrance is Karine Vinchon Spehner. Top notes are ginger, Sichuan pepper, saffron and Peruvian pepper; middle notes are olibanum, myrrh and fenugreek; base notes are olibanum, myrrh, labdanum, vetiver, benzoin and patchouli.

CARON - BELLE DE NIASSA

Since 1904, the CARON house has been synonymous with French artistic perfumery. Luxury, audacity, love for art and the freedom to innovate. Maison of excellence in the world of luxury perfumery, CARON creates fragrances overflowing with the best raw materials in the world. Belle de Niassa is the new fragrance for the French maison, it’s pink in olfactory essence! It captures the scent of a flower as it blooms. The mahogany flower has such a powerful fragrance that it does not go unnoticed. Generous accord of jasmine absolute, ylang-ylang and magnolia. With fruity facets: exotic blackcurrant and mango, crunchy notes of carambola, juicy watermelon.

Article by @lluciamarinelli

Images courtesy of @officineuniversellebuly, @amouageofficial, @millerharris & @caronparfums

Special thanks to @negrifirmanpr & smithpetersenpr

RED•EYE WORLD