This blogger has a long term relationship with CDCP - A center for diffusion of perfume knowledge in São Paulo, Brazil. Through this partnership I have been invited to be one of the jurors of the perfume award Atualidade Cosmética and I have been making brainstorming sessions with fragrance houses and marketing strategy projects.
This year they invited me to give a lecture on Niche Perfumery as part of the studies of perfume in a year round course they offer to professionals of the industry of perfumery and cosmetics.
It was a 3 hours lecture where I told them the history of Niche Perfumery; the concept of niche; the classifications of niche brands an niche perfumery as it is today and its future. We explored many brands and many different concepts in a whiff & think session.
It was very interesting to share ideas with marketing managers and perfumers and how professionals of the cosmetic industry and packing developers could use some of the ideas of niche perfumery in their businesses.
The brands presented were:
Annick
Goutal, Jo Malone, Antonio Alessandria, Heeley, Yosh, Mona di Orio, Keiko
Mecheri, Olivier Durbano, Maison Kurkdjian, Jovoy Paris, Victoria Minya,
Editions de Parfums Frederique Malle, État Libre d’Orange, CB I Hate Perfume, S-Perfume,
Blood Concept, A Lab on Fire, Juliette Has a Gun, Nasomatto, Histoires de Parfum, biehl
parfumkunstwerke, Fueguia 1833, Olfactive Studio, Clive Christian, Creed,
Xerjoff, Puredistance, Ormonde Jayne, Rancé , Creed,
Penhaligons’, Fragonard, Maitre Parfumeur e Gantier, Lubin, Santa Maria Novella, Farmacia SS. Annunziata dal 156, Les Parfums de Rosine, Le Labo, Byredo, Ego
Facto, Bond Nº9, Mandy Aftel, Rich Hippie, Pacifica, Tsi-La, Rebel Intuitive Perfumerie,
Strange Invisible Perfumes, Honoré des Prés, Neela Vermiere Creation, Kerosene, The Vagabond Prince, Aus Liebe zum
Duft, Aedes de Venustas, Min NY, Comme de Garçons, Aesop, Costes, Ladurée, Les exclusifs, Van Cleef & Arpels Colection Extraordinaire, Tom Ford
Private Blend, Estée Lauder Private Collection, Cartier Lês Heures de Parfum,
Dior La Collection Privée.
Shops mentioned:
Aedes de Venustas, Min NY, Campomarzio 70, Nose, Crème de La Crème,
Hip-Nose; and websites luckyscent and Aus Liebe zum Duft.
"It takes two to tango" Mona di Orio loved to explore light and darkness while creating her beautiful perfumes.
This is exactly what happened to her brand. It faced dark moments with her passing away in 2011 leaving Jeroen heartbroken and with a challenge in his hands: how to perpetuate a brand that no longer has its perfumer. But just like Mona wanted, the light was still there: JEROEN OUDE SOGTOEN.
I get frustrated sometimes when I find only articles mentioning his loss and how the brand is fighting to stay alive. Yes she was the perfumer. Indeed important. But not less important is the work that Jeroen has been doing as the creative director of the brand since its launch in 2004.
A creative director is a vital person in a project of fragrance development. As the name says itself, it is the person who gives direction to where the project is going to go. In case of fragrances, creative directors (as myself - yes, I am creating fragrances) will be the starting point of the fragrance. They will bring an idea, a story to be told. They will set the mood, the tone, the personality and the path where they want to explore that idea. Many or most of them even choose the ingredients, or at least the main ingredients to transform the idea into a scent. Creative director and perfumer will work alined to bring together their own talents, backgrounds, taste and passion and when that happens, beauty is created!
A creative director doesn't have to know what ingredients to combine to make a rose smell real, but they are the ones choosing if it will be a rock n' roll rose or a classic one.
Jeroen was leading Mona since the beginning and that is the reason why the brand can continue to amaze us with scented beauties. Proof to that is that both beautiful fragrancesEAU ABSOLUE EDP and VIOLETTE FUMÉE EDP were launched after Mona had passed away. The second was entirely created for Jeroen (it was his signature scent) and it was about what he loves, his memories, his tastes and after her death he decided to share with her fans. IMO, the most beautiful of the brand.
At that time I wrote "Their affinity, their connection, their perceptions are forever in his heart, but he misses her everyday, and IMO sharing the ONLY fragrance that she made especially for him and that till this day he was wearing only in special occasions is his way of coping with this great personal loss. Sharing HIS personal fragrance means that he want all of us to have a bit of their friendship; he wants to form a different, but somehow a bond with all of us".
Photo credit: MONA DI ORIO
So we are now in 2015and truth is, IMO, Jeroen is not fighting to keep the brand alive, he is simply continuing to lead the brand. Some people mentioned "he is somehow moving forward" - That makes no justice whatsoever to all the work he has been doing in the brand since 2004. It is not somehow. It is with the same passion, hard work, research, sense of style, sense of luxury, sense of fashion and an amazing feeling for business that he always had! You can already see magnificent changes in the design of the website and the fragrance bottles. Elegance is something that they both had and is now explored even in a more refined way.
He is bringing back perfumes that were discontinued - LUX EDP and NUIT NOIRE EDP and adding a new collection called monogram with one scent so far called MYRRH CASATI EDP bringing perfumer Melanie Leroux. All fragrances are presented in the beautiful new round perfume bottle concept for the 10th anniversary of the brand.
I am going to start with NUIT NOIRE EDP. The perfume although kept in a revamped flacon it is coming in its original formula. To those saying otherwise Jeroen already explained that freshness is the only difference from perfumes mixed 5 years ago. Aside from that it is indeed the original formula. It belongs to the signature collection which brings scents that are really expressing Mona's passion for art and chiaroscuro, therefore they come in the black bottle.
NUIT NOIRE EDP by MONA DI ORIO Perfumer: Mona di Orio Relaunch: 2015 Gender: I would say it is more suitable for the feminine gender Olfactive notes: Orange flower, cardamom, ginger, orange, frankincense, cinnamon, tuberose, sandalwood, cloves, cedarwood, amber, leather, musk, tonka. Brand description: Nuit
Noire elicits the steaming sensuality of a dark, sultry night in North Africa,
exotic, spicy, and animalic. A strikingly carnal affair, the raw energy and
heat at the start rises from floral notes colliding with woods, spices and
leather, but as it is with lovers, this sophisticated floriental dries down
richly intimate into a velvety seduction of spices.The
honeyed floral sweetness of orange blossom, intense tuberose, and robust, spicy
cardamom seduce each other and tease for dominance. The indolic quality of the
orange blossom and tuberose pulses with a ripe lushness. Brighter notes of
ginger and oranges arrive on the hot wind of this vibrant souk and bring with
it an intense accord of incense, spices and woods from frankincense, cinnamon,
cloves and cedar and sandalwood. Notes of animalistic musk, comforting leather, vanilla-sweet
tonka and warm resinous amber develop into a creamy, velvet intoxication. This
primal nocturnal journey becomes darker and spicier. The very first time I felt it on my skin I recall thinking "It smells naughty"! Truth is that naughty is never obvious. It requires skills. Yes, NUIT NOIRE EDP is slightly indecent and far way misbehaving with carnal floriental notes, but it is not a mundane perfume. It also contains a virginal girlie powdery side wrapped with vibrant ginger orang-y bow. Somehow lust is not explicit, it comes also hidden in layers of gourmandise. Like a couple on a dance floor orange flower, cardamom, ginger, orange, cinnamon, cloves and the vanilla-sweet tonka are a mouth watering combination that take turns into velvety creamy naughty notes of musk, amber, leather, tuberose and sandalwood. It is a seductive dance of light and darkness; feminine youth and male lust. I could not find anything more enlightening than a scene of Scent of a Woman with Al Pacino and Gabrielle Anwar dancing Por Una Cabeza by Carlos Gardel, when grumpy and blind Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slader leads beautiful, young Donna to the dance floor teaching her how to dance one of the most sexiest dances of all times: the Tango. Delicate flawless enlaced by roughness in one magical, sensitive and beautiful moment.
Also, if I had to put NUIT NOIRE EDP in one word, nobody better than Slader to define the fragrance: Sample provided by Mona di Orio brand as usual (Jeroen and Henrike). To order a 75ml/2.5 FL OZ fragrance go to MONA DI ORIO. Click to find a RETAILER near you.
In 2010, Mona di Orio and Jeroen Oude Sogtoen revamped their brand "Mona di Orio Parfums" with an exquisite collection called Les Nombres D'Or, inspired by the GOLDEN RATIO, a divine proportion used in architecture and maths by masters such as Michelangelo and Da Vinci, known very well by Mona, as having herself, a background in Architecture.
As she explained at that time "Golden Ratio ... might be the key to understand beauty. Intrigued and attracted by this aesthetic theory, it let me imagine how to revisit some influential classics of the perfumery. Searching for the perfect proportions to reach a melodious harmony. Using the best raw materials, beautiful ingredients, precious gifts blessed with divine proportions. Close your eyes, open your nose and follow their mysterious and sensual sillages."
JEROEN
captured by the camera of Petrovisky & Ramone
A year later the brand had to face another challenge. In December of 2011 the in house perfumer and co-owner of the brand, Mona herself, passed away at very young age. It was a very sad moment for perfumery, for her family and for those who loved her. Many thought the brand was going out of business, and ran to buy her perfumes fearing they would not be sold anymore. Indeed it was a hard year for the brand, but her business partner and beloved friend Jeroen O. Sogtoen managed to transform grief into beauty, and made us all a promise to continue to tell Mona's stories and memories through her creations, with the unforgettable passion, elegance, and kindness that we all loved her for.
EAU ABSOLUE EDP by Mona di Orio
Photo credit: + Q Perfume Blog
A promise that he is, with all his heart, really managing to keep!
In 2013 the brand released a gourmand floral balsamic perfume around a joyous and sensual rose called Rose Etoille de Hollande, which I haven't reviewed yet.
For 2013, Jeroen brings Mona's love for the Mediterranean and one more delightful chiaroscuro composition that is a signature of her works.
Eau Absolue EDP is the newest fragrance of the collection to be launched this next April, and it comes with a combination of citrusy notes of Sicilian bergamot, clementine, petitgrain Citronnier, chinese litsea cubeba, Peruvian pink peppercorn accord, Egyptian geranium, Jamaican St. Thomas Bay leaf, vetiver Java & Tahiti, virginian cedar wood, musk and cistus labdanum.
It is a game of light and darkness, with zestful bright spiced citrusy notes and earthy, balsamic and nocturnal accords. freshness, transparency, joy and gentleness embraces sensuality, warmth and elegance.
For the passionates for fresh colognes this perfume will bring the same freshness and lightness of the citruses of an original cologne, but with the endurance and lasting power of an EDP.
The concept of redefining the structure of an eau de cologne by giving it a higher concentration was already brilliantly explored by Francis K with his fragrance Absolue pour le Matin EDP, and also presented by the brand Atelier Cologne with their Colognes Absulues, but Mona di Orio's Eau Absolue EDP stands out not only for the technical aspect of its structure. It has personality.
The citruses are not bubbling or sparkling (it could be because Mona loved champagne), but instead, they are shinny and summer-y. They are bright and vivid. Enlaced by pink peppercorns they last longer than most citrusy bouquets. Mandarine is the note that stands out for me.
Geranium and bay leaf is a combination that conquered my heart and brought a huge smile to my face. It is unique. I noticed it combined to create a metallic soapy tone to the fragrance, which I must say I love it (not secret here). Vetiver is a bit overpowering to my senses, I would prefer it tuned a bit down, but than it would not be Mona's. Guys will love this striking vetiver. It is overall outstanding.
When Jeroen asked me if I liked the fragrance, I told him I really loved it. And I meant it.
That should be taken as sincere compliment, because frankly, these days I find myself wondering if I will ever buy another perfume... and just when I thought that was a lost case for me, here comes this divine perfume!
Eau Absolue EDP is a gentle caress, a blowed kiss followed with a smile. It is Mona's absolutely cheerful elegance!
