t's been a long 3 years since the last Esxence and the moment I set foot in the exhibition centre I could feel the excitement building up! It was so lovely to see old friends, get to know new ones and see what inspiration was eagerly waiting to be released after a long Covid stricken couple of years . It was a jam packed 4 days; I attended the 3 plus went to a couple of meetings outside and naturally the parties! It was extremely hot in Milan and the new exhibition centre was a bit of a struggle to get to, but I don't think anyone minded too much. It was however huge and I apologise beforehand if I didn't make it to a booth of a brand you wanted to know more about.
I started off with a brand I really wanted to get to know more about as I had heard a lot of lovely things and it's available in Liberty with a selection of their fragrances.
Bruno Acampora is a Napoli based brand founded in 1974 and is known for their seductive Musc fragrance. They use exceptional raw materials creating fragrances in various strengths along with some fabulous body products and home fragrances and I'll be writing more about them in the coming weeks. At Esxence they introduced their latest creation Pompeii Red created in collaboration with Miguel Matos.
Next one was Atelier des Ors and their latest addition to the Riviera Collection. Riviera Sunrise is a juicy, golden sweet fragrance with vibrant oranges and creamy woods. Gorgeous sweet summer in a bottle as blue as the Mediterranean!
Next stop was at J.U.S. parfums; a firm favourite you can find at Bloom perfumery, with their beautiful range of sustainable fragrances and their latest uber-summery release Bloomastral; a hypnotic jasmin wrapped in creamy woods that reminds me of night strolls barefoot on the beach; very smooth and summery!
A couple of weeks before I visited Esxence I attended an event in London where the Creative Director of The Merchant of Venice, Nicola Pozzani, introduced us to their latest releases, the ACCORDI di Profumo collection created in collaboration with Givaudan and some of their best perfumers. I had a chance to try a few more combinations I'll be sharing soon and also admire the unique Murano bottles they have; simply gorgeous!
Another one of my favourite brands; Alexandre J combines elegance, artistry and perfumery all done on a perfectionists level and their latest release The Art Nouveau Collection is a feast for the nose and eyes. Exclusive to Harrods, these 5 fragrances have distinct personalities and strong characters. Soon to some will be the attars that will match some of the ingredients of every fragrance from the line in a more concentrated form. I tried them all briefly and I was seriously impressed!
A quick visit to see and smell the gorgeous new Ormonde Jayne fragrances; Always a treat to meet with Linda and hear about the latest thoughts and releases. Beautiful Gatsby is now released, gorgeous candles and home fragrances for now and Christmas and so much more to look forward to!
Next stop was Cherigan and their beautifully revived heritage brand; from Fleurs de Tabac to Or des Iles and everything in-between, these fragrances offer a new perspective to the hugely successful scents of the 20's.
One of the most anticipated releases from Esxence was the new Nishane line; the Time Capsule Collection, was inspired by the concept of time and space and our human experience on this Earth.
Papilefiko by Dominique Ropion, Tempfluo by Anne Flipo, Tero by Carlos Benaim and Kredo by Jean-Louis Sieuzac are all gorgeous with Tero being my favourite as it combines beautifully sweet and earthy materials .
Finally, on the first day I had the chance to catch up with Virginie of Binet-Papillon, a unique Parisian perfume house that I discovered 3 years ago during the previous exhibition and was very happy to see how they've evolved and redesigned their brand with beautiful bottles and sustainable packaging.
They have some very wonderful artistic fragrances in their line, and my favourite from briefly trying them all is no 10, a mysteriously spicy and smoky floral with a complex, deep finish.
I'll be back in a couple of days with part 2!