Buly 1803 and the Louvre have collaborated on an art-inspired fragrance collection
French parfumier Buly 1803 is known for creating some rather unusual products (past releases include perfumed matches and scented rocks), and yet again, the fragrance house has reinterpreted the meaning of scent.
The owner of the fragrance house, Ramdane Touhami has enlisted the help of eight of the fragrance industry’s most prolific noses to interpret eight of the Louvre museum’s greatest works.
The collaboration with the Louvre took a year to complete and will include perfumes, postcards, candles and scented soap sheets.
Touhami revealed to The Wall Street Journal why he had the impulse to create such a collection in the first place: “I love the idea that someone could say, ‘Oh I wear Venus de Milo’, or ‘I wear The Valpinçon Bather’, or ‘The Lock’. In my dream, in 20 years, you will go to the museum and see a Fragonard painting and say, ‘I wore a perfume that smelled like this once’.”
One of the noses tasked with reinterpreting these great works was French perfumer Delphine Lebeau, who created a fragrance based on The Lock by French artist Jean-Honoré Fragonard that incorporates notes of chestnut and apple. Lilies served as the major inspiration for Lebeau though, who chose the flower for the sensual qualities it shares with the painting. “For me [it’s] very intense, sensual and intoxicating, but also very bright. When you leave a lily in the room, the smell is almost overwhelming.”
The other fragrances in the collection draw inspiration from the Venus de Milo, Winged, Victory of Samothrace, La Baigneuse, Grande Odalisque, Joseph the Carpenter, and Conversation in a Park artworks.
Unfortunately, the collection will only be available at the Louvre, displayed in an old French postcard booth (sourced by Touhami himself) from July 3, 2019 until January 2020.
Which gives you ample time to book a last-minute getaway to Paris to get a whiff of the scents yourself, and hey, while you’re at it, maybe check out some art, too.
This isn’t the only unusual fragrance to hit markets this year. Cher is launching a genderless fragrance – here’s what we know so far.
What do you think of this interesting fragrance collaboration? Let us know in the comments below.
Main image credit: @beyonce
Briar Clark got her start in the media industry in 2017, as an intern for Marie Claire and InStyle. Since then, her keen interest in fashion and beauty has landed her gigs as a Digital Content Producer and Beauty Editor with titles like Girlfriend, Refinery29, BEAUTYcrew and beautyheaven. She loves the way seemingly innocuous topics like skin care and style have the ability to put a smile on people’s faces or make them think about themselves a little differently. A big believer in self love and experimentation, Briar has made a point of becoming the Australian beauty industry’s unofficial guinea pig for unusual treatments and daring hair trends. When she’s not testing out the latest beauty launches, Briar is big on broadening her horizons, mostly in the form of food but she’s also partial to travelling to new destinations both near and far (and of course, allocating an extra bag to bring their best beauty offerings home with her).
