A few weeks back I was invited to a lunch at Brown Thomas with world renowned perfumer Geza Schoen, creator of the Escentric Molecules range, for the launch of two new fragrances. I was instantly excited, as German-born Schoen brought something very different to the fragrance fold when he headed his own perfume house in 2006, so I know this would be an interesting few hours.
It immediately struck me that the man was very much reflected in his work. He was as modern, engaging, and as quietly complex as each of his fragrances – the two newcomers included. He told us of his story and the road to perfumerie – which hilariously and impressively, at the age of 16, involved him turning up on the doorstep of Haarmann & Reimer fragrance house multiple times, until they gave him half a day’s experience with a perfumer. And apparently the future was set from then. He finished school, did a stint of military service and was then happily employed by the very company he persuaded into taking him. Jagger would have us believe that ‘you can’t always get what you want’, but perhaps Schoen would disagree?
As I listened to him speak, you could see how his outlook on life and personality had crafted the two fragrances sitting in front of him, ready for inspection. Escentric 04 and Molecule 04 are a pair of unisex fragrances, based around the fresh scent of Javanol and a sheer sandalwood molecule. They are light, fresh and a little bit odd – in the best way possible – as you are aware upon the first spray that this is no ordinary musk or floral-driven concoction. This is something new!
The packaging reflects the contents. Both boxes are designed with the barcode-like print, set upon a red and chocolate background for the Escentric 04 and Molecule 04, respectively. The bottles inside are crystal clear, with the gentle tint of the liquids coming through, sporting only 0’s and 1’s in a binary code layout and several lines mimicking the box.
Escentric 04
Molecule 04
The overall feel is clean, fresh and altogether futuristic. Schoen has stripped back perfumery and yet made it more complex. It’s a no nonsense, straightforward attitude that he carries himself – which he demonstrated in his easy criticism of the heavy, classic fragrances that dominated the 1980’s and 1990’s. You have to love a man that speaks his mind!
Molecule 04 and Escentric 04, €88.50 each for 100ml, are available from Brown Thomas or brownthomas.ie now.