Not every day we come across products from Iceland, a country that if it became one of the most popular tourist destinations in recent years but keeps a lifestyle and artistic point of view very different from the rest, so when I discovered Andrea Maack and her perfume line I couldn’t resist and here we are.
Although the world has become quite globalized Iceland still lives a little apart from the rest of the world and that is seen for example in the cost of living in that country, and in that they are somewhat limited to get different types of resources or products. Perfumery is not a simple art and demands too much to create niche perfumes, but that was no problem for the Icelandic artist Andrea Maack. The idea in simple words is to transfer her work and art exhibitions to perfumes is quite ambitious.
This is the first perfume I tested and is called Smart, presented in a completely black bottle of simple design characteristic of the Nordic countries.
NOTES
Violet leaf, Jasmine, Sandalwood, Vanilla, White musk, Buckskin
“Created for an art exhibition, the theme for Smart comes from an empty white gallery space. At first it emits substance and intimacy but as you spend more time and delve deeper the visceral moods unravel, revealing the sensual and the seductive. Smart opens with a luxurious line-up of heady jasmine, luscious vanilla, exotic sandalwood and creamy musk blended carefully with a subtle buckskin leather note that holds the white notes in balance.”
Smart is a proper unisex fragrance, Niche perfumerie is the best when it comes to do a proper unisex, and this why we should always check them out. It you want to skip the cacao and tonka beans well here we are, a lovely creamy musk fragrance that open a bit floral as it dries we cross the vanilla to finish with a creamy blend of sandalwood and buckskin, now why do i think this is actually quite interesting, in the last years we have seen a lot of sandalwood and leather mixed together which gives as result a sharp and long lasting perfume this resource has been used an re used many times that most fragrances of this type smell almost the same, the last years trend was to add sweetness to avoid having such a bitter masculine results so this when cacao and tonka bean showed up to make it sweeter and again they all smell the same. Smart instead is a clean creamy musk, and with clean i don’t mean soapy but a light floral entrance that dries down with a vanilla that makes the fragrance creamy but not falling in anything sweet
A good choice for an everyday use as the duration is around 4 hours and the sillage is moderate, people would only notice getting one meter close to you. the quality of the ingredients is really good, I haven’t smell anything too synthetic or almost plastic, they go deep into your nose instead of fading away like cheap materials do.
If by any chance you are visiting Iceland or are planning to and always have issues trying to find a good souvenir or present for yourself or someone else, well a Icelandic perfume would be a great option and very exotic that I personally would feel very happy to receive. One shop in Reykjavik where you can find the whole perfume range is Madison Ilmhús probably is available in other shops but as I have never been there I can’t tell.
Hope you enjoyed the post!
Love
Evelin x
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