Serena Rogers, Beckie Sheloske, cacao beans and other images courtesy of Serena Rogers© collage Michelyn
Independent creative and botanical perfumer Beckie Sheloske has taken up the olfactory baton for Montréal-based CURATA, a sustainable luxury venture created by founder and creative director Serena Rogers. The name comes from the Latin verb “ad curare” – “to care for”. CURATA is invested in creating hedonistically pleasurable cruelty-free products which multi-task: one gets to have the cake and eat it too. To date there are two products intended to stand alone or be combined as the mood/need suits: a multi radiance oil, AUREO and botanical perfume extract, DULCEO. While I’ve not yet had the opportunity to sample AUREO – a vanilla, white grapefruit and tuberose-scented face/body/bath/everything beauty treatment laden with exquisite oils – Serena recently sent me a sample of CURATA DULCEO, a natural exotic floral gourmand perfume which actually leaves the skin feeling softer on contact (this isn’t in a press release; I discovered it upon application). When I peruse the ingredients, I’m not surprised: skin-loving olive squalane and coconut oil are present in its formula. I can only imagine what the flesh wafts and feels like when AUREO and DULCEO present in tandem.
Henri Matisse Paper Cut outs 1950
Tropical and beachy are not synonyms; mention the first and there may be an instantaneous association with sun-warmed skin, sand, salt, water. CURATA DULCEO is tropical in that its components primarily derive from warmer climes and don’t evoke dallying with suntan oil. There are exceptions to every rule: materials such as violet leaf are frequently sourced from Egypt (only southern Upper Egypt is tropical!); cassie is usually French or Egyptian in origin. Caramel and butter may come from anywhere, likewise sweet orange – and Morocco (neroli) is not classified as a tropical country.
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Every other fruit or flower sings of the luxurious swelter in which such precious plants thrive, and their mellifluous voices whisper from the far reaches of India, Madagascar, Réunion, Southeast Asia, Sumatra, the South Pacific…distant locales of the fevered imagination (unless you’re fortunate enough to live there). There’s not a smidgen of coconut to be found, no Calone smell-alikes. Not that you’ll miss them, I’ll warrant – because there is abundant exoticism to enjoy.
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CURATA DULCEO is sweet and sensuous; it refuses to "Kill By Cloying", however. Yes, the base teems with unctuous notes: vanilla, caramel, butter. Benzoin has several attributes besides being a gooey resin – subtle spices and a woody tonality contribute nuance, and that’s a positive. Furthermore, the tang of guava and neroli counterbalance, palmarosa – an Indian grass fragrant with a verdant/rosy/lemon scent profile feels entirely welcome and somewhat tonic. Tuberose and jasmine grandiflorum, cassie with its furred acacia spice, honeyed underbelly: each one hints, just the merest insinuation – of their animalic nature.
Henri Matisse paper cut outs
Frangipani is simply full of succulent joy, brazenly floral and spicy, creamy. At the base of the pillar is the darkest cocoa note I have smelt in awhile – lurking beneath these layers of sweetness, deep and mysterious: it lingers. I hope that you can imagine the aromatic path where these components lead – it’s a generous, openhearted place where stinting is not an option. Time proceeds at a leisurely pace. Our real lives very rarely follow this trajectory, admittedly. There is a measure of grace inherent in wearing a perfume that has been conceived to do good, feel good, smell good – sans guilt. It’s soothing, lovely, intimate. CURATA may just be onto something…
Notes: sweet orange, Moroccan neroli, guava, palmarosa, tuberose, frangipani, Indian jasmine grandiflorum, cassie flower absolute, violet leaf, vanilla, caramel, cocoa, butter extract, benzoin
Sample kindly provided by Serena Rogers – thank you! My nose is my own…
~ Ida Meister, Senior Editor and Natural Perfumery Editor
~ Art Direction: Michelyn Camen, Editor-in-Chief. It seems fitting on Earth Day to feature CURATA Beauty who promotes sustainability in their body care and botanical perfumery. Dulceo is the first perfume to be certified by MadeSafe©, a non-profit organization that certifies products that they deem non-toxic and safe for human health. Great news 4/25/2019. Curata Dulceo is a finalist in Art and Olfaction Awards 2019
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CURATA DULCEO Botanical Perfume
Thanks to the generosity of Serena Rogers of CURATA Beauty, we have one 30 ml bottle of CURATA DULCEO for one registered reader in North America or the EU. The draw is for registered readers only, so be sure to register if you have not done so. To be eligible please let us know what you enjoyed about Ida’s review and where you live. Happy Earth Day!!! Draw closes April 26, 2019
We announce the winners only on site and on our Facebook page, so Like ÇaFleureBon and use our Blog feed…or your dream prize will be just spilled perfume.