Every Elements Showcase seems to always have an underlying theme which develops over my time speaking to the exhibitors. For this recent edition which took place August 19-20, 2013 it was finding the things I was most excited about were not coming from the usual locales and inspirations. For Elements 2013 it was the Pacific Northwest of the United States and not Paris. It was a cosmetics company who did fragrances not as an afterthought. It was a celebrity fragrance which has proven not once, not twice, not three times, but even on the fourth iteration it can be something you want to try.

As always, I hand out a few Best of Show Awards.

Best of Show: Phoenecia Perfumes Far NWest– I’ve been waiting patiently for this fragrance ever since perfumer David Falsberg told me about it a few months ago. Far NWest is a walk through the evergreen forest. Now that sounds like a lot of fragrances you could name. The absolute brilliant grace note is Mr. Falsberg way, way, deep down in the development has a bit of an olfactory easter egg as you also smell the skunk who inhabits the forest. From a chemistry point of view to be able to create that sense without destroying the rest of the fragrance takes a ridiculous amount of patience and skill. Far Nwest doesn’t just give you the forest it gives you the life within it.

Beau Rhee of Atelier de Geste

Favorite New Fragrance Line: Atelier de Geste– Beau Rhee is an artist who produces movement based performances. In expanding beyond the visual she wanted to add three fragrances to go along with the three acts of a performance called “The Ball of Living Matter” Those three perfumes are called Blood, Sweat, Tears; The Good Earth, and Wild is the Wind. The Good Earth is exactly as promised the green earthy smell of fertile ground. Wild is the Wind was my favorite probably because it fits into this nouveau-vintage style we’ve seen many of the independent perfumers embrace over the last year. Wild is the Wind uses aldehydes, rose, and musk primarily but it has a great sense of movement to it which seems appropriate considering its creator’s background.

Most Anticipated New Fragrance: Dita von Teese Erotique- No that isn’t a typo and your eyes are working correctly. To every rule there must be an exception and the line of Dita von Teese fragrances are proving a celebrity perfume doesn’t have to be insipid. The proof is that following up the original Dita von Teese; Fleur Teese and Rouge continued the trend of quality but Erotique which will release in October just might be the best of the bunch.

Best Perfume by A Cosmetics Company: Rouge Bunny Rouge– EIC Michelyn Camen has been talking about the cosmetics brand called Rouge Bunny Rouge for awhile. I wouldn't normally care about a cosmetics line except there were seven little bottles which looked like they contained perfume in them and as I approached I realized that was the case. There are two collections, a four fragrance Fragrant Confections line comprised of Incantation, Chatoyant, Lilt, and Vespers. Chatoyant was composed by perfumer Sonia Constant and it is a really beautiful orchid fragrance. I’m not sure how they will be marketing these but they’re somehow going to have to make sure the guys out there know about the three new fragrances which will be released this fall under the Provenance Tales name: Embers, Cynefin, and Silvan are very much genderless but these could easily be worn by any man especially Embers spice and incense mixture.

Best Bottle: House of Sillage Holiday 2013 Collectors Bottle– The fragrances from the House of Sillage are all very good but it was the snow globe bottle which captured my imagination as the shiniest of shiny objects at this edition of Elements Showcase. It is a thing of perfection with no air bubble in the globe part of the cap. I was like a kid who kept walking by and shaking it and giggling maniacally. It hit me in that Holiday place even though it is the middle of August.

Elements Showcase once again helped me broaden my horizons and reinforced the notion to make sure to look for beauty outside the normal places because it is there to be found; one has only to open one's eyes and expectations. My next opportunity will be in early 2013 at the next edition of Elements Showcase.

–Mark Behnke, Managing Editor