courtesy of Aether©
Perfume aficionados often lament over the ever-changing industry standards, which restrict or prohibit certain ingredients that perfumers have used in the past. Changing standards can force reformulations, causing significant alteration to existing perfumes. But there is always a positive side to change and what we don’t often recognise is how changing regulations drive innovation as perfumers are challenged to find new forms of expression and fragrance chemists work to invent new molecules that expand the perfumer’s repertoire of ingredients.
Nicolas Chabot©
Aether is a perfume house that relishes in this perpetually evolving landscape of fragrance chemistry, describing itself as “a tribute by its creators to synthetic molecules and the frenzy of chemistry.” The house’s founder and creative director, Nicolas Chabot, cut his teeth in the perfume industry working with brands such as Estee Lauder, Givenchy and Christian Dior. In 2015 he revived the sleeping beauty Le Galion, a Parisian perfume house that was on the cusp of extinction with history dating back to the 1930s. A year later he created Aether, an entirely new house to challenge the norms of French perfumery, which ironically, Le Galion played a hand in establishing many decades ago.
Aether’s name comes from classical Latin. By the late 19th century, chemists were producing various ethers from distilled acids and alcohol. Some of the results were highly addictive or used in medicine as antispasmodics, antiseptics and anaesthetics. This idea of ether is referenced in all Aether fragrances. Nicolas Chabot describes it being part of a signature, which his perfumers create using two molecules, ethyl linalyl acetate and ethyl acetate. This short-lived flash of ether segues to the fragrances’ main themes, synthetic molecules that are the underlying foundation of modern perfumery. At this year’s Esxence perfumery event in Milan, Nicolas Chabot presented two new fragrances, which complete his Supraem collection, now a total of six. The Supraem fragrances focus in on one ingredient compared to the original line, which Nicolas describes as “a more complex assemblage.” The two new fragrances are Aextra and Aether Suprae.
Courtesy of Guggenheim.org Picasso Black and White
Aextra is “an ethereal love potion enhancing the smell of sweaty, lusty bodies.” Nicolas worked with one of his regular collaborators, perfumer Anne-Sophie Behaghel to create the new fragrance. The formula has a remarkable 94% of Bacdanol, a trademarked molecule from International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF). Bacdanol has a smooth, creamy sandalwood scent with cosmetic facets. It’s extremely diffusive and at this percentage, Bacdanol creates a supernova effect in the perfume’s sillage. It’s astounding how long this fragrance lasts.
photo by Clayton©
Aextra also has a small amount of Evernyl, a synthetic replacement for natural oakmoss. Nicolas told me that because Bacdanol and Evernyl are both deep, powerful, long lasting notes, the signature ether accord used in all of his fragrances serves a dual purpose because it adds a fresh, radiant quality that lifts the heavier notes up and out of the fragrance.
Pablo Picasso’s ‘Le Baiser’ (1969) © Succession Picasso/ProLitteris, Zurich
While Aextra is about radiance and light, Aether Suprae plays in the shadows. It still has a transparent and ethereal quality but it is darker, more mysterious compared to Aextra. For Suprae, Nicolas worked once more with Givaudan perfumer Rodrigo Flores-Roux. The fragrance was built almost entirely from Givaudan captives, molecules so precious, they are not available to perfumers outside Givaudan’s laboratories where they were created. Suprae is themed around Akigalawood, a biotechnology ingredient Givaudan created for its own exclusive use. Akigalawood is produced from Indonesian patchouli that has been altered by an enzymatic bath.
photo by Clayton©
The enzymes consume some of the material. What is left is a scent that is still recognisable as patchouli, but it has a dry, robust woody character that is beautifully complex and sophisticated. Paired with Georgywood, a transparent woody note comparable to Iso E Super and a trio of Givaudan musks, Sylkolide, Serenolide and Cosmone, Suprae almost floats on skin. Finally there is a hint of Belambre that gives the fragrance a modern ambery glow.
Both Aextra and Aether Suprae are entirely genderless and call to be worn on skin to reveal their full beauty. Despite the current trend towards natural cosmetics and fragrances, they are unashamedly synthetic. The approach here is not to mimic nature but to reframe our definition of nature and how we see beauty in the world around us. A light and shadow chiaroscuro pairing, Aextra and Aether Suprae complement each other by contrast and continue Aether’s work of creating fragrances that don’t adhere to traditional perfume structures.
Clayton Ilolahia, Guest Contributor
Art Direction: Michelyn Camen
Thanks to Nicolas Chabot we have a draw for a registered reader in the EU only for your choice of either 75 ml bottle of Aether Suprae or Aextra . Please leave a comment with what you thought of Clayton’s reviews, where you live and which you would like to win. Draw closes 7/26/2019
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Michelyn adds: Aether Suprae was one of her favorites from Esxence 2019
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