Perfumer’s Spotlight: Aether Arts Perfume CONTACT (Amber Jobin) 2021+The Pandemic Trilogy Draw

 

Aether Arts Perfume Contact

I invited Art and Olfaction Award Winning Perfumer Amber Jobin to share the back story of her latest fragrance Aether Arts Perfume CONTACT (the second in her Pandemic Trilogy), because it is profoundly personal and very different from many of her compositions which are often conceptual. Aether Arts Perfume CONTACT is unlike much of her oeuvre: 100 percent natural, surprisingly soothing and eminently wearable, as if I was enveloped in a warm embrace.  I have been sheltering in place for11 months and have not felt the touch of a loved one during this entre time. How I long for contact- Michelyn Camen, Editor-in-Chief

Fragrances to wear during Covid-19 that smell like humans

As a perfumer, I can’t help but process and express my own experiences through my chosen medium. The collective trauma we have all experienced while immersed in a worldwide pandemic has had many tragic consequences—lives and livelihoods lost, long-simmering disparities starkly revealed—all caused by an invisible and indiscriminate pathogen that knows naught of its destructive power.  It’s not the first time this has happened nor will it be the last; it has been a potent reminder of how fragile we are as a species.

When I began designing the first perfume in the Pandemic Trilogy, The Space Between, I had no idea of what was about to happen. It was December 2019 and I was still blithely living life as I knew it in ‘the before times’. The Space Between is a Burning-Man-inspired perfume based on the event’s art theme for 2020, “The Multiverse”.  The multiverse is an interpretation of quantum mechanics, one of infinite possibilities, all coexisting simultaneously.  Translating this abstract concept into a perfume was a wonderfully challenging problem to solve.  I love this problem-solving process:  researching a concept, looking at it from many different angles, and discovering new relationships that I can then turn into a perfume.  It engages my whole creative self.  The more I thought about it, the more I began to see some interesting parallels between the multiverse model and society.  Each one of us is utterly unique in both person and perception.  We may agree in a general way on what the color green looks like but the color green you see will not be the same as the color green I see.  We are each a universe unto ourselves and collectively create a multiverse of sorts on planet Earth.  This realization of our profound separateness led to the creation of The Space Between perfume.  Released in January of 2020, just as news of a new virus was breaking, I had yet to realize the prescient nature of the perfume’s name and inspiration.  Soon enough, however, we were all satellites keeping the proscribed space between us in uneasy orbits around loved ones and strangers alike. The Space Between perfume reflects this existential angst with specific accords designed to express both our separateness and our potential:

The Place of Potential: citrus notes, spice notes

Everything is Possible: jasmine notes, rose notes, fruit notes, green notes, a touch of tomato

The Void: wood, musk, katafray, nagarmotha, amber notes, a touch of mushroom

Aether Arts Perfume The Pandemic Trilogy

Now here we are a year later, battered and bruised but with glimmers of hope on the horizon.  New vaccines will help close the space between us and offer a path back to a more normal life. This hope has inspired the second perfume in the Pandemic Trilogy—Aether Art Perfume CONTACT. As we slowly creep toward a post-pandemic reality, I know one of the things I’ve been missing most is human connection, the face-to-face greetings and meetings, the handshakes and hugs, the bustle and buzz of our favorite public places.  Humans are social animals and the lack of socialization can be devastating for us.  As if the pandemic were not enough, we have become a nation divided.  In addition to the physical space between us, there are huge, ideological gulfs that separate us, keeping head and heart from seeing another as anything but ‘other’.  At our most basic, we are all human and we must all share this planet.  Being human is a given; keeping our humanity is a choice.

Aether Arts Pwrfume Contact

 Aether Arts Perfume CONTACT began as a longing to touch those we love, to comfort and hold them close. It grew into a desire to know and understand my fellow human beings.  A single shared idea, a single point of contact , can be the start of a mutual respect that may one day blossom into a realization of our shared humanity. In creating CONTACT, I wanted to express comfort and hope. Musk, among all perfume types, is most evocative of both our animal and human natures.  And while there are many beautiful synthetic musk materials available, I welcomed the challenge of creating a musk with an all-natural palette. 

Aether Arts Perfume Contact

CONTACT opens with Carrot Seed and a lactonic Peach Mélange, made even creamier with Coconut C02 Absolute.  The literal heart of CONTACT is a beautiful Jasmine Musk Attar (a co-distillation of Jasmine Sambac, Ambrette Seed and Sandalwood) further enriched with Calamus Root and Liatrix.  The animalic base notes hold you in a warm embrace that features Citus, Labdanum, White Pepper, Black Cumin C02, Beeswax, Mushroom Absolute, Africa stone, Muskrat Tincture, and Orris Root.

perfumes for the pandemic

While it is still too soon to hug your best friend or shake hands with a new acquaintance, there will come a day when we can reach out and touch someone again. Until then, I hope that CONTACT,    an all Natural Musk, will remind you of what that is like—a way to hug yourself until we can hug each other.  Looking ahead to the third perfume in the Pandemic Trilogy, I’m not sure when it will happen or what it will be.  I’m hopeful that it will be a celebratory scent that will reflect the coming together of our best selves for the betterment of all. –Amber Jobin of Aether Arts Perfume

All art supplied by Amber Jobin

 

Amber Jobin, Aether Arts Perfumes

Amber Jobin of Aether Arts Perfumes

Thanks to the generosity of Amber Jobin we have a 2ml rollerball of Aether Arts Perfume The Space Between perfume AND Aether Arts Perfume CONTACT for one registered reader ANYWHERE IN THE THE WORLD. To be eligible, please leave a comment sharing your own experience with feeling isolated, if you are gravitating to musk perfumes as well as where you live. Draw closes 2/5/2021

Please support our artisan and indie perfumers!!! They need you now more than ever.

Here is a link to Amber’s site https://www.etsy.com/shop/AetherArtsPerfume?section_id=13079807

And a link to Aether Arts Perfume CONTACT https://aetherartsperfume.patternbyetsy.com/listing/949761355/CONTACT-a-unisex-all-natural-musk

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23 comments

  • Carboytony826 says:

    Amber and Michelyn, thank you so much for sharing and Amber, a special thanks for your generosity.

    It has been a long 11 months. I too, have remained in semi-isolation during this time. My husband is here, and he is pretty much the only person I see these days. Usually the only time I get out of the house at length, if then, is the one night a week we go out and order take out and sit in the car eating it. I have been lucky to have had a couple short socially distanced visits with friends, one after my friends father passed and the other one sunny June day when our case numbers were low here in MA. Otherwise it’s chatting on the phone or through videochat, which is nice, but no substitute for a hug. I lost several friends (Not from COVID) this past year, and it was so hard not to be able to go to the wake or funeral to be there, to hug our shared loved ones. I’ve had two small bouts of depression through this. Years ago, I was an agoraphobe for awhile – this would be a dream come through then, not having to go out. But now, having worked my anxiety down to a mere flicker every now and then, this just plain sucks. On top of it all, the thing that kept me grounded and going, my love of perfumery, was taken away from me in August. It was a medical necessity to see if it was worsening my asthma. I finally got the all-clear a couple weeks ago and have slowly been wearing fragrance again. It was nasty having to go through life in an un-fragranced world. It was drab and dreary. Perfume takes you places and reawakens memories.

    Since starting to wear fragrance again, it’s not the musk I’ve reached for, but for bright scents and some other comfort scents. Citruses, spicy uplifting lilies, plum and orris, Jasmin. Noticeable absent for me have been my incense scents. They’re too forlorn right now. The fragrance of hope and of renewal is what I’m looking for.

    I’m in the USA

  • Susan B says:

    I have retired from my teaching job of 32 years due to the pandemic. My coworkers and students were like a second family to me so I am indeed feeling isolated. I am always on the search for the perfect musk scent, so these have naturally sparked my interest. I am in New York.

  • Anders says:

    Luckily I’ve been living with my nuclear family throughout the pandemic, so I’ve been able to maintain some human contact. Like everyone else (who follows guidelines of course) I haven’t seen friends or extended family face to face for almost a year now. Although I know I’ll have social anxiety for a long time after this, I’ve realized how important human interaction is for social animals like us. Musk and other animals notes are something I’ve been experimenting with since social distancing started, mostly because I know I’m not going to offend anyone, but I’ve found that if used properly they can enhance almost any composition.
    Currently residing in Washington, U.S.A

  • patrick_348 says:

    Michelyn and Amber gave me an “aha” moment here. It’s the idea that musk fragrances are meant to be shared. You want to smell musk on someone, or you want to offer that scent to him or her. So CONTACT might work as a kind of surrogate for that experience, and perhaps be even more enjoyable once we can share it and smell it on one another. I live in the US, in North Carolina. I can relate to the feelings that Amber describes. I miss handshakes and hugs, and people all sitting around a table and laughing. Thanks for the drawing,

  • jojosi3 says:

    I have definitely been feeling some isolation these last few months. But more than the isolation, is anxiety around the future as the pandemic has put on hold much of what I was working on professionally. It is actually an academic standstill or cliff! So there is a quiet prolonged suspense and worry. So while the isolation comes in waves – I have kept an isolation bubble with my immediate family and partner – I am still concerned about where we’ll end up when this ends. Thank you for sharing, and thank you for the generosity. Its funny and strange and wonderful that the fragrance community has become more of a place I go to during the quarantine as well, and I know many others have felt the same!
    Love from Canada 🙂

  • mronhubbard says:

    Early on in lockdown, I figured I’d do better than a lot of people, since I stayed home most of the time anyway. Now I’ve learned my lesson and am ready to end the learning process. The world of perfume– actual perfumes and just learning about them online– has been a great comfort and motivator to me, so I’m grateful. Musk is one of the types of scent I’ve been more and more interested in lately. I’ve been lucky enough not to be totally isolated, but even so, having such limited access to people has challenged my wellbeing.
    (USA)

  • Bryant Worley says:

    I haven’t been, or felt really isolated (except from close friends and family) since the pandemic really hit here (Maryland) in March 2020, because I had 2 essentoal jobs. So I can’t speak to feeling overly frustrated by the pandemic.

    As for Musk, I have always loved musk in fragrances.

    I live in Waldorf, Maryland, USA.

  • Paeonnia says:

    I long for contact, i miss my friends and family, mostly my brother with whom I’m very close. I also long for travel, for faraway lands, for the sea, even for forrest or mountain just15 km feom my home. I’m worried for my children one of whom has spent most of his life in pandemic.
    Ibgravitate towards amber and musky perfumes nowadays.

  • Lauren Yamasaki says:

    All of quarantine has been an isolation. Fragrance has become my comfort during this time. Musk fragrances are addicting! I live in the US.

  • Princess Anna says:

    I love how some people are capable to transform each sad situation in an opportunity and use the pause we took from our busy life to create something beautiful. I think the fragrances above are the perfect example on how we should act and think in difficult situations. We should use them to give birth to beauty, art or anything else that rejoice the soul. I currently live in Romania.

  • teebear says:

    Oh this perfume sounds beautiful! I love musks all the time but especially now in winter as they’re an additional layer of comfort and grounding to the concrete and real.

    I’m lucky to be at-home with my husband who I normally don’t see for 50% of every year because my work involves a lot of travel; so I have him, but am missing my huge network of coworkers and friends with whom I normally share the road. My three best friends are literally thousands of miles away, and time zone challenges make even Zoom wine dates difficult.

    So perfume hugs are something I turn to these days!

    I love hyraceum, ambrette and cumin as notes in perfume and the rest of the ingredients sound like they would make a lovely, complete, complex fragrance. Thanks for bringing this one to our attention!!

    In Canada.

  • xoe says:

    Isolation actually hasn’t been too bad for me. I feel guilty about that. My wife and pets are here with me, and working from home suits me fine. I AM gravitating towards musks though. Particularly Sarah Horowitz Soft Musk. I have been wearing this every day. It hits that perfect comfort/glamor spot to make me feel femme in my leggings and sweatshirt uniform. This Comfort perfume sounds great. I am in the US.

  • wandering_nose says:

    As a very social creature who loves movement, interaction and sharing experiences, I have suffered greatly due to the forced isolation during the pandemic… I crave contact, conversations… Thankfully I have managed to keep my job as it can easily be done from home so I have something to keep me occupied. To separate days of work from one another, immersing myself in stories about perfumes, noses and notes has been my go-to activity which I greatly enjoy and am grateful that communities like CaFleureBon exist. I have been increasingly interested in perfumes with a pronounced musk facet, I consider them daring but also intimate and cozy. Based in Ireland.

  • AlenaK says:

    Ah, isolation — well I think I haven’t hugged anyone since I came back from my study abroad in the latter half of 2018?? Even if I have been staying with my family the entire time all the way to now in the pandemic?? Strange, since hugging was a thing we do, and now we just — don’t.

    Sitting at the dining table together with the rest of us engrossed in each of their phones and me pointedly put my phone face down on the dining table for every meal.

    I swear we talked way more when we were physically apart, while I was studying abroad. Now that our presences can be taken for granted, capsules of isolation are harder than ever to break into. What a strange phenomenon — and stranger is me realizing this but frozen in place and not yet moving forward to make the contact again. Still.

    Enough of that — so with physical isolation comes the need to distract myself. Online shopping was way too tempting and I’ve been enforcing no-buy rules and instead working on solid perfumes of essential oils I have on hand. But the notes go around in circles from flowers to fruits to greens (olive oil!), so yes I have been snooping around for something else. Benzion, frankincense, and the musk-esque essential oil that (from that particular vendor) turned out to be from endangered plant, so yes the plan for musk EO can’t go on. And as human behaviour go, now I’m even more into the unobtainable musk perfumes bwaha

    I’m based in Thailand — we are experiencing second waves while the government is messing about with vaccine production for maximum profit of someone instead of accessibility to the people, so this one will be a looong stretch of isolation, yet again.

    PS LOVE THE ART!

  • NiceVULady says:

    Thank you so much for sharing your sense of isolation and lack of connectedness. As a choral singer, I have felt that isolation most keenly. It will be a long time before choirs will be able to sing together. Singing virtually is very much not the same. I have been in my home with the exception of doctors’ appointments which could not be done virtually since late February. My groceries are delivered along with other necessities. My partner is seriously ill so I spend hours by myself. Thank you Amber and Michelyn for your creativity and generosity of spirit. CONTACT and The Space Between sound amazing. I’m in the USA

  • Niinocka says:

    Thank you for sharing your experience, feelings, and ideas, Amber and Michelyn.
    In spring 2020, when a first lockdown happened, as a consequence my job load simultaneously tripled and requirements skyrocketed. It was the time I felt isolated, partly because I was physically alone in the office and one of a handful in the building, but mainly because of dealing with completely new circumstances and demands on my own.
    Till the summer, the work got under control and the lockdown finished. I and my partner were enjoying the summer of 2020 immensely. I remember being so happy sniffing perfumes in Zara and at local drugstores. I started to wholeheartedly appreciate the smallest life normalities – like meeting friends at the coffee shop, going to a normal store to try on clothes, or just be able to smell a great fragrance.
    Then October 2020 came, and the even more strict complete lockdown again. And I decided to accept the situation immediately, accommodate as well as possible and make the best of it. Setting clear boundaries at work, arranging and equipping a provisional exercise room, and developing and some new and creative household routines brought me and my family the necessary balance and quality of life. Not waiting and missing, but living and enjoying small perks of life. Two of them are reading marvelous stories, articles, and reviews at Cafeurebon and trying out artisanal houses. 🙂

    I must admit that I am not very familiar with musk fragrances, but the two of them I tried (Musc Ravageur and Kiels’s Original Musk) I enjoyed very much. CONTACT seems to be a lovely concoction, too. It consists of some notes I have never heard of, so I am really intrigued about how it smells.

    Thank you for a generous draw. Sending a lot of love from Slovenia.

  • mleenstra says:

    This past year has been extremely hard. I never considered myself as a very social person; I’m perfectly happy on my own reading a book, going to see a show by myself, sole runs and quiet walks… but not being able to see my family, friends and colleagues has left me feeling so isolated. I’m so interested how Aether perfumes has managed to express this in perfume. I love the idea of using musk as a warm hug. Marit in the UK

  • Lauren Yamasaki says:

    This is undoubtedly a year of isolation for us all, which is why I’m taking comfort in exploring fragrances more than ever before. Musks have always been my go-to. It is so versatile and easy to wear, can be fresh, can just smell “human.” I love it. I’m located in the US.

  • Salem says:

    I have to say my personal experience with isolation is not as horrible as I had imagined it to be. I am quite a homey person anyway, but even though these times exaggerated it, I have tried to fill my days with things necessary and things pleasant.
    Coming to musk fragrances, I haven’t predominantly gravitated towards those, perhaps because I do not have an extended musks collection. What I did reach for more often were white florals, for some reason.
    Please count me in for this draw, I would be glad to sample some awesome musks.
    E.U.

  • drjedi says:

    I have definitely deepened my relationship to earthier, deeper perfumes, especially as isolation allows one to try somewhat stronger, weirder perfumes – after all, physical distancing makes one less in-the-face obnoxious, so one can make the best of times by self-indulgent experimentation, a sort of hugging oneself, that Amber Jobin talks about, until hugging others returns. Aether Arts Perfume CONTACT seems to be a perfect fragrance for these times, where my social contact is in outdoor cafes and solo walks nodding to strangers, or walking side by side with my spouse doing the same thing. It’s been challenging, but let’s remember it can always be worse, and we probably still haven’t seen the worst of this virus yet. Thanks Amber for describing how you designed these perfumes and for the draw. Writing from the USA.

  • Claumarchini says:

    Thanks so much for this beautiful review of what seems like an amazing fragrance. I must say have mixed feelings about isolation: at times I like it, because I feel this world is overcrowded… My region has 10 million inhabitants, the same as the whole of Sweden, and it f has become impossible to do things at the l ast minute and to be quiet in a bar or restaurant… But after so many months and the death of my beloved dad due to Covid, isolation has become really unbearable, we cannot do things and see people that could help us not to think about our pain… And we are social animals after all, so I hope that CONTACT will be soon possible… In the meantime, I would love to smell Aether Arts Perfume CONTACT! I live in Milan, Italy