Finally I made my return to the huge annual perfume event that is Esxence in Milan, Italy. It’s been a whole 6 years since I was there last. The event is bigger now, and the niche industry has evolved a lot since. Sales have increased enormously, and we suddenly have fragrance influencers on most social media platforms, something that was more or less limited to Youtube and blogs just a few years ago.
Of course the event is way too big for one person to sniff all the creations and meet all the brands in just a few days, but I did my best. I spent two full days at the fair, and then I used all of Saturday to see the perfume boutiques in the city. I used the map and brand list to my advantage, and took only a couple of appointments throughout. This time I wanted to be free to walk around without too many hours booked in my agenda. Next time I might try to book more slots, let’s see, because meeting brands on your own with full attention is quite nice too. In the end, there were just a few brands I didn’t get the chance to try, but I’m sure I can smell them somewhere else pretty soon.
A few observations…
There seems to be a cacao/chocolate gourmand trend going around, as many brands have recently introduced their own take on this delicious fruit/sweet. Rosendo Mateu is one of them, launching 1970, a delicious chocolate scent. The one that stood out to me the most however, was Cacao Porcelana from Atelier Materi (it might not be a novelty, but it was the best in this trending category for me).
I also heard the phrase “this is a rose that isn’t your typical rose” a few times too many. Personally I’m not a big fan of rose in perfume, but I actually found one or two of these “not-your-typical-rose” scents to be quite wearable! So the phrase might have been true a couple of times, but come on, if you’re gonna market your new rose scent, maybe find a more intriguing and unique way of doing it, or hire a better marketing director/copywriter (like me, hint hint)…
Another scent trend seems to be delicate skin scents and explorations of musks. We have Sogni from Meo Fusciuni (inspired by Japanese culture), Raku from Les Bains Guerbois (inspired by Japanese pottery) and Musc Pallas from Jovoy (inspired by space) to name just a few. Japan seems to be the inspiration for a lot of things these days, and you definitely won’t see me complain about this!
The bad parts…
Unfortunately, some brands were quite rude (Laboratorio Olfattivo, wow, it’s been a long time since I met someone so arrogant). Seriously, some people need to work on their people skills, or just not be at these events at all (Musicology, I’m looking at you and your staff/owners, who seemed to want to be anywhere but Esxence).
On the last day, I was physically assaulted by the brand owner of De Gabor, who wanted to spray my whole arm with his new perfume. As I was passing by, he waved at me to get my attention. I approached him and he immediately grabbed my arm. He said “You have to experience this on skin” and was just about to spray my whole arm. I was quick to politely decline, saying I prefer to try on a blotter first. He grabbed my arm so hard it actually hurt, and wouldn’t let go! He didn’t even seem surprised or embarrassed that I was clearly uncomfortable, but then he finally let go of me. He sprayed the perfume on a blotter, handed it to me without looking at me, and said “Have a nice day” in the most sarcastic way possible. He turned his back to me and I left, surprised, a bit shaken and not really able to process what had just happened. I didn’t smell the blotter, and now I’ll never ever try his perfumes. What a horrible experience, truly… But enough about that, let’s get back to the positive!
The best part of this whole trip was finally getting to meet several of my Instagram friends. I also met many old friends from Sweden, Portugal and several other places I’ve lived or visited. Some brand owners/perfumers even remembered me from 6 years ago, that was really nice (shoutout to Francesca Bianchi, you’re amazing!). I also ran into the wonderful Victor Wong from my favorite brand, Zoologist. Just like 6 years ago, he was kind enough to show me some upcoming releases (I already know I’ll get at least two of them as soon as they’re released!). And now, let’s talk about the best brands and scents I encountered at the fair this year.
Here are the new discoveries I enjoyed the most:
Gini Parfum
This brand was previously known as Homoelegans, one of my favorite brands ever. When I heard it had come back from the dead in a new shape, I had to go talk to Francesco, the brand owner. He’s one of the nicest people around, and Gini is a really lovely brand. A few of the old perfumes are still provided, albeit in a new bottle and with new names. I must say I like the new design more, even though I miss the old names. If you don’t know these scents already, you need to order a discovery kit ASAP!
L’Orchestre
I’d been wanting to try this brand for a long time, having seen it around Instagram. And it honestly surprised me! I tried the whole line, and fell for several of the scents. My favorite one being the novelty – Liqueur BPM – a licorice concoction that I hope to review and explore more in the future. Out of the brands inspired by music, I definitely find this one to be the most interesting and unique.
Toskovat’
One of my favorite finds this year, and the most unique of them all. Toskovat’ is a new Romanian and very artistic brand, with 10 scents in their line. Some of the fragrances feel somewhat unpolished and raw (maybe on purpose), but they’re incredibly interesting and very wearable. This is a discovery kit I’ll return to again and again throughout this year, I’m sure of it. The perfumer David-Lev Jipa-Slivinschi has fantastic potential and I can’t wait to see what he does in the future.
J-Scent
A Japanese brand I’ve been dreaming of trying for a really long time. I smelled all the 25 scents, and several of them are just marvelous! My favorite of course, was Roasted Green Tea, which stood out immediately as a really great tea scent (something I’m sort of missing in my collection).
Pernoire
I looove their bottle design, it’s so simple and elegant. Minimalism for me is often much better than extravagance, so Pernoire is perfect for me. The people behind the brand were very friendly, and I fell in love with both Tierra and the new gourmand-like release Naki. Looking forward to sniffing their future releases too.
Pana Dora Sweden
Another brand I’ve been curious for a long time, since they’re from my country. Most of the fragrances are really well blended. I loved XVI, Swedish Woods and the new white chocolate inspired release Moonlight. Unfortunately I couldn’t talk much to the brand owner, because he was in meetings every time I passed by.
Electimuss
The staff of Electimuss provided the best reception out of all the brands I talked to this year. Sue was so nice, I even returned the next day to talk to her again. What a lovely and happy person, I actually told her then and there that I wish all brands would make the same impression as she did. Thank you, really! The best find here was probably the ultra smooth Vici Leather, but I loved several of their fragrances, and need to come back to this house at some point to explore them even more.
Oman Luxury
One of this year’s biggest brands, perhaps? They seem to be everywhere recently, and for good reason. I absolutely loved the presentation we got of the fragrances, and I already have three bottles in my collection. With Amouage, and now this brand, Oman is quickly becoming a dream destination for me! I’ve even been googling nature pictures from Oman, and man that country looks amazing.
Argentum
The people behind this brand stayed at my hotel, and it was the first brand I talked to and sniffed this year. I love the design of the brand, the tarot-like cards and the spinning wheel with all the fragrances on top. I got to draw a card blindly, and got Creator, an airy amber scent, which was just divine and fit me perfectly.
Elixir
I got a great presentation of the brand and the scents, and immediately fell in love with Elude, a delicious scent inspired by red wine and wine cellars. I also really enjoyed the cannabis fragrance Inversion. The brand has also created bakhoor caviar perfumes, such an interesting and great smelling idea!
Thank you to all the brands who received me, the friends who stuck around, and the great shop attendants and store managers that I met in several of the perfume boutiques around Milan. I also have upcoming collaborations with a few brands (if you’ve seen my “perfume duel” video with Sarah Colton at a certain brand’s booth, you might have a hint there), more about that in future Instagram and/or blog posts.
And that’s it from my side this time around. If you’ve read all the way here, thank you so much for reading. And hope to see you next year in Milan (unless we meet at Pitti before that, who knows!).