The new Escentric Molecules Molecule+ has landed …
It’s hard to believe that it’s 20 years since Escentric Molecules first landed. I remember people first talking about this enigmatic, alluring scent which always generated a reaction – something you can’t put your finger on or really describe, but something you definitely want to smell more of. Two decades on, the original Molecule 01 is still the bestseller.
Perfumer Geza Schoen was in Dublin recently to launch his eighth M+ fragrance. This is the collection where the original Molecule 01 – an overdose of Iso E Super – is combined with a natural ingredient to create something entirely new. Previous versions include M+ Iris, M+Patchouli and M+Ginger. And the new one, M+ Champaca, is dazzling.
Champaca is the most expensive ingredient yet, says Schoen. It’s a type of magnolia that only grows in India – and a litre of champaca absolute costs around €15,000. “It’s an ultra-complex absolute, and that’s the key quality for an M+ fragrance,” declares Schoen. “Champaca is not a new material – it often features in perfumery – but the problem is the price. Other houses wouldn’t spend as much money as we do. We’ve used 1.2 per cent, which is a lot, and it means it’s very strong, very lasting and it’s got many aspects. It’s got a bit of an orange blossom feel, but also these tea notes. It’s ultra-complex and goes in so many directions.
“Some ingredients I wouldn’t even try because I’m not interested in an M+ geranium or rose. It needs to be very complex. I have access to IFF’s palette of ingredients – about 20 years ago, they bought Labratoire Monique Remy (LMR), the best house in the world for natural materials for perfumery. So, we have an advantage – the finest natural ingredients.”
M+ Champaca isn’t as simple as two ingredients, though. “It’s not like I throw in just one natural next to a big amount of Iso E Super. The formula can be short, for example, patchouli has two different patchouli qualities and three other ingredients, plus Iso. For M+Mandarin, the mandarin oil is beautiful as it is, but it disappears very quickly. So I needed to make it last longer, and I also wanted to give it more of a fizzy, effervescent feel, like when you open a mandarin orange and it goes boom. To achieve all of that, I think M+ Mandarin is, like, 20 ingredients.” Champaca is around 11 or 12 ingredients.
The aim, always, is something that has longevity (these scents are at an eau de parfum concentration), but is luminous. And yes, any fragrance will smell differently on one person’s skin compared to another’s, says Schoen – it depends on your skintype, lifestyle, temperature – many things. The Molecules scents are especially perfect for summer; so translucent and yet long-lasting.
As for the current trend for “big” perfumes? Schoen is not impressed. “People seem to be going for very heavy perfumes now. I mean, we’ve entered the pornographic age of fragrance, I think. You can’t have it more in your face than this. It’s the opposite of subtlety. And I think ‘pornographic’ describes it quite well because it’s just that they can’t have enough fragrance of the perfume.” He explains how a huge concentration isn’t necessary and there’s a “saturation” that’s “completely stupid” – a lower concentration will “bloom and breathe” much better. He puts it down to over-consumerism and greed; “My car can’t be big enough; my gold collection can’t be big enough; I want not just one woman, I want five. This is the whole stupidity we’re living in and that transfers to fragrance, very clearly. Everything is in your face. It doesn’t matter how it smells. I think it is really terrible that this is happening to fragrance. And that’s where we still have our loyal customer and why we’re still so radically different. And we’re still exactly the same as we were 20 years ago. Obviously, we’re moving and adding things, but we’re still retaining our minimalism, as well as adding interesting things to it.
“We’re celebrating our 20-year anniversary and Molecule 01 is still our bestseller. And it’s still that ultimate minimalist fragrance, so subtle yet detectable. It also, unlike any other fragrances before, triggers these pheromone receptors we all have. And that was tested a few years ago by Professor Dr Hans Hutt (who just died a few weeks ago). He basically wanted to understand how fragrance physically works with human beings, so he carried out some fascinating tests. For example, he injected fragrance chemicals into a singular human cell to see what the cell would say to that. He told me this when I met him many years back and I said, “That’s absolutely crazy. So what does the cell say so far when you inject it with ingredients?” And he said, not much. And I asked him to try Iso E Super. And he said that when it was injected with Iso E Super – ‘The cell started to dance’.” And that’s one way to think of these unusual, captivating fragrances.
Ecentric Molecules Molecule 01+Champaca is available at Brown Thomas, from €150.
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