The space between us: Aqua Vitae, the new bestselling fragrance of Maison Francis Kurkdjian, is all about the space between two people in love and what that would smell like, available only at Adora in Greenbelt 5.
Revealing your signature scent is a bit like announcing you’re engaged: the general public becomes privy to your private tastes, and pegs you accordingly. “Oh, that’s her type.” “That’s what she looks for.” “That’s what turns her on.”
In the arena of fragrance, however, I’m not afraid to pigeonhole myself. This former scent slut has finally found a fragrance she can wear every single day and not get tired of — a heavenly aroma she can proudly call her own.
It’s the latest creation of Francis Kurkdjian, the master perfumer who created his first hit at age 24 (Jean-Paul Gaultier’s Le Male), followed by a string of classics: Kouros for Yves Saint Laurent, Armani Mania, and Rumeur for Lanvin are but a few.
He won the fragrance equivalent of the Oscar for Perfumer of the Year in 2008, in addition to Coty’s lifetime achievement award. Oh, the French Ministry of Culture has also knighted him in the realm of arts and letters.
Not surprisingly, Kurkdjian (who’s now 44) was enlisted to recreate Marie Antoinette’s perfume for the Chateau de Versailles, which is the only place you can buy it.
Locally, however, Kurkdjian’s creations are readily accessible at Adora in Greenbelt 5. The line has become so popular and successful it now warrants its own fragrance counter — a beautifully illuminated oasis within the chic department store.
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After being the first perfumer to open a bespoke fragrance studio for scent connoisseurs who sought something more special than the latest mass-market celebrity juice, Kurkdjian, together with CEO Marc Chaya, cofounded Maison Francis Kurkdjian in 2009. The idea was that Kurkdjian, the artist-perfumer, could create fragrant masterpieces at his own pace, free of the budgetary and quality constraints typically imposed by the industry, while Chaya, a savvy young financial mind from Ernst & Young, would steer and grow the brand.
The two discovered an instant affinity upon meeting after a Jean-Paul Gaultier fashion show. Chaya, who has a keen interest in the arts, instinctively understood the creative needs of an artist like Kurkdjian, and believed in his prodigious talent.
As a result, the house they’ve built, Maison Francis Kurkdjian, offers something quite rare in the olfactive world: a wardrobe of fragrances that straddle the line between pure art and commercial product. If you want to smell beautiful and make a statement but don’t want to smell like everybody else, Maison Francis Kurkdjian is for you.
Which brings me back to my signature scent. The whole idea of a “signature” was elusive for me until now, because I didn’t want to be identified with a single scent. There was also no one scent that seemed to meet all my requirements. I love citrus but many citrus fragrances are too linear and “one-note” for me — so aggressively fresh they smell more like disinfectant cleaning products than perfume. I like the warmth of woods but in moderation — too much and it starts smelling masculine to my nose. I also love musk but it has to be more refined and sensual, not the super-animalic, “I haven’t bathed for weeks” or “I’ve just visited the zoo” kind. So you can see why finding “the one” would be a problem for someone as finicky as me.
But miracle of all miracles, when Chaya had me smell Kurkdjian’s Aqua Vitae for the first time, it was love at first sniff. Described as “citrusy, woody, musky,” it already sounded perfect on paper, but the aroma was something else. To me it smelled like shimmering light on golden skin — starting out fresh with a blast of citrus but this is full-bodied, well-rounded citrus, overlaying a deep, mysterious accord that I discover later is a mix of vanilla, tonka bean, guaiac wood and musk, of course. And this just unfolds like a symphony and deepens beautifully on skin.
“Aqua Vitae was inspired by Formentera, a beautiful island in the Spanish Balearics,” Chaya says. “It was one afternoon in the summer of 2012 that the idea of Aqua Vitae came to his mind. Riding an old motorbike, taking it slowly in view of the extreme heat, the air on his face was deliciously cool. The sun intensified the fragrances of the nature around him.”
Aqua Vitae, which means “water of life” in Latin, plays on a mix of freshness and warmth. “Francis thought of it as the space between two skins coming together — the space between us,” Chaya continues. “The top note is fresh, with citrus and mandarin, then the fragrance goes deeper in sensuality and warmth with notes of guaiac wood, tonka bean and vanilla. The result is an extreme sensuality enveloped with an uncontained freshness.”
The new Aqua is meant to complement MFK’s first Aqua Universalis, which means “universal water” in Latin. “Aqua Universalis is the space between oneself and the air,” explains Chaya. “It plays on addictive freshness with notes of sparkling bergamot, citrus, white flowers and light, musky woods.
“The two scents form essential pieces in one’s olfactive wardrobe. Aqua Universalis has the elegant effect of a clean-cut white shirt — perfect in any situation. Aqua Vitae is more carnal in nature yet remains very delicate in essence.”
The main fragrance notes are lemon from Calabria, mandarin from Sicily, tonka bean from Brazil, hedione and guaiac wood caressed by waves of vanilla.
It can take between six months to one year for Kurkdjian to go from inspiration to final scent. “When Francis creates a scent, he always is in search for the inspiration and the name,” Chaya says. “Very often the name works for him as a frame for an artwork. It allows him to determine the shape of the scent. Then comes the story.”
The stories behind Maison Francis Kurkdjian’s fragrances are compelling. In the words of the nose himself: “The inspiration for one of the bestsellers of the line, Aqua Universalis, was the feeling of freshness. Not the smell of fresh, but the feeling of when you get into bed, in a hotel, or at home. It’s like the first time you get into the clean sheets, the first time you put on a fresh white shirt, fresh iron, it’s all about that crispness and that feeling of being fresh.
“Amyris last year was inspired by the idea of ‘effortless elegance.’ As a woman or as a man, when you put your first wardrobe and you have to pick out something that you are at peace with, and you know it fits you very well, you know you can rely on that look: your comfortable shoes, you can be elegant, this is very ‘you.’ What does that mean in terms of perfume? Amyris is all about that.”
For myself, however, the story behind Aqua Vitae is the most compelling. “Aqua Vitae is the idea of sensuality,” Kurkdjian says. “During the creation of the fragrance I had a tagline in my mind: ‘the space between us,’ as two people in love. What would be the space between two people who are in love? What about the feeling of … a whisper in your ear? It was all about the feeling of a body on your body, the body contact of someone else.
“That’s why (for the ad campaign) I decided to put the bottle in between. Because it’s two different hands — it’s not like one person holding the same bottle, it’s like two people sharing the same scent. That’s the whole idea behind it.”
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Aqua Vitae is available in 70 ml and 200 ml bottles only at the Maison Francis Kurkdjian counter at Adora in Greenbelt 5, Ayala Center, Makati.
