“You’re a NOSE”

“No you are!”

To be complimented as such denotes

Ability

Proclivity

Untimely

Sensitivity to smell:

the ability to compose and identify fragrances to the point of affecting Memory:

A Universal Language

Spanning the globe in terms of fragrance archives, so meticulously curated and shelved, it’s no wonder Osswald Perfumery invites exquisite photography, celebrities, and ‘noses’ alike. Featuring an exquisite library of a website that archives perfumes alphabetically, magical stories unfold aromatically. Fractally. “I like to think of it as an Art Space,” explains Dustin Lujan, partner and co-founder to CEO Tanja Dreiding Wallace. Dustin emphasizes the novelty and intimacy aspects of Osswald’s fragrance inventory:

“Everybody has their story, and what distinguishes us from other retailers is that I’ve had a meal with every retailer. Osswald has a story for every single purveyor.” -Dustin L

The name ‘Osswald’ comes from Zurich, Switzerland. Boris Dreiding had escaped war in Moldova to Switzerland with nothing but a little hand cream recipe in his pocket. He worked for a man named Mr. Osswald, and ‘when he was finally ready to do his own thing’ in 1921, he ended up naming it after him. Few generations succeeding, and his son Jago Dreiding would take over post World War II, adding the successful “Salon de Beauté” to the mix. Tamara Dreiding took over after Jago’s passing in 1992 and is known for orchestrating the glittering case of 250 precious bottles. In 2005, Tanja Dreiding Wallace joined Osswald, opening the first international branch we know today in SoHo! In 2012, she came to oversee both locations.

“It grew and grew, upon discovering so many brands at a root level. We ultimately put their footprints into business.”

Former Director of several luxury brands, Dustin has helped many companies build their businesses from the ground up. Deciding to go in with Tanja who he charmingly deems ‘kinda punk’, they share the same core values of prioritizing natural brands void of synthetics, as well as the smaller store model. This is especially after having witnessed how “loveless” the larger models manufacture their aromas.

“Choose a brand that hand picks their ingredients, hand-distills their fragrances, and actually fill the bottles by hand too; it’s so beautiful and truly warms your heart.” -Dustin L

Tastemakers of unique brands from everywhere, the founders at Osswald luxury perfumery have welcomed the following FOUR exquisite fragrance brands in recent months.

                                                      *

*February 1^st, 2024

                           I. WASHINGTON DC:

                                                   ARTEM FRAGRANCES

Artem is a new American fragrance company founded in 2023 by married couple Bryan Elliott and Karimah Bowen-Elliott; they grew up separately but similarly in the South. Noting that a lot of fragrance houses out there do focus craftmanship, they decided to create Artem to address some things we felt were not being met.

“We wanted to propel fragrances forward to be viewed as a form of art.”

They grew up serendipitously in similar circles around loving family, literature, and music, without even knowing each other. Karimah loves ‘science’ and ‘hands-on stuff’, while her husband Bryan has strong background in luxury branding. They sat down, focused on what story they wanted to tell, and then decided on the fragrances.

 “We wanted to build a brand built around Storytelling.”

 Each image on side of the box corresponds to the story at large. Southern Ballad, currently the most popular at Osswald, features an artwork sketch of Piedmont Park in Atlanta. Reminiscent of growing up there, the stark scents creamy gardenias, honeysuckle, and Asian pear evoke memories of catching fireflies and picking wild blackberries with your friends.

Moreover, Flos Novis is a citrus woodsy fragrance that captivatingly sets the uncanny daffodil flower at its center. The first flower that blossoms after winter, it symbolizes resilience or new beginnings. Meant to be a breath of fresh air, thanks to addition of freshening green tea as well, the fragrance is a metaphor for African Americans’ cultural sphere all blossoming out of less-than-ideal situations.

Meanwhile, Vetiti Spiritus, or the ‘get close to me’ fragrance, ‘is a scent that ‘won’t heavily project, but that you won’t forget’. Deeply inspired by the Prohibition Era, during which Jazz music was too forbidden and deemed to contain evil spirits, it’s evocative of the forbidden speakeasies that sprouted in response. Intertwining notes of tobacco, tonka bean, bourbon, Virginia cedar, mahogany, whiskey, cinnamon, and vanilla, it’s also reminiscent of Dad’s pipe tobacco growing up. It encompasses the mystique of “a distant era and the allure of clandestine encounters,” rendering it the ideal selection for “those who appreciate the allure of the forbidden and the enigmatic”.

Magically referencing individuals who begin crying during focus fragrance groups, Artem stronghandedly pushes one thing:

“The authentic storytelling component behind the perfumes sparks dialogue and generates   understanding”.

Super affordable at $295 a bottle, each is made to intentionally blend architecturally with one’s space. White with matte black accents, “we feel like less is more, and love giving the design space to breathe,” notes the couple. “We love white space, and went along with this bottle because it blends in.” Superbly ‘customer-centric’, you can Scan the QR to reach the rich stories.

Artem also employs natural ingredients as much as possible. Bryan effectively drew attention to the fact that some fragrances like gardenia are stingier and do require more synthetic mimicry. Planning to release at least two fragrances a year, consumers can sample by investing $65 in the Discovery sample set, of which $40 may be used toward a full purchase.

A final notable scent, Séjour Enchanté is inspired by the sensuality and romance imbued by Josephine Baker in her song “J’ai Deux Amours”. About feeling torn between two loves—Paris and the homeland—it circles bystanders around the globe. Betwixt with mimosa blossom, raspberry, amber, cardamon, cedar, vanilla, frankincense, myrrh, and blueberry, it is fruity yet complex, and akin to the enchantment of a most graceful woman in deep love with spaces representing the fondest of memories. Memory after all, is a universal language.

                                              **

March 22, 2024

                      II. FRENCH RIVIERA:

                                           VERONIQUE Gabai Aroma 

Deemed “perfumery’s new frontier” for its emphasis on perfume therapy, VERONIQUE Gabai Aroma marks the stark intersection of perfumery and aromatherapy. Employing super high concentrations of natural ingredients that ‘make you feel good when you wear them’ sets these gems apart from other niche fragrances. An “aromatherapy doctor” selects the natural essential oils, which are ethically derived to optimize therapeutic benefit. A “master perfumer” then works their magic, and boom: Sunshine in a bottle (hence the gracefully gilded bottle) where Pleasure meets Medicine.

Hailing from France, these fragrances are inspired by Mediterranean… “by a moment and feeling [endued] in the south of France,” notes Veronique herself at the launch. Equipped with almond-shaped eyes and an air of French Riverian regality, she was global president of Estee Lauder. Right before the pandemic, she decided to create her own brand that is ‘clean, biodegradable, and sustainable’, and voila: Fresh daytime seashore scents abound, like Eau de Jour with its woodsy citrus warmth and openness, or Sur La Plage, an “ode to sensuality”, meticulously infusing orange blossom, magnolia, jasmine, tuberose, pink pepper, cedarwood. Nighttime elixirs too evoke mystery and exoticism alike: Vert Desir, concocted with lemon, mint, absinth and cedarwood, or the Oud Elixir, “Eau De Parfum Woody Ambery”, composed with “precious saffron, rose, myrrh, patchouli, gaiac wood, elemi and vetiver.”

                                           ***

April 11^th, 2024:

                           III. LONDON:

                                           ORMONDE JAYNE 

Gilded-bronze elixirs, encased ever so simply yet luxuriously in broad-shouldered bottles, I first met Babylonia and Levant during the Ormonde Jayne launch April 11^th. Historical referents to the Middle East, the latter, noted with peony, lily, and jasmine amid orange blossoms characterizing the flirtatiously jubilant latter ‘Lebanon’ today, beautifully coincided with the violets, vanillas and pralines: HEAD: Bergamot, davana, pink pepper, blackcurrant. HEART: Iris butter, violets, bluebell, orange blossom. SOUL: White musk, siam benzoin, vanilla absolute, praline…” Like wtf?

And so, I was intrigued. After all, what’s the association to London exactly? Embodying the cosmopolitan metropolis, in all its “rich diversity with [its] soul for travel”, each bottle employs unique scents and oils intended to “redefine the world of scent.”  Hemlock and Oudh are the notable scents streaking the interiors.

38% oil concentrate, these British hand-crafted fragrances are concocted, bottled, and packaged by hand by hand by founder Linda Pilkington in her London workshop.

  “We do a mixture of natural and synthetics to help project longevity.” -L Pilkington

Starting 25 years ago, her original idea was to have a shop encapsulating her fondness for making ‘chocolate’, concocting ‘room sprays’, and for ‘cashmere blankets’, but she ended up rerouting to ‘perfumes and candles’.

 “I always wear Ormonde Woman. I gravitate toward it a lot because it makes me feel confident and protected.” -L Pilkington

Derived from the Muscat corner of the ever-so alluring La Route de La Soie collection, the scent “moves with you like a cocooning second skin […] opting directly for principal notes of Amberesque persuasion; sensual, sultry and smouldering,” as noted on the website’s exquisite fragrance profile. Detailing its physique from head to toe: “HEAD: Saffron, cinnamon, date oil; HEART: Rose absolute, frankincense, incense, halwa. SOUL: Oudh, vanilla, oakmoss, cardamom.” How can you not acquiesce? Moreso, how cannot everyone around you derive exoticism when clothed in such fractalizing aromas?

Ormonde Jayne boasts a trifecta of fragrant collections, fractalizing the inevitable journeys abroad that ensue simply by residing in London, an ever-so globalized epicenter. The Signature Collection scents eloquently infuse the nutty Basmati rice of India, with Arabian Ta’if—revealing inevitable cultural entanglement. Meanwhile, several dozen samples of Madagascan vanilla dominate the Four Corners of the Earth sequence.

                                            ****

May 6^th, 2024

                            IV. NEW YORK CITY,  NYC

                                                     STRANGELOVE 

Strangelove NYC was founded by Elizabeth Gaynes in in 2013. Sounds super American, but no, Elizabeth spent years working sustainable farms in Borneo, 73% of which is considered Indonesian territory. Exotic. Right? Might explain the unusual ingredients all added the baseline of Oud: sandalwood, musk, vanilla, orris butter, Peruvian balsam, ambergris, red champaca, jonquil nectar and so much more, all available in the oud-based scents: meltmyheart, silencethesea, lostinflowers, and fallintostars.

“We’re all about ingredients, and in every one of our scents we use sustainable ouds in high concentration. Then I take that one rare ingredient and put another rare ingredient with it, so each scent of the five scents is particularly different. 25% concentration, super powerful.”  -E. Gaynes

Placed at the center of Osswald, with notable jeweled encasings, the elixirs composed by master perfumer Christophe Laudamiel are hand-crafted in small batches. Helena Christensen, notable writer, and philanthropist is the perfumier’s creative director. A friend to Elizabeth who visited weekly in Borneo, she’s been instrumental to imbuing beauty inside and out.

Luxurious scents, that are wholesome—Strangelove sources from farms that are 100% sustainable. They extract highest quality ingredients while ensuring lack of support of deforestation. The oud is specifically derived from India. All elixirs are 100% pure, cruelty free, with an emphasis of ‘development to marketing’, hence the exquisite bottle caps made with 24-karat plating. The price stamps of $235-$900+ are indeed justified!

Something special about oud—or agarwood, is that it’s essentially extracted from the fungus-infected resinous heartwood of the agar tree. A wood resin that when balanced with Damask rose, amber, violet— gives u the aphrodisiac deadofnight effect. Even more beautiful, is the marine formula, silencethesea, composed of oceanic mysteries thanks to white truffle, angelica, blue chamomile, natural narcissus… atop black oud of course.

“The scents are so complex; you must give them at least 30 minutes to open up on your skin so you can really smell the other ingredients.” -Gaynes

When asked about the future, Ms. Gaynes responded: “We really know our oud, so that won’t change, but we did launch a body oil, may add a diffuser, a line of candles too. There’s a lot ahead of us.”

Photos by: Michael Ostuni/PMC