The crowd on the display floor

I am home, jet-lagged, exhausted, and happy. My time spent at Esxence was absolutely amazing: new friends, new favorites, new experiences, and for me, just catching up on some things I have missed out on. There was so much to see and smell, and so many people to meet, but there were some shining moments.

With Michael Edwards

My hero of the show was Michael Edwards, the creator and archivist of the annual book “Fragrances of the World”. Aside from being so instrumental in teaching the language of perfume, he is one of those men you just want to hang out with, sit at his feet, and let him talk for hours about anything. He is charming, funny, has the best voice, and is absolutely darling. I totally fell in love.

The “most elusive” award goes to Patricia de Nicolaï, who had a booth there. I would look, see her in the booth, start to head over, and by the time I got there she was gone. This happened probably a dozen times over the course of the show. Sometimes I would see her in the hall, and trot over: poof, gone. On the last day, I hoped to find her, but, alas, she was gone for good. So, Ms. Nicolaï, I tried, and I’m very sorry not to have caught you.

Etat Libre D'Orange Cologne promo piece

The most fun surprise I had was the unexpected new fragrance from Etat Libre d’Orange, Cologne. For a brand that usually finds a way to shock its audience, this is shocking in its non-shocking-ness, and a very good cologne, to boot. Etienne de Swardt was a doll, and I loved meeting him.

Bertrand Duchaufour is a perfume hero to most of us, and I am happy to report he is engaging, easy to talk to, very open, and just a fun person to meet. I was glad to be able to go past my “Bono in the elevator” moment and have the chance to talk perfume with him a couple more times. Another perfumer who had a good share of the spotlight was Cècile Zarokian, who I unfortunately did not get to really meet this time. She is an up-and-comer for sure, and her fragrances I smelled are terrific.

Duomo Milano

It was wonderful to be able to expand my personal perfume journey, and no one encompassed that better than the beautiful, spiritually connecting and calming Olivier Durbano. He became my personal perfumer for the show, in a way, as every evening before leaving, I lingered a while at his booth, took a breath and relaxed, and chose one of his amazing creations to wear. Lapis Philosophorum, Pink Quartz, and Rock Crystal, all applied with abandon, each took me on marvelous scented adventures that helped me unwind from my day and finally sleep. I wore Rock Crystal to pay a brief visit to the Duomo Milano, and the scent of my skin matched the scent of the cathedral. The winner was Lapis Philosophorum, the Philosopher’s Stone, although I loved them all and was happy to learn a collection that has intrigued me, as well as meet and start a friendship with the man behind them.

I sensed a trend toward bolder, gutsier, more interesting fragrances, especially resinous, tobacco-laden boozy, ambery scents, and I am just fine with that. Jardins D’Ecrivains taking the plunge to base a perfume on someone as Beat Generation and outré as William Boroughs is pretty gutsy. Of course, there were still lighter, more transparent perfumes that made an impression, like the new Arquistes, but I am drawn to rich and dark, and got a nice hit of it.

With Carlos Huber of Arquiste

For anyone who is doubting the impact of ÇaFleureBon on the perfume community, anytime I produced my business card and introduced myself, people welcomed me right in. Some knew of me in particular, but everyone knew the blog and Michelyn. Keiko Mecheri treated me like an old friend right away. The most complimentary was Carlos Huber of Arquiste, who took time to thank us for all our support of the brand, which I thought was very nice of him. We are just doing what we love, and along the way, helping those doing what they love get more notice.

Montale, the shiniest of shinies

Was I able to see everything, smell everything? No. Were there brands I somehow missed along the way I should have checked in on? Yes. All the hustle and bustle, the busy booths, the throngs of people, the miasma of scent, the heat and sweat; it’s easy to become a little distracted by a new smelly or new shiny, or just have moments of being glassy-eyed. There were points where I felt my nose shutting down and had to stop for a while, get some air and water, and take a breath. But it was a grand time, an amazing adventure.

Heathrow layover

I need to do some shout-outs to people who helped me along the way. Chiara Foroni of Calé, who went out of her way for me more than once to accommodate requests; Sasha Leroux of Au Pays de la Fleur D’Oranger, who let me stash heavy stuff in her booth; Caterina Gianole of Equipe, the event production company, who took me by the hand to show me a couple of ropes; and, of course, Silvio Levi, co-founder of Esxence, without whom there would have not been a trip to Milano. Grazie, grazie, grazie!

Tama Blough, Managing Editor