Whether shopping for lipsticks or skincare, my mother always gets enchanted by the packaging, ignoring how good, or bad it is or if there is even a need for that particular product. I have proudly inherited this quality. I do keep an eye on the fragrance launches—not only to buy them but also to admire their look and play the guessing game of what the scent would be like.
I am a true believer of how a scent can activate a stream of neurons in the brain and build a visual of the memory or the moment related to a particular fragrance. When I was a kid, my family used to visit our native place and my grandmother used ittar, which had a mesmerising and calming note of khus khus. Today, when my father uses the same ittar, it takes me back to my grandmother’s memory, making it seem as if she is right here with me.
I don’t invest easily in perfumes. I love to build an experience, emotion and storyline behind it. If the fragrance won’t resonate with who I am, then it doesn’t make sense to buy one, even if it’s one of the iconic ones. The packaging is one of the components that assist me in making such a baffling decision. Here, I would like to list a few perfumes whose packaging made me curious to understand the ideology behind the design of the bottle.
1) Viktor & Rolf Bonbon
Viktor & Rolf are very well-known for their extravagant designs with details and haute couture shows that not all may understand but are a celebration of art. The label is known for its iconic bow power and since bowgate is still pretty much trending, it would have been a crime to not mention ‘Bonbon’. The design of the bottle represents the haute couture collections of the label, where each couture season has an immense feature of bows here and there. The glass is sculpted in a way to showcase the draping of organza and the Duchess satin, with the Viktor & Rolf seal on the neck of the perfume. Just imagine how cute this perfume would look on that vanity of yours.
2) Guerlain The Bee Bottle
Guerlain is a legend in the fragrance industry. For many years Bee has been the emblem of the House of Guerlain and through their ‘Guerlain for Bees Conservation Program’, they have been preserving and protecting the ecosystem of the bees. Inspired by the same, their bee bottle is a base for experimentation. Guerlain has collaborated with various artists for their limited-edition launches of the bee bottle. In 2024 January, Cherry Blossoms was launched in collaboration with a French jeweler, Philippe Ferrandis, where the bee bottle was designed to pay tribute to the sakura blossoms of Japan.
The iconic bee bottle was adorned with two sakura-shaped rings which can also be worn as rings. Similarly, they launched an embroidered version of the bee bottle with Baqué Molinié, a Haute Couture atelier. The dome of the bottle was adorned with mother-of-pearl beads and moonstone embroidery, paying tribute to Arab architecture. Their new launch of Muguet 2024 (originally launched in 1908) has a touch of sculpture on the bee bottle. Anne Lopez, the sculptor has crafted the petals of Lily of the Valley on the bee bottle. I can go on and on about this but need to leave some kind of mystery for you to go ahead and research about Guerlain.
Perfume Bottles
3) Lancôme Idôle
This sensational perfume bottle is a work of science. When I first saw the bottle it made me wonder, how is this even going to stand on a surface? No, it doesn’t but the idea behind the slimmest perfume bottle was, how portable and modern it can be made. It’s just like your smartphone which you can fit anywhere with ease. Now during the process of making the bottle, many glasses were shattered as the glass used to stick together while using the traditional blow molding method. Fortunately, Chafik Gasmi, the architect and industrial designer, found a solution to this. The edges of the bottle were designed with more volume so that the air could circulate and that’s how they achieved the world’s slimmest perfume bottle. Although it’s fragile, please love it, care for it, and don’t forget to flaunt it.
(Source: Fashion Network, Allure)
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