ON & BEYOND

Maura was off to Paris last week so I handed her some money and asked her to surprise me with a souvenir. And I couldn’t have asked for a better return item. Blaise Mautin is a french parfumeur who’s reknowned scents have glazed the aura of the Park Hyatt Vendome in Paris. The spray is a perfect marriage of Paris’ romantic allure and Hiroki‘s immaculate branding, but that’s aside from the luxurious woodland spice emanating from the essential oils which contain this Erlenmeyer flask.

Rei Kawakubo’s CDG made its name by walking on its own separate path. No other brand in the world has evoked such reactions as awestruck, confusion, outrage & admiration all at the same time. While they’ve been on the pursuit to push the envelope on the catwalk, their line of unisex fragrances are not an exception to that mindset. For their Scent Two, COMME des GARÇONS didn’t hesitate to explore boundaries by using exotic mixes of ingredients such as incense, Sumi ink, amber, patchoulli, Chinese cedarwood, cumin, vertiver, tar and fresh magnolia; all held together in a clashing silver canister which was part of Time Asia’s Top 10 Designs in 1999. Although I’m not a man of scents, I allowed a little bit of indulgence to my regard by purchasing the number 2 by Antonio Puig, mainly because i felt the dandyism slowly take place in me