£120.00
Made by Stora Skuggan (Stockholm, Sweden)
Perfumer: Olle Hemmendorff
Eau de parfum made by hand in Stockholm
Notes—
Top: blood orange, mint
Heart: saffron, dried fruit
Base: amber, incense, gum acacia, velvione
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The Azalai is a caravan route through the Ténéré region of the Saharan desert where camel trains have transported salt and gold for a thousand years. Along the route stood one single acacia tree, the only living thing in an ocean of sand. This was the most isolated tree in the world, 150 km from any other.
This acacia, known simply as The Tree of Ténéré, was the last surviving plant from a time when the desert was less parched than it is today, thanks to roots reaching deep down into a water pocket, an underground pool hidden more than 30 meters below the desert. It’s easy to see how the Tuareg caravan riders, themselves desert survival specialists, held the tree and its amazing fortitude in highest regard. Breaking its branches for firewood or letting the camels eat from the leaves were considered blasphemy.
This loneliest tree in the world was one of very few landmarks along the Azalai, a sacred testament to the resilience of life, that had guided caravans for centuries. In spite of this, and the fact that it was the only obstacle for miles around, a truck driver that had drunkenly fallen asleep behind the wheel crashed into it in 1973, and killed it.
The scent is as an olfactory impression of gold, with radiant warmth from saffron and blood orange, and the glossy, luxurious musk velvione (a material that has been described as pressing the nose to the skin of a newborn’s scalp). Gum acacia, a syrup made from acacia sap, provides sugary sweetness balanced by salty amber and incense. A touch of mint tea and dried fruit pays homage to the Tuareg caravan riders.
ALCOHOL DENAT., PARFUM, AQUA, PENTAERYTHRITYL TETRA-DI-T-BUTYL HYDROXYHYDROCINNAMATE, LIMONENE, ALPHA-ISOMETHYL IONONE, LINALOOL, COUMARIN, CITRAL, EUGENOL, GERANIOL
Stora Skuggan
Stora Skuggan was founded by a group of five multidisciplinary artists – Anna Barkne, Tomas Hempel, Olle Hemmendorff, Jonas Nordin & Martin Nicolausson – who met in 2005 whilst studying together at Stockholm’s Beckmans College of Design. The five embarked on a journey of olfactive exploration, learning and experimenting over years, before officially launching in 2015 with their first fragrance: Fantôme de Maules.
Swedish for “the big shadow”, Stora Skuggan meticulously handcraft gender-fluid niche fragrances, each imbued with an enchanting narrative. Combining the essence of nature with the refinement of Scandinavian design, their six fragrances evoke an ethereal escapism. Drawing from the eclectic backgrounds of its founders, Stora Skuggan craft fragrances that seamlessly interweave cultural influence and theoretical underpinnings with an air of mystique – we encounter an intersection of Freudian analysis, Indian folklore, an nods to times long gone.
“We have not followed the traditional way to launch a perfume line by hiring established perfumers and design agencies and so on. We have done everything ourselves; every little detail has been formed by our hands.”
-Tomas Hempel, co-founder
In 2018, the label’s second launch, Silphium – built around an extinct plant used in Ancient Greece and Rome – was named a finalist in the Art and Olfaction Awards. Mistpouffer launched in 2019 after four years in development. The scent attempts to bottle the mystical, unexplained sounds sometimes heard along bodies of water, often likened to a cannon or sonic boom.
The fragrances are presented in sleek glass bottles with stoneware orb lids. Influenced by Scandinavian modernist design, the bottles simultaneously present the artistic divergence of ideas within the fragrance, whilst doubling up as a beautiful object.
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