Papillon Artisan Perfumes: Exclusive Interview with Liz Moores
22/03/2014
Every now and again there is a stirring in the world of perfumery, little sparks of interest smoldering away on social media sites and eventually enflaming your curiosity. Such was my introduction to a new artisan perfumery collection called Papillon launching later this year and which a number of my contemporaries were already excitedly discussing.
I made contact with the owner and perfumer, Liz Moores (left), on Twitter and we began chatting away about all manner of fragrant topics before she very kindly offered to send me some sample vials of her creations, apologizing that the boxes aren’t yet ready and so they arrived with their names written in felt pen on the glass, a touch I actually found incredibly endearing.
Liz is currently in a flurry of activity trying to get everything ready for the launch of the perfumery, but somehow found time to answer the many questions I was so anxious to ask her on getting to smell these incredible perfumes for myself. Let’s start with my initial impressions and the notes she sent me on their inspiration and perhaps you will understand why I wanted to know everything I could possibly find out about Liz and Papillon perfumes…
“Papillon Artisan Perfumes have created a collection of beautiful hand crafted fragrances using some of the finest raw materials in the world; Osmanthus blossoms from China, Rose centifolia from France, Pink Lotus from Egypt and exotic spices and resins from around the globe. Often using extravagant proportions of these rare and costly ingredients seldom found in mainstream perfumes, our niche fragrances are created with skill and passion.
“Exquisitely composed, all of the perfumes are eau de parfum strength using a very high percentage of the pure extrait. Our fragrances are truly artisan; made by hand and decanted into our signature bottles.”
Notes of Bulgarian Rose, Rose Centiflora, Oakmoss, Beeswax, Hay and Ambergris.
“With this perfume I wanted to defy typical perceptions of rose fragrances. I think that Rose is a material that really divides people, often perceived as an outdated scent. Far from the typically feminine rose fragrances, Tobacco Rose is a dirtier, more rebellious rose, transcending its old-fashioned usage and creating the scent of an overblown rose at the point of decay.”
I should probably begin by admitting that I have never been a huge fan of Rose based perfumes. Actually, that’s a lie. I utterly loathed them for decades, believing them to be the last refuge of the frilly-lace blouse wearing pink-rinsed Maiden Aunt or for people who dreamed of being fairy tale princesses of the very worst and simpering kind, all frou-frou froth with a lack of substance and and an air of drooping dreariness. As time went on and my experience grew, I came to realize that rose could be used with a deeply intoxicating blowsiness that bordered on the obscene, yet as a dyed in the wool Oriental gal, still I eschewed their scarlet charms. Either I have become more blowsy (and obscene, but let’s not go there) in my advancing years, or it is simply a matter of finding the right one; but it was love at first sniff for me with Tobacco Rose.
The opening is pure bohemian decadence, a stickily resinous almost chocolatey maltiness that somehow manages to have a greenness with an underlying mint note—incredibly intricate, totally beguiling and a mere taste of what is to come. You absolutely cannot remove your nose from your wrist as your brain surges to keep up with what you are smelling. At this point the rose steps forward and begins quite sweetly at first, but sniffer beware—this is a ruse designed to lead you stumbling further into the maze before the velvety petals fully unfurl and the briars ensnare you in their prickly embrace. This is a rose on the point of death, captured in that brief moment of full-bloom and wafting forth its last gasp in the manner of an opera singer hitting the highest note before the point of collapse. No pristine buds, here, a few petals have already fallen and a dark smokey tendril signals the end is nigh, snaking its way around the scarlet heart and pulling it ever downwards toward the smouldering coals.
This final stage is like wandering into a sacred shrine in the Tibetan mountains (not that I have wandered into anything on the Tibetan mountains, sacred or otherwise, but it’s totally what I imagine the experience would be like); on the altar floral offerings gently smoulder among the earthy incense, the smoke and roses becoming one in their final passionate embrace. It is testament to Liz’s skill as a perfumer that the smoky tobacco dry-down never completely overwhelms the rose, and neither do we witness the final death—a veil is drawn and those tainted velvet petals resonate throughout the twisting steps of this achingly gorgeous fragrant Fandango.
Notes of Mimosa, Orris, White Champac, Frankincense, Osmamthus and Cedarwood.
“Angélique is the olfactory representation of the Iris Pallida flowerbed I have in my garden mixed with the woodland in which my house sits. One of my favorite materials to work with is Orris concrete and I wanted to create a perfume that included this gorgeous material.”
Completely different to Tobacco Rose, and yet somehow recognisably from the same house, Angélique begins with a preserved greenness—it reminded me of those jewel-like studs of candied angelica beloved of elaborate cake decorators that so fascinated me as a child, not believing something so beautiful could be formed from nature and savoring their unique flavor—a sweetness with a faintly savory herbal tang that just barely edges into the medicinal but without that feeling you have eaten the contents of a first-aid kit. I would say this is the perfect fragrance for Spring with its cool leafy shadiness buoyed by a toasted marshmallowy note and leading to that gloriously refined Iris—comforting as a richly patterned but lightly woven cashmere scarf to keep out the chills. Perfect, too, for the heat of a Summer’s day when you don’t want to feel overwhelmed by hot house florals and crave a fragrance that is undoubtedly feminine but still retains an innocence and freshness without leaning into cologne territory.
There is an undeniable calmness about Angélique that leaves me with that blissfully fluid walking on clouds feeling one gets after a long massage in a country house spa—the belief that everything will be alright, now, and enjoying a long walk through the grounds before sipping a cup of herbal tea, wondering why you are smiling and realizing that this is what it feels like to be truly relaxed. The Osmanthus that peeks through the heart and carries you all the way through is quite stunning, it seems lightly dusted with icing sugar and flavored with almonds—to wear this is to be presented with a huge bunch of Iris and a box of authentically handmade Turkish Delight—the proper kind that looks too pretty to eat—carefully selecting one of the pliable cubes, marveling at the elegant beauty of the blooms while experiencing the delight of tasting that gently floral scented treat, unable to resist the impulse to lick the powdery sugar from your fingers with the gleeful naughtiness of a child. Never too sweet, perfectly balanced, Angélique is delightfully unusual realisation of Orris, difficult to describe (I only hope I have done it some justice) and a delicious concoction I would enjoy throughout the year.
Notes of Suede, Jasmine, Pink Lotus, Immortelle, Frankincense, Myrrh and Saffron.
“This was the first perfume I made and took me the best part of two years to get right. The first time around Anubis went massively over the safety limits of jasmine absolute so I had to completely rewrite the formula. It is called Anubis as there were so many cross references with the mummification materials used in ancient Egypt and because the perfume had to go through so many reincarnations until I felt it was right.”
If Tobacco Rose leaves you craving more smoke and a deeper incense, this is the altar for you to worship at. The bone dry embers here are infused with a sweet tarriness (that will be the myrrh) and what at first seems a full on leather sprinkled with powdery white muskiness—the silage is incredible and envelops you immediately with its cloak of exotically spiced intrigue. Good grief this is naughty—shamelessly so, but charming with it, like having a conversation with a good looking man who smiles in a way that makes you glance at yourself in the mirror to make sure you are clothed. The opening notes smelled almost overwhelmingly masculine on my skin but incredibly, within seconds had tempered to a warm suede that let the sweet muskiness through. A licorice-esque background caresses the blonde woodiness as it dries down, that white musk acting as the clean linen to the carnal beginning and just begging to be nuzzled as the suede and saffron softly drape to echo the shape of your body and the whole mixture quietens. Yet another lesson in the art of perfectly chosen ingredients artfully blended—this is no dusty old museum exhibit. Anubis certainly delivers in its promise of exotic temptations, and yet it manages to hint at the ancient precedent while being a perfectly modern and incredibly wearable fragrance. If the Gods walk among us, Anubis swaggers—handsomely beautiful, wearing an exquisitely soft vintage leather jacket and eyeliner, not giving a damn.
Getting to experience the perfumes didn’t so much as whet my appetite for this new perfumery and its talented creator as make me frantic with impatience for their proper launch so you can get to try them, too. I managed to catch Liz in a rare interlude between looking after her children and concocting batches of the fragrances in her studio, and finally I could find out more.
Suzy Nightingale: You are launching a brand new perfume house—I imagine that must be scary and exciting in equal measures? How did the idea of doing this develop, has it been something you’ve always had a burning ambition to do?
Liz Moores: Each day presents a new set of challenges but at every step has been more exciting than the last. I have always had a great passion for perfume, but it was more the desire to learn about its complex creation which has driven me. I could never have predicted I would one day be launching my own perfume house, but as my interest continued to develop it seemed like a very natural progression. It has been scary and exciting in equal measure. There have been sleepless nights and moments when I felt afraid of taking the perfumes to a wider audience. But there are also moments of huge relief and elation when things have started coming together
Suzy: How did your love of fragrance develop? Were you obsessed with perfumes at a young age or did the addiction hit you later in life?
Liz: I have always believed that perfume holds the incredible ability to transport you to another place, or conjure memories from times gone by. I remember playing at my late grandmother’s dressing table as a little girl, complete with silver backed brushes and mirrors. She always wore Youth Dew and Je Reviens and I loved playing with the bottles and liberally spritzing them. I went through all the normal stages of perfume exploration. I started off wanting to smell like sweets and cakes, then I went to school where all the girls wore Body Shop White Musk or Miss Selfridge Soft Talk, which in their own way were incredible fragrances. In my late teens I then moved to wearing huge, powerhouse fragrances such as Poison, Giorgio Beverley Hills and Obsession. I didn’t really enjoy the 90s when perfume took a detour from the monster fragrances of the 80s. I continued wearing huge perfumes and stubbornly refused to tone things down! My collection of perfume has been built over many years and I think that every single one marks a different time in my life. I suppose in that way it has always enticed me and I feel extremely blessed that something I have always been so interested in has become such a significant part of my life.
Suzy: You are launching with three perfumes, all very distinctive in their own way, yet with a recognisable air of coming from the same stable, I think. What would you say is your signature style? How do you hope Papillon perfumes will stand apart from others on the market?
Liz: I hope that people will see the honesty in my perfumes. I wanted to create a brand that emulated the classics but in a unique yet modern way. It is of great importance to me that each fragrance stands alone as something that people will take pleasure in wearing. As a lover of perfume my criticisms of the industry are few, and I am constantly learning and striving towards the standards of the great perfume houses. I suppose more than anything I hope they stand out because each one has its own story, and I think when you put such passion into a fragrance the greatest reward is that it is noticed.
Suzy: When you are creating the fragrances, what processes do you go through? Do you have a definite idea of how you want the finished product to smell, or is it more an organic method of experimentation?
Liz: It’s such a difficult question as there are so many stages to creating a finished perfume. After I find my initial inspiration it is normally a case of going with instinct. I don’t think I ever predict how a perfume will smell. I have an idea but it’s buried very deep and sometimes my perfumes veer off course and become something entirely different that my original thoughts.
This happened with Tobacco Rose; this perfume started its life as a trial using rose and sandalwood. I was struggling so much with it, it wasn’t really saying anything particularly new, it was nice, it was pretty but that was all it was. I was going through a bit of a tough time in my personal life and I was in no place emotionally to create a gentle, delicate rose perfume as I’d originally imagined. Tobacco Rose pushed me to my limits and challenged me like no other perfume has to date. I wanted to take my pretty rose and rip it to pieces. So that’s what I did. It’s close to impossible to truly imagine a scent you have never experienced: it is like trying to imagine a color you have never seen before. I attempt to place together various ideas, memories and visions and hope that the finished product reflects them.
Suzy: Where do you find your inspiration?
Liz: It may sound very abstract but I can often see a fragrance before I make it, I can’t necessarily smell it but I can see it. I can take inspiration from many things, and there is no predicting where the next idea will spring from. I adore history and historical literature, and am fortunate enough to be constantly surrounded by nature so often ideas will emerge from these elements. Sometimes a beautiful material will present itself to me that I am desperate to place somewhere in a perfume. Although, if I am being totally honest, my perfumes are built upon emotions: it is not so much about capturing nature, or a moment in history, but rather the emotions that these stimulants can evoke in someone.
Suzy: This is something I always ask perfumers, because I find it fascinating to see where their personal tastes come from. Do you have favorite fragrances you personally choose to wear, from other houses? Which perfumers or brands do you most admire?
Liz: People are always surprised that I wear perfumes other than my own but I use the analogy: I love cooking but I don’t just want to eat my own food. Sometimes I want to go out to a restaurant and be spoilt. That’s what it’s like for me when I wear someone else’s perfume, it is still a luxury. There are so many that I could easily fill a book with my favorite perfumers! But here are a few:
Germaine Cellier for giving us Fracas; in my opinion the most cleavage exposed tuberose on earth and the bombshell of all white florals, Sophia Grojsman for her many beautiful interpretations of rose, Christopher Brosius for the sheer emotion that he places within each of his compositions. And finally Maurice Roucel who has produced so many great perfumes, plus he looks like a lovely teddy bear that I want to squeeze! Etat Libre D’Orange is a brand that seems to constantly deliver really good perfumes and I love their brand imagery (although I wish that was on the bottles!), Amouage for their Attars. The bottles and scents are like little treasures! The Frederic Malle line because the perfumes are all incredible and FM has allowed the perfumers to have a voice and face. It was a breakthrough to have the emphasis put on the creation of the perfume and not on the brand. Guerlain for its glittering history and because Jacques Guerlain gave the world Shalimar. This was the perfume I wore in the 90s when I refused to be quiet with my perfume choices. It is simply majestic and a perfume I would never be without.
Suzy: How has your taste for fragrance developed over the years, and do you feel this has influenced how you make your perfumes today?
Liz: There are fragrances I wore in my teens that I would take a pass on today simply because they smell too one dimensional to me now. The coconut perfume oil from The Body Shop springs to mind here; smells yummy but it stops there. I grew to love perfumes that challenged modern sensibilities, scents that were different and made you think, and perfumes that changed as they sat upon your skin. I was in my early 20s when I began to appreciate and understand the Chypre genre. As a teenager I has deliberately avoided it as it seemed too old fashioned, too dowdy. Oh the folly of youth! I adore Chypre perfumes in all their guises and it’s actually one of my favorite styles of perfume. I have always loved big, sumptuous styles of perfume but most importantly I respect any perfume that has been created with imagination and love.
Suzy: There must have been a huge amount of research, not only into the making of the perfumes themselves, but the packaging and design, too. Did you have contacts already in the perfume world or were you starting from scratch? How challenging has the whole process been?
Liz: When I started out, I had absolutely no contacts apart from one very good friend who I met on a perfume course about four years ago. She was an enormous help in the early days as she had direct experience of the industry. After being let down on an order for my original bottles, this friend pointed me in the direction of the company I now use. This company was far more interested in dealing with a small unknown like myself as they understood the niche industry. They knew that I couldn’t have huge amounts of money tied up in thousands of empty bottles. Most raw material suppliers will only deal with you if you are buying an MOQ (minimum order quantity) of five kilos. This is a major obstacle for a small brand starting out. I was very lucky finding the various suppliers I use for the raw materials. They have been extremely supportive and have gone out of their way to help me right from the very beginning, often allowing me to take much smaller quantities that was usually practical for themselves. Papillon now order kilos and kilos of materials but in the early days I couldn’t even consider it. The entire process has been beyond challenging and at times it felt like two steps forward and three steps back. I do love a challenge though and I rarely give up if presented with one. I think it was only this attitude combined with a huge degree of naivete that kept me pushing the business along.
Viceroy Butterfly, Piccolo Namek
When you love something and believe in it, you don’t always consider the practicalities, you just go for it and pray to god it works out! I think social media platforms are amazing for budding businesses, particularly within creative spheres and this has allowed me to reach a far wider audience than would have been possible 20 years ago. The brand name Papillon and logo was my idea as I felt the butterfly was exactly what I was trying to portray with the company ethos. Butterflies go through an exhaustive process to make their transformation; this wonderful transformative aspect that is so akin to creating and making a perfume. They are transient and sometimes elusive and this is how I see perfume. I wanted to brand to have a classic feel to it as I use the classical methods when making a fragrance, using roughly a 50/50 mix of naturals and synthetics and constructing the formula from the base notes upwards. The finished perfumes had to be the most important part of the entire process, with simple yet luxurious packaging.
Suzy: It could well be said that starting a perfumery is more difficult right now than it has ever been, simply because of the huge amount of regulations and the restrictions resulting from them. Would you say this been your experience and, if so, has it hampered your creative process in any way?
Liz: I find the restrictions more frustrating than anything. When I first starting making perfume the rules and regulations were already firmly in place within the industry. This made things much easier for me personally as I had a starting point; how much of a restricted material I could use in the finished product. I didn’t have to go back to my perfumes and reformulate them to make them fully compliant and I don’t remember the days when oakmoss could be used with gay abandon! (Mores the pity) I don’t feel that it hinders my creative process at the moment although I did hold my breath when jasmine absolute was in IFRA and EU’s line of fire as Anubis contains the maximum that I am allowed to safely use. I had to tinker with the original formula as I was slightly over the limit set by IFRA and EU Legislation. Fortunately it was only over by a tiny amount and luckily it didn’t affect the perfume but I still found it frustrating none the less. I can’t even begin to imagine the technical problems when a perfume has to be reformulated from scratch, or how heartbreaking this must be for the perfumer.
Bottling Angélique
Suzy: The world of fragrance is vast, yet somehow seems pleasingly small to me, because the people involved are all passionately interacting with each other. Have you found it easy to connect with like-minded individuals, have people been supportive of you so far?
Liz: I have been completely blown away by the support I have received from everyone associated with the industry. It’s always very scary being the new kid on the block but literally everyone who I have met or interacted with via Twitter or Facebook have been incredible. It is a wonderful and friendly community and I am beyond thankful for the support that everyone has shown. A lot of these people have also become very good friends and for that I am extremely grateful. They also smell great too!
Suzy: How do your friends and family react to you making perfumes? Are they equally passionate about it or do they think you’re slightly mad? Do you test fragrances on them?
Liz: I think my friends and family thought I was slightly mad long before I picked up a pipette! I’m pretty sure that being creative comes with sometimes being a bit bonkers, or maybe being bonkers is a prerequisite for being creative … I’m fortunate that they all love perfume so they make up my focus group which is basically a posh term for a group of guinea pigs! A lot of my closest friends remember the early mods for each of the perfumes and have been part of the entire creation process. They were also my first loyal customers and spread the word about the perfumes. I’m forever thrusting a smelling strip under their noses or spraying different parts of their anatomy with new things I’m trying out. My friends and family are very tolerant of this behavior luckily. My children have all been sent off to school, college and university wearing the perfumes with the message “go forth and waft.” My 7-year-old son is probably the most willing of all my guinea pigs; he makes sure he’s always wearing some perfume before he goes to school and has a bottle of his very own formula that we keep in the car. Testing the perfumes on other people is really important for me so that i can assess how each one works on individual skin types and whether i need to tinker with a formula to accommodate these differences. Ultimately the final decision on how a perfume will finally express itself is with me. Even if I have negative feedback about a mod I’m working on, I bear in mind how subjective fragrance can be and remind myself that I will only ever release a perfume that I really do love. If I don’t love the perfumes then how can I expect anyone else to?
A child’s illustration of Angélique found by Liz in her studio, 2013
Suzy: How do you fit family life and everyday responsibilities around Papillon? Is it all you, or do you have people to help you?
Liz: In the beginning it was me on my own, playing away in the studio, trialing new perfumes and selling to individuals via word of mouth. I was also a single mum of four beautiful children. When I decided to take Papillon to the next level it became apparent very quickly that I wouldn’t be able to do this alone. I am not very good dealing with the more logistical side of business, facts and figures tend to sound like white noise after a while as I would far rather be locked away in the studio making delicious scents. I met my boyfriend Simon in 2010, just at the point when I was feeling completely overwhelmed by the prospect of making a proper business out of Papillon. Simon became the brain I have never had, his mathematical skills are incredible and he looked at the business in a far more logical way than I have ever done. I’m impulsive whereas Simon is more reflective and these differences in our personality have enabled us to move Papillon to the stage we are at now. Simon has overseen all of the safety assessments on the perfumes and has dealt with unit costs, stock control (control being a good one as I have no control when buying materials) and the minutiae of business that you never factor in when you start a journey like this. He has continually supported my dream and has been a tower of strength when I have felt like giving up. My children have also been hugely encouraging and never let me doubt myself, when at times I did. My eldest daughter Jasmine also helps me with word linguistic aspects, albeit from afar as she is in her final year at university. The other evening in the studio my son Rowan was putting lids on bottles, Poppy was polishing the bottles and Lily was doing some admin and baby Daisy was playing on the floor. It is very much a family affair! It’s never easy trying to juggle work with family; in fact I haven’t achieved it at all. Something always has to give but I try to be a bit more organized these days and structure specific days and times I will be in the studio. It doesn’t always work but I try!
Suzy: I know this is a cruel question, but do you have a favorite of your fragrances? Or does it just depend what mood you are in or what you happen to be working on at the time?
Liz: That is such a cruel question but I knew you’d ask it! I love all of them but they all mean different things to me; Anubis was the first perfume I made so I have a lot of memories associated with that one. It was the perfume that took me on this journey and the one that still evokes strong responses when I wear it.Tobacco Rose tested me to the limit but taught me so much when it comes to roses and Angélique always makes me smile because I remember my children in the studio with me while I was composing it.I do wear certain perfumes according to my mood and these three are no different. When I was pregnant last year I didn’t wear any of them; I was suffering from such extreme morning sickness that I didn’t want my memories of my perfumes altered in a negative way. I took almost six months out of the studio and only after I had Daisy did I smell them again. It was an amazing experience; when I’m working on a perfume you get so close to it and having the time away from the three perfumes was like smelling them with a completely new nose.
Suzy: I’d love to hear you describe the perfumes in your own word. What does each of them mean to you? Do you imagine the types of people you are creating them for, or the type if character each fragrance has itself?
Liz: I have always felt that the perfumes themselves are the personalities and the people who wear them forge the relationship with them. Anubis I always see as a man, and I refer to Anubis as “he.” I wanted to create a perfume with a dark heart as I find myself naturally drawn to perfumes that contain these elements. Leather had to feature, but I wanted it to smoke, almost like incense but with heady glimpses of jasmine woven throughout. I wanted it to have texture as this is really important for me in a perfume and sandalwood was the material that achieved this. None of my perfumes start with a name, the name always comes later as I find this easier to let the perfume come into existence almost by itself, without carving it to fit a mold.
Anubis statue from the tomb of King Tutankhuman, Hotepibre
I had nearly finished Anubis when I started reading a book about Egyptology and stumbled across a chapter that discussed the mummification process and realized that a large proportion of the materials I had used in the perfume were used in mummification. I had also used Pink Lotus absolute which smells earthy and rich like the dark soil on the edge of the Nile from which it grows. I had used Egyptian jasmine when I had a choice of French and Indian. There seemed to be a common theme running through the formula that has an Egyptian feel to it. The leather note in the perfume was the only material that was jarring with this theme, until I read the section in the book about the gods that oversaw the mummification process, Anubis being the most important as he was the protector of the dead and the god of embalming. He was occasionally depicted with a leather cow hide slung over the crook of his arm. My leather note had found a place. Anubis was created from this natural chain of events and the process was a very organic one. Anubis is a solemn yet comforting perfume. It is a shape shifter and drifts between heady jasmine and smoked incense on leather.
Tobacco Rose I always see as male and female, a perfume that refuses to conform to a stereotype and revels in its contradictory aspects. This perfume takes the natural progression from first bud, right through to an overblown rose and inevitable decay. I find the dichotomy of masculine and feminine elements so wonderful to work with. A rose is beautiful, soft and feminine yet attacks with barbed thorns and grows in unforgiving soils; it tolerates drought and flourishes in an extremely powerful way. I wanted to present these opposing factors as an olfactory story. The cycle of life and death, and the masculine and feminine elements that can come together in such a special way. I threw a few things around the studio while making this perfume, it brought out the diva in me and some very unladylike swear words but these extreme emotions conjure the perfume perfectly for me. I like to think Tobacco Rose represents the two parts of our inner selves: the side we reveal to the outside world and our hidden and sometimes unrepentant darker side.
Angélique is both masculine and feminine but I think it is very childlike in its formation. Orris concrete is one of my favorite materials to work with and the smell has always reminded me of my children’s heads when they were babies. It always brings a lump to my throat when I smell it because I know I can never go back in time and feel that emotion again. I can only remember it. I find orris a very melancholy material to work with but I think this is my attraction to it. It is sad but oddly comforting too. I wanted to translate these feelings into Angélique but with the optimism that so often follows such sadness. There is a border in my garden that I planted with Iris pallida, and the rhizomes of these beautiful flowers are where orris concrete is extracted from. I spent an entire summer a few years ago sat amongst these fragrant blooms wondering if such delicacy could ever be recreated in a perfume. I was amazed by the subtle gourmand notes from the petals, shades of green and soft golden honey facets that scented the air. It was such a happy smell and so at odds with smell of the rhizomes growing below the flowers. Angélique was a blurring of these two emotions, crossing and flowing over each other to create my personal interpretation of loss and hope.
Iris Pallida, Kingsbrae Garden
Suzy: Can you give our readers the vital details I’m sure they will be longing for? When are you officially launching and how can they get hold of your fragrances? Will people be able to order internationally? Are you planning to be stocked in boutiques? Can they purchase samples
Liz: Papillon will be officially launching 24th June 2014 and all of the perfumes will be available on our website. We are currently in discussion with some amazing stockists throughout the UK, the EU and the US. Unfortunately I can’t divulge any more at this stage! We will also be offering a sample service.
Suzy: What do you plan next for Papillon? Are you already thinking about the types of fragrances you’d like to develop next, or will you stick with the initial three for a while and see what the feedback is? In your wildest dreams, what do you most secretly wish for?
Liz: I currently have two holdbacks that I hope will eventually find their way into the collection in the future. I have been working on one for the last three years that I keep going back to. It has lots of potential and early feedback has been really good. I would really love to release this at some point as I think it has the makings of a beautiful perfume. The second holdback I only started work on a year ago and has some way to go yet but its moving in the right direction. In a perfect world I would love Papillon to have no more than 6 perfumes in the final line-up. I don’t think I’m ready to stop creating just yet as my head is constantly buzzing with new ideas. I really do hope that the feedback on Anubis, Tobacco Rose and Angélique is positive as it’s those moments that keep driving me forward. In my wildest dreams I would love for Papillon to be a lasting legacy that I can pass to my children. Wouldn’t that be something? So far I have been overwhelmed at the amazingly positive responses I have received and although it may sound a little cliché people taking pleasure from my perfumes is the greatest reward of all.
When you are testing perfumes, people often ask you in a well meaning and interested manner—”so, which is your favorite?” Such questions are often difficult to answer, for how can you truly know until you have lived with them for days and weeks and months, using them to uplift or echo your mood at will? When the fragrances are as distinct as these three, it becomes almost impossible to choose. At first it was a Tobacco Rose, definitely, because it swayed me, it made me think “Yes! I can do Rose!” and opened a brand new avenue for me to explore in my perfume collection. Then I tried Angélique and was becalmed, softly swooning to its unique charms. As I sit at the kitchen table writing this, I am wearing Anubis and succumbing afresh to the heady exoticism and that naughty muskiness—so which to choose? There can only be one answer, and that is to have a space for all three in my life. I can likely foresee that Tobacco Rose would get used up the most quickly, needing a hit of decadent scarlet smokiness even in (perhaps especially appropriate for) the blowsy heat of a Summer’s day (I am all for defying conventions), and wavering between the calm and the storm with Angélique and Anubis. Right now I am interspersing typing with greedy lungfuls of the latter, so that would probably get used up next, but each of these first perfumes from Papillon will find a place in your heart, and are more than deserving of a space in your collection. Although they have very diverse characters, the unifying factor for me is their huge presence combined with a skilful handling that prevents them from taking over their wearer. All of them lasted really well on my skin, too, and were completely non-linear, leading to a joyfully continuous scent discovery throughout the day. Which will be your favorite? Chase the butterfly, seek and you shall find …
Papillon Artisan Perfumes are officially launching on June 24, 2014.