There were too many exciting discoveries to fit into one post this year, so here is the second part of the wonderful and interesting new things we found at Esxence 2022. Here you can find Part 1 of the round up.

M.INT

We’ve reviewed several M.INT fragrances here on The Sniff already, and they always provide something both entertaining and different. This year they have a new fragrance out, Moonglade. Moonglade is a veritable cornucopia of fruits over a musky, murky base. Something wicked lurks in the fruity frivolity.

Fragments by NVC

The new Fragments by NVC line was announced in the run up to Esxence. Three fragrances make up the line which, like Sly John’s Lab, is a sort of separate subset to the main brand – in this case Neela Vermeire Creations. The perfumer for the Fragments collection hasn’t been announced yet, but the scents are all collections of things and together that forms the fragrance’s narrative; rather than it being a specific story in its own right. The scents are all stunning and exhibit the same quality as you would expect from the Neela Vermeire Line, just with a slightly different personality and tone to the main brand. They feel like an intelligent reflection of the times in which we find ourselves, and are worth checking out as an antidote to it!

Maison Incens

A new brand to us here at The Sniff, Maison Incens announced three new fragrances for Milan – each with a label made out of stone, which is all sorts of cool. The scent which captured our attention, however, was the beautiful Chypre Isli from their existing line. This intoxicating combination is a mixture of heady white flowers over a musky, woody base. It’s divine and a definite stand out from the whole show for us. More on this one coming soon.

Carthusia

Carthusia, the perfume house from Capri, are classical and beautiful. One of the standouts from their line though was the fact that they do a scented sunscreen. Why doesn’t everyone do this? Their perfumes are great, well constructed and balanced, but when you add it to a suncream you’re taking the game to a whole new level as anyone who has had coconut suncream fight with their summer scent will attest. Brilliant idea.

Meo Fusciuni

This darkly intelligent brand has a wonderful sense of the Gothic about them. Their new fragrance Encore du Temps, is a tribute to the love between the perfumer and his wife (who takes the gorgeous pictures that adorn the boxes). It’s a beautiful fragrance with notes of tea and blossom petals.

Olibanum

I loved the bravery of Olibanum, building their whole line around this hero ingredient (which I happen to love!). The scents are stripped back, laid bare, so that their success hinges on how lovely the raw materials are. Brave and deceptively simple scents which I would happily wear a whole bucketload of!

Laboratorio Olfattivo

I’m not going to lie, I did have an inkling that this Italian brand were amazing before I met them at Esxence, but having the chance to smell huge swathes of their line only cemented that for me. There were some total stunners, with a particular emphasis for me on the dark, resinous fragrances. Vanagloria was a winner in that regard, with the added bonus that the scents are really well priced (by niche perfumery standards) as well.

Maison Tahite

There’s something to be said for these brands that dial perfumery down rather than up, stripping back to hero ingredients seems to ignite something really creative and Maison Tahite is another example of a brand doing just that. Their first round was build around vanilla (love) and cacao, and almost every single scent was likeable, wearable and interesting. Definitely a brand worth digging into and getting to know more.

Off broadway…

When at Esxence, there is always the chance to meet with and get to smell fragrance which aren’t being officially exhibited, but which the perfumer or brand owner may grant you a smell of. Here are some of our favourites from the “off broadway” section of the show…

Sarah Baker

We interviewed Sarah Baker for The Sniff Perfume Podcast in one of our favourite episodes. Sarah very kindly gave us a sniff of her new scent, Gilt, and if you enjoyed Loudo (which we did) then you will LOVE this one. It’s Loudo on steroids with the sweetness and oud taking centre stage once more. A thrilling fragrance which is going to be worth its weight in gold when the cool weather comes.

Ricardo Ramos Perfumes de Autor

Ricardo Ramos announced a new fragrance when we met him at Esxence, Rock Lobster. The fragrance is a fun romp of a scent and a tribute to the B52s. It contains notes of hairspray, soda pop and even a touch of lobster which gives it an interesting and intriguing edge. There is nothing about Rock Lobster which isn’t a whole lot of fun.

Contradictions in Ilk

Two new fragrances from this youthful layering house: Human and Nature. Nature is a bitter green, ivy-reminiscent type scent, whilst Human is much more of a tender exploration of our response to the environment. Both interesting, but it was Human that particularly stood out.

The other stuff

All images by The Sniff. We were gifted some samples by some of these brands, none of whom had any expectations that we would review them.