ESCENTRIC MOLECULES Escentric 04 & Molecule 04 (2017) // Extreme Curating {New Fragrances}

Escentric Molecules, a niche fragrance label created by German perfumer Geza Schoen in 2006, has released a new duo of unisex scents - the first one in seven years - called Escentric 04 and Molecule 04, thereby continuing to develop a library of perfumes destined to upset the status quo...

Where most people expect you to romance them when it comes to perfume, the Berliner brand takes a contrarian approach, making bottled aromas sound as dry and pared down as possible.

The project could have been called "No BS" except that there is still a marketing approach behind the professed lack of interest in story-telling, the old-fashioned way that is. It is a story of few words and fewer molecules - but a story all the same.

Escentric 04 is reported to be a blend mixing notes of Javanol, botanical juniper berries, grapefruit and mastic.

Molecule 04 perpetuates the challenge of selling you a fragrance built on a single synthetic note, like the famous Molecule 01, with this time Javanol, which mimics the precious material sandalwood, harder to come by despite efforts to develop its cultivation.

According to Jerzy Bajgrowicz and Antoine Gaillard of Givaudan, the company which produces Javanol, the molecule is derived from the much more common pine tree's turpentine. It is said to present facets of dry vetiver, rose flower and creamy musk (cf. Perfumer & Flavorist, December 2009).

One of the ways in which the house has managed to impose itself over the years, thanks to a distinctive approach, is in how the chosen molecule, each time, is supposed to magically almost interact with your skin chemistry. In this manner, the perfume customer is buying into a true-and-tried scenario of the fragrance industry. Modernity meets history. But this is also extreme curating. You are invited to think that you will wear what is pure and essential, rather than what is the rich and precious.