A trip back in time
When I made a bouquet of wildflowers, my hands always smelled a little extra afterwards. I found it most beautiful to create such a large, exuberant bunch that I could barely hold with one hand, to then wrap it in sturdy paper. I knew that one bunch was going to mean something sweet. And just like that bouquet of wildflowers, it smells A Winter Melody by Gucci.
Suddenly I was back behind that slightly too small counter, the edges of which had been chipped away by the hundreds of bouquets and plants that passed over it on a Saturday. The sound of the roll of ribbon when I gave it a good flick. The tearing of those thousands of pieces of tape to wrap flowers. The slightly too static cellophane. The old-fashioned cash register that beeped with every key press and rang loudly when closing. For a moment, I was back in that Rotterdam Flower Alley, where I knew exactly who came for white roses, who regularly left with bunches of delphinium, or who was just shyly waiting for a chat. That wall full of flowers when I walked in, always rubbing over a eucalyptus leaf to release the scent and those endless bins of pom-pom chrysanthemums in the autumn. That’s where my love for flowers began.
Even before I knew what The Alchemist’s Garden was supposed to evoke, I was already going back in time, just as it should be, it turns out. Gucci wants to evoke the mood with base scents in the haute perfumery collection that brings you back to a memory.
Just like times, scents also pass, so I would now choose for The Eyes of the Tiger. It reminds me a bit of the powdery perfume my mother used to wear, but with just enough of now. As Gucci itself says: scent is the score for experiences that are linked to memories and the unconscious. So beautifully said that I just won’t rephrase it.
But what I find even nicer about the new luxurious line (which you can shop exclusively at the Bijenkorf) is that you can wear it in layers. The perfumed oil of one, the perfume of another and the perfumed water to finish it off. This way you get your own signature in your perfume. Although I actually want them all through the coat they wear. The gold-decorated box they come in, the fine shiny bag, and then the bottle aka the cloche that you find in such a good old pharmacy. Just remember for Christmas: everything from The Alchemist’s Garden. That will make you and friends plus family happy, even if it’s just because you’re going back in time.
