At the department store, though, there was no Australian-conceived fragrance to be found. "The salesperson said, 'No, we don’t really make our own fragrances here.' And I just thought, 'What?' Because we – overseas – used a lot of Australian ingredients in our perfumes, like sandalwood. I found it very intriguing."
— So Dimitri Weber founded Goldfield & Banks. Read more in The Belgian perfumer bringing Australian native flowers to fragrance at Financial Review. (And see also: L'Officiel Nose: Dimitri Weber of Goldfield & Banks, from 2019.)
Long time reader, first time commenter – I actually registered just to be able to say YES!!
I live in Australia and as much as I love the fragrance industry, the vast majority of modern perfumery had been made only using materials that are easily accessible in the global supply chain. While I understand it, I’ve always wanted perfumes to branch out further beyond the default scents of Asia, Europe, and the Americas (niche perfumes aside).
Australia has an incredible diversity of plants and scents, and I’ve always wanted to see someone do them justice. Heck – I will buy a mature Boronia plant each year just to enjoy the blooms while they last. I’ve never seen a perfume properly represent the smell, and I’ve tried a few that claimed it as a note.
Strawberry gum. Wattleseed. Saltbush.
There so many scents I wish I could see better incorporated into the world of fragrance – thank you for posting this, I’ll be keeping tabs on if anything arises from it!
Have you tried the brand?
It does seem to get mentioned here. My bad, until I saw this article I did not even know the connection to Australia. In my defense, there are so many new niche brands these days I stopped paying attention.
I haven’t, but I just ordered the discovery set on their website – will check back in later with my impressions!
Very long overdue, but I was digging back through my collection and realised I meant to post some “first impressions” of these scents (if only to help someone else in future!)
So, in no particular order, the notes I wrote as I was trying these:
Desert Rosewood – More or less what it states in the name (this will be a theme with these fragrances). Spice, resin-y woods, a touch of rose in the background. Not bad.
Wood Infusion – Oud-y woods. Well blended, slightly on the rounded/creamier side of woods (as opposed to dry spices) and is pretty “clean”. I’m not a huge fan of oud fragrances but I really like this.
White Sandalwood – Again, what it states on the tin. I’ve written down “smells like a cross between the interior of an Aesop store and massage oil”. Meh.
Pacific Rock Moss – Starts out like lemon-flavoured barley sugar with something green/watery on the far end (but not calone-aquatic, it really is more mossy). Clean but not antiseptic. Not bad.
Velvet Splendour – Personal favourite from the bunch, if only because it has the same bones as my mother’s signature perfume (“Van Cleef” by Van Cleef & Arpels – 90’s version, the reformulation killed it). This smells like a cross between Van Cleef and Caleche (Hermes) – a mass of yellow flowers and more suspended in a sticky amber base. This feels like it should be an 80’s/90’s perfume, only it doesn’t shout quite as loudly. Beautiful though.
Bohemian Lime – They’ve stated that they’ve used “Finger Limes” – I grow finger limes and they just taste like normal citrus (though they ARE more fun). Sandalwood, Lemongrass. Not bad but it strongly reminds me of just ‘nice soap’, so, pass.
Southern Bloom – they listed Boronia as a note and I was SO HOPEFUL but there’s none to be found here (it’s likely buried under everything). Boronia reminds me of a complex / rich Chai – there’s hay, spice, something sweet. This scent in comparison is florals with a touch of woods – I can see what they were going for, and it’s lovely, but it’s not boronia. Oh well.
Blue Cypress – Vaguely antiseptic with a hint of lavender. First impression was “Men’s Sports Shower Gel” – fine if that’s what you like, but not for me.
Hope that’ll help someone out there!
I also love to seek out site specific scent souvenirs. I’ve found some absolutely lovely perfumes and bath products on various travels. Perfume and chocolates are always high on my list ?
Robin, the Financial Review article is subscriber only, it only shows the first paragraph.
OH drat, I am so sorry! I am not a subscriber and got to it via google news, so you might try googling elements from the paragraph and see if that works.
Also Australian is Grandiflora, based in Sydney, run by Saskia Havekes who makes some lovely perfumes. Not sure if they are available overseas though.
They are in the US, yes.