BLASK - A fragrance about trust

Createur 5 d’Emotions is pleased and proud to introduce HUMIECKI & GRAEF’s latest contribution to the world of scent: BLASK, a fragrance about trust, for women and men. It is the eighth unique eau de toilette concentrée creation in the HUMIECKI & GRAEF family of select scents, each based on a different aspect of the broad field of human emotional experience. This latest edition takes on the subtle yet fundamental element of trust, which forms the deepest bond between human beings.

BLASK is a Polish word that means glow, brilliance, glory and glamour, the shine of the sun and the gleam of moonlight. The new HUMIECKI & GRAEF fragrance speaks of the warm radiance that comes from the wellspring of trust within, the trust that is a lifeline across the generations, forming the bond between mature men and women and their younger counterparts.

BLASK is: a steadfast grasp that segues into a warm and heady embrace; the unguarded honesty of true intimacy coupled with the longing to soar to unknown heights; head-in-the clouds euphoria with feet firmly planted on the ground.

The dry, savory tang of bay leaf oil together with the full, elegant body notes of rich red wine and a woody walnut note give a deep, solid sense of maturity and intimacy. You know you are in good hands. Eclectic floral elements add a softer, playfully enticing touch. The overall character is of a unique new interpretation of an Oudh scent. BLASK is a warm, alluring fragrance that virtually strokes the skin, exuding a compelling, haptic sensuality.

For HUMIECKI & GRAEF master perfumers Christoph Hornetz and Christophe Laudamiel have once again joined forces as LES CHRISTOPHS to create an exceptional fragrance of rare intelligence, inventiveness, empathy and emotional complexity. BLASK: The warm glow of trust that opens new vistas and makes the impossible seem probable and the improbable appear certain.

BLASK was released at ESXENCE 2011 and is available at Createur 5 d’Emotions starting autumn 2011.

BOSQUE

A fragrance about contentment, inspired by the inimitable feeling of being at one with the moment.

Gentle primrose joins with narcissus absolute to create a subtle floral scent. Buffalo grass and musk notes combine in a soft, warm composition brought to harmonious perfection with notes of grapefruit, saffron and vetiver.

CLEMENCY

A fragrance about pride, inspired by the proud, regal stance of a mother.

A disassembled rose note lends the scent its clear, metallic aspect. A specially created lime tree blossom adds a warm supple touch at the same time. Cassie absolute gives Clemency its distinctive flowery note, while complex wood notes and leather elements softened with milk notes render the fragrance strong yet simultaneously velvety soft.

ASKEW

A fragrance about fury, inspired by the destructive, energy-charged force out of which something new is created.

Vetiver, a classic ingredient in many men’s fragrances, was first “destroyed” and then reassembled, together with birch bark tar, Guatamalen cardamom, soft leather, ginger, Egyptian mimosa and grapefruit.

MULTIPLE ROUGE

A fragrance about folly, inspired by ecstatic joy on the cusp of sentimentality.

The intense, almost breathtaking aroma of wild, red berries united with frozen orange, peach kernel, green pineapple, Vietnamese coriander, green violet and “immortelle absolute” turn this moment into a visceral experience.

EAU RADIEUSE

A fragrance about desire, inspired by the clarity of a futuristic remake of an Eau de Cologne.

A cool, tingling feeling on the skin is achieved by the combination of fresh banana skin notes, tangy mandarin, Italian lemon, revitalizing peppermint leaves, rhubarb juice and a bamboo juice chord.

GESTE

A fragrance about intensity, inspired by a woman’s ardent love for a much younger man.

The softness of the young man’s skin and the maturity of the woman are made tangible in fragrance through the interplay of soft amber and musk notes, wild pine resin and a modern interpretation of violet notes.

SKARB

A fragrance about melancholy, inspired by the deep Slavic soul.

Lovage, an uncommon ingredient in perfumery, combined with absinth, Roman chamomile, barley extract, frankincense, myrrh and sensuous musk notes create a raw yet tender, deep elegance.

HUMIECKI & GRAEF

Revolutionary Fragrance Concepts Mirroring Extreme Emotions

In autumn 2008, designers Sebastian Fischenich and Tobias Müksch launched the brand HUMIECKI & GRAEF consisting of five luxury perfumes: Skarb, Geste, Eau Radieuse, Multiple Rouge and Askew. Each scent is a unique artwork in a modern flacon of clear, streamlined design. Each of the unconventional concepts behind the highly individual perfume creations reflects a different facet of the entire spectrum of human emotion – from fury to elation. HUMIECKI & GRAEF represents a bold new dimension in the luxury perfume market. It revisits the traditional market methodology, reinterprets and reorganizes its component parts – from the development of fragrance concepts to the realization of the perfumes, through to the packaging and presentation. When it came to naming the brand, the two designers chose the maiden names of their respective centenarian grandmothers, creating a very special, fragrant memorial to two extraordinary women.

The Perfumers and the Perfumes

The HUMIECKI & GRAEF fragrances were created in close collaboration with Christophe Laudamiel and Christoph Hornetz – aka LES CHRISTOPHS – who are among the world’s top perfumers. The duo are known for “pushing the envelope” of their profession in pursuit of artistic visions, using the most advanced methods of perfumery to realize them. Every emotion is characterized by several different feelings experienced virtually simultaneously. The unconventional star-shaped “fragrance architecture” chosen by LES CHRISTOPHS for HUMIECKI & GRAEF perfumes enables them to reflect this phenomenon. Perfumer Laudamiel comments on the project: “The exceedingly sophisticated concepts and ideas for each fragrance were so forceful and challenging that I had to break with convention. I felt it was imperative to create each of the fragrances absolutely individually, which is a very unusual approach in contemporary perfumery.” Containing 20-25% perfume oils, the “Eaux de Toilettes Concentrées” from HUMIECKI & GRAEF have a higher perfume oil concentration than most Eaux de Perfumes.

The Flacons and Packaging

The HUMIECKI & GRAEF fragrances are not only works of art; each is also a distillate of the emotion it describes. For this reason a single falcon design was chosen for all of the fragrances. Its form is minimalist and allows maximum transparency and a clear view of the exquisite liquid within. Only the caps and the bands around each flacon bearing the name of the perfume are individually designed for each fragrance, the varied and unique materials used further communicating the story of the scent in question.

The bands were inspired by Medieval "cedulae", slim fabric or parchment bands wrapped around relic vessels, which bore the name of the Saint whose relics were stored there. All of the HUMIECKI & GRAEF bands, in various materials, are semi machine-produced in Italian and German workshops. The caps are manufactured in various factories and workshops in European countries. For the wooden cap, an artisan workshop in Austria was found to produce them in a semi-automated turning procedure. The logo is branded there into the wood by hand. The porcelain caps are made by hand in a German porcelain manufactory.

The white outer packaging takes up the idea of each perfume in an individual all-over blind embossing motif. Only the name, embossed on a shiny foil, stands out and reveals the contents within.

All HUMIECKI & GRAEF fragrances are bottled and assembled by hand, giving each package a one-of-a-kind appeal.

The Visualization

HUMIECKI & GRAEF is a fragrance brand that gives new impulses to the marketplace, not only with the perfume product itself but also with the communication of its own products. Scents have always been associated with emotions and images. For that reason it was especially important for HUMIECKI & GRAEF to involve young photographic artists in the process and to develop unique visuals for the individual perfumes. The visual images in each case are meant to capture the emotional expression that the photographer associates with the particular concept and scent.