I have a great weakness for the local perfumery in general and for those “ours” – Czech and Slovak specifically. For I am convinced that, as with any kind of art of man, the creation is affected by the environment in which he lives, in which he grew up, whatever he experiences. And so it yields an amazing variety in results, which can never be achieved by “ordinary” perfume houses with noses concentrated more or less in one place in France, and moreover, those from our cultural sphere have much more to tell us, or simply about us.
I have been following the Pigmentarium perfume brand with keen interest since the launch of their first Ad Libitum perfume. When I was given the opportunity from Le Parfum & Le Chic to participate in the launch of their third perfume Murmur – Whisper (they also released Erotikon between Ad Libitum and Murmur), I was thrilled, even more because the event was in Bratislava city where I live.
And since Murphy’s laws rule, I almost missed it. Fortunately, almost.
Luckily, Jakub Florian Hiermann, who is the nose and creator of the perfume and his partner who shares the responsibility in the brand’s operation, were still there, and in a pleasant, already informal mood and I had a chance to talk to them both.
Perfumes are Jakubs’ long-lasting passion, so he took a perfume-making course in London, and when he created the Ad Libitum perfume, his partner encouraged him to go out with him and, in my opinion, to do a great service to mankind in general and its perfume loving part part in particular, especially because the perfume is an amazing success. And so the Pigmentarium brand was born.
The brand’s new fragrance, Murmur (whisper), is based primarily on animal tones. But despite the composition, which sounds quite militant, almost frightening (ambergris, rose, patchouli, oud, sandalwood, civet, musk), it smells strong but at the same time very tender and intimate. Oud is there only enough to underline the desired animal tone, does not dominate in any way, musk adheres to the skin and forms the basis for the other ingredients. The gentle whiff of civet brings a slightly nostalgic atmosphere. I hardly feel the rose, but it would probably be too dense without it. The fragrance is soft and warm, unisex, the individual components do not come to the surface, rather cooperate. And as a bonus they hold very well, at least on me (together with the Erotikon on the other hand both survived even two showers, in the evening and on the morning… with Ad Libitum my neck just for the evening, I was with the triple almost evicted to sleep on the couch in the living room …) The intention was to create the smell that a person feels when approaching a close person’s skin in a silent conversation, the smell of someone we trust, who we can enter into his intimate zone, and whisper things that no one else should hear….
In this sense, I see the perfume as the third part of the trilogy. Ad Libitum, which depicts a sunset over Prague as a romantic beginning, Erotikon, which being inspired by the first Czech-produced erotic film projects passion and flare, while Murmur is really about the intimate and close relationship of two people.
