[Ursula]

During infancy I don't believe we pay much visual attention to the aromas surrounding us and merely associate them with comfort. I was about 8 years old, in Germany, when I first sniffed a cologne named Juchten and somehow assigned it the color Brown. During High School, we happily experimented. Those memories bring back L'air du temps, a citrus fragrance, encased in a neat yellow package, and Ma Griffe, a chypre, sold in a package with green and white striping.

The point I am trying to make here is that in our perceptions of fragrances and colors, there may be harmony, contrast or even dissonance.

Within the fragrance wheel by Michael Edwards (Fragrance Foundation) all scents are grouped by color ranges. Since most perfumes are blended creations with many different original aromatic ingredients, to pick just one color to suggest a visual perception is a delicate endeavor.

Sometimes, the choice seems obvious. I'm thinking of Opium, a heady oriental scent, attractively packaged in Cinnamon Brown. Then, there is Cool Water, clearly in Aqua Blue, and then there is Light Blue, cheerfully packaged in, of course, Light Blue. You See??

On another level, appealing to an image beyond of what we actually see, there are bold exceptions: Paloma Picasso - green pine scent - is presented in Red and Black (the proud image of the woman designer; Maja - an aromatic herbal - is shown in Red and Black (the fiery image of Spanish bullfights and the ladies with black Mantillas watching).

And then there is Giorgio. I simply cannot get used to the yellow/white striped packaging, which is supposed to be reminiscent of the elegant arcades in Beverly Hills. Its glorious scent has a soft undertone of musc which invariably will remind me of my kitten's soft fur coat wherein I would bury my nose. I cannot help it but my visual association with that fragrance are the colors grey, mauve, even a touch of charcoal.

24 Faubourg is also wrapped in the orange colors of the Designer House. Here, my visual perception is somewhat closer. A field of yellow daffodils waving in the breeze, under white birch trees, like the scene in the movie Dr. Zhivago, comes to mind.

I may not be the only who sees a perfume differently from its commercial packaging. Share, if you wish, your impressions, your objections, your most poignant experiences.

[kingsbury]

Ursula, this is a wonderful thread and I am going to come back to it when I have time.
Dorothy

[kingsbury]

Laura Tonatto Amir

The packaging is chocolate brown with baby blue lettering and a broad blue stripe on the bottom 1/3 of the tall narrow box. The packaging is quite modern and clean. The juice is dark brown in a tall heavy weighted cylinder bottle topped with a gold cap.

Upon spraying myself with Laura Tonatto's Amir, I am transported to an ancient church filled with the residue of amber and incense. I can touch the wood of the pews, a rich warm ebony, priceless by today's standards. The aroma is of the sacred and yet there is a marked sensual atmosphere created by this fragrance. It evokes fabrics that shimmer with a velvet luster, colors of deep purple, burnt orange, red, gold and bronze. The candles are lit and throwing shadows on the stone walls. Quite romantic and wonderful for meditation.
Dorothy