All the way from New Zealand, and particularly part of the indigenous Maori tribe, fine fragrance Curionoir has landed in the UK. I had the chance to meet with the founder Tiffany Jeans, a strong and determined woman, who set up her brand as an homage to the Maori culture, and her rich heritage. She had been in advertising and during her wedding had created some hand-cast candles as a keepsake for guests. It was then she realised she had to follow her dream and move away from the world of advertising.
From there she made a few more candles to sell at her friend’s womenswear boutique. At the time her candles didn’t have a brand name, and they flew off the shelves, people were asking for more. She started with her candles, bespoke perfumes and hand-crafted curios (rare objects). “For those with a fascination for the interesting and uncommon” is the way Curionoir is described, and it’s so perfectly put – it’s a different connection to scent than anything I’ve seen before, and every little detail is so well thought after. The lookbook imagery is equally beautiful and mysterious, just like the scents themselves.
Each Extrait de Parfum is a complicated creation; she combines scents and memories to create powerful stories, each ingredient is specifically selected. The scents in perfumes come in the same scents for candles, in hand-blown glass, even the colour of the glass is connected to its scent. Even the stamp on her products has an old days appeal – like a wax seal.
The Curionoir perfumes are created to be applied directly to the skin from the bottle, and they come in a cute pocket size of 4ml, a 50ml and there is also the option to purchase a special hand-blown bottle (created in collaboration with Monmouth Glass Studio) to decant your perfume in.
Tiffany formulates each scent herself and also uses some parfumers in France. The small batches ensure the high quality of each perfume, that is mixed in Paris and Grasse (the centre of perfume land), and then packaged in the brand’s flagship store in Auckland, New Zealand.
Curionoir 50ml, £150, 4ml, £35 at The Conran Shop and online
There are seven scents in total that are unisex too;
Pablo – Intense Gaze, smoke and paint: In theory inspired by Pablo Picasso but Tiffany said it could be any Pablo you wish and imagine, to me it felt like it would be Escobar when smelling this. The ingredients are; lemon, frankincense, freesia, mimosa, cuban tobacco leaves, coriander, vanilla absolute, tonka bean
Cellar Feels – fruits and dust in the cellar: Inspired by Tiffany’s grandpa who made his own wine and often quite generously included other fruits, whatever he had in hand. To me this also faintly smelt of roses. The ingredients are; apple, black tea leaves, orange, lavendin super, mate, grape leaves, nutmeg, virginian cedarwood, tree moss, atlas cedarwood
Pūrotu Rose – the handsome rose: A different rose scent, warmer instead of sweet. The ingredients are; rose otto, bitter orange, cumin, rose de mai, pink pepper, teak wood, haiti, java vetiver
Opia – pupils black, glittering, bottomless: The ingredients are; rhubarb, oud wood absolute, virginian cedarwood, australian sandalwood, labdanum absolute
Diaphanous – bewildering clarity: This is my favourite scent of all, it’s clean, it’s pure and confident. The ingredients are; mandarin, sambac jasmine, saffron, narcissus absolute, cayenne pepper, amber
Tobacco Night – a lingering after scnet from a smoked tobacco pipe: Inspired by a teacher at her school when younger that only smoked from a pipe, Tiffany created this scent. It’s warm and musky. The ingredients are; sage, coriander, dried tobacco leaves, elemi, amber, musk
Dark Bouquet – earth and citrus: Forget your typical flower scents, this is something completely different despite its sweet notes. The ingredients are; orange flower, indian jasmine, haiti vetyver, italian cypress
It was wonderful meeting the founder and hearing the story from the beginning to now, and it’s great to see smaller luxurious brands making their way into the UK market so that more people can enjoy and experience them. Discover Curionioir and be ready to immerse yourself in the Maori tribe!
