It all started with the discovery of an astonishingly poetic text, a pamphlet by the astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler entitled L'étrenne ou la neige sexangulaire dated 1610.
In a bantering tone, the astronomer recounts his quest to find a New Year's gift close to nothing for his patron friend, a lover of Nihil, i.e. nothing.
Dust, wind, smoke, sparks of fire, drops of water, a subcutaneous rabbit... Kepler enumerates what nature offers as objects evocative of nothing, but which unfortunately still represent too much matter...
Dedicated as a gift to his wealthy patron, this text is a meditation on the variable geometry of snowflakes. From digression to digression, Johannes Kepler questions the hexagonal structures and shapes that, in his view, reveal the cosmopoetry of the universe...
This text opened up another quest, that of Isabelle Larignon as a perfumer: to capture the spirit of snow...
... Snow, its scent as silent as a landscape caught in its muffled mantle, as muted as the sounds absorbed by its porous structure and uneven surface.
Mimosa and narcissus absolutes snort amid fresh, aqueous, ozonic notes. A cold wind swirls yellow pompons and white petals on the surface of an icy pool of water.
Late snowflakes cover a Japanese mineral garden in silence and white. Surrounded by wisps of incense, a Zen master in meditation contemplates this floral and aerial ballet. And as only packed, solidified snow can burn, the aldehydes metallise and harden the accord's softness while warming it.
bergamot, lemon, cyclamen, cardamom, incense, mimosa absolute, aqueous, ozonic, menthol notes, evernyl, white musk, narcissus absolute
Isabelle Larignon
Alcohol Denat (78% VOL.), Aqua (Water), Parfum (Fragrance), Limonene, Alpha-Pinenes, Citrus Aurantium Bergamia Fruit Oil, Beta-Pinenes, Acetyl Cedrene, Beta-Caryophyllene, Linalool, L-Menthol, Citral, Narcissus Extract, Benzyl Benzoate, Anise Alcohol, Alpha-Terpineol, Linalyl Acetate, Farnesol
*Credits last photo: Manon Jalibert
