Perfume Pilgrim

Cinq Monde has just opened their first spa shop in London, in fact the official spa opening is on 22 Feb between 12-8. I nipped in to receive a complimentary tin of Black Tea with rare spices, but more importantly to sniff out these new scents in London. In addition to Taoist, Balinese, Siam, Ayurvedic and even Brazilian treatments you can purchase their five perfumes created by Olivia Giacobetti and Jean-Pierre Bethouart. Each of the fragrances symbolically represent not 0nly Taoist elements, colour coding  for energetic messages, but also five different spa rituals in five countries; Kyoto, Moroccan Atlas, Kingdom of Siam and Java.

If you would like to “surpass yourself” you could try the Kyoto Rose absolute with Ginger, associated with the Taoist element of wood. This smells of green tea and roses. (I did find similarities with  a couple of Rose de Rosines scents). The ginger note is more noticeable than the rose note. On the scent strip this is associated with renewal. This scent colouring is pale green.

For a “desire to undertake” there is  the red coloured Orange Blossoms of Morocco. This really does smell of orange twigs and blossoms and is described as Vitality and symbolically associated with the element of fire. I drink white tea as it is referred to in Morocco, made with orange blossom water and boiling water and this scent reminds me of my childhood orange blossom tree in the garden. According to their leaflet, this scent transmits “the desire to undertake and to make a commitment”

My favourite of the five is the sunny yellow Bergamot and Guaic Wood from the Siam range. This is gorgeous in a tropical island holiday kind of way. The key word is harmony and their perfume wheel indicates it is good for self confidence. The blurb is accompanied by a charming 18th century Thai poet, Sunthon Phu: “Gilded dusk, the sun poses its last rays on the Kingdom of Siam, reflection of an ancient time with amber colours.” This scent is supposed to meet an energy need for “comfort, equilibrium, stability and anchoring and is associated with the element of earth.

The light blue one, symbolizing inner peace and inspired by Java, is a weird scent of Eucalyptus and cinnamon. Having grown up surrounded by Eucalyptus trees in Australia, it is not a note I personally enjoy in fragrance  but it does have an “energy message of reflection and decision making.” Although only a couple of notes are described in each of these fragrances there are rounding notes of other citrus and herbaceous dollops. The key word for this one is lightness and is associated with the element of metal.

Finally, the dark blue bottle holds the key to soothing away tensions. Most people who like vanilla scents will enjoy this one and it is paired with cardamom. I adore cardamom in coffee, tea and Scandinavian yeast buns. This scent is inspired by the gardens of Bangalore in India and the adjective is Inner Peace. I smell mainly pop corn and clotted cream but this is eminently wearable.

Their fragrances are accompanied by aromatic candles as well as bath and shower oils. This spa can be found on Marchmont street close to the revamped Brunswick Square.

I am not convinced that I will acquire all these virtues by wearing the colour tinged scents, but I am inspired by the marketing and cross references, as well as the contexts that these unusual scents can be found. You can try them here.