Zarko is a new name for me. It seems that more and more niche perfume houses are developing ground-breaking fragrances and combinations to take on the big players. Smaller quantities produced, exclusivity to certain retailers and price (an all important niche factor) ensures that the general populace may not ever come into contact with these newbie beauties. Which is a pity, as they are more than worth seeking out. Aimed at a customer base who take their perfume as seriously as their off-beat designer shoes and clothing, this is the world of selective sought-out taste that defines the wearer.
Zarko Pavlov began his journey in perfumery in 2008 with his aim ‘to create fragrances that encapsulate Scandinavia….my approach is to fuse classic French perfumery with stringent, Nordic molecular science.’ The technique of composing the fragrance is as much an art as the left-field scent desire to create molecular stories based around themes such as ‘a love affair’, ‘the heartless one’ and‘farewell control’. A cerebral as well as emotional approach to encapsulating the essence of Scandinavian lifestyle.
Zarko Perfume’s latest release, Cloud Collection, is a feast of delights. Firstly, there’s the design – a stripped back, round, modernist bottle with the name and perfumer printed on the top of the glass – un-showy yet distinctive. Then, there’s it’s make up: A clear juice with a tangerine coloured, viscous, globular, oily matter suspended in water, that lies at the bottom of the bottle. Shake this and a cloudy, milky-white concoction results that when sprayed, releases a sweet, comforting blast of saltiness combined with a jasmine floral base. Not the obvious mix of ingredients I’d normally combine, but hey…Zarko is ‘out-there’ in his aim to create a point of difference.
This is an escape fragrance. A defined choice to escape to a scene of chic, clean, Scandinavian beauty that you imagine in a Nordic noir drama. All vast, clean, contemporary apartments, clear blue skies and trips to deserted lake-side destinations or brisk sea shores. The unusual mix of sweetness with sundried driftwood and a hint of leather thrown in to up the unisex nature of the fragrance makes this further more quirky.
My bête-noir with this otherwise ticks-all-the-boxes niche offer is that it remains singular and one dimensional in it’s diffusion. Never changing or altering to catch the wearer off-guard with a surprise element in it’s die-down.
It’s a concise choice for a complex, seeking-a-point-of-difference user.
Zarko Cloud Collection EDP (100ml) is available exclusively from John Lewis stores priced at £185.
from Katie Chutzpah
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