& Horace, our first fragrance, is here!
Photos Rachelle Simoneau
Words Marc Briant-Terlet
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Our first eau de parfum is finally here.
Fragrances are personal. Choosing a perfume is amongst the most intimate choices you can make, and the relationships we build with these fragrances are unique stories steeped in our experiences and our skin. We all have our own perfume stories. I got my very first bottle of perfume when I was 11 or 12. It was a gift from my maternal grandfather, Papy. It was a perfume by Lacoste. It was closer to cologne than perfume, it felt like something adults would wear. I was barely a teenager, I was into CK One, a fresh and clean perfume that’s easy to wear when you’re that age. I still love it. Then I grew up. I discovered the Internet, and in return, the Internet introduced me to plenty of new fragrances, from Le Labo’s Santal 33 to Byredo’s Gypsy Water, and Maison Francis Kurkdjian’s Oud Silk Mood. These fragrances followed me through my early adulthood.
Today, Horace is launching - scratch that - we’re launching our first perfume: & Horace.
This perfume draws inspiration from the relationships we’ve built together. Our relationship as a team, our relationship with you, and your relationship with us. Horace exists thanks to you, and through you. Our products have become essential parts of your daily lives. It’s this relationship with each and every one of you that’s guided us every step of the way: from the creation of the fragrance to the design of the bottle. We wanted to make something smooth, intimate, but also vibrant. A perfume that’s easy to wear. A perfume you look forward to wearing every day. A perfume you love so much that you sometimes pull a jumper you’ve worn out of the closet just to smell it. Last but not least, we wanted to create a fragrance that would quickly adapt to its wearer, to his skin and his clothes, creating a unique blend. And all that had to fit in a bottle.
So, we started searching for the notes that would embody these ideas. Musk and sandalwood were a perfect start. Sandalwood carries a warm and comfortable scent. Musk is a strong earthy and addictive scent, which adapts to all skins. The notes of tobacco and cedarwood bring smoothness and zest. These are the notes you’ll be able to smell throughout the entire day, if not longer. When you spray & Horace on your clothes, these are the notes you’ll immediately pick up on the following morning. On top of these base scents, we added iris root. Iris root is a pleasant mix of woody and floral notes, which we topped with white pepper for a little spice. These are the notes you’ll smell first, and which will slowly fade. A fresh start before you settle into something more mellow and comfortable.
It took us close to 3 attempts before we got what we were looking for. We understood we’d finally cracked it one afternoon when Élise had a few visitors in our office try it out. She barely had enough time to finish spraying the first person before the entire team showed up, intrigued by the scent. That’s when we knew we’d found our perfume. Some members of the team begged for samples to be able to wear it before the official release. It was a smooth, intimate, and vibrant fragrance. We never got bored with smelling it. Bingo.
We’d managed to bottle our idea. Now we needed a name. This perfume is about You & Us. It’s the story of Enzo & Horace, Arthur & Horace, and Adel & Horace. It’s a unique form of collaboration with each and every one of you. A perfume inspired by you and made for you. So, we called it & Horace, had a bunch of stickers made, and each bottle comes with a set of letters you can use to stick your name on the bottle, and make this perfume your very own. Enzo & Horace, Arthur & Horace, Adel & Horace. In my case, it’s Adeline Marc & Horace, as I share the bottle with my girlfriend.
It also turns out we don’t need a model or an ambassador for this perfume. You’re the models, and this perfume is you & us.
Forever.
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