unstink their world
unstink their world
Welcome to unstink their world. A creative exploration of what ånd is all about. a book of original illustrated poetry which is a snapshot of the world we’re in. It highlights the struggles of the indigenous people, the iniquities of big business, the inequality of greed and distended consumerism. And the toothless impotence of the so-called important. In short, it chronicles why we believe wholeheartedly that we need to unstink the world.
And it contains my personal stories of the inspiration and the ingredients behind our 6 fine fragrances.
For those who don’t know me, I’ve got over 20 years experience developing fragrances including at Lush where my creations included Snow Fairy and Breath of God. I’ve always had a love for our planet and a burning desire to protect it, its people and its wildlife. So, with the launch of ånd, I have totally focused on bridging the commercial and the ethical to raise the bar on protection of the natural world and at the same time ensuring you smell great doing it.
simon constantine the nose of ånd
The besuited rank and file gather their collective thoughts. But it always seems to come to nought. They puke out their collective bile. Promising change but all the while; they don’t really care. Politicians, advisors, crooks and fat cats protecting their own in mercantilers’ three cornered hats. But they get nowhere. Just spew more hot air. And that’s not going to help us; but they don’t really care. No, they don’t really care.
beån Tonka has been a staple of my work for sometime now. The incredible warmth of the vanilla-hay notes make it feel like someone has wrapped their arms around you. I’m a fan of gourmand or foodie fragrances and tonka really is one of those edible scents.
In Beån I was conscious that it has this delicious patisserie use and I was intrigued with combining this with Spanish fennel and Brazilian orange oil to create a gentle accord that has the yummy, the fruity and the herbal.
Already we are noticing that this seems to be an autumnal favourite, and it does seem to wrap you warm whilst the leaves fall around you.
F
you, the mines, the insatiable greed. Incising the red earth, making it bleed. F you loggers slashing down trees. Bringing mother earth down to her knees. F you the exploited, the slaves to hard cash. F you developers reducing forests to ash. F you says the chief if you change how we live. The F is for finish. Certainly not F for forgive. Chief of belief
måd Ok lets cut to the chase, it’s the Osmanthus and buchu that really takes you by surprise here. I have created many successful vanilla fragrances before and I have loved harnessing the notes of rich vanillin through to beachy ice cream but this time I wanted to take you a bit further.
Vanilla is a more exciting material than its name has come to suggest. I’ve met traders who keep warehouses full of beans and who talk of price fixing cabals from the 70’s.
I’ve seen Ugandan farmers who have had beans stolen from vines and even talk of gunshots and deaths at the hands of vanilla thieves.
I’ve seen the beans wrapped in woollen blankets day and night until the rich vanillin crystals from white stalagmites on the blackened beans.
And somehow the overuse of vanilla has come to mean something boring. So by using splashes of intriguing essential oils I hoped to recapture some of this intrigue. Of course its still irresistibly gourmand but it has hidden qualities, little nuances that surprise you and overall a feeling of familiarity with dashes of the unexpected.
I hope that this fruity and fragrant vanilla becomes a useful addition to the world just as vanilla has been to us all already.
Profit. That’s it. Vapid, self-obsessed pieces of shit. Swanning and preening all swagger and swank. Couture they call it; but it’s just meaningless wank. Size zero models eating tissues for dinner, hoovering gack to make themselves thinner. A colossal cabal with no beating heart. Beholden to shareholders but claiming it’s art. Get over yourselves you putrid chancers. Pulling wool over eyelids you cruel bloated leaders of the unmerriest of dances.
påtch I find patchouli to be the introvert of the essential oil world. It kind of lingers in the corner a bit, hiding if things get too busy. I really wanted to continue the theme of showcasing hero materials and had picked patchouli because of its great impact in Sumatra. But it kept disappearing every time I tried to do something to help it, almost afraid of the limelight. I must have tried 30 or 40 basic variations and each time patchouli shied away. Then one day I had this idea of pairing it less with traditional amber loving materials but instead with oudh, mandarin and jasmine. This seemed to take it into a new realm where the fruity florals washed around the dark patchouli oil bringing some needed light to it without smothering it. The oudh comes through with some raw attitude and it reminded me that the ecosystems of Sumatra hold many of these plants themselves. Agarwoods, Cananga, Sandalwood all grow across Indonesia and somehow they seem to support one another to create this fresher patchouli perfume that is true to its source but a departure from the norm at the same time.
Eighty percent of biodiversity. Is in the hands of the students of life’s university. The indigenous peoples who care for wildlife and land. Who massage mother earth’s collapsing lungs. With their weary bare hands. Not the bigwigs. The bosses, Politicians or rulers. No. All they do is lie, cheat and fool us. So here’s to earth’s carers. Not the torpid flag bearers. Protecting flora and fauna and respecting their worth. We need to learn from these heroic protectors of earth.
sånd I’ve got a long history with sandalwood. I’ve used it in desperately woody fragrances but this time I really wanted to bring out the qualities of the deadwood grade. Something about wood that’s aged in the sands of the west Australian bush made me pair this with black pepper oil, just a dash but enough to bring that drylands feel out. I also love the rich creamy vanilla of sandalwood which often goes unnoticed. Whilst I was working on this I was suddenly hit with the idea of pairing a subtle but rich banana that starts with labdanum and reaches through to the top notes when paired with a splash of clove and cardamom. Perhaps the biggest surprise was the generous portion of mimosa in sand, it helps give a warm, waxy floral note that seems to sit just underneath. The mix of these materials also work really well to give a very long lasting fragrance which sits beautifully on the skin all day.
Genius some may say…
A schoolgirl from Sweden is putting to shame the collective sewer of
fatburghers
playing political games.
An
innocent
intelligence second to none;
we all must continue with the work she’s
exposed
that needs to be done.
So we’ll pick up the baton and run with it quick;
to look after our planet
But it’s a race we
before it becomes terminally sick.
can’t win
unless we all do our bit; to stop turning our planet into a
festering
pit.
frånk – Stepping inside a beat up old shack up on the Cal Madow in Somaliland I was struck by the overwhelmingly fruity notes of the freshly harvested frankincense resin.
It's nothing like the slightly musty churchy note you may imagine.
This is straight from the source.
It’s a running joke that I always add a little dash of lime to my work but this time I really did.
The fresh fruit of lime and mango absolute really create something out of the ordinary.
I love this one for crisp spring mornings, it seems to have that lift that brings a spring to your step.
The added benefit of lemon and some creamy ylang mean this has the feel of a light fragrance but the staying power to keep giving all day long.Genius some may say…
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båre I’ve battled with pine for a very long time.
In truth I have always equated it with toilet cleaner and felt like that was a bit off putting!
But, once I’d visited the great bear that all changed. Seeing old growth, temperate rainforest rich with biodiversity I literally flushed the idea of toilet cleaner away and instead could see the stunning ecosystem of fir trees scratched by bears, cedars dripping with mosses and pine shrouded in mist.
The combination of these with oakmoss, neroli and rosewood gave a rich but fresh scent hat seemed to sum up this ancient landscape.
Of course its got a generous glug of lemon too, but the earthy vetivert tempers this so you’re left with a modern green fragrance that is a real journey into the deep forest of the spirit bear.
dead wood
If we don’t all do what we should. We’ll rot and decay, leaving only dead wood. Just dead wood . And that’s just not good.
It all stinks Onanistic, indulgent, faux escapism, chiseled jaws and loosened bow ties, impossibly so-called ‘beautiful’ women with scalpel-sharp cheekbones, luscious lips plumped up with cow essence clad in ridiculously expensive shiny and glittery designer gowns that cost as much as a family hatchback, water, lots of fucking water, pointless A-list celebrities, abs, pecs, baby oil, nail polish, lingering looks, whispering voiceovers with outrageous French accents, society events full of obnoxious looking twats, open top sports cars on the Camargue, drinks receptions with the rich and famous assholes in gaudy, tacky, ridiculous cribs and indulgent mansions, casinos, helicopters, yachts, yachts and more yachts, everything hyper-saturated and imbued with slick or smarmy stylistic creative folly so detached from real life and real people, horses, -how many people buying this drivel actually own horses?- sunglasses, deserts, surreal sets and acid-soused, mdma or ket-fuelled dream sequences, doe-eyed size zero models who eat tiny titbits and devour mountains of readymilled cocaine with vaseline gums and baby wind insincere smiles, oh-so-subtle sexually charged panting and gasping with tantalising flashes of lace and silk, more water, selling a dream that’s more like a Hadean nightmare, conspicuous consumption, idealistic indulgence, fickle flaunting, pernicious peacocking, what a crock of unending shit; literally, tonnes of this stuff is actually synthetically manufactured goop concocted in sterile factories and churned out in lakeloads. åååååååårgghhh!!!!
So here’s a thing. Instead of falling for the poisonous,vacuous onanistic world of the big perfume and fashion houses, try something different. Hand-made, sustainably and responsibly sourced, vegan-friendly, cruelty-free with a choice of five heavenly unigender fragrances that actually do some good as well as smelling bloody good. ånd is not your normal perfume. Far from it. All our ingredients are sourced directly from local communities without lining the pockets of organised bully boys and, let’s be honest, crooks. This helps support threatened communities across the planet, from the indigenous Aboriginal peoples of Northern Australia to the First Nation inhabitants of Canada’s Great Bear Forest. And from the Kayapo guardians of the Amazon Rain forest to tortured frankincense farmers in biblical Somaliland and the oft exploited vanilla producers trying to survive amidst the tragic and disgusting deforestation in magical Madagascar. We actively invest in community projects, agroforestry initiatives, help with essential medical supplies and support extensive regeneration projects across our troubled and wheezing planet. So choose ånd and unstink the world. Deal?
åndfragrance.com