Sanctuary of a Few- Manos Gerakinis Parfums Jardin Secret 2019
Credit-Willow Avaha
One of those supremely serendipitous meetings, walking the halls of Esxence, Milan in April 2019, I noticed from my peripheral vision, most certainly influenced by my instincts regarding people, Manos Gerakinis, a Greek perfume house at that time based in London, but since relocated to Athens. A collection of perfumes created by a Greek perfumer with eyes that flashed and a recognition that meant although we had only just encountered each other, we had known each other for a very, very long time. In that moment I was intrigued and entranced, then Manos Gerakinis began to tell his tale, how he had begun to create scented emotions and why. I knew right there and then that he was an authentic perfumer with creations that resound with me entirely. His collection is an expression of principled luxury in a simple elegance.
Francesco Melzi - Flora detail, Manos Gerakinis- Esxence, Milan 2019, Josephine Cardin. Manos Gerakinis Parfums.
I found his collection entirely appeals to my taste for the real, the essence of Beauty in refinement and the sense of evolution in Perfumery. Manos spoke to me of his new perfume, at that stage still under development, ‘Jardin Secret,’ it touched my skin like a touch of solace. I am not usually a floral addict and very hard to please but this, this Jardin Secret, even at that stage captured my curiosity and in its floral opulence dared to trounce my preconceived notions of what a glorious floral should be. In a soft, strength it voiced a knowing ‘see, see what a beautifully constructed floral can be,’… and I must admit to being astonishingly smitten. I even ventured to add a comment or two to Manos on the box design at that stage.
Then the waiting…….. seemingly interminable. Reaching me finally all the way on the other side of the world in NZ on my respite from winter in Europe, a precious sample arrives. A desire, intense and longing had been growing in me at the anticipation of finally scenting this vial. I was and am not disappointed.
Gold and Blue Flowers Ancient Art. Oleg Oprisco. Izes- Christian Martin Weiss.
It is an ethereal, luxuriant, tranquility of a Perfume, all manner of trivial concerns evaporate and one is able to reconnect with the core of that which gives us pleasure and peace when surrounded by Beauty and a harmonic chord.
Think, cease the daily routines and recall, often with childhood delight and innocence the longing for secret places of solitude, those covert places of seclusion that felt like ours alone. Deeper and deeper pulled by the longing, always those hidden, secret places haunt us, like a shimmer in the air of our vision, a perfumed wisp in passing that captures instantly our attention, a glimpsing of dancing light on the periphery of our sight at the edges of time. How, we all too physical beings yearn for these places that reside in-between realms, a physical place that has encounter within us also. Nurturing the need to find tranquility, untainted and untouched by our world. I frequently as a child disappeared into concealed areas of the garden to create an imagined separateness full of private expressions and a relation to the exquisite.
Hidden gardens of Dalemain, Penrith Cumbria and Kentwell, Long Melford, Sussex
In Jardin Secret, Mano Gerakinis has unlocked a doorway for us, an adventure for the few and the curious who venture and remember those innocent notions. Initially Jardin Secret is full of whispered promises that if we dare to return to these paradisaical whimsies we will recover an exhaled memory among its denizens. Secret Gardens are the stuff of daydreams, the sensation to be privately cosseted in the purity of refined aesthetics, residing in most of us. Nature has the enviable talent to form harmonic alliances with form, colour and scent, that effortlessly alights on the human psyche and is a sustenance for the Soul. Manos has in Jardin Secret presented us a key.
Come into the garden and senses will extend, its radiance of Mandarin and accompanying spices, pepper, cardamom, cinnamon and nutmeg combine in a solar resplendence, a warmth tracing on the arc of shoulders, beckoning to enter and surrender to the infusion of floral bliss within its haven walls. In your minds eye, for this is where the Jardin exists, see the luxuriant interior, fragrant flowers of every hue in glorious abundance, a veritable symphony tumbling over every bower.
In this cocooned sanctuary I discover within its floral efflorescence, lighter footsteps, the weight of flesh lessened, heightened senses where fingertips of flesh brush petals in silent communion, a caress of orange blossom, ylang ylang and jasmine trails in vapors surrounding me. Here in the green hedged cloisters of Jardin Secret there is a way to be still, to perceive with clearer senses the beauty inherent in these flowers, their exquisite form, their potent scent and colours beyond colour. It is a rich, almost hallucinatory, sumptuous, acquiescence to Beauty. In its pleats, the scents arising of sentinels of stones, crumbled and ancient, arches that interlace the voluptuous beds, clothed in tranquil greens and mosses, speaking in tongues of times that always exist somewhere, somehow.
Within the embedded base lies the certainty of all that remains, safe from the ravages of passing time, for the Jardin Secret conveys a timelessness, an eternal quality on my skin that is reminiscent of the places internally that bring us comfort and refuge that can never be erased. The sandalwood and moss evoke the seclusion, drawing on the sensual ardour of amber, saffron and tonka. Follow your nose and in the far flung apex of the world, there is this replete treasure, this Jardin Secret, an elegant overflow, garment yourself in this refinement and rest in the knowledge that there are within you, places that are yours alone…… and when in the midst of a hectic office day, an abundant bouquet arrives on your desk, here is the sensation with nostrils pressed into petal flesh, inhaling time and place, returning over and over again to the refuge.
Sample of Jardin Secret kindly offered by Manos Gerakinis, many thanks.
Jardin Secret is available from the website :
https://www.manosgerakinis.com/parfums/product-category/haute-parfums/
Top Notes: Red Mandarin, Black Pepper, Cardamom, Cinnamon, Nutmeg
Middle Notes: Orange Blossom Abstract, Ylang-Ylang, Incense, Patchouli, Sambac Jasmine
Base Notes: Sandalwood, Moss, Gold Amber, Saffron, Tonka Bean
Photo Credits - Collage
Dark Beauty Magazine. 2. Yousef Espanioly on Unsplash. 3. Annie Spratt on Unsplash. 4. Vicki Roycroft, Wildflower Waiheke. 5. Gardens, Chateau de Losse, DsF. 6. School of Silence, Jean Delville. 7. Florals, Wildflower Waiheke, DsF. 8. Twilight, Crewdson.
