Source Adage
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Full marks to Source Adage for doing something very few other perfumery firms (only Aveda comes to mind) have done: art direct a line of perfumes in a single signature style, instead of a range covering the usual types. The website is a little coy about how this was achieved1, but the FOTW database tells me perfumers Kingsley Ibe and Thomas Siedel were involved. I was trying to find the right word to describe the style and could not come up with any perfumery term, so I had to go fishing for a technical term: trigeminal. The eponymous nerve supplies the nose with the equivalent of pain receptors. Ammonia and carbon dioxide will cause a sharp sensation, while less powerful stimulants like aldehydes and menthol will just feel pleasantly tingly.
Trigeminal sensation adds an almost tactile angle to smell, as if the odorant was tickling you. Source Adage fragrances all have a sharp top accord achieved variously with ginger, pepper, aldehydes, fir or juniper. All jump out at you like a jack-in-the-box. On a strip it soon becomes clear that the intent is ultimately a new take on cologne, i.e. a fresh, jaunty spritz that fades fast. The compositions do not have a lot of drydown, and what there is is a mere fade-to-black of the top note. They are original and smell good, but may leave you wanting more. An interesting and impressively coherent artistic bias nevertheless.
C’i’ann, juniper and fir; Aka’ula, ozonic oud; Aétai, fennel, pepper; I’khana, lime and grapefruit; Ki’lei, geosmin and aldehydes; Monto’ac, “grapes” and sage. My favorite is Aétai, an anisic fougère reduced to its simplest elements.
Source Adage fragrances can be ordered from Sainte Cellier who kindly supplied the samples.
“Our development work continues with our partners at renowned fragrance houses who work from our formulas to test and edit to perfection. This rare [hardly—LT] collaboration affords us access to their expertise and to some of the world’s highest quality raw materials, including sustainable and upcycled ingredients.”
Thank you Luca for the review of our fragrances!
We do create the original accords in-house and then get the honor to work with talented perfumers who bring our scents to life (and IFRA standards!). Marketing has made it seem every brand is THE perfumer of their products but we relish in the team sport of it all and love to talk about the process from concept to bottle and those involved.
Aétai, and most recently ki'lei, are scents that most closely match our original formulas. In fact, I shared my original draft of aétai with Christophe Laudamiel when he visited our store in NY. He told me not to change it so it went into production as nearly an identical match. Perfumer Cecilia Hua was also part of the original versions of our earlier scents and deserves recognition for her work on c'i'aan, monto'ac and aka'ula.
If ever in Tuscany, we invite to for a lovely glass of wine and a visit to our olfactory studio:)
Christopher Draghi, co-founder/nose, source adage fragrances
Intriguing fragrances. From their website, I see they have drawn inspiration for the names of each scent from different Indigenous Peoples around the world. I searched further for how the brand interacts with these groups but found nothing. Borrowing from historically (and presently) oppressed peoples without any collaboration or benefit to them is hollow and ultimately disrespectful. I hope the brand considers meaningful engagement befitting of the beautiful fragrance names and their cultures of origin.