Fragrance news: Curionoir unveils Cellar Feels

Midway through last year, luxurious home and beauty brand Curionoir unveiled a range of exquisite handmade perfumes, while simultaneously celebrating the opening of their flagship store on Ponsonby Road. For those unfamiliar with the brand, Curio Noir was founded in 2011 by local creative talent Tiffany Jeans, and has grown into one of Australasia’s most luxurious perfumery and candle ranges. Tiffany crafted a series of hand-cast skull candles individually wrapped in tulle for each guest at her wedding, and it was from this labour of love that the idea for Curio Noir grew.

Darkly alluring and reminiscent of a Parisian atelier, Curio Noir's flagship store is in the space formerly occupied by Wunderkammer at 76a Ponsonby Road, and is a veritable feast for the senses. Within its walls you’ll find the sought after line of Curio Noir glass candles, CN Absolute Parfum, Curio Noir hard soaps and leather coasters, exclusive Zora Bell Boyd jewellery and more.

The Absolute Parfum perfumery line has to be played with to be believed, and is currently made up of several unisex fragrances crafted by Jeans and mixed by perfumers in Grasse, France. Called Opia, Diaphanous, Tobacco Night, Dark Bouquet and Pūrotu Rose, they are now joined by the heady and beautiful Cellar Feels, which may be my most favourite yet.

Inspired by the humble winemaking days of the past, Cellar Feels, is a fruity, leathery fragrance and is in store now. With notes of apple, black tea leaves, orange, Lavendin Super, Mate, nutmeg and grape leaves and undertones of Virginian Cedarwood, Tree Moss and Atlas Cedarwood, Jeans says it was designed to take your senses “to the dark, musty cellar where wine was made with simplicity and memories captured”. It definitely takes me back to my Croatian grandparents’ fragrant basement, and Tiffany says it was her own grandfather that inspired the scent. “I would watch my grandfather spend hours in his cellar under the house concocting different wines,” she says, “and by no means was he a purist. He would experiment with different fruits, skins and techniques. This new scent reflects this tender process; picking the vines; squashing the grapes and other fruit underfoot; pouring the wine into French hand-blown carboys, and tasting of course.”

Made – like all Curionoir parfums - from the finest notes mixed in Grasse, then bottled in store, it is available as both a Curionoir Parfum and Glass Candle fragrance.  The Parfum is available in a 4ml pocket size for $40, a 50ml bottle for $240, or at the flagship store customers can select their own hand-blown, bespoke refillable glass bottle made in collaboration with Monmouth Glass Studio. In the CN Glass candle range, Cellar Feels is presented within beautiful rich copper red hand-blown glass vessels in two sizes, the Classic Glass 390g for $149, and the Demi Glass 85g for $85.

Cellar Feels Parfum and CN Glass are available from exclusive New Zealand and international boutiques, the Curionoir flagship store, 76a Ponsonby Road, Grey Lynn, Auckland, and curionoir.com now.