Christmas countdown: meet The Virtue

Offering an inspired – and unabashedly beautiful - collection of fine and home fragrance made right here in Aotearoa, I’ve been referring more than a few people to The Virtue when it comes to gifting this year.

The Virtue is the work of Taranaki-based Creative Director, Brooke Lean (pictured above), who has a profound talent for capturing moments that move the soul, bottling them into something that stirs us profoundly on an emotional level, transporting us to a moment in time that has deeply imprinted upon us. After traveling the world she returned home with her family and continued to pursue her passion as a talented photographer tasked with capturing special moments in time. She gradually began to explore the idea of creating a “full sensory experience” by which to recall those moments, “a catalyst to memory and imagination, something that can transport us to another realm”. Thus, The Virtue was born.

Brooke started working with perfumers in Grasse, France, five years ago to create The Virtue’s seven initial signature fragrances, recently adding the alluring and seductive Narcosis to the line-up. Each one is absolutely magical in its own right, and I love that everything is designed in New Plymouth and made in New Zealand, with a thoroughly global outlook. My favourites from the collection continue to grow, beginning with the heady La Habana and Castro, and an instant addiction to Holy Smoke incense that saw me burning it on a daily basis! Narcosis also quickly reeled me in with its considerable charms, and now I’m officially hooked.

When it comes to gifting, I love that The Virtue’ss range of eight fine fragrances are available in 50ml Parfum $189, 10ml Parfum $69, Large Soy Wax Candles $89 and Room Spray $69, as well as incense that can apparently be bought, pick n’ mix style, from The Virtue’s beautiful New Plymouth store (pictured above and below). I for one can't wait to visit the latter one day, which also stocks carefully curated vintage and fresh flowers daily.

Everything is available right now online at www.thevirtue.co.nz, and comes highly recommended for gifting to loved ones, as well as most definitely gifting to self!