“There is nothing natural in this perfume!”

15-Oct-2018 - Last updated on 15-Oct-2018 at 15:35 GMT

Friday morning in New York City, Aurora Carrara, artistic director of the Italian fragrance brand UERMI, talked press, influencers, and bloggers through a collection of scents inspired by fabrics and materials such as latex (which provoked this article’s title quote).

Launched a couple of years ago in Europe, the UERMI (wear me) collection is newly available at the international concept shop 10 Corso Como in NYC.

As is conventional with fragrance, UERMI isn’t disclosing the exact ingredients in each blend. But emphasizing and celebrating the synthetic sensibility of latex and “that there is nothing natural in this perfume,” undoubtedly makes the brand stand out in a marketplace flooded by fragrances clamoring to be seen as the safest, cleanest, best, and otherwise most natural.

The UERMI collection is more about inspiration, memory, materials, and of course scents than it is about any sort of ingredient or founder story.

Fragrance wardrobe

The collection comprises 13 fragrances, 5 of which are designated OR, more costly gold scents. The eight essential scents are: DO-WASHI; NO-SUEDE; OH-DENIM; SO-SATIN; UR-SILK; VE-VELVET; WE-TWEED; and XX-LATEX. Each, explains Carrara, was blended according to the perfumer’s experience and memory of the fabric in question.

Describing the latex scent in an item on houseofcoco.net, Laura Barlett writes, “This fragrance is like wearing a second skin, using innovative notes such as Oxide and Aldehyde C12 L, the scent comes to life with a playful and provocative blend of Rose, Saffron and Vinyl Accord topped off with Ozanic Marine and Indol.”

The 5 gold scents are OR-WHITE (inspired by a fabric make from spun milk); OR-ANGE (based on a material made from upcycled orange peels); OR-Cashmere; OR-DAMASK; and OR-KANABO.

Unboxing

Despite flouting the naturals trend with its Latex scent, UERMI isn’t disregarding all things eco-friendly. The collection’s modest brown paper packaging suggests simplicity, minimalism, and recyclability.

According to Carrara, she and Palmiro Peaquin opted for packaging that let them put time, money, and value into the fragrances rather than the boxes. Carrara says that she’s seen many a consumer toss out costly fragrance boxes even before leaving the shop and didn’t want to perpetuate that sort of waste.

---

Deanna Utroske, CosmeticsDesign.com Editor, covers beauty business news in the Americas region and publishes the weekly Indie Beauty Profile column, showcasing the inspiring work of entrepreneurs and innovative brands.