Occasionally a new brand comes across our desk that both delights in design and has at the heart of its creation a concept that manages to combine everything we love. One such brand is Colors Japonica, a selection of natural home-scenting products that slots right into the Content Wellbeing ethos perfectly.
Launching in the UK exclusively at Content in time for Christmas 2014, Colors Japonica is a Japanese brand made in Berlin by Shizuko Yoshikuni and Manuel Kuschnig, the Japanese-Austrian founders of olfactory design and scenting concept firm Aoiro Airdesign.
The duo were inspired by Kohdo, the classical Japanese art and ceremony of fragrance appreciation which encourages the philosophy of ‘listening to scent’, allowing it to encompass all the senses for a holistic olfactory experience. The products are colour coded using a traditional Japanese colour system inspired by nature and each has a scent blended from the finest raw plant-materials, carefully sourced from around the world for their unique scent profiles and therapeutic qualities.
This combination of colour and scent helps to trigger memories and a ‘feeling of place’ within nature – the colour of blue, mixed with the clear scent of lime unlocks memories of a wide blue sky, while the colour of orange teams with the scent of bergamot and spices to evoke a warm, joyous summers day. Lastly the green of willow leaves blends with sandalwood to bring about the feeling of balance that being in the green of nature inspires.
Each scent has been woven into a scent system for your home and office. Choose your fragrance based on the mood you wish to inspire and your scent system (mist or candle) depending on the ambiance you want to create.
- Room Perfume: These 50ml black misting bottles are ideal for keeping on your desk or at home for an instant pick-me-up. We like to use them in the morning to gently wake us and throughout the day to revive and refresh the mind. Mist rooms, yoga mats – anything that will hold the scent and allow you to ‘listen’ to it.
- Scented Candles: These pure soy wax candles have been individually hand poured by skilled craftsman and are a beautiful way to gently scent a dinner party or unwind at the end of the day. The translucent porcelain candle ‘cup’ can be stored with the cute optional lid when not ignited and once the candle has finished we’ll be using ours as the perfect sized miso or matcha bowl.
Available in the three signature ‘colors’ and scents of blue (Color Of Verve), green (Color of Serenity) and orange (Color of Delight) there is also a fourth – Aoiro’s supreme fragrance composition, Kohaku. Developed to feature a deeper complexity of rare fragrant raw materials, Kohaku – the Japanese word for amber – has been inspired by the natural beauty and warmth of golden amber. This is a more earthy and soulful scent, which creates an ideal trigger for inward contemplation. We like to use it at night as darkness rolls in.
The detail doesn’t end with the product concept. We also love the thought that has gone into every element of the packaging. Utilising materials that have been sourced from different regions of Japan, the packaging that houses the Colors Japonica range was developed as a modern interpretation of traditional Japanese techniques and to reflect the culture of gift giving. Three important components make up the gift of Colors Japonica:
- The Wooden Boxes: Each is handmade, individually assembled and branded by the very hands of the craftsman that made them. We will be keeping these beautiful boxes for years to come as unique storage boxes.
- The Paper: Each item is beautifully gift-wrapped in delicately-thin handmade washi paper before being placed in the outer wooden box. Several types of textures of washi have been hand-embossed in colours and used on the outer packaging also.
- The String: To finish the wrapping, a colourful knot of Mizuhki (handmade washi paper string) is gently wrapped around the product and secured. These decorative strings are traditionally used as artistic ornaments to decorate special occasions and ceremonies.
This clever and insightful duo has created a system of scenting and gifting that is deeply rooted in both nature and tradition – we would happily receive one of these as a gift, whatever the occasion.
SHOP THE RANGE | THE ART OF GIVING
