Ukrainian Perfumers Worth Listening To
Perfume creations are often said to be "heard" rather than "smelled" due to the similarity of olfactory art with the more prestigious and recognized realm of art, music. Ukrainian perfumery has been steadily evolving since the times of Perestroika, despite the lack of formal schools or large local productions. Local craftsmen sought a unique path for Ukrainian perfumery, based on cultural codes and local ingredients.
One might think that the war would have put an end to this delicate and "volatile" industry, but after the full-scale invasion began, the artists became even more productive, and new independent brands even emerged.
Vlad Zvarych, Arboretum
The evocative name of the Arboretum brand hints at its creator Vlad Zvarych’s passion, who once dreamed of becoming a botanist and creating a botanical garden housing living plant collections. This financially unfeasible dream was sublimated into a perfume collection inspired by the flora of Ukraine.
Zvarych became a perfumer through fragrance collecting and developed his olfactory style thanks to an eclectic background. During his spiritual quest, he studied in an underground Greek-Catholic seminary in western Ukraine and spent several years living in Dominican monasteries in Poland. This background led to the creation of authentic incense compositions such as Vatra, Molfar, and Kryivka (an underground partisan hideout).
Zvarych also has a background in political technology, which perhaps explains his provocative fragrances from the Essence of Fetish line, exploring specific fixations. Noteworthy in this line is the collaboration with the fashion brand Balossa, founded by the Italian designer of Lithuanian origin, Indra Kaffemanaite. The brand's philosophy revolves around different manifestations of white shirts, which in modern culture, becoming increasingly informal, are allowed to be worn unpressed. Therefore, even on a wrinkled shirt, the realistic aroma of freshly ironed fabric, created by Zvarych, creates an ironic illusion.
In his efforts to unite like-minded colleagues in a young and undeveloped market, Vlad Zvarych founded the Guild of Perfumers of Ukraine, of which he is the head. Given his role, he pays special attention to formulating the DNA of Ukrainian perfumery and the national olfactory style, characterized by unusual combinations of notes like damp earth, fruits, and spices, which are unfamiliar to European noses.
A characteristic composition of Zvarych is Chornozem (Black Earth). The bold accord is formed by humus tones and geosmin—a compound that gives beets their characteristic earthy aroma and is often sensed after rain on dry soil. Noteworthy is the use of locally sourced ingredients such as clary sage, coriander, and poplar buds.
Oleksandr Perevertailo, Partisan Parfums
Oleksandr Perevertailo, whose independent brand Partisan Parfums is based in Dnipro, says he does not follow trends. However, thanks to his erudition and intuition (he also works in the fashion industry and as a DJ), he tends to set trends rather than follow them.
The ironically named Sugar Daddy, an improvised olfactory portrait of the so-called successful man (leather car interior, whiskey, cigars, private garage), was released in 2013. Eight years later, a perfume brand from Amsterdam chose a similar name, concept, and even a similar composition for their fragrance.
His Porto de Rosa (2015), where the rose, usually sweet and associated with femininity in modern mass culture, appears in a less traditional salty-aquatic form, reviving the historical association of roses with courage, was also ahead of its time. A few years later, salty marine roses became a global micro-trend.
A milestone in Perevertailo's perfume career was his unprecedented inclusion in Luca Turin's olfactory guide, receiving high marks from the notoriously tough critic. Turin, who often gives low scores to well-known market players for a lack of innovation, dullness, or underdevelopment, awarded Perevertailo’s Silly Love an honorable four stars, paradoxically finding snow in the floral chypre of the Ukrainian author.
"This is a wonderfully ambivalent fragrance," Turin writes, "which flits between leather, citrus, and aldehydes in a way I have not encountered before, and which adds up to the peculiar feeling, not quite a smell, more an internal sensation somewhere between hot metal and burnt matches, that one encounters when inhaling very cold air during a brisk winter walk. Brilliant work."
Oleksandr Perevertailo was born in Kakhovka, amidst the fragrant Tavrian steppes, an olfactory paradise where cherry trees, apricots, dandelions, celandine, chamomile, and yarrow bloom in turn. During his numerous travels around the world, he explored local scents, particularly through gastronomy, and amassed an entire library of impressions, which explains his rich olfactory palette.
"This is a wonderfully ambivalent fragrance, which flits between leather, citrus, and aldehydes in a way I have not encountered before, and which adds up to the peculiar feeling, not quite a smell, more an internal sensation somewhere between hot metal and burnt matches, that one encounters when inhaling very cold air during a brisk winter walk. Brilliant work"
Yevhen Lazarchuk, Perfume Lab
Like many of his peers, Yevhen Lazarchuk, who has formal musical training, entered the world of perfumery almost by accident, through a hobby, but he cannot be called self-taught. The most systematic, experienced, and productive Kyiv perfumer studied under Alla Bilousova, the leading perfumer of the Lviv Perfume Factory, founded in 1919. Through friends, he learned that he had a chance to study under the "last Ukrainian perfume technologist," giving him experience not only in artisanal but also in mass production.
Lazarchuk draws inspiration from vintage complex heavy perfumes, but his olfactory style is a combination of the old school with modern components and paradoxical thinking.
Due to his high skill, the perfumer enjoys working with unpleasant, unusual, even repulsive ingredients. He skillfully weaves them into elegant perfumes, creating mysterious harmonious compositions in which the public finds it difficult to distinguish individual notes or accords due to the smoothness of the final scent.
While niche perfumery was still exotic, Lazarchuk shocked the public with unusual accords (such as moldy cheese) and paradoxical names like Grandma Got Sick (a scent with hidden hydrangea). Now, despite trends, he chooses more straightforward names like Tulip, Fougere, and Collection.
The perfumer creates individual perfumes on commission, including for local musicians. Once, when a client requested the scent of Uzhhorod linden trees, he specifically traveled to Zakarpattia to study the aroma, as the linden trees there smell different from those in Kyiv or Odesa.
Ksandra Osinina, Char-Zillya
Indie perfumer Ksandra Osinina is an artist by profession and, in a good sense, self-taught. The name of her brand "Char-Zillya" (plants with extraordinary, magical properties, celebrated in legends and folklore) hints at the author's interest in divination traditions.
Ksandra is one of the few Ukrainian perfumers who comfortably uses tinctures—alcoholic infusions of aromatic substances—in her compositions, which most colleagues are sceptical of due to their instability and inability to be replicated in larger batches. For instance, in the perfume Partisan Love, she uses a tincture of red viburnum, which she considers the olfactory DNA of Ukrainians. The bitter-sweet aroma and taste of this berry are exotic to other cultures, and it is this innovative originality that interests her.
In the perfume Peninsula of Love, dedicated to a walk through Crimea, there is a tincture of the region's characteristic black clay.
Perhaps the most intriguing discovery for a novice could be Amber Necklace, which contains a tincture of real amber in the form of shavings (the author is also engaged in jewellery making). Not everyone knows that amber jewellery, when heated, emits a delicate, barely noticeable aroma with hints of resinousness, woodiness, honey, and solar warmth. In this perfume, this delicate scent can be detected amidst apples and musks.
Ksandra masterfully works with natural ingredients and is not afraid to occasionally forgo synthetic substances. This is a somewhat risky endeavour, as the modern nose perceives entirely natural compositions as distinctly medicinal. For example, the natural solid perfume Moon Shadow, dedicated to the March solar eclipse, with its natural basil, violet, lavender, pepper, chamomile, and moss, may sound medicinal to some, and therein lies its specific grace.
The author's boldest yet tradition-based experiment is with dessert colognes—entirely natural tinctures that can be used not only as body perfumes but also to flavour drinks or desserts.
Michael Bootz, Otaki Parfums by Michael Bootz
Michael Bootz is an optical technologist by profession, developing and implementing frame designs. After becoming interested in perfumes and building a substantial collection, he began studying on Ksandra Osinina's course "Perfume Artist". Having completed this path, he took the risk of founding his own brand after the full-scale invasion began.
The proud name "Otaki" underscores the idiosyncrasy of his perfume line, authoritatively built around his favourite note of incense. Bootz surrounds incense with other resins, tobacco, guaiac wood, moss, sandalwood, hinoki, and birch, also weaving in notes of chornozem, leather, suede, marigolds, and green peas.
Only in one of his perfumes, Linden Dreams, which illuminates linden blossom with green notes, is there no incense. It's a rather realistic linden, but with more greenery than most people are accustomed to.
The perfumer's fruity experiments, such as Lost Summer, are unusual. Although apricots debuted in the perfume world back in the 19th century, they were usually invited to play supporting roles. However, Michael made apricot the leading character.
One of his latest creations, Standing Out, is an unexpected interpretation of tuberose, a note that olfactory enthusiasts either love or hate. Bootz dedicated this composition to a friend who had been fascinated by Michael's tuberose sketches for several years. The news of his friend's disappearance at the front prompted Michael to complete the project, and just a few days later, the friend made contact and met with Michael in Kyiv, appreciating the unexpected leather, smoky, and tobacco facets of the perfume dedicated to him.