As, I walked through the fragrance section of Magasin du Nord, eager to try scents I had never heard of before. One in particular drew my eye: Zarkoperfume.
Zarko Ahlman Pavlov started his eponymous brand with a particular goal in mind: to bring a signature scent to his high fashion stores. At the time he was managing three locations and hoped to create his own fragrance to compliment the space. After embarking on his own fragrance education journey, he learned to compose fragrances himself. The blends he offered became so popular he closed the stores to focus solely on developing the fragrance line.
There was a large selection of the products in store before me, but I felt most compelled to test the cloud collection. These four fragrances are in a biphasic composition. A colored oil floats on top until you shake the bottle to combine. I tried most of them, but the one that I opted to spray on skin was No. 4. This yellow hued fragrance smelled like a fruity coconut. I continued to smell and enjoy on my arm the rest of the evening.
DKK 1,700 for 100 ml
Notes
Top: fresh blackberry, pink pepper, Italian lemon, mandarin, Sichuan pepper, Japanese yuzu
Heart: Jasmine, coconut, white orchid, ocean key accord, orange flowers, black tea
Base notes: Powdery musk, sandalwood, Madagascar vanilla, cashmere, cedarwood, dream wood
As he described his philosophy around fragrance, Zarko fragrance to painting. There is a universe of colors you could use to compose a work of art. But if expertly done, all you need is one. Similarly, to Zarko, fragrance is not about trying to follow rules but creating something beautiful. Often fragrances are composed to contain a top, heart and base note, but Zarko doesn’t s stick to that formulaic requirement when it doesn’t fit the desired result. See as an example a fragrance that I would like to try, their Pink Molécule 090.09. There are no heart notes (they are listed as “ripped out”), just top notes and base notes.
I smelled what I could in store and contemplated getting a bottle from Zarkoperfumes just to continue experiencing the scents once I got back home. But alas I didn’t, and the brand is not easily accessible to me here in the states. I suppose to get to know the brand more, I might have to budget for another European vacation.
If you are based in Europe and interested in giving this Danish brand a try, check out Zarko Perfumes.
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