Written by Jessica Xiao
Edited by CHIQIO
Mountain Rain is a woody perfume by Chiqio, a company that aims to embody the creative idea of artworkism. The focus around embracing different mediums of creative expression is found throughout the brand’s products as each perfume has a creative description and visual images that gives the audience a good idea of who the perfume scent is for. The perfume description is a short story that gives the audience an immersive experience that inspired the perfume. When you hear the word “perfume,” smell is most likely the first sensory organ that comes to mind; however, by including a short story on the perfumeallows other senses to be involved, such as sight and sound.
Time and Location
While scent is subjective and each person has their own idea of what certain scents personify to, the earthy scents included in the middle and base notes immediately throws you into the deep woods just after the rain had stopped. The top notes of mandarin, grapefruit, and black pepper combine nicely with the cedar and sandalwood to create a deep moss scent. In terms of color, this scent best reflects the color of a deep green. The earthy notes play a big part of that association, but a deep green would also fit in nicely with the imagery of being deep in the forest. Due to the idea that you’re in the forest directly after it rained, the first season that Mountain Rain best embodies would be spring; however, the scent better embodies late summer to early autumn personally. To me, the rain we get in the different seasons paint a different image and smell. Rain the spring is more of a fresh, comforting feeling. Right after the snow melts from winter, the rain welcomes the start of the new season cycle by washing away the remnants from winter, while simultaneously encouraging the bloom of nature. The rain we get in summer is more of a welcome break from the scorching sun and heat. Summer
showers tend to be more sporadic and unpredictable which leads to a more playful or wild idea. The rain in autumn is simple and straightforward. It is no longer hot outside but also not quite cold yet. Autumn rain almost has a slight dark academia idea to it as watching the rain fall among the orange and red leaves while you’re inside with a hot beverage has a simple feel to it. For Mountain Rain, the top citrus notes add a touch of playfulness or slight unpredictable feeling, mixed in with the more straightforward middle and base notes.
In terms of describing the scent of Mountain Rain as a single object, the object of selection would be rather different from the imagery of the deep forest. To me, I would select an old, leather book to best embody the scent. If you have ever been in the presence of older books, the first scent that hits you is the smell of the paper, but that is quickly replaced by a deeper, muskier scent that has some richness to it. The first scent of the paper would represent the top notes of Mountain Rain, while the deeper, muskier scent would represent
the middle and base notes. Furthermore, similar to a book, there are different parts that make up who we are as individuals, much like the chapters found in books. This object embodiment description better ties in with the late summer, early fall idea.
Personal Creative Representation
If I had to build a person that best embodies the scent of Mountain Rain, I would first picture someone with darker brown hair and green eyes. The dark brown would best represent the earthy scents and the green eyes would better embody the forest imagery. Clothing wise, the scent makes me think of a black, bomber jacket for both genders. For one option, I would pair a brown or black a line skirt with leggings and black combat boots. For the other option, a darker brown or black loose cargo pants with some type of neutral high-top shoes. Accessory wise, the person would have simple silver jewelry and square shaped glasses. These clothing pairings
work well with early autumn and plays into the complexity found in the scent. The bomber jacket adds layers to the outfit, similar to a book, and the skirt with leggings would also fit with the dark academia aesthetic.
Image from the Game of Thrones wiki.
For personality and preferences, the more prominent wood scents could be correspondent with an introvert. The main difference between an extrovert and an introvert is that extroverts gain their energy from being around others. Being surrounded by people personally paints the idea of a lighter scent rather than a deeper, earthy one. Further following the dark academia idea, the person Mountain Rain would embody would have a preference for indie or lo-fi music, and their favorite genre of entertainment would be fantasy or mystery. The mystery genre is mostly self explanatory, but the selection of fantasy would suit the scent of the perfume do to how detailed and unknown each world is in the fantasy genre.