BEHIND THE SCENES: THE MAKING OF A FRAGRANCE SERIES - RED HEART v.3
RED HEART v.3 - THE HEART OF PASSION
THE STORY OF PASSION - CONTEXT
"The Red Heart v.3 story is about life itself in all its sensuality and vitality. The red heart is forever victorious and triumphant, staring down all that does not mean life, love, passion. It is about ripeness, attraction, a readiness for life, the idea of being irresistible and totally alive. It is seductive and alluring. It is the true beating heart of our collection. It is our heartbeat.”
- Sarah Blair, Co-founder, Map of the Heart
THE STORY OF PASSION - FILM BRIEF
"The Red Heart V3 film is a story of playful sexuality and of potentially fatal attraction. The scent and colour evoked a ripeness and the theme of passion expounded. As we developed the story, the film American Beauty became a reference in that within its domestic world was an element of beauty that lead to infatuations and sexual tension. In our film our character is playfully teasing us with beauty and finally walking toward us with all the grace of a catwalk model but revealed to rigged with explosives personifying the idea of sexual tension and passion.”
- Jeffrey Darling, Director and Co-founder, Map of the Heart
BRIEF TO SENIOR PERFUMER JACQUES HUCLIER
"The centre. Strong, vital, full of energy. Life force. Over brimming. Has depth but a sense of moving forward. Active. Vital. Life at its fullest. The heart beat. Rich and thick. Urgent. Life itself. Velvet. luxurious. Persephone. Lava. Hot. Immediate. Sensual. Fire. This is the flower.
The story of the red heart is full of life tempered by its beating. Fire wraps and licks our heels but life cheats death. The red heart is forever victorious, triumphant staring down all that does not mean life, love, passion. It is the goddess Athena herself, eyes bright and shining, all powerful as she whispers into Odysseus’ ear urging him home to his true love, his one love. With the red heart beating no sea is too hard to cross, no mountain too hard to climb, no siren song too seductive to succumb too. Even Persephone can refuse to return to the underworld defiant enough to call her husband to her, not she to him. Dancing on coals cooled by sensual vitality celebrating the sheer joy of life itself. To be alive, to live is everything, is all."
- Sarah Blair & Jeff Darling, Co-founders, Map of the Heart
THE SCENT OF PASSION
"The heart of PASSION smells of addiction, allure, temptation.
When I read Map of the Heart Co-Founders, Sarah & Jeff’s, Red Heart concept, I thought about a fragrance able to express the powerful colour of a RED heart and integrate this new perfume in our debutant fragrance collection.
The concept and the image board created in my mind a very clear olfactory dimension: something totally ”round” with a strong centre, immediate like the heart beat. But with a velvety, luxurious, sensual silage. With Senior Perfumer, Jacques Huclier, we worked in this direction. Once he finalised the pyramid construction, with Sarah & Jeff we fine-tuned the fragrance storytelling.
It is a fascinating process building these fragrances. Each time is a back and forth - an ingredient can create an idea: from a raw material you find the inspiration to put together the fragrance puzzle you have in mind. All the pieces then go magically together.
Sarah had the idea to work on a fruit, little known in this part of the world (France), the Feijoa. Once Jacques and I experienced the intense and rich pulp of the fruit we understood why it was so imprinted in her memory. It’s strong, unique, unusual and very exotic.
When you experience the intoxication of the Feijoa enveloped with a magnificent tuberose it’s impossible to quit: you are into the crescendo of the juice and you feel as the explosion of pleasure never stops. It is very sharp, open - a real life force - like a direct line straight to your skin.
A special mention must be given to the Patchouli fraction de Givaudan. It is not an average patchouli but the best part of this beautiful raw material extracted during oil manufacturing. This is for sure one of the elements that underlines the stronger personality and the bold signature of Red Heart v.3.
Talking about red… we decided that the fil rouge of our collection had to be a sensual, comforting, mystical, ancestral raw material as the Australian sandalwood: one of the most precious ingredients in perfumery. Many associate India with fine sandalwood, but we prefer to use Australian sandalwood due to the deforestation and quality issues that now threaten the Indian industry. The Australian sandalwood becomes a wink to Map of the Heart's origins.
Red Heart v.3 top notes of bergamot opur, pink peppercorns and red apple are vital and sparkling to give the fragrance an assertive appeal. After the first irresistible hook, you are transported into the power and over brimming construction of this juice.
Seduction, attraction, and passion for Map of the Heart are not only linked to the physical beauty but also the aesthetic canons we are bombarded with everyday. The power of confidence and charisma is what we like more to express the allure of attraction.”
- Giovanna Aicardi, Fragrance Developer and Partner, Map of the Heart
THE COLOUR OF PASSION
Red is the colour of passion. It is warm, bright, confident and pulses with life. It is vitality itself. When the translucent red glass is held to the light refracting its red rays it becomes jewel-like making it even more precious and alluring.