Recently we were wondering what cats might think of their owners' fragrances. Our imaginations ran riot and our Catalog project was born, complete with little stories and an artist's take on cutesy cat imagery. Did we get a little carried away? You tell us. We had so much fun with the project that we wanted to share it with you, as you may have noticed if you follow our Instagram stream.
Charade
Mignon, Bijou and Monsieur are coy at first. “You understand that we won’t gossip about them," says Mignon, clearly the alpha queen kitten in the clique. “Reggie is a lovely lady, even more fun since Peter showed up…”
“But, Mignon, a little crazy, non? You must admit. Remember that first apartment? Nothing in it except a telephone and the Vuitton suitcases.” Monsieur nods. Mignon shoots him an icy stare.
Mignon softens. “Okay, so maybe she is a little eccentric, full of joie de vivre. But when she’s here, reading in that armchair or just staring out the window at Paris in the rain, that scent of hers, Charade. The complex sweetness of honey, ylang-ylang, sandalwood and patchouli melding with the classicism of leather, vetiver, amber and moss…”
“That’s her? I thought that was him,” says Monsieur.
“And I think they may be secret agents,” blurts our Bijou. Mignon puts her paw down with force.
“Thank you, I think we need to terminate this interview now,” she says.
Greek Keys
Aristotle, Maria and Jackie are far more eager to spill the beans. “You should see them,” chuckles Aristotle. “Our humans Ben and Claire are a rum couple. They can’t get enough of Greek Keys. They both love the way it’s like spraying on an isle-hopping yacht voyage through a Mediterranean archipelago; the citric blast of pink grapefruit, lemon and mandarin orange and the sun-baked herbal gestures of rosemary, cedar, vetiver and oakmoss. And, everywhere the smell of the crystal-blue sea.”
Maria pipes up. “It’s funny. They actually argue over it. They both love it so much.”
“Yes, yes,” gushes Jackie. “They have an agreement that they can’t wear it at the same time when others are around. So she gets up extra early to be the first one to claim it for the day…”
“And he tries to hide it from her so that he can keep it all for himself,” concludes Maria. Aristotle bellows with evil kitten laughter.
Bascule
Morecambe and Wise spend a lot of time exploring the stables, messing about. We managed to pull them away from their high jinx to speak with us.
Morecombe: She’s a jumper…
Wise: Yeah, but not like that kind of “jumper”, idiot. (To us). She’s a horsey type; posh bird, know what I mean?
Morecombe: But she loves us…
Wise: ‘Course she does, silly. After a tough day in the saddle, we sneak into her bed at night just to smell her signature fragrance Bascule that perfectly sums up her day. Grass, peach, bergamot, lily of the valley, hay, leather, vetiver, amber, musk, fir, tobacco, metal tack…
Morecombe: (beaming) That’s usually when she says, “Lads, I’m too tired for a threesome tonight”. And then she pushes us down to settle on the bed next to her. I don’t even know what a threesome is. Is it some kind of three-legged race?
Wise: Shut up, you fool! (grinning inanely at us). Sorry, my mate is a little naive. He’s too young to know when you’ve landed with your bum in the butter. He forgets that every day we inhale the fragrance that proves we have.
Flame & Fortune
Buster says: “My boss Roxie is a wild card. Every day brings some new surprise with her. She might decide to jump on the Harley and race out towards the horizon, burning rubber on asphalt because she’s woken with a whim to hit the gaming tables in Vegas. Or I might follow her out the gate into the desert where she’s laid down a blanket for a night-time picnic under a sky filled with stars that twinkle like a million rhinestones. She’ll dip a fiery pepper into her shot of mezcal and munch on it without blinking, raise the glass and drink to my health.
On those nights, I love to snuggle up beside her taking in her unique fragrance, Flame & Fortune. I can’t help but purr as those gorgeous floral notes tickle my nose; orange blossom, tuberose, jasmine, lily of the valley and iris. Like Roxie, they’re hardly predictable, fused with the smell of ginger, pink pepper, apricot, mandarin petitgrain, motor oil, burnt wood, labdanum, fire and mezcal.
Then she’ll dig the casino chip out of her pocket and chuck it over to me, knowing that I’ll instinctively trap it under my paw. ‘You take good care of that, Buster,’ she’ll say. ‘Never let me head out without my lucky chip’. And I never have. Yep, Roxie is one spicy lady.”
Tartan
Tartan Tam confides in us: “Aye, it’s been a good fair while since my ward Lucy and her husband Kagiso enjoyed their honeymoon in bonnie Scotland. You’ll barely notice me with my famed devilish grin watching her approvingly when she applies a mist of Tartan and is immediately transported back to the Highlands. The fresh fragrance of the glens when dew gleams on the heather or that indescribable sense of comfort as you step in from the cold, the fire crackling in the hearth and the smell of recently baked bread or warmed hops to accompany a fortifying meal....
“We’ve all made a life far away since, but she’s not the only one who remembers. Kagiso usually sneaks a few crafty spritzes whenever he’s about to pull out the best single malt and they linger over it, cocooning over some soppy movie. He’s probably not yet confessed it’s also his secret weapon for big-pressure business meetings. Dinnae worry: I’ll not tell.”
Lace
Princess Tiffany says: “ My lodger Maura is a very stylish lady, the kind of woman whose elegance and poise attracts stares and compliments. Now, she will never be as stylish as I, but with Lace, she comes very close. There’s something rich and creamy about lace with its vanilla, perhaps even tropical when you pick up the coconut and jasmine. But there’s also something warm and sensual about it - those notes of cedar and musk. It entirely suits her personality as a woman who is very fresh and natural but whose sexier depths are distinctly notable without ever being overpowering. I’m the one who taught her that talking deep and quietly was a good look on her. So it peeves me that I think her smile is because she knows that, try as I may, I can never pull that big, gorgeous lid off the bottle when she’s not around.”
Symmetry
Theodora says: “My human Hugo is a very discerning man. He appreciates the finer things in life and has a great admiration for the hidden stories of things. He loves to tell me that beauty is a harmonious balance. He’ll be reading some book or magazine and suddenly excitedly show me a picture. ‘Look at that!’ It could be a picture of a building, a painting or even a handsome bicycle. He looks for it everywhere.
It’s hardly a surprise that he loves Symmetry. It is certainly a thing of beauty. Perfectly balanced notes of bergamot, petitgrain, neroli, orange blossom, amber, cypriol, musk and oud create an ideal tension between freshness and the intensity of rich materials valued for their unique scent properties millennia.
While he’s reading, I pad along the top of the sofa and gingerly sniff his neck. The divine scent makes me purr. I can see the corner of his smile even though he doesn’t look up. I think about the long journeys at great risk via secret routes handed down from generation to generation that brought these valuable materials together from all corners of the Ancient World. Finally they had their mysterious fragrance properties nurtured to life by perfumers; the alchemists of olfaction. So I understand what Hugo means when he says beauty is a harmonious balance.”
Jungle Jezebel
One of our happy customers says that her gorgeous kitten Melo is a furry fan with a thing for Jungle Jezebel. The name Melo is short for melocotón, which means peach in Spanish.
"Dear Melo,
Good Choice! We can see how the melange of orange, banana, grape, peach, bubble gum, rose, tuberose and ylang-ylang are just as sweet and playful as you are. Yet those deeper, moral primal notes of amber, sandalwood, civet, vetiver, vanilla and tonka bean warn us that there’s a little predator on the prowl. Jungle Jezebel is a bit of an animal and we bet that’s exactly what you are when you get all excited in that kitty gym and out comes your instinctive ability to move through the tropical jungle at lightning speed.
Your loyal admirers
Sarah Baker Perfumes"