☰ CP Magazine:

CAROLINA HERRERA COLLABORATES WITH EMIRATI INFLUENCER MARWA AL HASHEM FOR CONFIDENTIAL FRAGRANCE: ‘MYSTERY TOBACCO’

Emirati influencer Marwa Al Hashem showcases Mystery Tobacco, the Carolina Herrera Confidential fragrance bringing together the timeline elegance of the brand through the unique perspective of a rising Arab star in the influencer world.

The Carolina Herrera Confidential fragrance embodies the essence of sophistication and luxury, and the collaboration with Marwa Al Hashem adds a distinct Emirati touch to this captivating fragrance. The regional shooting showcases the fusion of cultures, capturing the spirit of modern elegance and beauty.

There is nothing as mysterious as an incomplete memory, half-suggested by a word, a color or a scent – Mystery Tobacco gives off that kind of magic. Its fruity notes and its smoky atmosphere evoke the story of Pepito Herrera, uncle of Reinaldo Herrera, one of the lavish characters that populate the memory of La Hacienda La Vega, the emblematic Caracas estate linked to the family where Carolina Herrera resided during part of her youth, and what later inspired her to create the namesake fashion brand.

Those gardens and historic buildings – the foundation of this architectural complex dates from the sixteenth century – still kept the echo of the glittering guests, almost from other worlds, who had frequented it, from Princess Margaret and Prince Charles of England to Salvador Dalí or Christian Dior.

However, from those stories she heard at family gatherings, Carolina A. Herrera, creative director of fragrances at Carolina Herrera, retained the fascination with the adventures of Uncle Pepito, a man born at the same time as the twentieth century and endowed with an unlimited passion for travel. “He was like the Phileas Fogg of the family; every time I sat in front of the world map that Dad had in his office and pointed to any point on the planet, someone told me that ‘Uncle Pepito had been there,'” recalls Carolina A. Herrera. “From Egypt to Japan, from Patagonia to Alaska, from Turkey to Madagascar, there was always a story, a memory or an anecdote that referred to Pepito, a man of whom I barely remember a few features: he always dressed exceptionally elegantly, with a cross suit and English shoes, he knew several languages and he used to use a fragrance of vetiver whose wake was mixed with that of the blond tobacco he smoked in exquisitely designed pipes that he had collected on his travels around the world,” he says.

That was not only a picturesque figure, but a real influence for Carolina Herrera. “My mother always affirms that her passion for traveling comes from those stories that Pepito Herrera told her,” explains Carolina A. Herrera. “Thanks to them he discovered the power of travel to broaden the mind and know the world.” Since then and until today, the designer has traveled the entire planet trying to throw on each object, place and person the curious, unprejudiced and free look of Pepito Herrera.

From those few features, composed with loose brushstrokes like the paintings of Impressionism, emerge the most persistent notes of Mystery Tobacco.  In the background of the fragrance stand out the leaves of the tobacco plant.  Its golden and smoky nuances made it a key ingredient in the high perfumery of the twenties and thirties.  Here they join their strength to the exotic and colorful power of patchouli. That seductive alloy remains on the skin for hours, after having displayed the magic of davana – an aromatic herb very characteristic of India – and ginger in the top notes, and vetiver and tonka bean absolute  in the heart.

The result is an enveloping and powerful fragrance, multicolored and enigmatic at the same time, which evokes aromas of other times without renouncing an enormously contemporary and genderless sumptuousness An eau de parfum as powerful and unique as those unique and bold personalities who live forever in the memory of those who knew them.