Ben Gorham, the founder of Byredo, has been recognized for his personal style and connection to fashion and art. Ben was first intrigued by scent and memory after travelling to his mother's hometown in India. He was stirred by the aromas of spices and incense.
Founded in 2006, Byredo's scented candles and perfumes have been developed with an understated approach. They use a simple composition of the highest quality raw materials which has a cult following of its own now. This new fragrance launched this year, 2018 has been my go-to for the last few weeks. It is so unique and beautiful that I am so obsessed with it. The nose behind Eleventh Hour is Jerome Epinette.
Byredo Eleventh Hour is an exploration of the smell of things ending, a journey to the end of the Time, and the last perfume on Earth. This is very unconventional for a fragrance to have this inspiration. But if you see it on a deeper level, the inspiration came from the issues affecting our environment.
‘I want to travel until I did not have to search anymore. Today I know that life is a journey that brings you to the end of the world, a return to the harmony we have lost.', says the great Swiss explorer Ella Maillart, who in 1951 was one of the rare Westerners to reach Nepal rise, the highest places will be the last refuges and zones that were once considered hostile to humans will become shelters.
Key Notes
Notes of the fragrance are:
Top: Ban Timmur, Bergamot
Middle: Carrot Seeds, Rum, Wild Fig
Base: Cashmere Woods, Tonka Bean
‘The top notes, led by the peppery and citrus accents of Ban Timmur, take us to the Nepali highlands, where this plant grows. Wild fig, the first forbidden fruit, is the heart note of Eleventh Hour. A symbol of desire, its sweet and captivating scent encapsulates the smell of danger. The warmth of tonka beans combined with Cashmere Woods notes emanates energetic radiation, similar to that released by our solar plexus when it opens wide. As if a bond was recreated between man and the cosmos.
Overall, a very unique creation. From the pepper and cloves in the opening to the amalgamation of spices and wood is marvellous. It makes it more balanced and unisex. The longevity of the scent on my skin is over 8 hours and I can still smell it when I press my nose close to the wrist. It is a lovely scent and perfect for fall and winter, a faint creaminess and fruitiness underneath the spices and wood which does soothe the nerves and is very comforting like the feeling of warmth anyone needs in this season and throughout the season. I can totally see myself wearing it a lot this season.
Byredo Eleventh Hour is available at Byredo.com, Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom.
*Press samples