Bella Hadid’s Orebella, Charlotte Tilbury’s fragrance line, and using fragrance for manifestation
Soft skin and I perfumed it for ya
I’ve had two jobs since graduating uni, both of which being copywriter roles for different departments of the same health and beauty company. My first role half-focused on digital copywriting for the fragrance sales plan category, and although the brands briefed in a lot of the copy, I quickly became familiar with the world of fragrance, from the different scents to the difference types of fragrance. (There’s some SEO of mine knocking about somewhere for elixir fragrances.) A few months ago, too, when my friends came to visit me, one of them asked me if they could use one of my perfumes, and I loved showing the many, many fragrances I’ve acquired since starting at the company I work at, and helping her decide which one to wear that evening. Likewise, most of my bags have a perfume mini thrown in there, and a while ago one of my mum’s friends expressed how she loved Mugler’s Alien (my favourite perfume) after she spritzed mine.
All of this is to say — I love fragrance. So at the end of April, when both Bella Hadid and Charlotte Tilbury announced their new fragrance lines, I was beyond excited. Although I’m yet to try anything from Bella Hadid’s Orebella, I bought Charlotte Tilbury’s sample kit and I loved the Joyphoria and Calm Bliss scents. I found it interesting that these two lines had one big similarity in terms of marketing — they’re both meant to be intentional, wearable manifestations.
Speaking to Red, Charlotte Tilbury herself explained that her new collection of fragrances are supposed to invoke certain feelings:
‘Put my Calm Bliss on their pillow, it will help them sleep,’ she promises over afternoon tea at her London HQ. ‘I mist Magic Energy around me like a halo and when I go home to Ibiza, I want it in every room, because it’s so balancing. When I have parties, I might have More Sex, a bit of Love Frequency and a bit of Joyphoria. You know how supermarkets pipe the smell of freshly baked bread right up to the door? It just gets everyone in the right mood.’
Bella Hadid’s Orebella (pronounced Aura-bella) takes inspiration from Hadid’s Palestinian and Middle Eastern heritage, described on their website as ‘the first intentional skin perfume,’ made from essential oils instead of alcohol, a massive contrast to traditional scents.
From geode-inspired bottles to listing the spiritual qualities of notes, Orebella focuses not just on smelling good but also on the ‘aura-elevating’ power of scent. The brand has a spiritual yet wellness-inspired approach to its marketing; one of their Instagram posts sees ‘222’ written in the sand on a beach, the caption being ‘little signs from the universe’ while Bella’s founder’s story on the website talks about essential oils being a mentally soothing practice for her, even though it started because she struggled with the alcohol in most commercial fragrances.
It reminds me of how fragrance is used in worship. Growing up Catholic, Christmas Eve was always met with a cloud of incense inside my local church (one year, it was so strong it made me faint) and as a spiritual girly, incense sticks are a big part of welcoming in certain energies whilst protecting yourself from others.
One of my friends told me that within Islam, when you go to the Mosque to pray, there’s an expectation of not only looking good, but also smelling good. There’s also the Arab tradition of ‘bakhoor,’ which is when you smoke scented wood chips into your hair, leaving a strong fragrance and your hair feeling super smooth. I find it interesting that in different cultures, fragrance is universally credited as a way to enhance worship and welcome people in, a powerful energetic tool.
Charlotte Tilbury’s new fragrance line follows a similar beat. The six new fragrances range in scents, all with different intentions. ‘Joyphoria’ encourages positivity, ‘Calm Bliss’ is for calming energies, and ‘More Sex’... well, you can guess that one. The craft of each fragrance is super intentional, the brand having worked with scientists, numerologists, colour theorists and more, to create scents that scientifically and spiritually encourage certain moods.
On Charlotte Tilbury’s website, they talk about their collaboration with International Flavours and Fragrances Inc. (IFF), who have conducted research into different scents and how they can cause certain reactions in your brain. Similar to how certain perfumes remind us of when we were wearing them, Charlotte Tilbury’s fragrance line harnesses this part of your brain to entice certain emotions and moods. So, the ‘Joyphoria’ scent helps us feel positive because of the vanilla scent, just like the freshness of ‘Calm Bliss’ or the velvety muskiness of ‘More Sex.’
Although, this only works if you don’t already have an emotion tied to that scent. But I like how Charlotte Tilbury uses this in conjunction with spirituality; angel numbers are embossed onto the perfume bottles, which are designed in colours evoking a certain mood. The tester cards for the scents also resemble tarot cards, resembling the line’s tagline as ‘your six invisible superpowers.’
I think it’s really interesting how brands are using this power of fragrance to create a multifaceted sensory experience. It reminds me of Glossier You, and how that scent shapeshifts from person to person. Of course, I have my favourite scents (which I’ve listed below), but I like the idea of picking and choosing fragrance to suit not just your outfit, but also your mood. Maybe this intentionality is something we can take into not just our scent choice, but the rest of our outfit curation. (Or maybe that’s too hippie of me.)
Some of my favourite scents atm:
Alien by Mugler, a floral-woody scent with base notes of amber. This is a bit of a Marmite perfume; some people love it, other people find it overpowering. But I love it, and always come back to it.
Good Fortune by Viktor&Rolf, a floral scent with hints of vanilla. I first tried this because I had a candle scented like this, and as I’m sure you’ve guessed by this Substack, I love the idea of wearing a scent called Good Fortune.
Vanilla 28 by Kayali, which is a straight vanilla perfume, but the brown sugar notes makes it feel more grown-up, instead of just a Hollister spray. It’s designed to be perfect for layering or wearing on its own, so it’s great to chuck in your bag as a scent top-up throughout the day.
Prada Paradoxe, a floral, ambery scent. This feels a bit less intense than Alien, and it’s a perfect floral scent for summer, although I’m hoping to get my hands on the intense version soon (but I love a strong perfume, so that’s more on me).
I also can’t finish without mention Sol de Janeiro’s perfume mists. I love Cheirosa ‘62, but they’re all just as amazing, and long-lasting considering the price point.
I’d love to hear if you’ve tried Orebella or Charlotte Tilbury’s line, or what your favourite fragrances are. This post has been in the works for a while, and it’s taken me some time to finally get around to writing it but I hope you enjoyed. Thank u for reading <3
(Also, a big thank you to my friend Sabaa for helping me out with the uses of fragrance in Islam and Arab culture!!)
An important note:
I cannot talk about this, especially mentioning Bella Hadid, without mentioning Palestine. I’m writing this during the long weekend in which Israeli occupation bombed one of the ‘safe zones’ they told Palestinians to take refuge in outside of Rafah. Please stay informed, and take any action you can in the country you’re from. (Similarly, if you’re living in the UK like me, make sure you keep Palestine in mind when considering who to vote for on the 4th July.)
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