IUNX returns

IUNX is pointing the tip of its nose again…
IUNX is my freedom,
I’ve put everything I love in it, everything that touches me.
A white shirt drying in the sun, burning resin,
driftwood, a Jamaican red chilli pepper,
burnt earth in Andalucia…

Olivia Giacobetti

The good news?
After a two and a half year eclipse, Olivia Giacobetti’s fragrance line is making a discreet – but anxiously awaited – return in the boutique of the Parisian Hotel Costes, 239 rue Saint Honoré, in the 1st arrondissement just off the Place Vendôme.

The bad news?
The Hotel Costes is the only place to buy it, and they don’t ship. So that’s one more flacon, along with the Lutens bell jars, to add to the shopping list of friends travelling to Paris…

Only three scents are currently offered, in a single, 150 ml size: two eaux de toilette, L’Eau Blanche and Splash Forte (€103) and one eau de parfum, L’Éther (€130). There are also eleven, deliciously fragrant candles at €45 apiece[1].

If you do make it to the Costes, beware: the staff is charming but there are house rules. No samples. Scent cards are slid into chic black pouches to preserve the fragrance. No spontaneous spritzing. You can smell the fragrances in Plexiglas tubes that are automatically triggered to send up wafts as you lean into them. Or you can ask for a skin test, well away from the Plexiglas counters and candles. The candles themselves can be smelled on little sticks dipped in fragrant wax.

For the moment, IUNX, which is no longer produced by Shiseido, is limiting its line to the three scents and eleven candles, sold alongside four Costes room sprays, the Costes candle and the eau de parfum, also composed by Giacobetti. Other references will follow… When? Which ones? They aren’t telling.

[1] Arbre à pluie, Canne à sucre, Cramoisi, Datte, Frangipanier Blanc, Fusain, Gomme Arabique, Papyrus, Pin Parasol, Pulpe, Vapeur (Raintree, Sugarcane, Crimson, Date, White Frangipani flower, Charcoal, Arabic Gum, Papyrus, Pine Tree, Pulp, Steam).

Coming soon: the reviews