FRAGRANCE 63
candles play a starring role. By the Seaside, An Evening by the Fireside, or Sunny Pine Forest: the inspiring names are enough to make you feel all full of hygge. “There are wonderful hygge moments that we can fill with life and delightfully appealing, likeable images through the medium of scent,” explains Christian Lüke. “The special odour of the ground after a summer shower, the warm smell of wood, the tangy smell of the sea or the sun on warm skin: all of these pleasant moments and desires can be subtly recreated with perfume, both in personal care and in the home care category. And the fact that you can use natural essential oils instead of synthetic ingredients is very much in keeping with the hygge philosophy.”
Hygge is only one example of a lifestyle summed up in a single word. Take, for example, lagom – its Swedish cousin: in the land of red wooden houses, picturesque lakes and endless, fragrant forests, lagom means “just the right amount”: as much as you need, no more and, crucially, no less. Nobody needs to forget the things in life they hold dear, but at the same time, the lagom mindset is the opposite of waste and excess. It can be summed up as living one’s life in balance with what is available, with the greater good; it is about taking conscious decisions and leading a healthy,
happier and more sustainable life. Lagom has enjoyed quite a surge in popularity in the past few years, even as far away as Asia. “Not too little, not too much” is the strapline for the Korean (!) skin care brand Lagom; several years ago, Ikea UK/IE launched its Live Lagom sustainable lifestyle project to encourage sustainability. The project, designed to run for several years, has partnered with a university research department and it also includes an English magazine of the same name.
Gaelic comfort
The British Isles have also been thoroughly combed in search of a unique – and highly marketable – lifestyle: còsagach is an old Gaelic word that describes the sense of feeling cosy and snug in front of a fire with a hot toddy, under a tartan rug and a sheepskin. A cosy home, a warm shelter; a refuge where one can relax; encounters with nature; the smell of fragrant pine needles – all of this is còsagach. Actually, the concept is mainly the fruit of perfect marketing and was launched at the end of 2017 by the Scottish tourism agency. The fact that Gaelic experts have pointed out that the term còsagach does not just mean snug or cosy, but is primarily a Gaelic adjective to describe something “full of holes or crevices” or even “damp, mossy or fibrous ground“ certainly
does not seem to have harmed the Scottish hygge rival in any way. “When regional lifestyles suddenly become internationally popular, they offer an opportunity to display one’s identification with a specific culture, a country, a lifestyle. In terms of perfumery, this can be very finely differentiated and transformed into powerful marketing statements. The scent of a Scottish pine is a much stronger image than just the word ‘pine’,” says Christian Lüke.
Conclusion There is only one thing that Christian Lüke regrets slightly: “The great-grandmother of all these attractive lifestyles is the German ‘Gemütlichkeit’ – a word that can be paraphrased in other languages, but for which there is no precise translation. Lamentably, the hip hygge concept overtook us in that respect. But who knows: perhaps we’ll experience a resurgence of Gemütlichkeit. Because ultimately, no matter what name it goes by, the longing for cosiness, comfort, simplicity and pleasurable slowness is something that will always be around simply because it’s such a fundamental human desire. Many roads lead to this lifestyle, even on a small scale. And that’s something we’re working on.”
PC
November 2019
PERSONAL CARE ASIA PACIFIC
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