SEMPREVIVA was born from the repeated and never fulfilled desire, to make an eminently solar fragrance. The immortelle (Helichrysum italicum, that is to say “golden sun” in Latin) does not accept half measures. You either love it or hate it. That persuaded me at every attempt to insist on a formulation based on this plant. But this year, exceptional in many ways, has made me lose all fear and prejudice and I set out, as soon as the first immortelle sprouted, to make my dream come true. The formula has been cooking for years in my head, summer to summer, sun after sun.
The first intuition was to mix immortelle with fennel. Both, summer plants of great resistance and resilience. Later I saw clearly that lemon should accompany them. Lemon, of all citrus fruits, seems to me the most solar, not only because of its yellow color but also because of the energy it contains, housing an explosion of opposites in its juicy interior, combining sweetness and acidity like no other.
All of this was close to an eau de cologne. A very particular one, but cologne at the end. And I liked the idea. To work with a citrus base, aromatic output, which gives this solar mixture a touch of freshness. Again, the contradiction as force. I just had to close it with a fixation that was up to the task. The answer came by itself, during a walk along the camí de ronda that goes from Cala Tamariua (Port de la Selva) to Cala Fornells, where I made a spontaneous collection of immortelle, cap d’ase and pine resin to make a tincture. ¡There it was!
The result is the reinterpretation of a fresh eau de cologne with the intensity and warmth of a resinous perfume. A celebration of contradiction, as a creative force, such as that generated by nuclear fusion and the clash of forces in constant motion of our closest star.
