Harricana

Launched in December 2012, Harricana is the result of a collaboration between Canadian ecoluxe designer Mariouche Gagné and Canadian perfumer Isabelle Michaud and was inspired by Gagné’s work remodeling fur coats.
 
She takes old fur coats and gives them a new life as pillow covers, hats, gloves, bags, boots, jewellery and more – creating sustainable fashion for her Harricana label. So, when Gagné was looking to produce the first house-scent for Harricana, she turned to talented Canadian perfumer Isabelle Michaud.
 
Harricana opens with nose-tingling bergamot followed by intensely green and slightly musky galbanum. Spinach leaf plays up the galbanum by adding a vegetal green element, while basil contributes an herbal anise note. A note of balsam fir adds a different shade of green, while calamus root gives it a spicy warmth. As it blooms, orris root gives it the smell of violets – think violet bunches sold in the markets of Paris that women used to pin to their fur coats – along with a woodiness. Green tea picks up on the galbanum extending that green note to the heart. Jasmine, exotic and heady adds a hint floralcy. It all rests on a warm woody base vertiver, oakmoss, sandalwood, cedarwood, labdanum and opoponax. Musk is at the base too and gives it an anilmalic note which is evocative of fur.
 
On developing the scent with Gagné, Michaud says: “Working together we had to first understand each others vocabulary and references so as to go in the same direction. She would say things like, bring in some fresh air or give it a more dirty/lived in/rough/brut feel. She wanted it outdoorsy like a walk in the woods or in the toundra, somewhat of a native indian character, very close to nature, such as the dna of her brand.” And that is exactly what the drydown of Harricana smells like: a walk in the woods.
 
What’s noticeable in Harricana is the lack of sweet and floral notes – which is refreshing. Harricana smells of nature – green, woodsy and animalic – but nature tamed, refined, sophisticated and polished. It stays close to the skin, like a second luxurious skin.
 
Notes: bergamot, galbanum, spinach leaf, balsam fir, basil, calamus root, orris butter, green tea accord, jasmine, vetiver, sandalwood, cedarwood, oakmoss, labdanum and opoponax resins, musk.
 
Type: EdP
 
Parfumeur: Isabelle Michaud