Scent-sible at home

A few months ago, in my continuing search for interesting women entrepreneurs, I wrote about Cura V (located at the second floor of Rockwell’s Power Plant); how the new store was a veritable treasure trove for unique under-the-radar brands and up-and-coming designers in both housewares and personal wear. The women behind Cura V  Kai Lim, Nicole Whisenhunt, Trisha Calma, Emi Jorge and Camille Ongpauco  have made it their mission to showcase both tradition and modernity via a mélange of carefully selected and edited pieces in their retail space. In the category of luxury home products, Cura recently welcomed Anthousa as one of its in-house brands.

Created by Greek-American Maria Cristofilis, Anthousa is Greek for “perfect bloom.” This line of home fragrances consists of custom Italian vintage-inspired glass bottles, topped off with a silver ball stopper, with oil-based bamboo reeds serving as a diffuser for the scents that suggest the Mediterranean roots of Maria. There is no alcohol in the formulation, no need to reverse the reeds, and the Grand size lasts for nine months, while the Demi is good for six months, and the Petite for three. A very high grade of fragrance and essential oils is used to guarantee quality and the fragrance’s sustainability.

There were five variants available for testing on the day of the launch. If you’re looking for a clean, fresh scent, go for the Cucumber & Green Grass. The Vanilla Grapefruit & Blood Orange is a new take on citrus with a hint of vanilla; while the Aqua Verbena has lemon verbena working with aqua notes for a heady seaside encounter. The Nectarine and Red Currant is for those who look for something fruity, yet different! The sophisticated, woody Fig Leaf & Bitter Almond, crisp yet subtle, is my personal favorite. The new 2012 Spring collaboration with De Gournay of London includes Vetivert Jade, Parisian White Tea, and Violet & Black Currant  and the first two sound like they could be real interesting.

The mavens behind Cura V — Kai Lim, Emi Jorge, Camille Ongpauco, Nicole Whisenhunt and Trisha Calma — at Lusso, where they launched the Anthousa line.

And here’s something for those into gleaning the origins of the now commonplace and often seen. The diffuser concept of Home Ambiance was derived from a century-old technique used in restaurants throughout Italy. Chefs would fill empty wine bottles with fragrant herbs and spices and olive oil, and use dry spaghetti sticks as diffusers. It was from here that the transition was made to bamboo reeds, and using more developed and sophisticated blends of fragrances to the apothecary products we now see in the marketplace. Cool, right?

Reading the summer away

The three novels today are all fun reads that should help us beat the stifling summer heat. Caplan’s novel is Bourne territory with a twist, while Gayle’s is British “lad-lit” that’s always amusing. Russell’s coming-of-age in the Everglades is that rare “bird,” both pithy and literary, while darkly humorous.

The Spy Who Jumped Off the Screen by Thomas Caplan (available at National Book Store). With a foreword by former President Bill Clinton, journalist Thomas Caplan announces his entry into the spy thriller genre with a hero that’s quite unique  Ty Hunter. He is a secret agent for the US, and his cover is being one of the most popular of Hollywood actors! Think about it, his celebrity status will get him past most closed doors and restricted areas, and in today’s world, most everyone would be happy to meet Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt, so what if the Hollywood actor was your deep penetration agent? The novel starts with the cold-blooded killing of a construction magnate and his family. We flit from Cannes, to the Ukraine, Camp David and Gibraltar. Ian Santal and Philip Frost are very believable villains, technocrats out to play a high-stakes game of nuclear proliferation.

Books that will help make the summer heat more bearable!

The Stag and Hen Weekend by Mike Gayle (available at National Book Store). This is really two stories in one book, with a double cover to highlight the concept. One side is the stag weekend of Phil in Amsterdam. Along with his mates, he goes for a weekend that turns both hilarious and life-changing, as he meets a woman who just may be the one he should marry. The hen weekend is Helen heading to a posh boutique hotel with her friends that same weekend, not knowing that lying in wait, with designs of his own, is Radio personality Aiden, the man who jilted her in the past. Funny throughout, the novel has a lot to say about marriage, choices we make in life, friendship, old and new love, and the world of the thirty-somethings! A brisk read that had me in stitches, laughing the afternoon away!

Swamplandia! by Karen Russell (available at National Book Store). Ava Bigtree is all of 13, and she lives in the family-owned reptile farm and theme park, found in the Florida Everglades. When theme park headliner Mom passes away due to cancer at the young age of 36, the whole Bigtree family is left facing economic disaster and severe displacement. The father disappears, and the three kids are left to fend for themselves. Brother Kiwi leaves the island and ends up working in the rival theme park World of Darkness, while sister Ossie has dates with ghosts, retreating into the world of spiritualism and other-ness. Ava’s story is a subtle blend of magical realism, trailer park style, and earthy coming-of-age. There’s rape, reptiles galore, and tabloid heroism in this tale, that’s both tall yet enriching. Eccentricity abounds, but always, with a purpose.