Theme Tulip. The Route Map

Sep 2

2 min read

Updated: Oct 16

Olfactorium

A route map was taped to the dashboard of the street-washing truck. Yakov had drawn it by hand in his first year on the job, with every turn and every courtyard, and since then he had only taped up its worn corners.

All winter he had worked the night shift clearing snow. The city slept, the streetlights shone yellow, and by spring Yakov had almost forgotten what the streets looked like in the sun.

On the first May morning he was moved to daytime washing. He put Theme Tulip on his wrists, and mimosa and tulip sounded fresh and slightly bitter, like wet leaves and stems after rain.

By noon jasmine and ylang-ylang had opened on his skin, soft and sunny. Yakov drove along quiet streets, water glittered on the asphalt, and the smell of spring rose above the wet pavements.

In the courtyard by the school the caretaker Fatima stopped him. Every spring she planted tulips by the gate and always asked Yakov to water the bed along with the road.

"Yakov, you smell as if you'd already sniffed my tulips. And they only open tomorrow," laughed Fatima. Yakov laughed back and watered her flowerbed twice.

By evening the warm notes of amber and musk remained, soft and clean. Yakov returned to the depot and looked at the route map.

He took a pencil from the glovebox and carefully drew a small circle by the school gate, so that every spring he would remember Fatima's flowerbed.

How it sounds

The opening is fresh and green: tulip sounds cool and slightly bitter, like a wet leaf and stem, while mimosa adds a yellow, fluffy warmth.

At the heart jasmine and ylang-ylang open softly and sunnily without covering the tulip.

In the base amber and musk give a warm, clean sound and leave a light, transparent trail.

What makes it special

Theme Tulip belongs to the Olfactorium collection and the Theme series. The brand calls the series a collection of études: each fragrance unfolds one perfume theme. In the brand's words, Theme Tulip conveys the scent of a sunny spring day, and the fresh, bitterish, moist scent of leaves and stems brings a sense of unity with nature. It is a fresh green floral fragrance for spring and summer.

Tamara on Telegram writes: "a gentle and almost weightless fragrance, from the first notes it carries you into a sunny spring day."

MaraMorevna on Fragrantica compares it to morning mist: "Light, like morning mist over a meadow." @sunshineladyvera on Telegram calls it "a very spring-like fragrance of a whole field of tulips."

*Quotes translated from Russian.*

People wear it for lightness: on the first sunny day after a long winter, on a walk through wet streets, and whenever they long for spring.