Move: Smells Like Roads’ Spirit

The Ten Eau De Parfum Fragrances, 50ml, £98.

Inspired by places, people, specific times in history, emotions, experiences and art is a new collection of ten perfumes by Roads. The international lifestyle brand is a publisher and creates fragrances and films. ‘I wanted to create an artistic brand that would not be limited by its own definition, not pigeonholed, or confined to only one idea,’ says founder Danielle Ryan. ‘It will develop and grow according to people’s interests, so there is no limit to its potential.’ The name ‘Roads’, therefore, stands for the crossroads of choices and decisions in every day life, and how these decisions shape the individual and create different life paths and stories.

Created and manufactured by hand in the UK, the new fragrance range consists of unique scents named ‘Cloud 9’, ‘Graduate 1954’, ‘Harmattan’, ‘Lights’, ‘Neon’, ‘Bitter End’, ‘Clockwork’, ‘This Weekend’, ‘Supernova’ and ‘White Noise’. ‘I was inspired by a broad range of ideas for the fragrances, all stemming from modern life,’ says Danielle. ‘Travel was a big part of it of course; there was a lot of inspiration for specific ingredients based on different geographical areas. Harmattan, for example, is based on the Sahara Desert and Bitter End on the West of Ireland. However, White Noise is based on technology and Lights is about daily optimism, so the inspiration for each fragrance is very diverse. These are, of course, only my references for the fragrances. The real truth is that they will change and become personal for each wearer… the meaning will evolve to be different for them.’

Testing out the perfume range in the .Cent office, each fragrance evoked different feelings, memories and images of delight in our minds. ‘Cloud 9’ with its clean, calm scent took us to a place where we floated in happiness, while ‘Supernova’ and ‘This Weekend’ both lifted our spirits – the first with an explosion of optimism, the latter with hope and happiness. ‘Neon’ made us smile with its fluorescent and lively spirit, while ‘Clockwork’ charmed us with its smooth, seamless and subtle style. Last but not least is ‘Graduate 1954’ – a spellbinding scent of strength and femininity.

Danielle reveals, ‘during the course of a very creative year, we made over 150 fragrances. We narrowed them down to 10 very individual scents. 10 is a good number.’

Roads fragrance range launches Spring/Summer 2014 at Selfridges in the U.K., Brown Thomas in Ireland, Barneys in the U.S. and NK in Sweden.