"Dear Reader,
I love a juicy mystery as much as the next person. This week I heard a great one. It might sound like the plot of a novel – but for my money this true story beats Dan Brown hands down. Personally, I was drawn to the setting – Jerusalem and Paris, with a bit-part for the Island of Socotra in the Indian Ocean (it’s part of Yemen in case you’re wondering: I was). And I also liked the theme: the Song of Songs."
Throwback to a beautiful 2024 article on PARDES in THE TABLET, by Bess Twiston Davies
#PARDES #iconofly #alexandrehelwani #songofsongs #Bible #thetablet #besstwinstondavies
Perfumer Alexandre Helwani interviewed by @jjcolbourne a reviewer, writer, and journalist.
Alexandre Helwani explains the outcome of PARDES and how the full rollout occurred.
#iconofly #alexandrehelwani #perfume #songofsongs
Part 4. Live interview recorded in April 2026. Photography @theperfumechronicles
Perfumer Alexandre Helwani, interviewed by reviewer, writer, and journalist @jjcolbourne , discusses the process of crafting PARDES — and the details that changed everything after his conversations with theologian Marc-Alain Ouaknin.
#iconofly #alexandrehelwani #perfume #songofsongs
Part 3. Live interview recorded in April 2026. Photography @theperfumechronicles
Perfumer Alexandre Helwani interviewed by @jjcolbourne a reviewer, writer, and journalist.
Alexandre Helwani reveals the research that went into PARDES and what path he followed to find the correct formula.
#iconofly #alexandrehelwani #perfume #songofsongs
Part 2. Live interview recorded in April 2026.
Photography by Kseniya Kurs.
Perfumer Alexandre Helwani interviewed by @jjcolbourne a reviewer, writer, and journalist. Together they discuss the genesis of PARDES with Alexandre Helwani revealing how it all began.
#iconofly #alexandrehelwani #PARDES #interview #jjcolbourne
Part 1. Live interview recorded in April 2026
Due to the complexity of its formula and its extended aging process, each batch of PARDES is compounded by the perfumer himself—by hand, in his Paris laboratory. Alexandre Helwani works in this way.
Anna Boothe, currently shaping what will become the collector’s bottle of PARDES, follows the same path.
Some things cannot be rushed.
#pardes #songofsongs #iconofly #alexandrehelwani #annaboothe #perfume #glass
Due to the complexity of its formula and its extended aging process, each batch of PARDES is compounded by the perfumer himself—by hand, in his Paris laboratory. Alexandre Helwani works in this way.
Anna Boothe, currently shaping what will become the collector’s bottle of PARDES, follows the same path.
Some things cannot be rushed.
#pardes #songofsongs #iconofly #alexandrehelwani #annaboothe #perfume #glass
What will be the glass vessel of PARDES?
Images of the work in progress will be revealed soon…
Anna Boothe taught for 16 years in the glass program at the Tyler School of Art, helped develop and chair the glass art program at Salem Community College, and has instructed at universities and glass schools around the world.
She served as President of the Glass Art Society and is a former Director of Glass at the National Liberty Museum.
Her work has received “Best of” awards at exhibitions including the Smithsonian Craft Show, the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show, and the American Craft Council Baltimore Craft Show. In 2021, her perfume bottle Laurel Berry received First Place from the International Perfume Bottle Association.
#pardes #workinprogress #glass #bottle #art #songofsongs #iconofly
Pomegranate and mandrake at the opening.
Fig and henna at the heart.
Oud, myrrh, and spikenard beneath it all.
#pardes #songofsongs #iconofly #alexandrehelwani #perfume #niche
Image: detail of Sentience, a glass bottle conceived by Anna Boothe, invited to envision the perfect vessel for a fragrance inspired by the Song of Songs.
Glass, shaped by a lifetime of mastery.
A formula, hidden for three thousand years.
Anna Boothe's vessel for Pardes will never be just a bottle.
#workinprogress #pardes #songofsongs #iconofly #alexandrehelwani #annaboothe #perfume #glass
Image: detail of Sentience, another previous design by Anna Boothe.
PARDES.
The ancient word for garden.
The root of paradise.
A scent that was always meant to bloom — it just needed three millennia to find its moment.
#pardes #songofsongs #iconofly #alexandrehelwani #annaboothe #perfume #parfum #cantiquedescantiques #jardinspromis
In 2023, perfumer Alexandre Helwani travelled to Jerusalem to investigate the perfumes of the Bible, setting off a two-year quest to uncover a formula that had laid hidden and unmade for three thousand years.
#pardes #songofsongs #iconofly #alexandrehelwani #annaboothe #perfume #glass
Image: detail of Sentience, another previous design by Anna Boothe.
