Our latest retail partner, SSAINT, offers luxurious, destination-led fragrances at an affordable price point. Here, we talk botanical versus (safe) synthetic ingredients, and the ultimate scent for your next, boujee summer affair with founders/owners, Ciara Mahoney and Elle Wallace.
M+E: Can you recall when you first fell in love with the power of fragrance?
CM: We had always dreamt of creating our own, signature fragrance, an idea that flourished as we played around with and layered our personal perfume collections. From this SŚAINT was born.
M+E: What was your first, bottled fragrance and what does its perfume remind you of today?
CM: Flower by Kenzo. The floral and powdery notes forever remind me of the sweet smell of cabbage patch dolls (showing my age now, haha).
EW: Dior Hypnotic Poison. This fragrance takes me back to 17 year old Elle getting her drivers license, picking up her girlfriends and cruising around the beaches with the music blaring!
M+E: You talk about note inspirations from Asia to the middle east and Australian outback – are these places you have travelled through personally? And how do you decide on a destination to lead a fragrance?
EW: We both worked together, travelling the world as international flight attendants, which helped ignite the idea of SŚAINT. We loved the nostalgia that manifested with the scents experienced at traditional Asian markets, Middle Eastern souks and even the Australian outback.
CM: From what was first an idea we only spoke about, we then researched extensively and went through rounds and rounds of sampling and iterations, attempting to bottle the nostalgia we experienced to share with our customers.
M+E: You use a combination of safe synthetic and botanical ingredients – what are the benefits of this approach versus all-botanical, for example?
CM: We have a huge appreciation for safe-synthetic materials. There's a common misconception that natural is always best, that good-quality fragrances are made from all natural materials and cheaper, poor-quality fragrances are made with harmful synthetics. While harmful ingredients do exist in fragrance, there are many safe, tried and tested synthetics that are not only paraben and phthalate free but are a safer alternative to natural ingredients.
EW: It’s not uncommon for modern perfumes to contain ingredients of which 50% are synthetic! We’re seeing perfumers such as Frederic Malle who launched his latest eau de parfum 'Synthetic Jungle', really celebrating the presence of synthetic ingredients. We believe we'll see more transparency from brands saying "hey, this is actually what's in our product", and consumers will respond to that authenticity.
M+E: What was the first and last SSAINT fragrance created, and what can we expect next?
CM: We launched the brand with four signature scents; Cosmic Bang, Smokeshow, Modus Vivendi and Twenty Two. As a range, they work together so seamlessly and perfectly capture the essence of the SŚAINT brand.
EW: We are currently working on a 5th and 6th fragrance. It’s extremely important to us that they synergise with our original four butl maintain their own uniqueness, elevating the range and enhancing the SŚAINT experience.
M+E: Why do you feel SSAINT and MAURIE AND EVE are a perfect brand match?
CM: Both SŚAINT and MAURIE AND EVE are timeless. They have been designed with inspiration from travel, while providing a grounding sense of ‘home.’
EW: It is so important to us to connect with brands who celebrate mindfulness and grow with minimal environmental impact.
M+E: What is your favourite MAURIE AND EVE piece currently?
EW: We love the On The Mesa collection. We’re both from a seaside town on the Central Coast, so we really resonate with the summer hues and prints, floating silhouettes and feminine textures.
M+E: You're heading out for a boujee summer dinner, what fragrance do you reach for?
CM: Modus Vivendi, its fresh and light while maintaining a rich sense of wild, seductive nature.
M+E: Song/album on repeat:
BOTH: Beyoncé - CUFF IT.
M+E: A wise person once told you …
CW: Stop and smell the roses!
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