Return of the Maack: Icelandic fragrance house reveals two new scents

Incoming later this month, ’Soft Tension’ and ’Dual’ are two new perfumes by the Icelandic artist – and eponymous fragrance house – Andrea Maack. Collaborating with IFF perfumer Alienor Massenet, the duo took inspiration from Maack’s upbringing and the barren Nordic landscape.

The scent of ’Soft Tension’ is light and floral, stemming from freesia, with underlying earthy tones thanks to its cedar wood roots. The cedar wood is important to Maack. ‘I always go to the pool and then the wooden sauna,’ she explains. ’This has always been one of my favourite smells and cedar wood represents that well.’

’Dual’ is reminiscent of ’Soft Tension’, but more ‘in your face’ – stronger, with hints of refreshing ginger. On the skin, a fragrance similar to tea and lemon reveals itself. Both perfumes are also remarkably long-lasting.

The perfume vessels, designed by Maddalena Casadei for Studio Irvine, are comfortable to hold in the hand, dark purple in colour and sleek in design; housed in gender-neutral boxes created by graphic designer and art director Tommaso Garne, who took Maack’s original paintings and translated them into the black and white exterior design. The fragrances are meant to be unisex; ‘I don’t like the idea that women and men should smell a certain way,’ Maack says. ’You just never know what people will respond to when it comes to scent.’