Basic HTML Version
winter
|
spr ing
87
W
hen Hudson Grace owners Gary McNatton
and Monelle Totah opened a third location
in Montecito in March 2014, McNatton, an
award-winning fragrance designer for 24 years, wanted to
create a candle as an homage to the new surroundings. But he
wasn’t sure where to start. “I said, ‘I really have no idea what
it smells like, but I really don’t want it to be trite and say it’s
an ocean scent, because Santa Barbara isn’t really about an
ocean scent. It’s more than that. It’s much richer than that.’”
With rain comes clarity. After loading and unloading trucks
in torrential rains in preparation for the store opening,
clouds parted and the answer became evident. “The first
thing I noticed was this green jasmine in tight little buds.
The scent was so intense and so pungent, it is was differ-
ent than the scent of jasmine when it is open,” McNatton
describes. “With the rain, the oil of the eucalyptus trees
washed down to the earth. We had this beautiful, earthy,
eucalyptus-scented air mixed with the green jasmine and the
scent of surrounding cedarwood trees. I woke up the next
morning and said, ‘Oh my God, I’ve got it!’”
With a high content of 12 percent oil to wax, the candle emits
fragrance even unlit. The aroma is crisp and gracious, blend-
ing the essence of green jasmine, eucalyptus oil, fresh damp
earth, and cedarwood notes to capture a fleeting California
experience: a rainy day.
“That is how true fragrance is born,” McNatton adds. “It’s
from an experience that is so powerful, you have to share it –
and in this situation, we did it through scent.”
Hudson Grace
1014 Coast Village Road, Montecito CA
SCENTS AND
SENSIBILITY
BY
MEGAN
WALDREP