NARS Launches First Fragrance to Celebrate 25th Anniversary

2019 marks 25 years since François Nars began his namesake cosmetics line and changed the lives (and looks) of women everywhere. To celebrate this huge milestone, the brand re-released its entire 72-piece lipstick collection, including the first 12 shades ever produced by François, last month and now it has announced the launch of its first ever fragrance.

Called Audacious, the fragrance was created by the founder and famed nose Olivia Giacobetti, who has previously created fragrances for Diptyque, Guerlain and Hermès. In an official release, the brand described the scent as being “an abstract study of contrasts, where light meets dark and sensuality meets individuality.”

The fragrance’s top notes are white frangipani and smoke of incense, coupled with middle notes of tiare flower, ylang ylang essential oil and sandalwood and base notes of white cedar essential oil and white musk. The combination is said to “arouse an aura that is uniquely minimal, modern and unexpected.”

Audacious is housed in a sleek clear glass bottle accented with a matte black lid and black casing inside to hold the scent itself. The minimalist packaging echoes that which has become synonymous with the makeup brand over the past quarter-century. The fragrance’s box also features a liquid drip detailing on the front.

François’ love of fragrance has been well-documented. In a 2011 interview, he said, “It’s always been my dream to do a fragrance. I like a bit of weird and eclectic elements — white flowers, musk, smoky scents — all my favourites aren’t mainstream…". And now, some eight years later, he has combined all of those elements into his first signature scent.

The Audacious fragrance by NARS is $240 for 50ml. It is now available to purchase in Canada at the brand’s official website, in-store at Hudson’s Bay and online at thebay.com. We suspect this will pop up on more than a handful of Christmas wish lists this year...