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Maison/Made's Extrait de Maison
Courtesy Maison/Made

Aromatic Face Oils, Made by Regenerative Farms in France

Meaghan McGovern

December 3, 2021
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In 2017, Carolina Prioglio and Adrien de Bontin took over management of a farm in Burgundy that’s nestled in the rolling hills that dapple the South of France. The property, which they co-own, has been part of de Bontin’s family since 1152. His aunt, who had been operating it as a regenerative farm for 30 years, taught the couple how to implement her practices, which included composting, pollinator-habitat restoration, prohibiting pesticides and industrial tillage, and other measures that create nutrient-dense soil. The pair decided to use the rich, bountiful earth of their newly acquired land as the foundation for a skin-care company, Maison/Made, which they launched in 2019. It’s one of the first beauty brands to achieve Biodynamic certification, an accolade awarded by the Demeter Association, which typically bestows the designation to vineyards. (Biodynamic farms—self-contained, self-sufficient entities that follow the cycles of their local ecology—must adhere to strict regulations in order to maintain the classification.) Since Maison/Made grows many of the plants used to make its products, which are all made by hand in small batches on the estate, its concoctions contain a plethora of phytonutrient compounds—a distinct, sweet-smelling treat for the skin.

Maison/Made offers two products through its Maison Collection, composed of aromatic items that are developed, grown, sourced, and manufactured exclusively by the farm. Extrait de Maison, a rejuvenating face oil, captures delicate green and floral notes that recall the scent of the French countryside, while Ritual de Maison, a potent and plumping cleansing oil, has a woody redolence that evokes damp soil, herbs, and spices. For plants that can’t be grown on the farm due to its climate, Maison/Made sources them from other local Biodynamic-certified farmers, and uses the pure botanical oils to create olfactory items for its Verdant Collection. The rotating, limited-edition line of single-ingredient products currently includes four multipurpose sprays—available in lavender, chamomile, rose geranium, and lemon scents—that can serve as calming skin aids, lively room fresheners, or soothing pillow mists.

Because all of Maison/Made’s ingredients are harvested in sync with the earth’s natural rhythms, some of its offerings appear on a seasonal basis. While the approach means that several products frequently sell out, Prioglio and de Bontin are happy to allow their respect for their farm’s soil to dictate the pace. “We’re trying to create a very noble [company] that respects the land and is considerate to the entire life cycle of the product,” de Bontin said in an interview with the wellness website Beauty Independent. “We didn’t want to create just another beauty brand. We wanted [to create] something true to us that wasn’t a burden to the planet.”

# Fragrance# Planet# Plants# Europe

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It’s late August, and I’m walking on Grand Street in Lower Manhattan. It’s one of those summer evenings that’s cooler than expected, a pleasant foreshadowing of fall. I’m on my way to discuss compost with the artist Alex Tatarsky, and as I head east from the subway, I pass through the dense, networked scents of the edge of Chinatown: the briny tang of fish markets, the sweet snatch of a fresh egg waffle from a rolled ice cream shop, the yeasty cloud that floats around the famous bialy shop. Approaching Abrons Art Center, where Tatarsky is doing pick-up rehearsals for an out-of-town run of their show Dirt Trip, this close-packed olfactory landscape opens up into something with more space: a faint vegetal whiff from a small vacant lot, the not unpleasant chemical tang from a passing truck, and beyond these, the smell of a certain rot rolling in from the East River.

Courtesy Blue Note Records

culture

An Album of Cover Songs Honors the Legacy of Leonard Cohen

Though nearly six years have gone by since Leonard Cohen’s passing, the long shadow cast by his legacy as one of the 20th century’s most esteemed and idiosyncratic singer-songwriters shows no signs of lifting from the public’s imagination anytime soon. From the enveloping warmth of “Suzanne,” to the high drama of “Hallelujah,” to the chilling minimalist and gospel juxtaposition of his swansong “You Want it Darker,” Cohen managed to constantly reinvent himself, leaving behind the rare achievement of a musical body of work whose most impressive moments exist across eras.