Pasta Crood

Manos Gerakinis is a man with a passion for his homeland of Greece. He fuses references to Greek heritage, culture, and environs throughout his eponymous brand, which I recently had the pleasure of discovering whilst visiting Esxence. Manos’ fragrances stood out to me because they are sumptuous without being glitzy, luxurious without the tackiness. The quality sings from the bottles, which are sophisticated in their gentle, unfussy elegance.

My first impressions of the Esxence, which I attended with my new colleagues from the amazing Fragrantica team, were that there are many... impressions. More than 300 fragrance brands participated in the show, of which I tested about a fifth or probably less. The show was hosted in a venue like a maze, for which I did not get Ariadne's help, only a map that I misread more than once. But here we were, down the rabbit hole, surrounded by olfactory magic.

The e-nose market is set to be a hot spot for competition and innovation over the next two to three decades as sophistication in devices, algorithms, and data sets increasingly expands tech capabilities from where they are today.