Bravanariz means 'brave nose' in Spanish and the subtitle 'smelling wild' after their name indicates exactly what perfumer Ernesto Collado Sala does which is to literally capture the natural scents of the untouched landscape during his walks in north-east Spain. He then makes 100% natural and unfiltered perfumes. The scents are derived from gathering and harvesting actual plants, then distilling them, and having the formulation rest for 20 days. As these are 100% natural, unisex and are designed to capture a landscape in an olfactory experience.
There are three olfactive landscapes in the collection and they represent the three most characteristic landscapes of the Empordà (an area in the province of Girona in the northeast corner of Catalonia) where they are based: mountains, plains and the seacoast. In each case, they formulate the product using only the plants that give each place its characteristic fragrance, as well as the associations and emotions it awakens.
For decades now, the Baix Empordà has been a richly-appointed tourist destination, where many urbanite Barcelonans have their second residences. In contrast, the Alt Empordà is wilder in character. Its condition on the border with France and greater vulnerability to the mistral wind of the tramontana makes it rougher around the edges and more extreme. It has much more character, and that is where Bravanariz has its base. The fragrances are their personal interpretation of the wildest side of the Alt Empordà. The three fragrances, Bosc, Muga and Cala suggest an olfactory journey, from the humid forests of the Albera Massif and the Salines Mountains, following down the Muga River across the plain, and over to the rough coves of the Cap de Creus peninsula.
Muga is dynamic and ever changeable, intense and nearly impertinent, like spring. You can hear the buzzing of bees and sense the silent sexuality of rosemary, immortelle, thyme and lavender. Muga is the name and the smell of a river running through meadows into the sea. This actual river crosses the Alt Empordà, connecting the Pyrenees with the Balearic sea through the Gulf of Roses. The river plays the role of matchmaker in this strange marriage between two opposing worlds. They say it used the exuberance of spring to bring them together, and the river’s fertile waters helped unleash their affair.
Some local plants used to formulate Muga include chamomile, rosemary, Spanish lavender, immortelle, cypress and various rockrose. It is an eau de parfum, edp. (Very important: shake before use, since it has not been filtered in order to preserve all its natural properties and its complex aromatic richness.)
Bravanariz Muga Reviews
The Sniff: If Bosc is Winter in the mountains then Muga is the river that connects the mountains to the sea. Just because this is the river’s habitat though, don’t be surprised that this isn’t a typically aquatic rendition of a river scent. This is much more about the vegetation that accompanies the water as it wends its way to the coast, than it is about the water itself. Muga opens with chamomile which feels uncharacteristically brazen in its volume. Chamomile, so often associated with calming, watery drinks before bed, is here empowered and turned up in volume by combining it with the lavender. The two together are soothing, but at a volume which is louder than you would expect they could muster. Muga feels a little like thrusting your whole head into a heap of drying hay. It’s delicious and bucolic. The rosemary adds a sunny, almost savoury or herbal tone and undercutting the hay-like vibe is the cypress backbone which really seems to hold the whole thing together beautifully. The blurb about this scent aside, Muga really does feel like laying in a pasture at the point where the forests give way to farmland, on a warm and sunny day at the end of summer as the hay is drying. It calls ‘just one more moment’ as you relax into its embrace, and thrusts the office, the commute, and the 9 to 5 just about as far away as is possible without actually being in a field.
