The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Caeleste emerged from Bucharest under a creative director who translates Romanian Orthodox liturgical imagery into wearable fragrance. The angelic hierarchy provides the structural framework across the line: Guardian Angel, Principalities, Archangels. Sacred fragrance as bridge between the material and the divine. David-Lev Jipa, the house perfumer, constructed Principalities to embody the second lowest choir of angels in the celestial hierarchy, forces believed to arrange the elements of the physical world from the shadows. The fragrance attempts to make that unseen organizing principle tangible, built around mineral and metallic materials that carry smoke, leather, and quiet warmth in a composition that reads like a record of elemental disturbance.
The note philosophy behind Principalities centers on materials that carry ambiguity, notes that smell like events rather than ingredients. Mineral notes and metallic notes function as the structural foundation because they suggest the physical world in its least romantic form, the inorganic substrate beneath living things. Gunpowder, ash, and petrichor extend this logic, capturing moments of transformation, heat, and rainfall. The inclusion of biscuit, almond, and ylang-ylang softens the composition just enough to keep it from reading as purely destructive, a quiet concession to wearability that places Principalities firmly in the aromatic-resinous category.
The evolution
The fragrance begins the moment it touches skin, a cold mineral strike followed immediately by metallic shimmer and the dry clean note of dust. This opening lasts roughly thirty minutes, an austere phase that registers as atmospheric rather than traditionally perfumistic. The heart phase then assembles itself around incense and gunpowder as primary materials, with ash, dried fallen leaves, and petrichor providing the organic residue. Chili, rose thorn, and saffron introduce intermittent warmth that interrupts the smoke without softening it. Hyssop, black tea, and ginseng add a green-herbal layer that persists quietly beneath the smoke. As hours pass, the smoke begins to yield slightly to leather, oud, and sandalwood, creating a drydown that feels worn and settled rather than dramatic, the mineral base still faintly present underneath the woodsy warmth.
Cultural impact
Principalities received the Newcomer Award at The Art and Olfaction Awards 2025, a recognition that placed a debut from an unfamiliar Romanian house alongside more established niche perfumers. The fragrance occupies an unusual position: mineral-smoky in character, with a perfumer whose work has drawn attention from collectors seeking unconventional compositions. The Orthodox liturgical reference gives it a cultural identity that sets it apart.
