Today I’m paying my respects to this wonderfully creative perfumer who made a lasting  impression on so many fragrance lovers. Vero Kern was a true artist rather than a purveyor of fragrant goods. In the fragrance world there are many types of entities with different ambitions, but when you smell Vero’s perfumes there’s a sense that you are experiencing something truly important, a cinematic world that seems to take you deep within its folds. Vero’s perfumes are memorable and significant with a mastery of form and substance. These are scents that harken to the classics yet have a Vero twist, usually with a dose of passionfruit. Her wonderful fragrances, my favourite being Rozy (EDP) are not likely to make the masses swoon, as some are complicated and sometimes uncomfortable but these are perfumes that move and morph  while setting such high standards.

The Vero Profumo collection as a whole is simply a stand out, with not a dud amongst them. With Rubj, Kiki, Onda, Mito, Rozy and Naja,  this sextet of fragrance hits the high notes and leaves an impressive legacy. In reality the concentrations were different enough that the EDP and Voile were often distinct variations on a theme rather than just a different concentration. The contrast between my beloved Rozy in the EDP vs the Voile is startling and to be honest I adore the Voile as well, a much more sexy, hot and heavy scent.

I know people have their favourites and there’s actually only two that I’ve written about here – Rozy EDP and Naja, the perfume that celebrated ten years in  perfumery and turned out to be Kern’s swansong. I do wonder about the future of her perfumes so I hope we will find out if they will still be produced.

From a distance Vero just seemed like the underground perfume rock star. Personally I was a massive fan of her style. She had a unique casual, chic look that I loved that defied the years. She was also a role model and someone to look up to who had started perfumery later in life and had been able to create and master the most wonderful  scents.

I met Vero briefly last year at Esxence for the launch of Naja and she was as I imagined, very sparkly with a twinkle in her eye. Her good friend Val the Cookie Queen will no doubt be writing something wonderful about Vero, so I’ll be looking out for that. Without a doubt Vero Kern  will be greatly missed by the perfume community and I’m just so thankful that we can still experience her cinematic creations.

Thank you Vero.

Notes : Cover photo from Karin Hofer in Rene Bürcher Beitung