Originality consists of returning to the origin”
Antoni Gaudí

ARMAND BASI, AVANT-GARDE VISION

ARMAND BASI is closely linked to the city of Barcelona, where it was born in 1948. The city’s architecture and its bright and Mediterranean character have been in the company’s DNA from the very moment of its creation and have influenced the creativity and design of its products continually.

In this sense, ARMAND BASI has always been in touch with the most avant-garde trends. Its collections have been associated with cultural and aesthetic concepts and especially with movements linked to architecture such as constructivism, Bauhaus and modernism, demonstrating its vocation for new artistic currents and new ways of thinking.

We present a new fragrance, an exceptional project that arises from that relationship with Barcelona and its architecture, specifically from the work of another avant-garde genius: the architect Antoni Gaudí.

ARMAND BASI BEAUTY IN ME

AN EXCEPTIONAL PROJECT

Gaudi was inspired by nature when designing the elements that shaped his work. He developed an innovative concept, organic architecture, which gave rise to architectural features as original as the winding staircase of the Sagrada Família’s tower, which recreates the spiral of a seashell; the tree-like chimneys of the Casa Batlló house; and the masterly Casa Milà, also known as La Pedrera (“quarry” in Catalan and Spanish), because it looks like an open quarry.

This concept, which was avant-garde and innovative when Gaudí began to explore it and bring it to his work, gives a new approach to the ARMAND BASI architectural and rational code. The emotional counterpoint focuses on the vision of the city as an urban oasis.

ARMAND BASI BEAUTY IN ME, the new fragrance, is based on the internal balance of the urban woman who appreciates everything that life in the city has to offer her but who needs to connect with nature to achieve strength and personal harmony. When she achieves that balance, she also gains the energy to be herself, make all her dreams reality and fulfil herself as a woman

THE HYPERBOLOID, NATURE IN MOTION

In charge of designing the bottle was one of the leading specialists in Gaudí’s work and someone who faithfully continues his style, the architect Jordi Bonet, who from 1987 to 2012 was the director of works of the Sagrada Família, the cathedral designed by Gaudí and still under construction.

Bonet, a nonagenarian and considered today the ultimate authority on Gaudí’s work, designed the bottle for the new fragrance based on the hyperboloid, one of the elements of Gaudí’s organic architecture.

Gaudí not only used the plasticity of organic shapes but also copied the physical and mathematical formulas relating to movement. How the petals of a flower open, how ivy climbs up a wall and how a butterfly spreads its wings are movements in nature that have left their mark on the buildings planned by Gaudí.

The hyperboloid is a geometric figure in motion that is very much to the fore in, for example, Park Güell, where it gives shape to the columns supporting the park’s viaducts and, in an even more spectacular way, to the vaults in the form of a hyperbolic paraboloid that crown the pavilions at the entrance.

THE BOTTLE. DOME + HYPERBOLOID

“Gaudí’s architecture is alive, and life is expressed in colour and movement” (Jordi Bonet) With this idea of dynamic architecture, Jordi Bonet has designed the bottle as a hyperboloid, which seems to move in a spiral and conveys strength and femininity.

The strength is in the brilliant cap, like a dome, crowned by a small crystal ball, which represents the energy moving in the hyperboloid. Dynamism is provided by the raised lines, which seem to be moving the flaçon in a spiral. Femininity resides in the graceful conical proportions of the glass, and a touch of colour is provided by the peach pink of the fragrance.

To highlight the beauty of the architect Bonet’s design, the logo and the name of the fragrance are engraved at the base of the chrome cap’s dome.

TRENCADÍS MOSAIC. COLOUR AND MOVEMENT

Antoni Gaudí invented an artisanal technique, his famous trencadís (mosaic), anticipating by a century the current trends related to recycling and sustainability. With leftover pieces of ceramic tiles, mixed with mortar, he created shapes and colour sequences of overwhelming practicality and beauty.

With this technique, which has become one of his identifying features, Gaudí decorated the wonderful chimneys of the Palau Güell mansion and these aimed to connect the house with the universe – Gaudí was a mystic – but also to brighten the views of those who went up to the terrace roof. He created volumes and figures as emblematic as the magic dragon of Park Güell, actually a water conduit, and the benches that surround the colonnade.

THE PACKAGING. MOSAIC + HYPERBOLOID

The packaging of ARMAND BASI BEAUTY IN ME recreates the outline of the bottle, made of trencadís. The background is in a soft pink tone, on top of which the mosaic pieces explode like fireworks in a gradient of colours ranging from white and pastel pink at the base, to salmon and more vivid pinks at the top.

The use of colour intensifies as the movement of the small geometric pieces increases. The centre of the hyperbola sits at the vertex of the box, so that one part is seen on the front and the other on the side of the packaging.

On the front, metallic red letters spell out ARMAND BASI BEAUTY IN ME. On the back is a quotation from Núria Basi, Armand Basi’s successor as head of the brand: “This bottle was inspired by my love for Barcelona.” And there is a Gaudí quotation: “Originality consists of returning to the origin.”

Architectural lines in motion that evoke the energy of nature and a palette of feminine and soft colour. Perfect balance between dynamism and beauty that counterposes nature and the city, energy and calm – dedicated to a woman who decides and is the star of her own life.

INTERNAL BALANCE

ARMAND BASI BEAUTY IN ME is a creation of the perfumer Nathalie Lorson and belongs to the chypre floral family of fragrances.

Because of its intense concentration, it is an expressive and cheerful eau de parfum.

In its top notes, the fragrance is warm and sensual. It displays its personality and its energy thanks to the iris, which creates an oriental accord with the intense patchouli and the sandalwood and cashmere wood.

In the middle notes, the harmony of the feminine spreads out: the joy and the positive spirit lit by the orange blossom and the intensity of the Jasminum sambac, from the Himalayas, reinforced by the notes of Egypt jasmine tea. A floral accord of rose and magnolia provides elegance and character.

In its base notes is the surprising modernity of a daring and avant-garde fruity accord, which is due to the pink grapefruit and the raspberry. With their spicy touch, the ginger and pink pepper bring a dose of mystery, self-reliance and freedom.

The ARMAND BASI BEAUTY IN ME woman – self-sufficient, feminine and contemporary – finds her way through the madness of living in the city and the stillness that nature offers, and that balanced mixture of both worlds gives her the optimism she needs to be the star of her own life. A woman who pursues her dreams, who loves what she does. Because the ARMAND BASI IN ME woman has an inner world.

ARMAND BASI BEAUTY IN ME. An urban oasis that grows on buildings with unusual beauty. An intense game of shapes and colours, cheerful and Mediterranean like the city of Barcelona.
Original, unique, like the work of the brilliant Gaudí

THE CAMPAIGN: A MAGICAL WORLD

The image of the ARMAND BASI BEAUTY IN ME launch proposes a fantasy world where nature and architecture come together. It vindicates two concepts that also go together in the DNA of Armand Basi: the contrast between man and the city, between humanism and urbanism.

Nature, like an urban oasis, climbs on a woman’s dress, as if invading the interior of her soul with soft
flowers. It is a strong, independent woman, sure of herself.

The garden growing inside her is the secret of her balance: it is there she finds the strength to realize her dreams. Her inner balance is the source of her happiness.

The city of Barcelona is the other star of the campaign. It appears in the image as a leafy grove from which the magical image of the Sagrada Família arises.

Gaudí’s magnum opus, with its unusual towers, seems to give a fantastical reply to the hyperbolic bottle of ARMAND BASI BEAUTY IN ME.

THE RANGE

Eau de parfum 80 ml

Eau de parfum 50 ml

BEAUTY IN ME IN BARCELONA. MY FAVOURITE PLACES

CASA BATLLÓ:

The work of Antonio Gaudí. This fantasy building takes inspiration from the organic forms of nature. Its façade is an explosion of colour that varies in tone according to the light.

CASA BATLLÓ at Night:

When night falls, lighting paints the face of Casa Batlló: the balconies open their eyes and the large windows begin to smile. Nature invades the city centre. It’s magic.

TRIUMPHAL ARCH:
The city’s symbol of artistic, scientific and economic progress.

The intense colour of the bricks, the delicate sculptures, the symbolic beauty of modernism and the fresh green nearby make for a marvellous sunset.
The IN ME woman – independent, feminine and modern – is the star of her own present.

LA SAGRADA FAMÍLIA:

The masterpiece of the wonderful architect Antonio Gaudí, viewed from a refreshing urban oasis. It’s the dream of an enlightened genius that wished to express the laws of nature in his work.

BARCELONA SKYLINE:

Between the sea and the mountains, the city loses itself in the blue horizon, gently descending towards the white beaches of the coast. Lulled by the sea, bathed in afternoon sun, Barcelona awaits, welcoming.

PLAZA REAL:

One of the most lively squares in the old town of Barcelona, with its slender palm trees that play with the shadows, dancing in the Mediterranean breeze that comes up the nearby Ramblas.

OLYMPIC HARBOUR:

A steel fish sails over the Barceloneta beach. Its metallic scales shine like intense drops of light.

PARC GÜELL, Columns:

Antonio Gaudí designed the park with nature as his muse. The columns emulate palm trees or elephant legs, using the hyperboloid. Wandering silently through the labyrinth of columns in Parc Güell is a magical refuge on warm summer afternoons.
To the right, the hyperboloid becomes the bottle of IN ME.

PARC GÜELL, Chimney:

Light and shadow flirt with the multicolour mosaics of the house where Antonio Gaudí lived for a few years.

PARC GÜELL, Trencadís Bench:

The famous trencadís was a technique devised by Gaudí using disposable material from ceramics, tile, glass and earthenware factories. Each piece, a surprise. A puzzle of shapes and colours that provides the inspiration for the IN ME packaging.

TIBIDABO Big Wheel:

Reminisce about your childhood while the old Tibidabo carousel turns. One of the oldest themes park and a unique viewpoint of Barcelona.
The IN ME woman connects with her inner self to pursue her dreams.

MAGIC FOUNTAIN OF MONTJUÏC:

The most magical fountain. Water dances with light and colour while the music whispers in your ear: the most beautiful night beneath the stars of Montjüic.

OLYMPIC RING, CALATRAVA TOWER:

The Telecommunications Tower, designed by Santiago Calatrava, shows off its avant-garde style next to the Olympic Stadium, evoking the magical days of the Olympics when Barcelona bewitched the world.

*Armand Basi Beauty In Me comes in three sizes worldwide

Available sizes for the Middle East are:

Price List

EAU DE TOILETTE

Eau de Toilette 50 ml Natural Spray - 211 AED Eau de Toilette 80 ml Naturaly Spray – 277 AED