The Rhythm and Aromas of Brazil

Rio De Janeiro is a spectacular town with the most famous beaches (Copacabana and Ipanema), with a trademark of the town–-the Jesus statue, with the famous hill Sugar Head and a cableway leading to one of the biggest stadiums of the world–-Maracana. The city celebrates 201 years of Portuguese arrival to Brazil. Numerous tourists will arrive there to enjoy the rhythms of the most famous carnival of the world during upcoming weeks. This fantastic event is celebrated every year with dancing in the streets, squares and beaches of Rio de Janeiro and two towns in the Northeast of Brazil, Salvador and Recife.

Carnival starts on February 20th this year. The Mayor will give the keys of the city to the king of the carnival, Momo, which will mark the beginning of the most famous festival of the world.

Besides famous school of Samba (escolas de samba), where the best dance groups enter a competition every year, separate groups include 3,000 to 5,000 wonderfully-dressed dancers. The Sambodrom stadium expects more than 750,000 tourists during carnival time.

Parties are also thrown on the Ipanema beach, where visitors have fun with music, games and dancing day and night, while the carnival lasts. The main competition of the school of Samba will take place on February 20th and 21st this year, and the carnival champion will be crowned.

Some of the interesting things about the carnival are the rhythm of Samba and fancy dresses. Samba was brought to Brazil by African slaves and it took such deep roots in inhabitants’ lives that it became an inevitable part of the Brazilian national collage, besides football! Brazil lives and breathes for football and carnival!

Fancy dresses are made according to a plan. Some of the schools of Samba prefer motifs of fire, water, earth and air as their inspiration and they also reward the most creative ones every year. Rio offers enjoyment in music, rhythm and colors these days. The rhythm of Samba flows into your veins and attracts more and more tourists to visit this fantastic carnival this year!

Besides the shine of fancy dresses and beautiful ladies who look like princesses from fairytales, glamorous and unreal during these days, there is another side which accompanies the story of Brazil. Rio de Janeiro is one of the cities with a large percentage of people with the AIDS virus.  Not surprising, since there is a lot of sexual liberty, which even increases during the carnival.

Brazil is a beautiful country in South America, known for its climate, lush flora, exotic fruit and flowers and inevitable Minas coffee. It was named after the local tree variety of Brazil, which is very widespread and which was used by colonists for painting (red ink is obtained from it). It is the fifth country in the world for its size and number of inhabitants. The jugular vein is the river Amazon, while East part of the country lies on the shores of the Atlantic ocean.

It is interesting that both women and men care a lot about their looks and are meticulous about their body, even though they live in poverty.

The natural resources of Brazil are priceless. The flora enchants us with prairie forests, meadows with light woods of Araucaria. Besides them, there can also be found two varieties of rosewood and the jacaranda tree (Wikipedia/Blue Jacaranda), a tree with large violet flowers with intoxicating aromas which are used in making perfumes Dior Hypnotic Poison, Hugo Energyse Spray and Gabriela S.-Elegance.

Brazil is known worldwide for its coffee (Minas). People enjoy its scent and taste every day. Coffee leaves a gourmand stamp and can be found in the compositions of famous perfumes, such as A*Men Pure Coffee by Thierry Mugler and legendary A*Men perfume.

Copaifera Reticulata tree also grows in Brazil and its resin is extracted into Brazilian benzoin. The aromas of this resin extract are of resin-honey scent with light greenish-grey nuances, which are used as an addition to base notes of perfumes. It is known as an aphrodisiac with a warm, revitalizing effect, so it is also used in aromatherapy.

A very rare and well-known flower growing in Brazil is Night Flower, "dama de noite," which blooms for only a few hours. This flower was used in creating aromas for the famous Addict by Dior. Brazil abounds in tropical fruit which can be used as ingredients of perfumes. Maracuya (passionfruit), carambole (starfruit), guava and papaya add sweet taste to every perfume.

Starfruit is used to create perfumes Avon-Always and Calvin Klein-Crave, passionfruit is accentuated in the perfume collection for Juicy Couture and perfumes Kylie Minogue Darling and Vivienne Westwood-Libertine, while Papaya decorates the compositions of Escada- Tropical Punch and Naomi C.-Paradise Passion.

The perfume which rounds up this story on Brazil is definitely Escada-Rocking Rio. Its composition is vibrant, energetic, tasty and has exotic traces. It introduces its aromas and passions euphorically and in the rhythm of the current carnival. Although presented in 2006 by creator Philippe Romano, this perfume is perfect as an homage to Carnival and the fragrant rhythms that Brazil offers.

Pineapple, mandarin, papaya, peach, sugar candy, gourmand coconut milk, sandalwood and musk create a real, energetic Samba boom, which shows the energy of the people, fthe ragrances of Brazil and the palette of colors this country has.

This year’s carnival program can be found on website rio-carnival.net.

Sources: Wikipedia - Jacaranda, Wikipedia - Brazil, Fotografija Karneval

Author: Sandrina  (sandrina_bambina)
Fragrantica Member