When it comes to Christmas, each country seems to have its own traditions, some weird and some wonderful. Whether we speak about a religious festival or a cultural holiday, this is really the “season to be jolly!” To quote Edna Ferber, “Christmas isn’t a season. It’s a feeling.” An emotion that’s deeply rooted in Christianity’s history and in our childhood.

Sadly, this year’s festive season will probably look different because of the pandemic. But we still have memories, which we can trigger with the holiday’s unmistakable scents: The smell of hot chocolate, cinnamon, or mulled wine are simply irresistible during this time of the year. Yet, the formula is complete when the aromas of citrus, fresh fir, and incense embrace the house. Simply put, “it’s beginning to ‘smell’ a lot like Christmas” when you have all the ingredients.

The latter scents, which inspired perfumer Monsillage to create an exclusive range of moisturizing soaps, are, somehow, unique in the traditions of this festive season: Oranges started to become popular during the 20th century and were seen as an affordable luxury for the average family at the time. They gradually became to symbolize Christmas and now they are almost always present as a festive gift.

Before being used as a decorative item during this time, evergreen plants were used to celebrate the winter solstice, long before Christianity appeared. The Christmas tree, however, dates back to the 16th century (supposedly) and the custom spread around the world from the 19th century. Regardless of its origin, the Christmas tree is appreciated for the piney odor it brings with it, which has become almost synonymous with the holiday. Lastly, the incense has its roots in Christian history, when the Biblical Magi brought offerings to Child Jesus: gold, myrrh, and frankincense.

These flavors are the basis of this “Christmas Trio,” but they also led to the inspiration of the packaging, created by byHAUS design studio. The project was quite a challenge to the artists because they had to create a visual language for each soap while finding a way to put them together and look like their place is next to each other. At the same time, the artists tried to avoid the typical Christmas motifs, which meant that the soaps had to be treated individually, as valuable gifts.

“Our role was to design a luxurious and attractive package for each of them while imagining a way to bring them together as a trio. The challenge was also to avoid falling into the old-fashioned clichés of Christmas, which led us to consider them individually as tiny precious gifts. Through a set of diagonals embossed in metallic colors, the pattern instantly reminds us of wrapping paper. The repeated stamping on the white ribbon, this time applied to the typography, adds a classic and sumptuous look to the object. A wide black ribbon, signed Monsillage in tone-on-tone, finally embraces the trio,” says the agency.

Each soap comes in a packaging with a matte black background, on the surface of which a series of diagonal stripes in different colors, depending on the represented aroma, stretch. The Myrrh and Frankincense soap is “wrapped” in golden stripes, the Balsam Fir and Blackcurrant one expresses a natural effect given by the green color, and the Orange and Spices item has a packaging that evokes nostalgia thanks to the shade of orange used.

These shiny colors contrast sharply with the black matte canvas, expressing the premium quality of both the products and the Montreal-based agency’s professionalism to create a packaging design that aesthetically reflects the soaps’ festive nature.

Credits:

Client: Monsillage

Agency: byHAUS

Ceramic: Mel Arsenault

Foil stamping: Impression d’Or