I discovered these pencils in a wonderful old stationery shop called “Papelaria Modelo” in Porto, Portugal. I’d highly recommend you to check it out should you ever find yourself strolling through the streets of Porto. Displayed in an old apothecary display these pencils immediately caught my attention. Viarco, an portuguese pencil company developed these pencils in collaboration with a perfume designer to pay an olfactory homage to the backyards and gardens of Portugal (that’s precisely what “Quintais e Jardins de Portugal” translates to). These pencils’ barrels are packed with floral fragrances. To me this is genius. When I smell these pencils I am thrown back to memories of vacations on the iberican peninsula; thrown back to times when the smell of spring wafted through the air. Smell and memory are heavily intertwined – if you want to read a bit more about the science behind it I can recommend this article.
The Viarco pencils come in following six scents:
- Alfazema – Lavender
- Peonia – Peony
- Figueira – Fig
- Lirio de Campo – Lily of the Valley
- Jasmin – Jasmine
- Flor de Laranjeira – Orange Blossom
They are graded as HB and feel true to grade.
The pencils come in packs of 6 per scent. So be sure to order all of them so you don’t miss out!