Skip to content
STORES BULYTHÈQUE SKIN CONCIERGE
Search Search Wishlist

Reveries of a Wise Walker

The Officine does not intend to let you wander – even though wandering is good - in the cities where it has settled, without taking the time to walk through the gardens, venture outdoors... The Officine takes to heart the wellbeing of your beauty, but also the wellbeing of your day dreams, and recommends a selection of little-known gardens - or those known to the curious in the neighbourhood – enabling you to put your mind at rest the moment of a stroll.

Cities buzz, strollers forage, like bees on flowers, and the more talkative the buzz is, the more necessary the garden becomes. Whether you are anchored – or visiting – Paris, London, Milan, Munich, or much closer to the rising sun, in Seoul, Tokyo, Hong Kong or Macau, green is a refuge. Follow the scents of the great outdoors and the sound recommendations of the Officine. 

  

 

With strolling as his watchword, Henry David Thoreau provocatively wrote that he had “met with but one or two persons in the course of his life who understood the art of walking, that is, of taking walks – who had a genius, so to speak, for sauntering.” May the genius of your walk fill your lungs, and let us demonstrate that two centuries later, humans are finally embracing their destiny as knowledgeable walkers. 

Chemin montant, oil on canvas, Gustave Caillebotte, 1881 Museum Barberini in Potsdam

“The edge of the world and the back of the garden contain the same number of wonders.”

Christian Bobin

The Parisian Escape

With their warm and natural colours, the gardens of Impressionism reflect the paintings of Auguste Renoir, who took up residence here in the 17th century. Sheltered by the brushstrokes of the artist,the flowers bloom in his garden.

Jardin Renoir of the Montmartre Museum 12 rue Cortot, 75018 Paris

Escape in Seoul

A true celestial sanctuary, reminiscent of the iconic observatory scene in the film “La La Land”, the Herb Astronomical Park invites us to an intimate connection with the cosmos, in the heart of vast expanses of aromatic herbs. In these gardens and greenhouses, more than 180 varieties of herbs flourish, permeating the atmosphere with their suspended fragrance.

Iljasan Herb Astronomical Park San 86, Dunchon-dong, Gangdong-gu, Seoul

The Milanese Escape

The art of walking goes hand in hand with the art of contemplation. Created on the occasion of the fifteenth Milan Triennial in 1973, the artwork of Arman invites the walker to sit and thus contemplate. This small amphitheatre situated in the heart of Parco Sempione contains fossils of wrought-iron chairs. All you have to do is sit back and enjoy the spectacle of nature.

Accumulazione musicale e seduta by the artist Arman Parco Sempione in Milan

Escape in Hong Kong

A trail of ten wonders, this Cantonese garden provides a comforting and rejuvenating landscape along its irregularly curved path: moonlit pond, pavilion, stream, local flora... Spend an afternoon here and there, losing and finding yourself again, as often as necessary.

1 Lai Wan Road, Lai Chi Kok, Kowloon, Hong Kong 

The Japanese Escape

The sweet scent of plum flowers and the fresh fragrance of Daphne odora shrubs waft across the region. In spring, around a thousand and one peonies bloom in profusion, while in early summer, irises, 800 years our senior, are a jewel for the eyes. In autumn, bluebells (kikyô), often used as medicinal plants, burgeon. Lastly, in winter, the sycamore takes centre stage. These are the four Japanese seasons that this garden strives to stage and sublimate each year.

Tokugawaen garden 1001 Tokugawacho, Higashi Ward, Nagoya, Aichi 461-0023

Every Sunday and all summer long, you will find on Instagram,a little-known garden from our selection to excel in the art of walking:

Six Garden Perfumes

°

°

SCANDINAVIAN REDCURRENT AND PERUVIAN TOMATO

A solar perfume where the balance of the fruit is transformed into delicate zesty and aromatic notes.  

°

ORIENTAL WATERCRESS AND SARDINIAN PARSLEY AND PERUVIAN TOMATO

A green, woody fragrance magnified by a diptych of geranium and vetiver. 

°

PARSLEY ANDEAN VERBENA AND ULU BASIL

An herbaceous accord where aroma, flower and zest blend in connivance with each other. 

°

PARSLEY CARIBBEAN SWEET POTATO AND AFGHAN CARROT

An intensely enveloping note, enhanced by a subtle blend of spices and vetiver.

°

IRAQI BEETROOT AND EGYPTION RHUBARB

 A surprising, delicious encounter, with discreet tangy, earthy notes. 

°

INDIAN CUCUMBER AND SYRIAN MINT

Fruity and salty essences in the service a refreshing minty accord.

°

 “My soul be satisfied with flowers,  With fruit, with weeds even; but gather them  In the one garden you may call your own!

Cyrano de Bergerac, Edmond Rostand 

Chiswick House Gardens: A view of the Bagnio and Grand Allees, Pieter Andreas Rijsbrack (1690–1748)

From the top of the tree, the best panoramic viewpoint of all, the Officine shares its reads for the occasion: 

  • Walking, Henry David Thoreau 
  • Reveries of the Solitary Walker, Jean-Jacques Rousseau 
  • Ki (Trees), Kōda Aya 
  • Méditations poétiques, Alphonse de Lamartine 
  • A Field Guide to Getting Lost, Oristelle Bonis et Rebecca Solnit 
  • Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, Annie Dillard 
  • The Gardener and His Master, Jean de La Fontaine 
  • A Philosophy of Walking, Frédéric Gros 
  • How does your garden grow? Agatha Christie 
  • Lieu-dit l’éternité : poèmes choisis, Emily Dickinson (bilingual edition)  

“I have not told my garden yet - Lest that should conquer me. I haven’t quite the strength now. To break it to the Bee - 

Excerpt, Emily Dickinson

°

WALKS & PODCASTS GO HAND IN HAND

The Officine Universelle Buly presents its podcast: Ancient Beauty Rituals. Do you know how make-up was applied in ancient Rome? What is the legendary aura that embellished African-American women in 1930s Harlem? How can the mystery of steam baths be unravelled? What sort of skin care was used in Second Empire France? These ancestral rituals from Constantinople, Okinawa and Rajasthan are at the root of our own contemporary beauty rituals. 

Through the prism of history and historians, we have travelled across the centuries, we have travelled across the world; and today we are sharing with you these tales of beauty. Listen to the episodes of our Ancient Beauty Rituals on all listening platforms. 

BEAUTY AND CURIOSITY GO HAND IN HAND

Sign up to receive future dispatches of The Officine.

Close Icon

Personalisation services for

Soap
Liquid error (snippets/buly-personalisation-modal line 211): product form must be given a product
 
Close Icon

You are currently on our international website based in Paris

However, it seems that you are in Japan, would you like to switch to our Japanese website based in Tokyo?

Visit our Store
Continue to our store