Between Glances: A Study of Tobba’s Lovers and Strangers
The air in Hong Kong carries a specific kind of kinetic energy—a city built on the friction of transitions.
It is here that Jasper Li and Adrian Yu birthed Tobba, a fragrance house that treats scent not as a mere accessory, but as a map of the psyche’s evolution. Their creations don’t just sit on the skin; they document the messy, beautiful process of becoming.
Among their repertoire, Lovers and Strangers stands out as a masterclass in the architecture of attraction. It is a fragrance that exists in the electric in-between, that breathless moment when a stranger ceases to be an outsider and begins to become a memory.
The Physics of Friction
At first spray, Lovers and Strangers hits with a sophisticated rebellion. The opening is a heady, dark-spirited rush. Rum absolute and prune provide a boozy, jammy weight, but it’s the tobacco and clove-like spiciness that provide the nerve. It is spicy, yes, but it’s a warm spicy, the kind that feels like a low hum against the skin.
There is a distinct, almost erotic tension here. The clove gives it a sharp, prickling edge, a bite that mimics the adrenaline of a first encounter. It is daring and unapologetically seductive. Yet, just as the scent threatens to become too dark or too dangerous, the Tobba signature of individual evolution kicks in. The scent grows up; it softens.
Innocence vs. Intoxication
The genius of this composition lies in its duality. Jasper Li has balanced the stranger, the dark, smoky, unpredictable elements, with the lover, the soft, familiar, and comforting.
The Darker Rhythms: Colombian coffee, cade, and tobacco create a smoky, sophisticated atmosphere. It is the scent of a dimly lit corner, a conversation whispered over a porcelain cup or a glass of aged spirits.
The Sweet Surrender: As the heart unfolds, a velvety Rose emerges, supported by the creamy density of Vanillaand Tonka Bean. This is where the perfume turns innocent. It wraps the initial spiciness in a blanket of sweetness that feels safe, inviting, and deeply tactile.
The base, a rich foundation of Amber, Sandalwood, and Patchouli, gives the fragrance a precious, resinous density. It doesn’t evaporate; it anchors.
A Photographic Exercise
To truly understand the soul of Lovers and Strangers, one must look at the body with the same nuance Jasper and Adrian bring to their scents. I invite you to take your camera, or simply your phone, and attempt a study of your own body.
Focus on a single, intimate detail: the curve of a wrist, the hollow of a neck, or the open palm of a hand. Don’t capture the whole person; capture the landscape of the skin.
Try to photograph the tension in a tendon versus the softness of the skin’s grain. Look for the way light catches the fine hairs or the subtle flush of color in a knuckle. Your goal is to find the intersection where sensuality meets vulnerability. In that one frame, you will find the same story told by this perfume: the exquisite, fleeting tension between two people who are no longer strangers, but not yet entirely known to one another.
Photography by © Sigurd Magnor Killerud
Product kindly provided.