Kolonya Carré: Using distant traditions for the needs of today
As Turkish people, we highly value cleanliness and many of our customs center around hygienic practices: we leave our shoes outside the door of our homes, keep packets of hand wipes in our pockets, and so on. This mindset has also given rise to our natively produced Kolonya, a fragrant cleanser we sprinkle on our hands, for example,
after coming home in the evening or sharing a meal. In modern times, the world is reeling from the impact of COVID-19 and this served as inspiration for Kolonya Carré; it is our wish to draw upon our native customs surrounding hygiene at the time when they’re most needed and share these traditional practices with our adoptive home in Brooklyn. It is our belief that newfound attention to cleanliness, bolstered by local products like Kolonya, will reduce such outbreaks in the future and heighten our quality of life. Relics of cleanliness: Kolonya and the Hamam
In conversation with our American friends, we were surprised to learn they hadn’t known about Kolonya, an item ubiquitous within Turkey, and upon hearing its name, assumed it to be men’s cologne. Instead, Kolonya is a unisex perfume as well as cleanser applied to the hands during meals, tea breaks, or even after taking the subway. Through this description, our friends’ interest was peaked along with our desire to introduce it to American culture. Thus, Kolonya Carré was formed. A more well-known aspect of Turkish culture is the Hamam (or Public Bath), a relaxing and oftentimes social environment in which our values for hygiene are nurtured. Visitors exfoliate with the aid of Turkish soaps and specialty gloves of goat hair or silk. Upon rinsing off old skin, they dry themselves with handwoven Turkish towels. It’s these aspects of the Turkish bath we wish to bring to our shop in Brooklyn alongside soaps and lotion-based in cold-pressed olive oil. After growing up in these public baths, we are bringing these distant items to our shop in Brooklyn.
