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Banderas The Icon Femme Perfume Launched in Metaverse

Antonio Banderas created a multi-sensory experience in Madrid and brought us to his metaverse to get introduced to his new perfume line 

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Geolette Esguerra

<p>When you think about perfume, you think only about a certain sense: olfactory. All other sensations take a second seat, you don&#x27;t even need your ears or your mouth (potentially lethal) to develop an option on whether you like the scent or not. </p><div><br/></div><p>But the way <strong>Antonio Banderas</strong>, who turns out to be quite the nose, shaped how he envisioned the first line female <em>eau de parfum</em> line of his best-selling Banderas Icon, is that he actually wanted to bring you to a multisensory experience not of this physical world, but virtual. A conundrum? Not quite. But he managed to pull it off brilliantly, with<strong> The Icon Eau de Parfum </strong>existing in the Banderas Metaverse.</p><div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img loading="lazy" src="https://assets-metrostyle.abs-cbn.com/prod/metrostyle/attachments/723aa234-d3f0-494f-916a-5df344c210e9_metro.style banderasicon group photo.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Banderas Icon Perfume"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">The gang&#x27;s all here: Antonio Banderas and Mario Casas with the ICON girls Stephanie Roitman, Millaray Viera, and Agatha Moreira </span></span></span></div><div><br/></div><p>A few weeks back, I received an email with Antonio&#x27;s avatar to come and see his metaverse in <a href="https://metro.style/search?q=madrid" target="_blank">Madrid</a>, the <strong>#BanderasMetaverse</strong>. We were asked to create our own avatars ourselves, and I picked out something I would often find myself wearing: a custom pantsuit with lambskin loafers.</p><div><br/></div><p>I thought nothing of it, just a fun feature we can play with, since Antonio graciously shared his avatar with us. But I was wrong. This avatar was quite significant because it followed me all the way into the Metaverse.</p><div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img loading="lazy" src="https://assets-metrostyle.abs-cbn.com/prod/metrostyle/attachments/bf4f956a-16cc-4a4e-bb88-c990d65a0b19_metro.style banderasicon outside.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Banderas Icon Perfume"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Entry to The ICON Metaverse Experience with Scent and Beaute&#x27;s Francis Labora up front</span></span></span></div><div><br/></div><p>But I&#x27;m getting ahead of myself here. We were first brought into a nondescript white events venue in <strong>Fuente del Berro</strong> with a dark pink signage one might miss from afar: <strong>The Icon Metaverse Experience</strong>, it beamed.</p><div><br/></div><p>Inside, we were taken to training to use a trigger as the extension of our hands and the proper movements you&#x27;ll need to use it. We&#x27;re taught how to pick things up, how to throw things away, and even how to shoot an arrow!</p><div><br/></div><p>Then we were brought into a special room where we were told: Salida del mundo real. Exit from the real world.</p><div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img loading="lazy" src="https://assets-metrostyle.abs-cbn.com/prod/metrostyle/attachments/22ff8395-ba26-4e7c-993e-ede0ddbe0b61_metro.style banderasicon warning.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Banderas ICON perfume"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Salida del mundo real. Exit from the real world.</span></span></span></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>Into the metaverse</strong></div><p>We placed our things inside lockers and we took to our stations spaced 2 meters apart. In front was the prize: a vending machine with all the Banderas Icon perfumes.</p><div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img loading="lazy" src="https://assets-metrostyle.abs-cbn.com/prod/metrostyle/attachments/2c05cc01-c421-4729-ba09-7d83c34358f6_metro.style banderasicon vr room.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Banderas ICON Perfume"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">The Banderas Icon Metaverse setup</span></span></span></div><div><br/></div><p>Our group of 9 awaited our mission, and we heard that we&#x27;ll find it once we enter the metaverse.</p><div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img loading="lazy" src="https://assets-metrostyle.abs-cbn.com/prod/metrostyle/attachments/f889d8fb-2bcc-428b-8a69-12a929a841c2_metro.style banderasicon antonio holding vr gear.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Banderas ICON perfume"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Antonio Banderas tries out the controls to play inside the Metaverse</span></span></span></div><div><br/></div><p><em>&#x27;Original, creativo, intrepido…&#x27;</em> begins Avatar Antonio as he briefed us, ala <em>Spy Kids</em>. Then we were faced with a button that said &#x27;Don&#x27;t Push,&#x27; which, of course, you&#x27;re supposed to push because you&#x27;re fearless.</p><div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img loading="lazy" src="https://assets-metrostyle.abs-cbn.com/prod/metrostyle/attachments/55fd03e9-347f-42ca-9aee-90c0ccd103c1_metro.style banderasicon antonio holding vr inside.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Banderas ICON perfume"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Inside the Metaverse</span></span></span></div><div><br/></div><p>Our avatars enter a tunnel with rings of pink neon light and we emerge in a field of towers with pink and blue lights going up. The mission here was to work together and shoot down the blue towers. Our guide was <strong>Stefanía Roitman</strong>, wearing a pink shirt, shorts, and trainers. <em>Felicitations</em>, she exclaims, after we completed our mission. Then we got a Banderas coin to collect. Sweet!</p><div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img loading="lazy" src="https://assets-metrostyle.abs-cbn.com/prod/metrostyle/attachments/d507b5ba-f95f-4aa9-98f5-e0412628cc34_metro.style banderasicon antonio holding vr inside 2.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Banderas ICON perfume"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Inside the Metaverse</span></span></span></div><div><br/></div><p>The second challenge was in a dance hall with<strong> Millaray Viera</strong> who gave a dance demo while talking about the next virtue of being an icon: Confidence. She asked us to dance with her, or rather, that our avatars follow the steps of her avatar. The song, of course, is the anthem of the entire event, the disco-popping dance-floor breaking <strong>&#x27;Love and Appreciation&#x27; by Agnes</strong>.</p><div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img loading="lazy" src="https://assets-metrostyle.abs-cbn.com/prod/metrostyle/attachments/24fc66ca-c051-4833-b61b-aba235a87892_metro.style banderasicon vr inside 3.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Banderas ICON perfume"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Inside the Metaverse</span></span></span></div><div><br/></div><p>We knew we were getting ready for the showdown because we found ourselves in dizzying heights through an elevated chess game. <em>Espero con ne tenge vertigo</em>, <strong>Agatha Moreira </strong>warns us. Again, we were supposed to work together to move the chess pieces to unlock the final battleground. Once successful, the ground was flattened, and we got another coin.</p><div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img loading="lazy" src="https://assets-metrostyle.abs-cbn.com/prod/metrostyle/attachments/c59ea6a7-ffa0-4a66-987c-790fb3487610_metro.style banderasicon 3 girls.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Banderas ICON perfume"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Inside the Metaverse for the final challenge</span></span></span></div><div><br/></div><p>And finally, for the final challenge, Stefi, Millaray, and Agatha took us to a garden maze to look for the ingredients of Banderas ICON. We finished when found a secret spot with a hedge that said Natural.</p><div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img loading="lazy" src="https://assets-metrostyle.abs-cbn.com/prod/metrostyle/attachments/5c244f8e-39b0-4a99-827b-924945d6b4d5_metro.style banderasicon vending machine.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Banderas ICON perfume"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Banderas ICON perfume vending machine</span></span></span></div><div><br/></div><p>After collecting all the coins, we got to open the vending machine, and the Banderas ICON perfume was released in 3D form. This also meant that we could now come closer and experience the perfume firsthand.</p><div><br/></div><div><br/></div><div class="youtube-iframe"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/i6E3A2MvVhY" title="YouTube video player" frameBorder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div><br/><div><br/></div><div><strong>Multisensory real world</strong></div><p>And so, even as we had gone out, and I had the chance to get to meet the people behind the avatars of Antonio, Stefi, Millaray, and Agatha; who all turned out to be just as lovely and animated, I still couldn&#x27;t shake off the feeling of being inside the metaverse. It seemed real, yet not so real.</p><div><br/></div><div><br/></div><div><br/></div><div style="text-align:center"><blockquote class="tiktok-embed" cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@metrodotstyle/video/7232308703435803910" data-video-id="7232308703435803910" style="max-width:605px;min-width:325px"> <section> <a target="_blank" title="@metrodotstyle" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@metrodotstyle?refer=embed">@metrodotstyle</a> What went in at the <a title="banderasmetaverse" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/banderasmetaverse?refer=embed">#BANDERASMETAVERSE</a>! Fun and games with our avatars. @Geolette Esguerra @Antonio Banderas <a title="banderasperfumes" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/banderasperfumes?refer=embed">#BANDERASperfumes</a>  <a title="theiconwoman" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/theiconwoman?refer=embed">#THEICONWoman</a> <a target="_blank" title="♬ original sound  - metrodotstyle" href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-metrodotstyle-7232308708699687685?refer=embed">♬ original sound  - metrodotstyle</a> </section> </blockquote> </div><div><br/></div><br/><div><br/></div>Through something inherently virtual and 3D digital, which makes use of huge chunks of data organized to create an image, it connects to the physical world by way of the movements that link to the augmented reality we moved in.<div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img loading="lazy" src="https://assets-metrostyle.abs-cbn.com/prod/metrostyle/attachments/11ec1c94-ee02-4130-a644-a63824363a81_metro.style banderasicon perfume.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Banderas ICON perfume"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">The Banderas ICON perfume</span></span></span></div><div><br/></div><p>Scent, in a way, works on two planes, the physical and the emotional. While scent comes from the molecules and vibrations that interact with the air and send signals to the brain to link up to memories and emotions. The pathway might be olfactory, but the end product often works with associated emotions.</p><div><br/></div><p>There&#x27;s still a lot to unpack, for sure, but for Banderas ICON and Antonio, and the PUIG team who have consistently created innovations in perfume--the mission has been successfully completed. </p><script async="" src="https://www.tiktok.com/embed.js"></script>