PERFUME PRIMER
by Catherine Haley Epstein
Perfume as pointer, perfume as memory, perfume as imagination, perfume as art, perfume as accessory, perfume as a gateway. There are superficial and powerful ideas of what perfume is, and none more consequential than the story it supports. As a longtime consumer, collector and now maker of perfume I have enjoyed the evolution of my choices, preferences and understanding of perfume. Understanding the material, intent and context for a perfume are important aspects of appreciating it. Following are tips to select and navigate today’s perfume landscape. These tips are only effective when combined fully with your unique story, so be sure to sketch that out before your scented adventure. In other words, be brave in your ability to recognize that some scents are inherently complementary of you and your style, and there are new scents you may never have imagined would fit your personality so well. Explorations best begin in your heart, with an open mind and with your nose in charge.
- The Scented Wheel
Historically and for marketing purposes, perfumes have been split up into groups that reflect a certain scent profile (e.g. floral, wood, citrus, amber). These are helpful for inventory and for a quick jump into the consumer’s imagination. You wish for something light? You will likely be taken to the citrus section. Dislike “floral” you will be steered to something perhaps with a lower frequency like wood. I personally like to throw the wheel out when exploring because that is where the play and surprise happens. I encourage you to do the same, perhaps make your own wheel for morning, noon and night, beach, hike and study. In Japan some businesses have been known to pump scent into the offices in order to inspire the workers. In the morning offices were infused with a citrus such as yuzu, mid-day was a floral note, then at the end of the day, as if to ground, was a wood note perhaps a hinoki wood. While the wheel may be a preliminary guide, always choose your own adventure.Many of the raw materials in perfumery are home to the African continent, so for this writing I chose some international perfumes to share with a twist on the gorgeous African resins, blossoms, spice and plants. I discovered these with the help of Tracy Tsefalas at her luxury boutique of niche fragrances Fumerie Parfumerie:
Velvet Tonka – BDK parfums – (Almond)
Orange blossom, almond, rose absolute, tobacco absolute from the Balkans, tonka bean absolute, vanilla absolute from Madagascar, amyris wood and amber woods.
Spell 123 – Papillon – (Resins)
White ambergris, Siberian pine, black hemlock, green sacra frankincense, ylang-ylang, Indian sandalwood
Eris Parfums – Scorpio Rising – (Clove, Pepper, Somalian Incense)
Pink Pepper, Black Pepper, Clove Bud, Cinnamon Absolute, Indian Cardamom, French Immortelle, Somalian Incense, Indian Cypriol, Atlas, Cedarwood, Guaiac Wood, Saffron, Sandalwood, Ambroxan, Cashmeran, Haitian Vetiver, Leather
Mango Skin – Vilhelm Parfumerie – (Fruit)
Blackberries, Mango, Black Pepper, Wild Orris, Black Lotus, Jasmine, Patchouli, Vanilla, Pink Sugar
Gaja Mada – Lubin – (Resin, Wood)
Blood orange, quince, plum of Damascus, date, tolu balsam, frangipani blossom, patchouli, benzoin, sandalwood
- Quality Versus Quantity
In the past twenty years there is a move happening from large fragrance houses to smaller houses run by perfumers in what is referred to as “niche perfumery”. These houses and makers should be a high priority for the budding perfume collector. Smaller perfume houses make smaller batches, and they do not have the same tight metrics that a large perfume house must traverse. As a result, you may find the smaller houses use higher quality materials at times and have more creative compositions since they do not have restrictions from a marketing and sales team. That said there some smaller perfume creations from niche perfumers that leave things to be desired. This major shift in the scented landscape is akin to the slow food movement, or the rise in the hand made and artisanal. This trend in perfumery is also seeing a new take on the medium of perfume where perfumers who have historically been hidden are being lauded as artists. Perfume is an art, and we are just on the tip of beginning to learn more about it.
- Follow Your True North
Remember that while scent does illicit memories, it may also make memories. When you choose new fragrances be bold and innovative in your choices. By bold, I don’t mean a louder scent, maybe you explore more subtle scents in a family you had never considered? Or you decide that since you like the scent of grain, you might look for a scent that has a warmth reminiscent of the grain. You don’t want a cabinet of fruit inspired compositions only, instead think of it as a cabinet of curiosities where the herbal sits next to the ambers, which sit next to the spicy or floral. I would also caution to not look only at gendered perfumes – the trend is to move and make more scents in the gender expansive arena. The trend started in the 1990s with Calvin Klein’s CK one. I would even recommend smelling fragrances designed for men, some smell beautifully on a woman’s skin.
- International Resources
It is important to note that the locus of control of perfumery has moved over the years beyond the gardens of France. There are budding fragrance labs and libraries throughout the world, with a large contingency of education, ethics, and collaboration all for the public and in service of our noses. There is a lot of misinformation and unnecessary secrecy in the world of perfumery, so it will be important for you to have allies in understanding, whether you want to read more about the creation process, learn more about a specific family of perfume, learn about the history of perfume, or support your nose with an olfactory vocabulary. The more you learn, the more you can make brave and exciting choices on your perfume journey. Here are some resources:
Abela Centre for Olfactory Art. – Deola “Abela” Paul-Inyang is the founder of an olfactory art center in Lagos that welcomes the public to learn and explore the art of perfume. Follow her @deola_paulinyang. She created The Rustic Africa Collection which is an ambient scent story of the 10 Hieroglyph symbols that represent the African heritage of the brand she created. Some popular scents include ILÉ AMÒ – The African Mud Hut , IGI ÒPE – The Palm Tree of Conviviality , and INÁ ÌFÉ – The Flame of Passion.
Institute of Art & Olfaction: While the olfactory art lab founded by Saskia Wilson-Brown is open to the public and is based in Los Angeles, California it has many offerings online and available internationally including perfume making classes, interviews with perfumers and unique talks with writers, authors, artists and makers who are innovating in the scent space.
LAEL Art of Perfumery: Founded by entrepreneur Sandy Crystal Nick, LAEL is a perfume academy in Nigeria. She organizes Master classes both in and outside Nigeria featuring some of the best master perfumers, workshops and trainings. She has also created best seller perfumes, diffusers and scented candles both for her brand and private labels. She also creates limited edition fragrances for her brand, El Olor by crystal
Nez the Olfactory Magazine: A publication based in France that has a mission to educate the public on all facets of perfumery. Published at this point bi-annually in French and English.
Christophe Laudamiel: Christophe is a scientist, artis and maverick/master perfumer who has dedicated much of his bandwidth to educating the public on perfumery, in particular the ethics of perfumery. You may follow him on Instagram, become a patron to have access to special videos, and support him through his seriously playful line the The Zoo.
Odorbet: An online repository for words for our noses. The project was founded as a way to share the research I continually do on scent within multi-disciplines.
CATHERINE HALEY EPSTEIN is a multi-disciplinary artist, award-winning writer, designer, and curator. She wrote a book titled Nose Dive (2019) which explores the intersection of creativity with the science and anthropology of scent. She is the founder of Odorbet, an online repository for olfactory words. Articles of note include “Primal Art: Notes on the Medium of Scent”, Temporary Art Review (2016). She writes about contemporary art and practice and culture at her platform Mindmarrow and is a guest lecturer for advanced museum studies classes. She conducts workshops on the use of scent in creative practices, advises companies on scent-related projects, and continues to collaborate with artists and writers on unique initiatives that explore intersections between art and other disciplines. She is currently a candidate for her masters in clinical mental health at Northwestern University.