Consuming

The power of words

1:22

Suddenly Christophe discloses the name of an ingredient to the researcher...

The French capucine is commonly known as nasturtium. Its pronunciation in German «Kapuzinerkresse» instantly irritates the perfumer. Hence, the clip reveals factors impacting scent design beyond common textbook wisdom. Even the phonetic sound of an ingredient might make a difference. Christophe’s multisensory approach is perfectly in line with recent scientific findings showing that odor names affect sniffs length, scent familiarity, perception and evaluations. Accordingly, the same scent can be perceived by the same person differently depending on the label attached. Thus, the label «parmesan cheese» positively influences the scent evaluations in comparison with the situation when the scent is labelled as «vomit». Moreover, scent-related words (e.g. strawberry) might be influential for the olfactory experience than non-related words (e.g. old house).

Envisioning a perfumista

0:54

Once, Christophe retrospectively envisions a persona who could wear his creation.

Perfumes are usually developed with a specific user in mind. Sometimes even stereotypes are used for briefing a perfumer. The former New York Times perfume critic Chandler Burr once even presented a parody of this type of briefing: «We want something for women. It should make them feel more feminine, but strong, and competent, but not too much…». Following Christophe’s work we hardly ever witnessed anything like this. Instead, it was the scent and its aesthetic quality that guided the design process. 

Once, however, after the development of Blask had been completed for a while, Christophe retrospectively envisioned a persona who could wear this fragrance. Interestingly, his persona very much resembles the user, Mark Behnke, a well known perfume blogger, had in mind when reviewing this creation: «Blask is not a fragrance for everybody but if you are someone looking for a line that takes risks and challenges your perception of what perfume could be, Blask is something you need to try». 

The title of this clip alludes to the growing enthusiasm for perfumes. A perfumista professes the culture of olfactory hedonism. Some perfumista might identify themselves as «fragraholics», «perfumaniacs» or «fragonerds» (just to mention a few labels popular within the subculture).  A perfumista often wears an exotic fragrance that distinguishes itself from the middlebrow tastes of most people. One might think of Andy Warhol as a forerunner who once openly talked about his fondness for esoteric fragrances: 

«Sometimes at parties I slip away to the bathroom just to see what colognes they’ve got. I never look at anything else— I don’t snoop—but I’m compulsive about seeing if there’s some obscure perfume I haven’t tried yet, or a good old favorite I haven’t smelled in a long time. If I see something interesting, I can’t stop myself from pouring it on. But then for the rest of the evening, I’m paranoid that the host or hostess will get a whiff of me and notice that I smell like somebody-they-know.» 

Sometimes this passion for perfumery grows from an interest in chemistry and might rise to further practices. Some perfumista indulge in excessive perfume collecting. Others research for educational material, learn the basics of perfume creation and start as DIY perfumers. Another group of perfumista might start to write perfume reviews or publish related video content on youtube. All in all, they give rise to an increasingly discursive consumer culture. What started on the fringes eventually changes the rules of the game in the fragrance industry.

Back to origins

1:40

Moving forward can actually imply going back to an earlier version.

In theory, the development process unfolds as incremental steps of improvement. In practice, however, progress is often less clear. This is particularly the case in cultural products that serve an aesthetic, rather than a clearly utilitarian purpose. Standards of quality for creative products derive from abstract ideas rather than clearly defined technical standards and performance features. Creative industries sell identities and experiences. Cultural goods «derive their value from subjective experiences that rely heavily on using symbols in order to manipulate perception and emotion». Consequently, a perfume is increasingly valued for its meaning. «I may like the grapefruit now again», Christophe remarks incidentally in this clip. He had just moved from working with blotters to evaluating selected scent modifications on his skin. Moving forward can actually imply going back to an earlier version.

Encounter with a perfume icon

1:05

Shalimar is an iconic perfume. But why is it relevant today?

Successful cultural products blend familiar and novel elements. On the one hand, consumers relate to scents that remind them of others they like. On the other hand, they also appreciate the unexpected pleasure of the new. Depending on the overall position of the scent, the actual relatedness of a perfume can vary from that which is entirely derivative of an existing scent, to that which is clearly building on an existing scent, to that which is predominantly original but shows subtle references to an existing scent. This video captures the moment when a modification reminds Christophe of Shalimar, a great perfume created by Jacques Guerlain in 1921. Its story is part of the wider social and cultural matrix in perfumery. Accordingly, the composition was inspired by Mumtaz Mahal, the wife of Shah Jahal, a 17th century emperor of India. Traditionally, the imitation or matching of an iconic perfume serves as a method of learning the craft. In this situation the sudden connection to Shalimar prompts Christophe to return to the formula. To his surprise, the formula is rather different from Shalimar’s. Yet, the scene documents the remaining influence of an historical icon for cultural production.