Walnuts, hazelnuts, puffed rice and toasted granola are some of the all-new gourmand notes making their way into our bottles. Let’s take a look at their botany and history, as well as the latest releases featuring them, with Mane perfumer Mathilde Bijaoui and independent perfumer Anatole Lebreton.
Groupement de Recherche O3 (Odorant, Odeur, Olfaction) – otherwise known as GDR O3 – was created in 2015 with the aim of developing cross-disciplinary projects exploring odours in the broadest possible sense. To inaugurate the collaboration between GDR 03 and Nez, Nathalie Mandairon, director of neuroscience research for the CNRS (French National Centre for Scientific Research) and director of GDR O3, and Xavier Fernandez, chemistry professor at Côte d’Azur University and deputy director of GDR 03, talk to us about the past eight years in the life of the research group.
Although dsm-firmenich is best known for its expertise in synthetic molecules, the composition house has been present in Grasse since 2007. It has gradually put down roots in the town, culminating in 2020 with the acquisition of Villa Botanica, a nature-rich haven open to perfumers and clients the following year. It is now releasing a book that tells the story of this journey and reveals the four-season symphony at the heart of the world’s perfume capital.
Some perfumes disappear as quickly as they appeared. And yet there are the perfumes that count, the ones that forever mark the life and career of a perfumer. Today, Mandy Aftel talks about Joy by Jean Patou, the scent her mother used to wear. An olfactory shock that inspired her vocation.
Cercle creates experiences and organises festivals and concerts that shine the spotlight on cultural and natural heritage with a fusion of music, aesthetics and showcasing artists and venues. Ugo Charron, Mane perfumer created its olfactory signature: Golden Hour scent will be diffused on 10 July in Geneva for a concert in front of Saint Pierre Cathedral.
On June 27, we celebrate the birthday of Helen Keller, an American author and activist who lost her sight and hearing at the age of 2. The development of her sense of smell, as well as her perception of the world in general, are analyzed here by scent historian Caro Verbeek. It’s also an opportunity to discuss the lesser-known case of Julia Brace, also deaf and blind.
In many ways, leather and perfumery have a similar history, always closely linked. Leather gloves have been perfumed since ancient times, although the profession of master glover-perfumer was not given formal status until much later. At the heart of the great perfumery classics, the leather accord is now making a strong comeback. Christine Nagel, in-house perfumer at Hermès, and Céline Perdriel, perfumer at Cosmo, take a closer look.
Since 2002, IFF has multiplied the synergies between its perfumers, artists across disciplines and students from various art schools. The objective is twofold: give tomorrow’s designers chance to become well-versed in olfaction and to nourish the creativity of the company’s perfumers.
When a lover of nature teams up with perfumers who know how to magnify it, creative ideas for honoring woods blossom. In this way, Fabrice Croisé has enabled an extraordinary forest of fragrances to grow at IFF.
Eugénie Briot, a specialist in the history of perfumery in the C19th, met with writer Jean-Luc Komada to discuss the olfactory universe of the actress, who died 100 years ago. On this occasion, we invite you to rediscover an article from Nez, The Olfactory Magazine #04 – Art and Perfume.
Mouth-watering aroma or off-putting pong? Fresh, hung or cooked, the odours of meat take many forms, to the disgust of some and to the delight of others who drool over the flesh of hares fed on juniper berries, or of cattle fed on spring grass. On the occasion of the International Meatout Day this Monday, March 20, 2023, we suggest you, instead of consuming meat, to smell its exhalations through this article by Guillaume Tesson, originally published in Nez, the Olfactory Magazine – #07 – The Animal Sense.
Feminine by definition but androgynous in essence, scent has been playing a game of smoke and mirrors with sexual identity ever since the birth of Jicky. On the occasion of International Women’s Day, we invite you to rediscover an article by Denyse Beaulieu originally published in Nez, the Olfactory Magazine – #03 – The Sex of Scent.
On the occasion of the World Obesity Day this Saturday, March 4, we propose you to rediscover an article by Eléonore de Bonneval and Hirac Gurden originally published in Nez, the olfactory magazine #10 – From the nose to the mouth about the link between smell and food disorders.
On the occasion of the Anosmia Awareness Day this Monday, February 27, we propose you to rediscover an article by Eléonore de Bonneval and Hirac Gurden on this little known disorder and on the tried and tested rehabilitation protocols which prove that smelling sometimes equates to healing.
Who is really the author of a fragrance? While perfumers are increasingly in the limelight, the other contributors continue to remain anonymous. Why is this?
What if the future of our relationships was determined by our nostrils? On the occasion of Valentine’s Day, we offer you an article originally published in Nez, the Olfactory Magazine – #03 – The Sex of Scent, on the capacity of odors to bring us closer to each other.
“Abandon all hope of hearing the truth, ye who enter here”: words we might well be tempted to say to the novice taking an interest in perfumery. There is no denying that inventions, secrets and lies are legion in the fragrance universe.
From open secrets to copycat lies, lies of omission to workshop secrets, here is a brief overview of the deceptive discourse employed. Because, on the one hand, we have to laugh. And, on the other hand, the cult of mystery occasionally has its reasons, and it can be interesting to explore them.
The fresh, resinous scent of the fir tree, a crackling fire and comforting spices… To shine during family dinners, we offer you a dissection of the olfactory atmosphere of Christmas, originally published in Nez, the Olfactory Magazine #12.
In Oman, the creative director of Amouage, a company founded in the sultanate in 1983, is overseeing a vast project that will combine responsible production of the precious resin with tourism and cultural activities.
Although perfumers at IFF have long been accustomed to working together, the company went a step further by making the collaborative approach official in the early 21st century. An approach that has since been adopted by all the composition houses. Behind the scenes of a revolution.
