Olfactory Culture

Leather and perfume: skin to skin

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.

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With La Fabrica, IFF explores new pathways for olfaction

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.

IFF and Scents of Wood celebrate the beauty of trees

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.

The mighty smells of meat

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.

The gender of scent

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.

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The weight of smells

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.

Anosmia: in search of a lost sense of smell

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.

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The chemistry of attraction

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.

Secrets and lies in perfumery

“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.

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Christmas’ smells

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.

Perfumers: A team spirit

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.

From mouth to nose: when flavours become fragrances

Behind the evident familiarity of food notes lies a creative challenge for perfumers. Providing them with innovative ingredients so they can reach beyond a literal interpretation and come up with inventive signature compositions is one of Mane’s core missions.

Marcel Proust: Of chamber pots and vessels of perfume

In his saga, the asthmatic writer portrays a hypersensitive narrator whose nose is just as fine as his palate. On the occasion of the centenary of his death this November 18, 2022, we offer you an article originally published in Nez, the Olfactory Magazine #13, which returns to the role of odors in the work of the author.

Woody ambers: the nasal invaders

You smell them everywhere without knowing it, these mystery compounds. When, how and why did woody ambers invade perfumery? Here is our attempt at an answer for you: some facts, some history, and a healthy dose of subjectivity!

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The press kit: The art of staging the immaterial

How do the different players contribute to the creation, publication and evolution of the press kit, a tool of the trade that conditions the discourse of journalists and, in turn, the image of perfumery?
To complete our series « Reinventing perfumery discourse », we offer you an article originally published in Nez, the Olfactory Magazine #12.

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