In honor of Valentine’s Day, T asked six great perfumers to describe the one they love — through smell — and how this has impacted their work.
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Marie du Petit Thouars, Maison Louis Marie
“My husband always had big bouquets of eucalyptus and Casablanca lilies in his loft when we first met. His secret flower spot was the Los Angeles flower market and it became a fun routine adventure for us to wander the stalls, smelling and enjoying all the scents. Because he’s usually outside working on our garden, I created an earthy, intoxicating blend — No. 9 Vallée de Farney — that represents what he loves and reminds me of him. I love the idea that the act of experiencing a scent will summon you back to that first memory, which for better or worse, transports you back to that feeling in time.”
Anne Serrano-McClain, MCMC Fragrances
“For my husband’s first fragrance, I bought him Terre d’Hermès — a really earthy, woody fragrance — from a small shop in Grasse, France, where I was studying at the time. Later I ended up making a beard oil inspired by him with the working title ‘Dude,’ which is what our friend’s kids call him. Eventually I named it Dude No. 1. The scent has a life of its own now — friends started asking for it and I incorporated it into my line — but when I’m close to him and smell it on his skin, that’s where it belongs. That’s always been his secret scent.”
Nicolas Malleville, Coqui Coqui
“I met my wife Francesca on the beach. She was wearing a mix of vanilla and plumeria flowers. Now she smells like Chanel No. 5 mixed with rosas secas (roses and tobacco). When she arrives from Mérida’s colonial flower markets, she’ll open our Defender’s door and intoxicate the car and the house with hundreds of nardo tuberoses and roses. When she’s away and then the flowers start withering, it begins to affect me because I miss her. I never buy flowers.”
Kavi & David Moltz, D.S. & Durga
KAVI: “David was a musician who played shows all the time when we met so I associate him with sweaty, packed bars. Now he smells different every day because he’s always testing things. I think that we both get overwhelmed by scent because it’s a huge part of our daily lives, so I really appreciate the middle of the night when we’re in bed and I smell his skin without any trace of perfume.”
DAVID: “I think of Kavi when I smell Comme des Garçons’ Odeur 71. It’s a really weird human, sweaty smell. It sort of smells like hot light bulbs and it’s also vaguely floral. It’s very unique — kind of spicy, aromatic and metallic, like aldehyde. I don’t know if they make it anymore, but it’s what she first wore when I met her. I’ve also always loved the scent of her hair. It smells vaguely of fancy shampoo — it’s clean and warm and a place where I’d hide as a child.”
Alessandro Gualtieri, Nasomatto
“I have recently fallen in love with a Gypsy lady who I met one night at a party. I was quite intrigued because she did not have a specific smell, nor a perfume; I could not sense anything. Now that we have met again, I can clearly feel that she smells like wet soot. I think she lives in a caravan with other Gypsies with a wood-powered heater. The smell of the sea reminds me of her.”
[Source:- Nytimes]