AN IDEA OF CHYPRE

Cabochard ad

As a young lady M., a woman from the Kansai region in Japan, fell in love with a smell, a perfume called Cabochard ("stubborn") by Parfum Grès. Cabochard is a type of perfume called “Chypre”, French for Cyprus. 

Cyprus Island

One of many perfume legends say that at the beginning of the 20th Century a revolutionary French perfumer went to Cyprus and created a fragrance reminiscent of the woody, mossy, citrus landscape he encountered. That man is Francois Coty and that perfume was "Chypre".

Chypre was such a revolution it became a genre in perfumery. It is a rich journey throughout the contrasts of citrus, (a bit of) floral and woody, mossy, resinous notes. To prove the legend I asked two young men from Cyprus whether this combination (without telling them the story) reminded them of home. They said it did.

Lalique Chypre flacon

M., our Japanese lady, sees Chypre as a scent of sophistication, an elegant, evening scent, not necessarily feminine. Passionate about perfume, she has taken some courses and experimented blending her own. Yesterday Marianne (The Perfumer) and I ran a tailor made workshop for her, to create an idea of Chypre.

To begin with, we took a sniff at the Chypre tale that M. had created, a very nice combination of dark, heart and light tones. We introduced a few variations and observed how the new characters played with the existing script. M. was new to the suggested departures, which made our perfume creation more adventurous.

Our perfume workshop

We started from its heart. There we set up an almost neutral floral scene and in front of it we played 3 flowers: a lady with sophisticated personality, a subterranean, powdery God and a green, unconventional gentleman. The green guy was found to be intrusive and was dismissed.

The dark scene was set with underfoot volcanic energy, a dash of balsamic woods and an interesting man-made ingredient that is both soft and hard. Despite the attractive novelty it brought to our story, it was dismissed. Instead, this thick scene was softened by placing a comforting velvet carpet. 

The result had still too much heart whereas M.’s intention was to go deeper, somehow more masculine than feminine, hence we turned up the darkness volume. A final, filtered ray of Mediterranean sun gave the scent a lift and we had the picture. 

M. happily walked away with her new idea of Chypre and a custom-made dictionary of odours, that she will use to create her next perfume tale. As with the words we may use to write a story, possibilities of expression are endless in perfume. But only the ones that find their mysterious way to our heart will win. 

Find your own journey in perfume with us.

Till the next Perfume Tale. 

NP / SP

CANDLE INSPIRATION

I have just come back from another afternoon of scented inspiration.

Marianne, my fantastic perfumer friend, and I created an inspiring synesthetic perfume workshop for two enthusiastic friends who have just started a candle-making venture.

By exploring a selection of materials suitable for blending in wax, they discovered the naturals, the synthetics, the actual ingredients, the isolates, which make the fantastic language of perfume. Eventually they practiced the language and created their two first-ever candle scents.

Their enthusiasm was overwhelming and they couldn't stop saying what a revelation it all was. The most rewarding moment was when L. looked at me and said: "It is really an art form!". "Isn't it?!", I answered her, as I remembered what a revelation it all appeared to me in the first place... How rewarding to hear that coming back to me now.

We feel truly lucky for having shared our passion with them. It is priceless, to show someone what I believe is beautiful. I do it with scents. Inspiring, lighting people's flame of curiosity, seeing a scent talk to the human experience is the greatest job in the world.

LAST NIGHT AT THE BSP

Last night was memorable!

I had the greatest privilege and honour to share my passion for scents and generate some sensory debate around them during my presentation for the British Society of Perfumers. 

Under the guidance of their newly appointed President John Bailey, a fantastic gentleman also know as Mr. Perfume, the BSP aims to play a leading role in the demand of knowledge on perfume that has come up recently. With this aim, he asked S Sense to start the new year of events. 

We are putting together a few clips. What I can say in the meantime is that, starting by smelling a poem, we looked at ways scents can enhance our lives and question what the scenario will be like in the future. 

The audience was engaged and responded with interesting comments to the questions that I had prepared and asked them to make the evening interactive and thought-provoking.

It was also the opportunity to introduce the Design With Scents course at Kingston University and the British Society of Perfumers training on scents which will happen in March 2013.

We had people from the industry, as well as perfume lovers and new friends from other walks of life. Thank you all for coming!

My friend John Bailey, President of the British Society of Perfumers and I at The Hub King's Cross

THE BETTER WE SMELL, THE BETTER WE LIVE

Two Fridays ago I attended a conference called SCENT AND SENSIBILITY at the INSTITUTE OF PHILOSOPHY. It was on the neuroscience of fragrance and featured presentations from academics who have been performing research on olfaction. The day was inspiring as it offered the chance to listen to experts and open discussions. Ultimately it raised awareness on the importance of our sense of smell.

Prof. Thomas Hummel, a world specialist on taste and smell disorders from Taste and Smell Clinic, University of Dresden - and a brilliant speaker - talked about the lack of the sense of smell (anosmia). He firstly reminded us about the significance of the sense of smell in our "chemical communication, in the way we socialise, the way we detect dangers and the way we feel pleasures. Afterwards, he illustrated the effects of anosmia and the importance of olfactive training as treatment.

Put it simply, by lacking bits of tastes and smells, total or partial anosmia sufferers experience food-related (appetite, cooking, weight) discomforts in the first place. What's more, the absence of smells makes them feel insecure in social situations and their sexual drive decreases. All these conditions eventually culminate in long-lasting mood and depression problems.

Olfactive training plays special relevance in the treatment of anosmia, said Dr. Hummel, as it increases the response of olfactory receptors. Tests show that patients that have received olfactory training made much better progress than those who haven’t. 

"When people are exposed to odours repetitively, they increase their olfactory function."

By exposing the audience to what is existence is like in the absence of smells, Dr. Hummel ultimately demonstrated the importance of this sense. Put it simply, the better we smell, the longer (and better) we live. By bringing scientific evidence, his presentation motivates me to carry on the work that I have been doing in promoting perfume knowledge to increase wellbeing and enhance people's lives.

The fact that institutions like The Institute of Philosophy are promoting discussions on scents make me think that in the near future the word neglected will be hopefully no longer used when we talk about our dear sense of smell.

For more, his presentation is on youtube: