How to choose a perfumer ?

The profession of perfumer has the capacity to be made as an employee in a creation house, or work as an independent, like the nurses who can work in a public hospital or in freelance.

Independent or employee, the perfumer will write perfume formulas, will smell his test to readjust his formula before it be present to the addressee. It is a work that can sometimes be long, sometimes redundant but never boring because it is made with passion.

 

In my opinion, there are two major differences when we choose to work with an independent perfumer:  

  • The first one is the human encounter, passionate exchanges and sharing moments. 
  • The second one is the creative freedom of the artist, no barriers, no borders, no prejudices will prevent him from creating. 

Want a new perfume

It all often starts with the desire of a brand to create a new perfume, maybe its first one or to expand its range. So, the brand determines several strategic points:  

  • Its targets (men/women/unisex, age, country…) 
  • Its launching date (Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Spring, Summer…) 

Sometimes, the first idea of the fragrance is imagined (floral, woody…). All of this information matches the specifications of the future fragrance.  

The collaboration with perfumer in a big creation house

A house of creation like Mane or Firmenich will determine the most appropriate team to a given project. These houses include several evaluators and perfumers, sometimes divided by geographical area, sometimes by scented supports (candle, washing liquid, shower gel…), sometimes both. 

At first, the marketing team will do an analysis of the market and trend to be inspired by some important perfumes. The team will share those information with the evaluation team. 

The latter will take over the rest of the request. She’ll look in their perfume library. 

Their objective: find a non-commercialize perfume that already exists which corresponds to a maximum of specifications. 

The first perfumes are then submitted. Sometimes, they will need some readjustment from the perfumer, sometimes they won’t need it. This allows a good reactivity. Pretty often, the brand is only in contact with the commercial and the evaluation teams. It is very occasional, except for the brand from a big group like L’Oréal or Coty, to be directly in contact with the perfumer. 

The perfumer will intervene at this stage. Based on the comments obtained after the first proposals, the perfume will be modified to better match the demand.

The collaboration with an independent perfumer

The independent perfumer often works alone until the fabrication step. 

Alone, not really. He works directly with the author of the demand to get maximum details, nuances to put them in the perfume. 

Choose to entrust your project to an independent perfumer, it is before all choose an artist, a universe, a personality.

For the same project, each perfumer will create a different perfume. To imagine a perfume is to interpret information, musical, textual, countries, seasons…. in perfume.

The perfumer you will choose has its own story, its own sensibility. In each of its creations, it puts a part of itself, of its soul. For some of us, we are more sensible to Picasso than Renoir, to Dali than Monet. The choice of what they represent but also the style with which it represents is very different. We don’t all have the same sensibility for these painters. Their famous brush stocks are probably the reason why, just like the eye of the photographer. Maybe we should talk about the perfumer’s nose stocks or even its olfactive signature or maybe its emotional olfactive expression. You can choose. 

Among the perfumers olfactive signature, there are the perfumes that they like to create. Are they more feminine, masculine or unisex? Are they warm rather than cold, round or with facets? 

However, we are all different, we all have different ways of working that are personal. So, we’re going to talk to you about our vision of collaboration, in our House, our creative steps and how we do things. 

The Collaboration with Anaïs Fournial

At Anaïs Fournial, one moment is particularly important. It’s to meet you. Even if the first exchange is by mail or by phone, very quickly, it will be over a tea, a coffee or in a video conference (if necessary) that we will discuss.

Yes, Anaïs loves meeting you to start working efficiently. A moment of exchange and sharing where she listens to you talking about your project but not only. Anaïs also listens to your silence, runs through your universe and feels the raw materials that she will use. Like a music composer, our perfumer will then be alone with her blank page. Rich in her emotions, your words and her materials, quickly the page fills up and the formula is written.

During all the creation process, it is Anaïs who will accompany you, advise you, tell you the perfumes she imagined for you. Moments that feed her for her bespoke creation

Anaïs is your nose, in a way you are her eyes. The birth of a perfume is four hands work between you and her. 

Each one of these instants allow her to understand you better, to grasp the intricacies of your universe so the new perfume, whether it’s wear or ambient fits perfectly into your range. 

 

Anaïs likes perfumes which are impossible to be indifferent about. She likes perfumes that tell a story, interpret emotions and are perfectly imperfect. Each asperity has its reason to be, and its presence is therefore necessary. 

These perfumes are roundly sharp to surprise the more classical. They are warmly fresh to bring sweetness and peps to each season. Anaïs creations are spirited, vibrant and heady.

How to choose your independent perfumer? 

You understand getting along well with a perfumer and understand each other is the key to a perfume in your image. Creating a perfume is interpreting, so the better we understand each other, the better the perfume will be. We are convinced that choosing an independent perfumer it’s choosing an artist, a personality before everything. 

If there is a feeling, an incredible perfume will be born.