Laurent’s Response to Katie’s Proposal
Hi, it’s Katie! After reading my proposal for Auxeos, Laurent sent his response to my ideas. Squeeee!
Hello Katie,
I am very excited about your proposal for your perfume.
I have smelled the two fragrances which you like to layer together, and here is what I think. I love the idea of using an ocean-like leather note which I can smell in Cuir de Russie but would like to make it more modern and less smoky. There is a “burnt note” which is not so pleasant, but I like the theme of Cuir de Russie. Regarding Czech & Speake’s Frankincense & Myrrh, there is a very raw woody note that I will keep and play with (blend of cedarwood, sandalwood and vetiver), but I am not that crazy about the aromatic minty note… so, if it’s alright with you, I want to use only the raw woody part of this fragrance.
I completely agree that we need to find something else to give depth, richness and more signature to the combination of these two fragrances to make our collaboration a master piece.
I am ready to concoct your perfume now, so let me know if you feel comfortable with the direction that I am thinking about.
Thanks,
Laurent
My letter back to him will be up shortly!
21 Comments
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Scented_Salamander
I note in passing that Laurent uses the word “masterpiece”; now, that’s what you call a nice level of enthusiasm and commitment.
Do you know how your body chemistry will be taken into account, if at all?
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Katie
Marina, The mint is “minty” rather than mint, so yeah, I’m cool with letting it go. Will post the reponse tomorrow, I promise!
Scented Salamander, as far as body chemistry goes, this is really where the trials will also prove helpful in narrowing down what the perfume will shapeshift into. If a version smells awry on me, and another smells lovely on me, then I will have to make mention of it, of course!
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Scented_Salamander
OK, I guess my question was about how it might make sense to smell the original mix you refer to on your skin to have a more accurate idea of what you mean. Although, you might say that even that changes.
I also thought some perfumers performed skin tests to enter that parameter in their customizations of a scent.
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Katie
Scented Salamander, ah I see. This is made difficult by time and space – I am in the Pacific Northwest, which is very far from the perfumer. To allow for him to smell the trials on my skin would be marvelous, but simply not possible. I am deeply trusting in Laurent’s ability and skill to know that he will not require this at all. His nose is much more trained, and more sensitive than mine anyhow, so I have a hunch he understands where the appeal lies of layering these fragrances better for me than I do myself π
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kuri
So interesting! You (Katie) and Laurent seem to be on the same wavelength, which I find fascinating. Words seem so imprecise when trying to describe fragrance, but it seems to work. For example, what gives a fragrance more signature? Does it have to do with being memorable or unique?
I guess it isn’t necessary to qualify these things? -
Prince Barry
This is still the early days of this project and I feel so excited about how this is going to develop.
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Patty
(squealing in sympathy) Gosh, so fun to follow. Is it possible for him to put in a whimsical note that captures your wicked sense of humor too? π
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Katie
kuri, I dunno if we’re on the same wavelength or not… The problem with language is that you can be talking about the same thing, using the same words, and yet mean utterly differnt things. (I’d love to drag some wonderful Wittgenstien quote in here, but I’ll refrain ;D ) I’m not sure what gives one fragrance more “signature” than another, and I’d suspect that if you asked 50 different people you’d get 50 different answers. It’s a little mystery. But memorable is a must for me! And unique is always nice, too.
Prince Barry, hee hee! Me, too. We’ll have to wait and see how it all turns out!
Patty, oh I dunno, I’m not sure I have such a wicked sense of humor, but I do get a tad snarky now and again π I’m not sure what a whimsical note would smell like, actually… hmmm.
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mike storer
I wonder if Laurent is reading and responding to our posts.. As a perfumer myself, I hope to know as much from him as possible in technical terms. I wonder if by an “aromatic minty note” he means something like thujone? Something mentholic or camphoraceous? By smokey does he mean birch tar or Chinese cedar oil? Or something like Suederalt LT? How would he make a more modern leather? With Costaulon, Costasol, or IFF’s own Costus Ollifac? Laurent, if you’re reading, please address us learning perfumers as well! Merci, Mike
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mike storer
In clarifying my last post above, I wonder if Laurent is aware that not only lay people but also thousands of skilled perfumers are watching anxiously to learn. This is a rare opportunity to see how he builds, uses IFF chems as well as oils and products from other houses. I would dearly like to see his actual formula as it develops with explanations of why he is choosing to add each item. I’m curious to see which accord he starts with, etc.
Katie, could you make sure he knows this in case he doesn’t read here? -
moogiemyer
Hi Katie,
I’ve sampled R1C and it smelled like a very common and plain smelling cologne splash for summer that was unisex.The R1B smelled more interesting to me and seemed to have more of a personality but lacked direction.It also doesn’t seem to morph into anything else.Stays linear for me.But I definitely like it better.I still need to try the 3rd sample. This is so much fun to see how these scents will eventually morph into fantastic fragrances, I’m sure. π -
Katie
March, wow, that was fast! Glad to see they arrived safe and sound. I’m going to wear the two trials around for a while and test it out on my own focus group, hereby referred to as “Team Guinea Pig” before I make up my mind about anything. I love reading your thoughts on them. Interesting…
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Katie
Hi Mike, sorry for the delay in response. I can give you one answer right now, which is that is extremely unlikely (unfortunately) that Laurent will be responding to any of the posts or comments here. As far as if he’s reading them, the uninteresting answer is “I don’t know,” but I will try to get back to you in the comments for this post with an answer to that sometime next week. I was hoping to be able to answer it sooner, but perhaps it’s best if I just let you know NOW that an answer will be coming.
I think much of the reason he is not naming specific ingredients is because *I* would have little idea of what he precisely means. I am a perfume enthusiast, but I am far from an expert of any sort. And of course, as a perfume-nut, “smokey” or “burnt” are descriptors that are clear enough on both our levels that we can have a dialogue. I think if he began naming specific isolated ingredients like “Costus Ollifac” we would be unable to communicate effectively, since I have zero idea of what that smells like. If that makes sense?
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Sali
Greetings to all. I’ve received the samples today and my first initial reaction was that they reminded me of some of the V’Tae scents, especially of Green Grass and Sunshine. That’s just upon first sniff so I can’t say I’m accurate. They’re pretty and fresh, and to me, the smokier of the two is a bit too smoky but that’s my personal taste.
Katie has the prettiest perfume taste in the world. She’s sent me samples of some of her favorites before (about a year or so ago, I think, and I don’t know if any of these are her faves anymore) and she’s the only one who sent me perfumes I’d never even heard of. Izzy Sayan Rhubarb, Givenchy Ysatis Iris, some Galimard and Jeanne Arthes scents. I thought her choices were rather dainty and well-mannered but not too haughty. I also thought “youthful but not teeny bopper”. Some scents I thought were closer to things in nature than what I’d pick for myself on the whole and yet the things she chooses in nature are a little quirky. I see Katie as an artistic, peaceful soul–she also has crazy taste in music and has great appreciation for humor. I dig her–she’s always been kind to me. I hope Katie gets the perfume of her dreams.
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lilybp
Hi Katie–I hope this isn’t too early to comment; I notice some others did. My reactions are more or less the opposite of C’s (Moogie’s). R1 B has some note in it that really disagrees with my skin. It starts out unpleasant on me and morphs into a BO accord. Sorry. I should mention that I usually like scents (e.g., Feminite du Bois) that people feel smell BOish–but not this one. I would guess it’s my chemistry, so it probably won’t be like this on others.
R1/C: Now, that’s more like it. I’m getting leather here. And I enjoy it. The note I hated before may still be in there somewhere, but if it is, it’s tamed so that it doesn’t bother me. Very nice. But personally, I would prefer even more leather.
Thanks for letting me try these,
Judith -
lilybp
Oh, I forgot to mention in my last post: neither one lasted very long on me.
Also– the not very helpful reactions of my husband, my personal focus group:
R1/B: Makes face. “Nothing sweet there”
R1/C: “Better than the last one. . . . Lighter.”
Judith -
jenny
Hi Katie,
It’s interesting to see that you have a fragrance in mind without the knowledge if it’s possible to make, you just tell the perfumer what you have in mind. The perfumer though has his own idea’s about it and working on it with the knowledge of how some notes will blend together.
Sometimes the most beautiful fragrances will be born this way because of a client with no knowledge at all about the technical part of it ask the perfumer to make a fragrance he had in mind. It’s a way to push the perfumer to go beyond the “normal” way of creation and try notes or combinations of notes he or she never would use without the preposal of the client. The perfumers on my yahoo group are working on the two fragrances as well and we would love to hear more about the technical part of it. I understand that the perfumers will not give a way their formulas but a little bit of information about the technical part will not hurt does it? -
Sali
I just wanted to come back and mention that one of my favorite samples which I received from Katie was L’Aromarine Cola. Simple, effervescent but it’s a little offbeat and has some base. I like that in a scent, too. Now, I don’t know which leather perfumes Katie’s into, so I’m just envisioning something like a beach scent with a cowboy on a horse going for a promenade. Sorry, Katie, if my visual’s ridiculously missing the mark. I should shut up now.
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Patty
B disagreed with me too. C is much better, but it has a note that is in Noir Epices that never has worked for me. Is tht the burnt smell? It’s interesting, especially noting the changes between the two.
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Katie
Sali, I’m touched – that was wonderful to read. With many of the scents I had sent to you I tried very hard to avoid anything I thought might be too musky on you. You’re much more attuned to musks than I am, and I was culling through stuff to find unusual things that were a bit on the gentle or sweet side. Your visual is interesting. Not at all what I have in mind, but still neat how you made the elements into a mental picture.
lilybp, oh no, not too early to comment, but I just don’t quite have my thoughts collected just yet to respond intelligently. BO, huh? That is not something I’m getting, but then, I don’t get that very often from many fragrances anyhow unless it’s humid and hot out. Your husbands reactions were interesting, too. (Nice to have multiple male perspectives as well!)
Jenny, I hope that is the way it will all work out, because I’m hoping Laurent can make sense of my imprecise descriptions and vocabulary. Consequently, there probably will be little in the way of technical information in the future, because I and Marina would honestly have a very rough time trying to communicate with the perfumers. I think it’s so cool that your group is working and crafting their own ideas of what these scents should be. Very cool.
Patty, I am finding the divergence between the two versions particularly fascinating. It’s like they are two sisters from the same family who look little like one another.
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Marina
Squeeee! indeed!!
I am curious to see what you think about the proposed elimination of smokiness, Katie. Now, mint, that I would let go of with ease. Not that it matters what *I* would let go of, it’s all about what you want! Waiting for your response with baited breath.
My goodness, how incrediby exciting!