Hello, dear readers!

As promised, we resume our Sensorium expedition. (Find Part 1 here)

[Thank you for your forbearance, my friends- I took one helluva lot of notes!!!]

 

Part IV – Enter: “The Lab of Emotions” [actual title]

 

The theme introduced in this exhibit ties into the final phase- a culmination in the Fragrance Bar –the last stop in Sensorium’s fragrant foray.

Four categories of fragrance are explored by various Firmenich-based perfumers: polished, playful, casual, and addictive.

The participating perfumer roster:

Harry Fremont

Ilias Ermenidis

Annie Buzantian

Honorine Blanc

Pierre Negrin

Richard Herpin

Frank Voelkl

 

The leitmotif here was simply this: What odor would you assign to this mood?

The dimly-lit open space was divided into four walls, each wall representing a mood. Each mood was accompanied by visual effects evoking the assigned sensation, headphones providing  contemporary musical obbligati, and the pièce de resistance: 2-3 perfumes to match the mood.

 

# 1: Polished

Polished by Harry Fremont

Characterized as “sleek leather”, this minimalist scent revolved around Cascalone and Hedione, imparting a radiant jasmine and breeziness which – while pleasant- didn’t induce images of anything at all leathery to my nose.

[I think we should take into account the omission of the complete formula- something sniffers such as ourselves have come to expect ;-)]

 

Modernism by Ilias Ermenidis

Pink pepper and Ambrox.

‘Nuff said.

 

Viocinth by Annie Buzantian

Violet, hyacinth, and orris are the list, tout de suite. The effect is very chypre-like, with that heady green floral we associate with hyacinthine splendor.

 

#2: Playful

Rum Milkshake by Honorine Blanc

Just what it says: milky, boozy, cuddly, affectionate- but not complicated.

 

Pâtisserie by Pierre Negrin

Filled with amaretto and marzipan notes, this is outrageously sweet and sticky, but pretty nonetheless.

 

Pink Deliciousness by Richard Herpin

Orange, strawberry, and vanilla combine to create a plastic-smelling brouhaha.

If I were a tweenie, perhaps I could be persuaded to wear this one?

Utterly synthetic but most certainly playful.

 

# 3: Casual

Drop of Comfort by Pierre Negrin

NOW we gots leather, folks: agarwood [oud !] cade, leather…

Smoky, oily, dark- but muted somehow.

This is how we anticipated the sleek leather to smell!

 

Toasty by Pierre Negrin

Cereal grains, honey, and butter combine to very accurately convey the desired toasty impression..

This feels very like Lostmarc’h Lann-Ael , minus the apple note .

Lovely, simple, comforting.

 

Musk de Rêve by Harry Fremont

If you can’t detect musk [and many of us are unable- don’t feel bad!], THIS will drive you mad !!!

Exaltenone– for sheer warmth, Muscenone Dextro for powdery effect, and Muscone –Laevo [laevo- muscone] for a soapy, slightly bitter naturalness.

All synthetic, all subtle as hell.

I quite enjoyed it 😉

 

#4: Addictive

Black Swan by Honorine Blanc

Biting green pepper, lily of the valley, jasmine: this is more attractive than addictive or dark.

I think that if it were released upon the market, it would do very well.

 

Dark and Stormy by Honorine Blanc

With rum, ginger, and lime on the list, this felt more like a party and less like a ‘dark and stormy night’ at sea- which I suppose was its intent.

I found this delightful and uncluttered, a very wearable scent which would sell well indeed.

 

Part V – Lucid Dreams : The Perfumers’ Vision

 

We enter an enormous room; on the back wall are the names of the particular demonstration, the perfumer, and his fragrant mission.

As one steps up to a fragrance-emitting vessel and looks up, a particular corresponding visual display plays before one’s eyes…

This enables us to utilize several senses at once.

[This sensorial onslaught may be over stimulating for some, but I reveled in it.]

 

#1: Harry Fremont’s   Lucid Dream of Wonder

 

The magic of the rainbow was Mr. Fremont’s intention here, and he presented a very floral, multi-hued transparent fragrance to support this concept.

My overall impression of this very brief experience was one of possible aldehydes, Hedione, and white musks smoothly colliding with multiple seamless florals.

 

#2:Pierre Negrin’s Lucid Dream of Creation

Self-described as “the very energy of our being “, this aromatic encounter felt extremely tonic and citrus-laden, in the best way.

Surely its aim was to uplift, and nothing says uplift like citrus notes and warm hues of yellow and orange.

 

#3: Frank Voelkl’s Lucid Dream of Hope

No need to beat about the bush, my friends- THIS was absolutely spectacular, and my clear favorite, hands down.

Paradisiacal wet tropical florals float atop moist greenery in a bamboo forest laden with island breezes.

Jesus.

Forget about ‘types’ or any other sort of denominations- the freshness and beauty combined with a genuinely natural feel – makes this feel like a true oasis for  the spirit.

 

#4: Honorine Blanc’s Lucid Dream of Floating

“Between Imagining and Awakening”

Ms. Blanc’s vision was fruity, floral, and ozonic, fleshed out with green notes and nestled in white musk.

It struck a balance between headiness and subtlety.

 

Part VI: The Finale, aka The Fragrance Bar

 

The Perfumed Playground, Jungle Gym of Jus [all credit to my beloved spouse B]

Now I find myself back in a well-lit room, facing the delightful Rick [an aspiring young tenor], who’s about to guide me through 24 fragrances grouped into those four categories we introduced earlier.

We’re both pretty enthusiastic; he wants me to lift each perfumed glass cup and tell him how it makes me feel.

Surrounded by all these pretty glass vessels, I feel so PLAYFUL!

Why go for the expected?

I suggest that we try a different technique: I’ll pick up each cup, sniff it, and tell him what I think is in there, who it might appeal to, and other characteristics such as powdery, fruity/floral, etc.

Rick agrees.

What a trip.

Behind the bar, Rick has the cheat sheet.

I’m so preoccupied; I don’t even notice that there is a little pamphlet in front of me with a lot of descriptors in it for each scent and a space for my own notes.

[I didn’t really get a chance to look at it until after I’d returned home from NY]

My guide is so engrossed with our caper that he’s forgotten as well.

So many scents. So much white musk, ambrox. There are screechy hoot-owl aromachemicals in a few of these offerings.

One by one, I explore them, explain their structure and their probable intended demographic. I comment about their marketability.

Some are fantastic; some are rather mundane and ordinary but ‘good for a tight cubicle surrounded by scent-phobic co-workers’, according to Mrs. M. 😉

Some ‘will sell like hotcakes off the shelves’; some are ‘predominantly synthetic and artificial-smelling’, while the rare few are ’exquisite, mostly expensive, quality materials, a good portion of which are botanical’.

My guide checks his cheat sheet and follows my blatherings with interest- while I apologize for sounding like a damn wankeress, just in case 😉

“Do they pay you for this ?“ he inquires- while I laugh myself heartily off my bar stool.

“Hell, no” I reply.

As I ready myself to leave the Sensorium, I make sure that I thank all those remarkably accommodating folks I’ve encountered. They really enhance one’s experience.

In toto: I feel that my time here was well-spent.

It is a very ambitious first effort, rather grand but also a bit tenderly naïve, a sort of Perfume 101 with aspirations.

I hope it continues to grow and develop with time- like a fine perfume.

The potential is most certainly there, waiting to unfold.

 

–Ida Meister, Senior Editor