Linda Sivircan award winning perfumer of Parallax Olfactory Nimbis and co-owner of Capsule Parfumerie photo collage via Hernando and @parallexolfactory

Capsule Parfumarie was founded in 2012 by Linda Sivrican along with her business partner and husband, Mike Sivrican. As the perfumer and formulator of Capsule Parfumarie, she began composing and formulated a range of small-batch, hand-blended, premium scents which has now grown to eight independent, niche fragrances brands. I met Linda at the trade show Capsule in New York City in 2016 and then her partner, Mike Sivrican the following year at the same show.

Mike and Linda Sivrican at the Capsule Parfumerie photo by Hernando©

A year later while in Los Angeles, I was invited to their recently opened boutique Orris Perfumery (now renamed Capsule Parfumarie) on Melrose Blvd. in West Hollywood for some libations, shop talk, and of course some sniffing. In 2020 Linda won the Art and Olfaction Awards, Artisan Category for Parallax Olfactory NIMBIS from her future-forward other worldly Parallax collection.

Hernando: First off, congratulations on  The Art & Olfaction 2020 Artisan Award! 

Linda Sivrican: Thank you so much.

Hernando: Did you feel when you created Parallax Olfactory NIMBIS it had the potential to win an Art and Olfaction Award?

 

Linda’s golden pear via @parallaxolfactory

Linda Sivrican: This one felt different. I wasn’t creating it to win an award. I submitted a few different fragrances that I had released in 2019. Two from this line and two from another. It depends on where the judges are and what they are looking for, how they are feeling at the moment. It’s hard to predict what might capture their attention. I was wondering how they would respond to it. I was really surprised.

Hernando: What did it mean to you and the brand personally and professionally to have Parallax Olfactory NIMBIS become a 2020 WINNER in The Art and Olfaction Awards, Artisan Category?

Linda: Personally, it was very emotional for me. Art and Olfaction was an organization that I was first introduced to. But before meeting Saskia Wilson Brown in 2012 I had only been working with essential oils. I took my first accord class and was introduced to synthetics. It opened up a whole new world for me. Perfuming is a little bit of a solitude craft. Kinda by yourself and it can be lonely. To be able to connect with others with something I created felt extremely rewarding. Winning the Art and Olfaction Award felt kind of surreal because it’s blind tested so it’s about the juice and about your creative brief and nothing else. So to be judged on those merits was personally very rewarding.

 

stock photo apped by Michelyn

Hernando Courtright: You describe Parallax Olfactory Nimbis as “the scent of falling meteors.” Where did that idea come from?

Linda: I created this to mimic the scent of falling meteors. It’s meant to be fleeting. Just like a meteor, it does not linger. It’s not citrusy or has a bright punch to it. It’s a mellow scent. You see it and it fades away. It’s soft. It was done for that purpose. That’s the effect I went for. It’s not supposed to last eight hours. Proportion and composition create the structure of a fragrance. The scent of Nimbis is foreign, you can’t put your finger on it. Comfortable but peculiar. I was using experimental accords with ideas that are dreamed up in space. The Violet is pretty ethereal and leans more feminine. It’s an abstract floral not from earth.

 

Parallax Olfactory Collection by Hernando©

 

Tell us about the Parallax Olfactory Collection.  

Linda: Well, it’s something Mike had been asking me for the last two years. Something forward and progressive. With Parallax Olfactory I wanted to create a brand that’s more abstract and the opposite of the usage of materials. It was very challenging.  I had to work with a completely new palate and get out of my comfort zone using a lot of niche synthetic materials I had not worked with before. I forced myself to learn the nuances of each one and see how they react once they are combined. A lot of synthetics are aggressive and there are weird smells too. Parallax Olfactory is the newest collection and it launched in late 2019. There are six scents in the collection.

PAR ·AL· LAX  OL·FAC·TO·RY /ˈperəˌlaks/ älˈfakt(ə)rē /, “the effect whereby the position or direction of an object appears to differ when viewed from different points of view”  “relating to the sense of smell”

Where in the hierarchy of your fragrances does Nimbis Parallax rank (personally/ professionally)?

Linda: Within the Parallax Collection it is not my favorite, that would be Nudus. I created it because I thought other people might find it intriguing. It is in my Top Ten because it’s something normally I would not have created for myself. Nimbis is a fragrance that people discover when shopping for our other better-known brands and they find it so different and are pleasantly surprised.

Hernando: How long did it take to create?

Linda:  It took a while because I was getting familiar with the materials The prep works is extensive but once I got the concept of the brand in my mind I normally am inspired by material and I create from there but for this, I came up with the idea in my head and I was finding the materials to fit it. So it was the opposite way for me to create. I’m normally inspired by raw material and an idea comes from smelling it. This was the exact opposite. I had an idea in my mind and I was chasing that idea.

Hernando: How different was it working with synthetics in your lab?

Linda: Yes, very different. I had to take many more breaks. Some of them made me really sick to my stomach. Made my head spin. I had to intoxicate myself to lose myself as well as lose myself in the process to take me out of my normal state of mind. I wanted to be high when I was creating this collection. I was listening to strange trancey music during this time period. When I’m normally creating my other brands I’m drinking tea! Very serene. This one I was on edge.

 

Capsule Parfumarie boutique interior

 

Hernando:  Do you still create all the scents in your lab at the boutique?

Linda: Yes, but I now have a studio at home where it’s quiet. Normally the midnight hours through the am hours are the best time.

Hernando: Explain to our readers the eight house brands and their differences. 

Linda: Capsule Parfumarie is our store and our overall arching company but everyone one of the eight brands has its own identity. They are like microbrands. They have their own DNA, their own stories. It shows our range. You definitely would not put a Parallax scent into another collection. It feels very different. There is a disconnect if you try to mix one of the fragrances into another collection. They all work together within their own collection. Besides Parallax Olfactory, the others are the plant-powered Fiele Fragrances, Litoralle Aromatica which captures the enchanting power of the sea, the metropolis-inspired homage to LA Capsule Parfums, Saguara Perfumes which is inspired by the California desert, the sensual Musc et Madame, Aureum Botanica which is inspired by the flower market in spring, and Orris Exclusives which are limited edition collaboration with fellow artists one batch perfumes.

Linda and Mike Sivrican of Capsule Parfumerie 

Hernando: How much time does running a boutique take away from creating fragrances?

Linda: Luckily Mike is a strong partner and he handles all of the business developments, sales, and operations. But I’m the only one that makes batches and creates the compositions so it does slow down my creative work. No one else can do it. Making batches is very technical and super boring.

Hernando: You have impressive write-ups in some high-profile fashion and beauty newsletters and magazines such as L’OFFICIEL, VOGUE, BYRDIE, COOL HUNTING, ZOE REPORT, DORÉ, ALLURE, and the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, to name a few but very little fragrance blog coverage. Why do you think that is?

Linda: The PR companies we have hired have come from beauty or fashion, not fragrance. We are not carried in department stores or specialty stores that carry only fragrances. The stores that carry us are more fashion and lifestyle. I came from fashion and Mike from fashion manufacturing so we are not fragrance people, we’re really lifestyle people that are actually making fragrances. We can relate to the direction we are going more so than heavily into fragrance enthusiasts and blogs and perfumeries. That’s not our world and that’s not where we shop either. We love working with small boutiques and founders rather than corporate. We are a brand that not many fragrance enthusiasts know who we are. We are an under-the-radar brand. More lifestyle and fashion-forward.

Linda: I have a question for you, have you smelled  Parallax Olfactory NIMBIS ? I’m curious, does it smell like the “scent of falling meteors” to you?

Hernando: Yes,  I’ve worn it off and on since then. I have it on now. You hit the mark with that descriptor.  When I read it became so clear. It’s very ethereal, airy, and of the moment.

Scent truth: Linda’s Vietnamese name is Thuy Huong which translates to ‘gentle fragrance.’ She suspects her mother — herself a floral designer and chef — must have known that her daughter’s destiny would entwine with the world of perfume. –Hernando Courtright, Senior Event Contributor and Brand Ambassador.

All photos by Hernando Courtright© and courtesy of @parallaxolfactory unless otherwise credited. Hernando received a bottle of NIMBIS

Thanks to Linda Sivrican we have a 1 fl oz | 30 ml bottle of NIMBIS for a registered reader US only. You can register here. To be eligible please leave a comment with what you found interesting in this Behind the Bottle with Linda Sivrican and her award-winning Parallax Olfactory NIMBIS. Draw closes September 13, 2021.

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