Mackenzie Reilly at the Fragrance Foundation Awards 2019
Preface: Our Young Perfumer Series began almost six years ago to the day on April 3, 2014, with Cecile Zarokian. My goal was to shine a light on the next generation of classically trained olfactive artists. Editor Ermano Picco recognized perfumer Mackenzie Reilly as “A Rising Star” in our Best of CaFleureBon 2019 awards. “She’s not only talented, she loves connecting with nature and giving her own twist to classic accords, especially with unexpected mineral brilliance. I believe she will bring a new touch to American perfumery in the coming years.” This fascinated me; an Italian editor who was so aware of an young American perfumer… so I reached out to the creative director of Maison D’ Etto, Brianna Lipovsky (today April 7, is her birthday) to learn more about Mackenzie Reilly. I am so glad I did. –Michelyn Camen, Editor in Chief
Mackenzie finding flowers in NYC’s West Village; Mackenzie grew up in New York
Ever since I can remember, I have always loved scent and felt deeply connected to it. The smell of the earth after rain, picking blackberries in the forest, firewood burning in the winter, the bottle of Shalimar on my mother’s vanity… However, I didn’t even realize that a perfumer was even a job title until I was eighteen years old. At that time, in America (even in New York, where I grew up) there was not a lot of public awareness about this industry. Nevertheless, I was always very creative, and thought I would pursue a career in music, film, or art. That is, until the day I discovered there were artists whose jobs it were to create these beautiful scents I loved so much; who had the power to bottle memories and write vivid stories through olfactive landscapes. After that, to become a perfumer was my only goal.
I never had a straight path into perfumery – I didn’t study chemistry, or attend ISIPCA like so many of my colleagues. I was drawn to scent from a different angle, and instead used my college years to focus on the anthropology of scent and how it shaped the cultures, religions, and language development of various African tribes. I loved the stories of ancient Egypt, of incense, the spice routes, and the idea that the passing of time could be marked and measured by the scents of the seasons. I studied the scents I discovered in nature, food, travel, and the olfactive memories of past experiences, much more than I obsessed over the history of traditional perfumery. My love of culture, botany, and anthropology shaped that focus for me and continues to influence my creative process.
Mackenzie Reilly with Master Perfumer Carlos Benaim
An unorthodox approach and a lot of conviction eventually landed me a job as an assistant to the Creative Director of IFF New York in 2010. At that point I had applied for over 100 positions in the fragrance world, but never the thought of giving up. Once I was at IFF, I worked on the sensory team, and then in fragrance development, before landing a coveted spot at the IFF perfumery school. I trained for years in New York, Singapore, and The Netherlands before returning to New York as a Junior Perfumer where I was mentored by the legend and Master Perfumer Carlos Benaim and later the very talented VP Perfumer Jean-Marc Chaillan.
Carlos Benaim taught me to work with short, clean formulas, and to always know the exact role that each ingredient is playing in your composition. If you can’t justify its presence, remove it! He also taught me the methodical approach of trying each ingredient one by one, as a learning exercise to develop your palate. When we work together, if I use a specific type of sandalwood, for example, he will occasionally ask me “why this one?” and if I can give a clear answer, he always accepts it. Carlos is very open-minded and inquisitive, and I have learned a lot from watching the joy and curiosity that are always present when he creates.
Mackenzie Reilly With Sophia Grojsman
I was also lucky enough to spend time with Sophia Grojsman during the end of her career at IFF. Sophia is an absolute legend and character, and always had bits of wisdom for me. I was still in school at the time, and I used to bring my creations up to her office, and she would smell with me and give me advice. She always pushed me to create with conviction, and choose the ingredients that I love, and to work with them again and again. She would say that this is how you build your signature, in part through structural style, but largely through your beloved ingredients that you come to know very well, like old friends. She would create little accords, very powerful, very signed, and use them on different structures, to different effects. She called them her “little gadgets” and this way of working is part of the reason it is so easy to identify a fragrance crafted by Sophia. No matter how diverse the fragrances are, they just smell like her! I think this is a sign of a truly great artist.
Narcisse headspace, Aumont-Aubrac, France
Just as I was beginning my career as a perfumer in NYC, I strayed off the traditional path, and requested to move to Grasse, the birthplace of perfumery in the south of France, to work at our naturals facilities at LMR (Laboratoire Monique Remy). I had created a thesis and a project around the research of flowers and the fluctuation in their olfactive emissions throughout the day, night, and growing season, as influenced by pollinators and environmental conditions.
Rose harvest in LMR’s Test Field, Grasse, France
I spent one year there, not competing on commercial projects (a move considered by some to be risky for a first-year perfumer), but doing research instead. Studying these natural plants very closely, hand-making my own absolutes, and spending my days in the field and the lab reviewing GC- MS analysis provided the experience and knowledge that would become the foundation of my identity as a perfumer and lover of naturals. This work has greatly influenced my use of botanicals, my understanding of their nuances, and my love of their complexities and mystery. Sometimes I’ll go very early in the morning to the Union Square Farmer’s Market in NYC, and once in a while you will see some very famous chefs walking around inconspicuously, sniffing tomatoes or tasting radishes for their bite. I think of my time in the fields as the perfumery equivalent of that; recognizing the immense value of knowing your ingredients intimately and at the source.
Performing a Headspace with Caswell Massey at Yellowstone National Park, Montana
I started working again on commercial briefs in 2018, and have since been lucky to work with incredible brands, from the large prestige fragrance companies, to niche brands like Masque Milano, (will be released in 2020) A Lab on Fire, Maison d’Etto, and Caswell Massey, and International brands in Asia, South America and the Middle East. I love the mixture of the fast-paced, competitive nature of the large projects, and the nuanced, intimate and highly-creative nature of the more avant-garde niche projects. Each new brief is a new universe to discover, and I always find myself learning new things and am endlessly inspired by my clients’ visions. Whether exploring the equestrian world with Maison d’Etto, or traveling to Yellowstone National Park with Caswell Massey to capture the scents of endangered flowers (without touching or harming them), there is always an incredible adventure on the horizon.
Perfumer Mackenzie Reilly Celebrating the launch of Maison d’Etto’s Macanudo at The Future Perfect in NYC
How I create:
I’m a very visual person and tend to think about fragrance in architectural terms. When I approach the creation of a fragrance structure, I conceptualize in terms of the space it occupies in the air. Not necessarily sillage, but more of a 3-D depiction which involves texture and sometimes color as well. I always do my first sketches by hand, never on the computer. Working with a pen as opposed to a keyboard feels much more intuitive to me, and my thoughts definitely flow better that way. I draw the formula like this, with ingredients scattered where I see them in space, sized proportionally, quantities noted. Then I put this into digital formula software so my assistant can prepare the trial for me to smell. From here I tend to work more on the computer as I develop and fine-tune. I do always go back to the page, however, when a big directional change is needed, or if I feel stuck.
Harvesting Narcissus with a Traditional Comb, Aumont-Aubrac, France
Another way I work is in sort of a two-phased approach. In the beginning of a project, I think it’s super important to have a strong, clear vision, and a ton of conviction about where you see the fragrance going. It’s very hard to work without this clear vision, and if this is missing, the development tends to idle, and the process can feel aimless, which is very uncomfortable. Once I have a strong vision in my mind, I work until a certain point, where the fragrance develops a personality or identity of its own. The second phase happens now, where instead of ‘telling’ the fragrance what to do, I start to ‘listen’ to the fragrance, very introspectively, and it will start to tell me what it needs. It’s almost like the composition gets a mind of its own, and you have to trust it. Sometimes it surprises you!
Mackenzie with Luna at the Lavender Harvest, Valensole, France
I am now based in NYC, but still go back and forth frequently to Grasse. My first time in the South of France was love-at-first-sight, and I find the olfactive landscape there to be irresistible. Being close to the fields and the first steps of production has bound me to the craft of perfumery in a way that is now irreplaceable. I hope to continue to grow as a perfumer with a deep understanding of naturals, as I believe nature is the greatest artist and our greatest teacher.
–Mackenzie Reilly, IFF
All photos courtesy of Mackenzie, IFF and Maison d’Etto. Illustration by Massimo Alfaoili
Wins by Mackenzie Reilly
Illustration of A Lab on Fire California Snow by our friend and illustrator Massimo Alfaoili
2017
A Lab on Fire: California Snow
Sana Jardin: Berber Blonde (with Carlos Benaim)
Sana Jardin: Savage Jasmine (with Carlos Benaim)
2018
A Lab on Fire: Hossegor
2019
Avon: Far Away Glamour (with Jean-Marc Chaillan & Veronica Casanova)
Caswell Massey: Yellowstone – Lake
Caswell Massey: Yellowstone – Mammoth
Caswell Massey: Yellowstone – Tower Fall
With Nacho Figueras at the Launch of his Fragrance Collection at Bergdorf Goodman
Ignacio Figueras Collection: Palm Beach
Thanks to the generosity of Maison D’ Etto’s Creative Director and founder, Brianna Lipovsky who is sending our readers a bright light during these dark times we have one 60 ml bottle of Macanudo for one registered reader in the USA (be sure to register or your comment will not count). To be eligible, tell us what you learned about Mackenzie Reilly, her path to perfumery and if you have tried any of her fragrances or Maison d’Etto. Draw closes 4/13/2020
Follow Mackenzie Reilly @nascentperfumer on Instagram to trail along her journey as a perfumer, both in the lab and in the fields.
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