Ugo Charron of MANE Photo Tristan Gruska
Although Brooklyn is my home now, I grew up in the Sancerre region of France, a beautiful area known for winegrowing and farming – only 2,000 people! My grandparents were farmers, and I would often visit them near Chambord with my little brother and help with hulling peas in the kitchen. Each time I am smelling galbanum I am now transported in time back with my grandmother.
Ugo Charron of MANE at 12 yrs old playing piano with his brother©
Both of my parents worked in education but cultivated their passions in their spare time. For my mother, it’s painting and sculpting, and for my father, it’s folk music. I learned classical piano when I was young and never lost my familiarity for the keyboard, the synth is my instrument of choice now.
Ugo Charron of MANE Cycling in Sancerre vineyards with some friends©
My first encounter with perfume was literary through reading Susskind’s bestseller, Perfume: The Story of a Murder, when I was 14. The novel revealed to me the depths of this new, invisible world and the awareness cultivated an undeniable desire in me to become a composer of scent. I still can’t explain why but I was attracted by chemistry. I luckily realized a couple years later that it was a good way to enter the small world of perfumery. It led me to do intensive studies to be admitted to an engineering school (Classe Preparatoire). It gave me a solid understanding of the scientific side of perfume before I embarked on the creative side. At that moment I knew I needed another degree more focused on fragrances to be able to pursue my dream job. I then joined the Aromas and Fragrances master’s program at the University of Montpellier to solely focus on my passion.
Ugo Charron of MANE at Christophe Laudamiel’s lab©
My first professional experience was at L’Oréal in Paris, where I worked on the final stages of formula stability. It was a first good step but not olfactively creative enough. After tedious efforts to find a position as a trainee, I finally met my first mentor, Christophe Laudamiel through an online conference he was giving at ISIPCA. I sent him a message and he replied. After a long Skype session, he asked me if I was free the week after to travel and take care of an art installation he was showing at Art Basel in Miami. It was November 2016 and I was flying to NY the week after, my first time in the US! I felt immediately drawn to Christophe’s hard work and unlimited creativity and became his trainee for almost 4 years between New York and Berlin. I also had the chance to go to Madagascar to help a factory develop vetiver, patchouli, mint, and geranium essences. He taught me important lessons like smell and feel before creating, and never dilute a strong idea, a prerequisite for all my future artistic endeavors. I remember endless nights working until 1 or 2 am without even noticing it was so late!
Christophe Laudamiel, Saskia Havekes and Ugo Charron accepting the Art and Olfaction award
In 2022, at the World Perfumery Congress, we won an award together for creating Saskia by Grandiflora for the 8th Art and Olfaction Awards: a beautiful gardenia fragrance with petrichor nuances.
Ugo Charron of MANE with Emmanuelle Dancourt at the World Perfumery Congress©
At the same time in Miami, we presented UMEMA with Emmanuelle Dancourt (Editor Elise Pearlstine’s article is a great read here), who has anosmia, a perfume I have developed for her using synesthetic language. It should finally launch this year!
Through my hard times trying to find my way through the industry I also met a few master perfumers that were kind enough to receive me at their office and gave me hope in my quest. I feel extremely grateful and will never thank enough Francis Kurkdjian, Jean-Claude Ellena, Shyamala Maisondieu and Christopher Sheldrake!
In 2020 and in the middle of a pandemic, I joined MANE’s New York office. During lockdown I found myself with the time needed to thoroughly discover MANE’s raw materials. At home alone, the weekly deliveries of new ingredients felt like opening a treasure box. I was in awe of the Jungle Essences™ which immediately transported me to the heart of scents with these truer-than-life fruits. From that moment, the blackcurrant from my native Burgundy no longer had the same profile but existed through the lens of a new world. I also used a huge amount of the Strawberry Jungle Essence™ in Berry+Blanche, a clean strawberry I had the chance to create for Michael Malul London in 2023. From there, the entire MANE community took me in their stride. Claude Dir, Vincent Kuczinski, Véronique Nyberg, Mathilde Bijaoui, Gino Percontino, Ralf Schwieger — great names from both sides of the Atlantic passed on their know-how to me. I feel very lucky to have learned so much through different perfumers from different generations.
I also feel very grateful for the opportunity to work with different brands, two I’d love to showcase here.
Snif Dead Dinosaur ad campaign courtesy of: Ugo Charron of MANE and Snif
The co-founders Bryan and Phil have a playful and exclusive vision for perfumery and I am happy to have been able to create some of the fragrances in their portfolio. For one of their Secret Menu concepts, they requested a gasoline-inspired scent. As someone who loves that smell, I was very moved by the idea. With MANE evaluator Elisa Gueye, I actually went to a gas station to sniff the nozzle and get a fresh, realistic idea for the scent! That’s how Dead Dinosaur was born, one of my first creations on the market and one of my proudest.
SIDAMA courtesy of Gentleman’s Nod
Ugo Charron of MANE on Gentleman’s Nod Sidama: I also had the chance to create several perfumes for Gentleman’s Nod, my latest one being Sidama. It’s all about coffee: roasted, fruity, leathery and a bit chocolatey and a finalist for the 10th Art and Olfaction Awards.
When it comes to a signature style, I think I’m too young to claim one just yet. I’ve been told I tend to add leathery smokiness everywhere with a touch of salty skin feeling. I think your perfume signature is discovered by others (evaluators or the public for instance). It’s a balance of listening to your own taste and other people’s. If you don’t listen, you will never be understood.
Ugo Charron of Mane experiencing perfume on Canva©
When I create, I have two different approaches: When creating a literal fragrance, it’s very important for me to physically feel the ingredient or theme I am working on. Using my other senses and synesthetic bridges helps me feel more details about what I am creating for. If we take the example of Gasoline, I made sure to smell real gasoline, listen to myself as I smelled it and observe my reactions: Am I cold? warm? What am I seeing? It is a round or a sharp shape? What color is it? Is it horizontal, vertical? Afterwards I have a mental walk through my olfactive library where I search for the best ingredients or molecules to reach that emotion, texture or feeling.
If it’s an abstract creation, I create my own literal theme for it and take the same approach. I have an addictive love for MANE’s Pepper Jungle Essence™, reminiscent of those peas I hulled with my grandmother. I also adore Guaiac Wood and Prune Jungle Essences™. For my fragrance compositions, I favor the minimalism of short, well-chiseled formulas. Like the colorful forms of Kandinsky or the melodic lines of Olafur Arnalds. I cultivate a scent eco-system in which the smallest detail can become significant.
COSMIC GARDENS (@cosmic_gardens_official) photo Jill Steinberg
UGO CHARRON OF MANE: OTHER ARTISTIC ACTIVITIES
After moving to the United Stated is when I met Clement Mercet who would become my musical sidekick. Together, in 2019 we formed Cosmic Gardens, an electro duo. Our performances are an immersive experience; combining live music, video mapping and scent diffusion to create a unique language of notes and harmonies to sold out audiences (Lincoln Center in 2022, National Sawdust in 2023 and Amaya’s first sensorial Act in 2024).
Cosmic Gardens at National Sawdust, Brooklyn, 2023
The show is divided into 3 chapters with dedicated visuals, fragrances and live music. The journey starts in the ocean as blue light bathes the stage, the smell of saltwater fills the air, and the music envelopes you like waves. I used MANE’s beautiful Red Seaweed Jungle Essence™ to emphasize the depths of the ocean. Next is a lush, green rainforest with the smell of aromatics and earth (100% biodegradable and carbon renewable), moved by organic rhythms and acoustic guitars. The journey ends with a trip to the cosmos induced by a visual mix of outer space footage, planets, and galaxies paired with the abstract smell of outer space. The twinkling sound of stars completes the experience. Exciting news, we are currently mixing and mastering our new album that will be out in a few months!
I am also collaborating with Cercle, a huge international music media company dedicated to promoting artists and venues. I had the chance to design Golden Hour, their olfactory signature, played at each of their festivals. Their wonderful team came to our office in Levallois to smell different ingredients and after several months of development, Golden Hour was born. We have fragranced the Plaza de Espana in Sevilla with famous DJ Mochakk, Cathedrale Saint Pierre in Geneva with Folamour, and for their festival at the National Air and Space Museum in Paris which has welcomed over 24,000 people. I feel very lucky to fragrance such large events. Gathering people is also one of the goal of perfume!
Synesthetic Patchwork, 2020 by Ugo Charron of MANE
UGO CHARRON OF MANE: ABSTRACT PAINTING
I also began painting during the pandemic. Music, like perfumery, is for me rather cerebral and emotional. Painting is where I look to just let go, it’s something almost mediative. I let myself be guided by my desires, without intellectualizing too much. My mother also likes to paint, but she’s more into realism. I greatly admire her, but I prefer to keep painting as a way to let myself dream.
My advice to anyone looking to become a perfumer:
Develop your network by meeting people from the industry
Work hard and show your talents as much as you can
Put your ego to the side, the job of perfumer is hard, and your work is constantly judged
Trust your instincts but also listen to others.
–Ugo Charron of MANE
Time by Ugo 2020
Some perfumes by Ugo Charron of MANE
Snif-Dead Dinosaur
Snif-Golden Ticket
Snif-Half Baked Pumpkin Smash
Snif-Citrus Circus with Patricia Choux and Gino Percontino
Snif-Invite only
Snif-Big Flirt with Mathilde Bijaoui
Snif-Half Baked Gingerbread Smash
Hince-The Pillow
Cercle Events-Golden Hour Olfactory Signature
Michael Malul -Berry + Blanche
Gentleman’s Nod-Sidama (Finalist 10th AOA independent category)
Gentleman’s Nod-Juniper Reverie with Vince Kuczinski
Gentleman’s Nod-Calabria with Vince Kuczinski
Roan-Mountain Memories
The Zoo-Tubereuse Organique with Christophe Laudamiel (Please read Rachel’s review here)
Grandiflora Saskia with Christophe Laudamiel (winner 8th Art and Olfaction Awards – independent category)
Thanks to the generosity of Saskia Havekes of Grandiflora and to honor Ugo Charron of Mane, we have a 50 ml bottle of Grandiflora Saskia for one registered reader in the USA, Canada, Australia, UK or EU .You must register or your entry will not count. To be eligible, please leave a comment saying with what you found fascinating about Ugo Charron of MANE, his path to perfumery, his artistic and synesthetic approach, if you are familiar with any of the fragrances he signed, and where you live, Draw Closes 5/19/2024
Michelyn’s Note: Grandiflora Saskia was a Top Ten of 2021 for Michelyn and Ermano. Ugo Charron of MANE was Michelyn’s Rising Star of 2022 and UMEMA with Emmanuelle Dancourt and Ugo Charron of MANE her best collaboration.
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