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The Fragrance Alliance Network will soon celebrate its first anniversary. It has quickly become New York City’s premier destination to learn, create, develop a brand, or immerse oneself in the joy of olfaction. Their series of extensive educational programs delves deep into the nuances of fragrance, understanding, and creation, and offers various levels of study, encouraging collaboration and mentorship. In addition to the classes, Special Events are a part of the itinerary.
Ugo Charron New York City Fine Fragrance Perfumer at MANE
The Fragrance Alliance Network Creators Series celebrates the fragrance industry’s most inspiring creators. Its inaugural featured Isabelle Larignon, and for the second, perfumer Pierre Bénard Ségu. For the third in the series, Ugo Charron was featured. Ugo Charron is a nontraditional perfumer who has amalgamated the disciplines of fragrance and sound and developed a distinct language of notes, harmonies, and emotions through synesthesia, redefining the art of scent. During the evening, Ugo shared his creative journey, from discovering the invisible world of perfumery. The evening highlighted three of his collaborations: Snif, UMEMA, and Cosmic Gardens. Daisy Bow, Ph.D., Perfume History Researcher -Educator and part-time assistant professor of French at the Fashion Institute of Technology and the New School in New York City, moderated the event, held on April 4, 2025.
Daisy Bow, Ph.D., Moderator, and Ugo Charron, Fine Fragrance Perfumer NYC for MANE (Daisy’s Questions are bolded)
The hour-long session, which included a Q&A portion, was comprehensive. Ugo stated that his first encounter with perfume was through Susskind’s book, Perfume: The Story of a Murder, when he was 14. The novel fascinated him because it was very descriptive. I was still very young, so I did some chemistry to start, which led me to engineering school. So I had that to fall back on. Was anyone in your family in the perfume industry? No. What was their reaction? Well, like, oK! No pressure from them. So, what steps did you take in the beginning to become a perfumer? I did not know it was so difficult. I succeeded by sending 200 emails to perfumers, and many wrote me back. Of those I met five. I read that your grandparents were farmers, and your parents are educators and also artists. So, how does that affect the way you approach creation, sharing what you do? I had a very stable family that gave me the opportunity to do this without any pressure. Do you have a particular style that people can tell is yours? I don’t think so. The style of the perfumer is more about how to listen to what people want. There are some ingredients that I like more than others. I use them as tools, even if I do not like some. You must put your taste aside, or else you will not get much work. In the US, everything is so heavy and sweet. Do you feel that doing this type of work makes you a better listener or observer in other parts of your life? I don’t know. I like to observe people.
Fragrance Alliance Network event participants
So let’s talk about some of the current projects you are working on. You have been working with Snif, a brand that primarily deals with direct-to-consumer. How did this collaboration begin? So I work at MANE, a fragrance house, and they are one of MANE’s clients. They are doing luxury perfumes. When I started there, I began participating in the briefs. I worked with MANE evaluator Elisa Gueye. Tell us what is a perfume evaluator. A perfume evaluator guides the perfumer in the creation. They are the link between the client and the consumer.
Mouillettes
They elevate the creation. It is very challenging. What was the first fragrance you worked on for Snif? Dead Dinosaur (2022). It was an interesting brief. It was all about gasoline. It involved smelling nozzles at gas stations! What is a brief? A project. They ask perfumers to answer those briefs. It is a completion both internally and externally. What do you think of first when you read a brief? Am I creating something that is very new or in the realm of something I know already? If it’s new, I take my keyboard and figure out what ingredients I have in my mind that would lead to it. What ingredients make me think about it? The raw ingredients. Tell us about SNIF Me. It’s a very sexy, skin-like, very musky. Here I used Orcanox™, which is upcycled. (created through a biotechnological process from sclareol, a compound derived from the waste product of clary sage distillation. It is considered a vegan and upcycled alternative to natural ambergris). So you have a few raw materials you used in this fragrance. Besides Orcanox™, there is Sublimolide (MANE), a captivating macrocyclic musk, mirroring the natural ambrettolide found in ambrette seed.
UMEMA courtesy of Ugo
Daisy: Tell us a little about UMEMA, the other fragrance you brought. This was a collaboration. How did it come to be?
It began thanks to synesthesia. It is a neurological phenomenon mixing different senses in your brain. Approximately one percent of the population equates numbers or words with colors. Like 7 will be red. I know when I go to the chiropractor. I see shades when I get touched in certain points when I’m really relaxed. As a perfumer, I think we use synthetic language to create. We don’t have a proper language to talk about scents. Like, is it warm or cold? In the case of UMEMA, I created that I created it for Emmanuelle Dancourt, whom I met on LinkedIn, who has anosmia. She was doing a podcast on synesthesia at the time. So after the podcast, she said let’s do a perfume together. I said ok, but you will never be able to smell it. We did a lot of workshops relating to the other senses, like taste (she can taste). She can taste. Umami, which has a taste of mushroom, soy sauce, and cheese. So, I created an accord around umami. MSG can’t smell it, but you can taste it. It is a bit salty and smoky. 100 percent of the proceeds will support anosmia.org in Europe and WTSA in the US, organizations dedicated to aiding those with anosmia.
Cosmic Gardens concert poster
Daisy asked UGO about his Brooklyn-based French duo Cosmic Gardens. Clément Mercet and Ugo Charron met through a friend’s introduction five years ago. Originally, it was only music, and later we incorporated scent. It’s about scent and sound. Visual elements. Connect people to the music and their scents. The show is a multi-sensory experience where indie electronic music, immersive visuals, and narrative scents come together in different chapters. Each chapter is a different universe. We have Cosmic Gardens candles here, which is CHAPTER II – Forest Symphony Op. 26. One of the ingredients, Cypress, is a woody natural ingredient I use a lot in men’s fragrance. Merch is big in the music world, but not enough in the olfactory world! Visuals, we collaborated with two friends. -UGO
Daisy: You do so much. You are an advocate, a musician, a chemical engineer, and you are a perfumer, but you describe yourself as a minimalist. This sounds like a maximalist! Why call yourself a minimalist? I think it’s the marketing (much laughter).
Thank you, Daisy Bow, for your knowledge and ability to draw out the best in perfumers.
Bookending the event, the Fragrance Alliance hosted cocktails and nibbles for the guests.
Umema can be purchased online at PERFUMARIE, The World Taste & Smell Association, and the Museum of Food & Drink (mofad.org). One hundred percent of the proceeds benefit the World Taste & Smell Association and anosmie.org in the EU.
Editor’s Note: Congratulations to Ugo Charron on his promotion to NYC Fine Fragrance Perfumer at Mane
Hernando Courtright ~ Senior Events Contributor and Brand Ambassador
All Photos by Hernando of ÇaFleureBon unless otherwise stated: ©.
Please read more articles on CaFleureBon:
Young Perfumers: Ugo Charron of MANE
UMEMA Perfume (Ugo Charron of MANE and Emmanuelle Dancourt) 2024
Tasting Scent and Touching Fragrance: A Perfume for an Anosmic
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