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This year, the composition house’s thirteen perfumers worked on the theme “An American in Paris”. A support conducive to creative freedom and to the praise of so-called “captive” molecules, exclusively developed by the company.
It’s a bit like free time, the recreation of perfumers from the composition house IFF (International Flavors & Fragrances). Initiated in 2009, Speed Smelling consists in giving total freedom to creators each year. An exercise contrary to the “briefs” and constraints (aesthetic, economic, etc.) that govern their daily lives, by allowing them to create a perfume that will not be marketed via traditional networks. Only a limited edition box offered for sale on our online store brings together the fragrances composed for each vintage, thirteen in number this year. The objective is twofold: it is both to highlight the virtuosity of the perfumers and to include in the formulas as much as possible of these so-called « captive » molecules, that is to say molecules developed in exclusive by IFF. The latitude of creation is however limited: in a nod to the roots of the house across the Atlantic, the frame imposed this year was « An American in Paris », and each designer had two months to make his copy. On June 21, the in-house perfumers were able to present the fragrances inspired by this theme to the media and defend their olfactory choices during a seven-minute face-to-face meeting with each journalist present. Hence the name Speed Smelling, in reference to the sessions of speed datingthese interviews between singles punctuated by tight timing…
Heart strokes, love at first sight? Here are our impressions of the 2022 vintage, with the perfumers presented in alphabetical order.
Celine Barel aim for the stars imagining “a perfume white like the moon and round like a planet”. In 2002, IFF and NASA studied the effects of weightlessness on the scent of several roses on board the space shuttle Discovery. A Living (1) Space Rose, recalling this partnership, constitutes the heart of the fragrance. Around it gravitate a new basketball Living with synthetic accents and a base blending an overdose of LMR ambrette absolute, IFF captive musks (Edenolide and Sinfonium) and New Caledonian sandalwood essence. Soft and enveloping.
Nicolas Beaulieu draws a parallel between the prestigious American universities forming the Ivy League (Ivy translating into French as « ivy ») and our European oak groves. His claimed homage to “American green chypres, symbols of 1970s perfumery” is translated by “the duality between a greenness that is both crisp and dark”. In the lead, the Vertonic (captive IFF) fuses. Morocco LMR lentisk absolute brings a fleshier green texture, more « vine ». A hint of animality follows with the narcissus absolute Conscious LMR (grown in Lozère) before the Italian broom absolute warms up all of its honeyed notes. A fragrance with timeless accents.
Caroline Dumur wished to reconcile two visions of » own « : the American “watermelon and cucumber splash style” and the French “more heliotrope and vanilla”. Aldehydes and gourmand in good intelligence? Deal. Captive Opalene propels its citrus notes, LMR polygonum essence and CO extracted pink pepper2 assure the mind » laundry « . Finally, the reassuring delicacy of Tunisia LMR neroli and the marshmallow touch of Iris Ultimate LMR finally draw the cover of this ultra comforting comforter scent.
Anne Flipo surfs on a very delicate green and floral wave. The one initiated in 1966 by Joséphine Catapano, working at IFF and considered the first American perfumer, with her masterpiece Fiji, composed for Guy Laroche. The green register – very broad, alternately spicy, fresh and juicy – unfolds through Tunisia LMR rosemary essence, France LMR clary sage essence or Egyptian geranium essence. With a sensitive and admirable balance, a luminous breath gradually radiates the score with its floral (Extra LMR ylang essence), fruity (coconut accord) and spicy (vanilla bean extract CO2).
Paul Guerlain meet at Saint-Germain des Prés, to share a moment with IFF perfumer Sophia Grojsman. This emphatic bow from a young perfumer to a myth that both inspires and impresses him calls on three main ingredients: isobutyl quinoline (leather notes), aldehyde C-14 (lactone with peach facets ) and iris absolute Ultimate MRL. « Arabica coffee absolute extracted CO2very subtle, completes the setting of a Parisian café”, explains the perfumer. A tribute to femininity, velvety, round and deep.
Nelly Hachem-Ruiz sets back his watch 78 years. Here we are in 1944, the nostrils titillated by Coca-Cola and the blond tobacco of the GI’s cigarettes. The soda accord sparkles, driven by lime essence, LMR fresh ginger essence and Essential LMR cinnamon bark essence. A herbaceous blond tobacco (composed thanks to the essence of fragrant blur) illuminated by the absolute of immortelle LMR emerges from this melee by inflating the pectorals (overdosed AmberXtreme). A beautiful and effective interpretation of the ultra-classic tobacco note.
Jean-Christophe Herault brings together two antagonisms: the raw minerality emanating from the great American spaces (« the flint of the canyons and the flint for the conquering side of firearms ») on the one hand and… the very French sensuality of iris powder. The fire ignites with the sparking scent of the Pyromist, an IFF captive powered in tandem with the pink peppercorn extract CO2 MRL. The carnal concrete of LMR iris makes its way there, escorted by smoky touches of LMR Indonesian patchouli essence and LMR For Life Haitian vetiver essence. Like the echo of a gunshot between two rocks, the whole resounds on a background musky by the Sinfonide.
Juliette Karagueuzoglou settle his account « to two national emblems that have been considered vulgar in France or the United States: Coca-Cola and Opium by Yves Saint Laurent ». The two being connected by cinnamon and vanilla. LMR heart lime essence sparkles like a first sip of Coke, refreshed by the greenness of an IFF captive, the Aquaflora. Saffiano leather (IFF captive) installs a sensuality enhanced by essential LMR cinnamon bark essence and vanilla bean extract CO2 LMR (gourmet) then LMR rectified oak wood essence (with a syrupy facet). Cheeky but so relevant (and moreover, 100% in tune with the imposed theme). Heart stroke.
Delphine Lebeau captures the smell of a very cinematic cliché: “An American has just landed in Paris. Arriving at his hotel, he puts on a polo shirt that smells of laundry and goes down to the bakery to buy some bread.. The role of detergent freshness is jointly ensured by the captive Vertonic and a watery apple accord pimped with aldehydes reminiscent of soap. In superposition, the baguette accord permanently invades the space with great reinforcements of pyrazines and captives Ambertonic and AmberXtreme. But the effect, artistically exciting and crying out for truth, can prove difficult to carry over time with regard to its dosage of pyrazines.
Meabh McCurtin, nostalgic for 1970s American pop culture, steals one of Andy Warhol’s famous paintings of a can of Campbell’s soup – in this case the cream of mushroom soup. Objective: to appropriate the visual artist’s approach by in turn breaking the contours (here olfactory) between daily life and artistic creation. This gourmet mushroom unfolds at the heart of a chypre accord combining Tunisia LMR rosemary and Java LMR vetiver. N°4 LMR heart patchouli offers a wetter vegetal facet, while vanilla pod CO extract2 LMR and oak wood extracted CO2 LMR give the perfume a greedy languor. A confusing and strangely addictive experience.
Domitille Michalon-Bertier summons a vegetal millefeuille inspired by the rediscovery of an IFF captive from 1949, the Verdima. This molecule evoking the tomato leaf is here backed by the camphor facet of the essence of artemisia heart N°2 LMR, with the soft burn of Timur pepper extracted CO2 LMR and the green, patina elegance of Conscious LMR narcissus absolute. Very complex and oscillating between vegetal, fruity and musky, this composition is draped in a veil of mystery through Cashmeran and Ambertonic.
Julien Rasquinet takes over the fruity register in its American version. “I chose the mirabelle plum for its sweet tone and its notes close to melon. I wanted to contain it in a subtly powdery skin fragrance”, summarizes the perfumer. The edifice is dominated by a mirabelle plum accord coated with lactones and Tunisia LMR orange blossom absolute. The fresh, powdery and iridescent effect is provided by the Sinfonide. A very legible, solar and regressive fruitiness, like a childhood memory.
Dominique Ropion makes an observation: green notes fascinate perfumers on both sides of the Atlantic. “Rather acetals and galbanum in France and Triplal, an IFF captive from the 1950s, for the United States”. The perfumer has combined the classicism of green (Galbanum Afghanistan LMR essence) and fruity (raspberry and lychee, but also citrus) notes with the more modern vibe of AmberXtreme and Cashmeran. The floral facet deployed by LMR sambac jasmine absolute punctuates the whole « with a touch of French elegance ». A seductive game of remanences between the two continents, the past and the present.
Chaining in a little over an hour and a half thirteen perfume discoveries while listening to their creators describe their intentions, that is not trivial. The exercise almost makes you dizzy. It turns out to be just as pleasing when one rediscovers the compositions after the fact, in peace, by re-reading his notes. With a few rare exceptions, first impressions are confirmed, even several weeks later. And we are waiting to see which fragrances, perhaps reworked, could join the shelves of perfumeries in the coming months.
(1) This process invented by IFF consists in capturing an odor in situ, on the principle of a digital photograph, by decoding its components in order to reconstitute them artificially.
Speed Smelling Box “An American in Paris” by IFF, 10 x 11 ml, €150 with booklet
Limited edition of 50, available for pre-sale at shop.bynez.com
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