perfume, mirror of the creative universe of its creator
Today, well… today is an interview day. Sort of. I will get a visit from a journalist writing for one of the most influential newspaper here, in the German part of Switzerland. We agreed to chat and discuss in my house, where you find my “atelier”, and not in the factory “tauerville”. I proposed both locations, but the more creative, fluid, environment of where some scented things actually happen was more interesting.
So there we go.
Home of the many little and larger aluminum bottles. I have quite some bottles there, in the atelier, as I do not always use up all reagents that I have in stock for production. Usually, some 10, 50 or 100 ml are left in the aluminum bottles, depending on the raw material (almost nothing left for rose oils, more left in iso E Super bottles). Sometimes, I transfer part of it into 30 ml dark flint glass. Sometimes I just let the aromachemicals and naturals there where they are: In their aluminum bottles.Thus, my bench where I mix experimental scents often looks like a chaotic assemblage of various bottles in all sizes and shapes.
The journalist will do a feature about niche perfume(rs) in Zurich, Switzerland, and so we will talk about artisanal perfumery, niche, and perfumers. Perfumers= the guy and girls designing scents. Usually over months, sweating, weaking up in the night with ideas, not sleeping well because the ideas proof wrong, and feeling uneasy and unhappy until they see a light on the horizon.
Actually, the concept of a PERFUMER, in my little world, becomes more and more important. I think it is not only “a nice gesture” to tell the world who the perfumer behind a scent actually is . I think it is just fair and honest. Especially in “niche”. This is the comparison that I used the other day when discussing this “phenomen” in niche: It is like getting a painter to paint a picture for your living room. Once you got the picture made for you: You do not hang it up and pretend that it is your creation just because you told what you wish to see painted. Right?
Anyhow: We will talk a little bit about me and the creation of perfumes which is always nice, on one hand, on the other hand, always difficult, too. The world of perfumery, how I create, how my fluid, creative energy flows, and why some things are the way they are: This is difficult to explain. Usually, I refer to my being independent as one reason why. You know: No external money, no big buddies telling me what to do when and for whom. Or I refer to the raw materials. You know: (almost) no limits there. And even if my scents are 100% oud free (agarwood free), they tend to be sort of expensive… well , I guess you get the message.
But, here again: Looking at the details, things become complicated. You can easily create rubish with the most expensive materials. Well, maybe it is better to say: Using expensive naturals and synthetics may translate into scents that speak a different language. But still: You can still get rubish in different languages. So, it is not only about using expensive raw materials, partly yes, but not only.
I guess this is part of the mysterium behind some perfumes: They are created with a few dozens of ingredients, all added in well defined portions, following a recipe. The result is bigger then the sum of the ingredients and is a mirror of the creative universe of its creator.