Fragrance Workshop
- Melissa Williams
- Mar 12, 2018
- 2 min read
In our seminar today we had a group workshop, creating scents with the Experimental Perfume Club. We learnt about their layers which are compiled in a pyramid style structure, with 3 differing areas. The first being the Top note which is the most volatile/fleeting. It has a hook which intrigues and gives an instant impression of the scent. The second is the Heart note(mid) which is the signature in the scent, it holds all the most important elements of the overall smell. Finally is the Base note, deep in nature it roots the scent making it last so it's the least volatile. These layers are revealed over time, hence why fragrance can seem to change throughout the course of the day.
Emmanuelle, the founder of the fragrance company stated that the 2 most important things to keep in mind when creating is your brief and the balance of the scent. We created our fragrance brief of 'minimal, fresh, and unisex' to suit our fragrance brand story of athletic/lifestyle. Our brand will come from a background of strong brand ethics focusing on sustainability/conservation, veganism and body image/confidence. We wanted to tell our brand story through the scent, so we chose 3 top accords; Floral, Oriental, Citrus and 1 accessory accord; Forgere. Each accord brings a different dynamic to the overall fragrance. Firstly to bring freshness we added the top note, Citrus accord (Orange, Lemon); sharp, zesty, and uplifting. Next we added Floral accord (Jasmine, Tuberose) a mid note ; natural, fresh, and botanical.We then added another mid note, Fogere/Aromatic accord (lavender, Thyme); masculine, plant-based, and natural. Finally we added the base, Oriental (Vanilla, Labanum); gentle, powdery, and sophisticated. The accords we chose worked well together as we were able to strike balance between each note. However, this balance only works after a couple of minuets as the Fogere accord we used had a very strong lavender scent. If we were to re-make the fragrance I think we would use less of this accord to strip back the 'fresh' element a bit. Overall, I feel the scent we produced did represent our brand story and concept. We wanted a unisex smell and found that the balance between fresh and more masculine scents creates this.
An interesting point made by Emmanuelle during the workshop was not to assign genders to scents. Consumers may not identify with an assigned gender and therefore scent. 'Masculine' and 'feminine' scents shouldn't be isolated to their corresponding genders as this could isolate consumers. In the perfume industry not many retailers take into account that consumers can appreciate scents from each respective gender. During the workshop for example, I preferred the Woody accord more than the Citrus. When describing the scents I noticed everyone was referring to the fruity/floral scents as 'feminine' and the more woody/aromatic scents as 'masculine'. My group and I want to see if there is a way to fuse both together to from one scent that all genders, conforming or not will love.
I thought the workshop was really helpful in making the brand story become a reality. It forced us to deconstruct our brand story, strip it right back back to a few key words corresponding to scent and then re-build with balance.
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