Perfume: The production of scent

When Ann, my sister, worked with large French fragrance companies as a freelance photographer producing films and photos to launch new fragrances, she visited; photographed and filmed various processes of perfume production. She photographed fields of flowers and close-up photos of the natural ingredients making up the fragrance. This included factories that manufactured perfume bottles that were designed to be as beautiful as the scent within them. Many years ago, there were a couple of times that I shadowed Ann, as well as when she was producing and then showing a film depicting the journey of a perfume. It was fascinating and the awe I felt then has been forgotten until now.

The recent articles published here of “Olfaction History” and “Health and Mental Health of Scents” gave a peek into perfumes. We know that scents can transport us to a specific place, evoke memories and shape our moods. It is then not surprising that master perfumers who are known as a “nose” blend natural and synthetic aromas to create scents that tell a story. The CEO of the English perfume company Floral Street (floralstreet.com), Michelle Feeney, says she uses a mood board that depicts the different moods to be created by a new scent. This creative tool uses images, colors, textures and descriptive words to capture the mood and feelings that the fragrance will evoke.