Awash with the scent of summer? Wish you could bottle it? Or simply searching for the elixir of love ... Céline Guivarc’h has been making fragrances with Galway’s Cloon Keen since 2014.
I read that book Perfume. Do I have to have an amazing sense of smell?
“The truth is you can train your nose,” says Guivarc’h. “The sense of smell is the most forgotten one, and yet it is one of the most important. We remember more of what we smell than what we see or hear,” she adds, recalling the childhood aroma of Nina Ricci’s L’Air du Temps on her mother’s pillow.
Train your nose? How?
Smell training is actually a thing, and should be interesting for people who lost the sense following Covid. Find techniques and tips, including how to make smell training kits at abscent.org. “Always be curious,” says Guivarc’h, who adds that passion and interest help, which is true of all creative pursuits. Growing up she visited famous fragrance houses in Grasse, and went on to study chemistry, before taking a master’s in perfumery in Versailles.
Perfumes fit for a king? I’m just a beginner
Point taken. We’re here to have fun and see if we like it. “There is so much to know,” agrees Guivarc’h, who added to her knowledge by studying the raw materials and analysing what goes into some of the perfumes of the world. Understanding the background to botanicals is another avenue of exploration.
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That sounds like a lot
With about 3,000 raw materials available, it certainly is. Guivarc’h says that there are 300 common ingredients, and you could cut that down a bit more too. Prices range from synthetics at about €4 a pop to up to €10,000 a kilo for rose oil, and €30,000 a kilo for Agarwood oil, also known as Oud. Luckily, you’re not going to need that much starting out.
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Where do we start?
Cloon Keen’s Margaret Mangan says that a perfume can begin with an idea, such as Énbarr, inspired by wild horses and featuring that costly Oud, with hints of leather. Leather is a surprisingly common perfume accord: a combination of ingredients that adds up to more than the sum of their parts; famous accords include chypre and fougère. Other times, she says, they’ll start with an intriguing ingredient.
What makes the perfect perfume?
Creating a perfume can take a few weeks, a year or more. All are a combination of top notes – which you smell first – heart notes, then the base notes, which linger longest. Guivarc’h says it’s part chemistry and part art, and that the last but most important ingredient is your own skin. All perfume smells differently on different skin.
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I’m dying to know: tell me about the love potion thing
“I’d say yes,” says Guivarc’h, “but what acts like a love potion to me might not for you. There are some smells that are addictive,” she adds. “Like vanilla.” There is also a distinction between the acres of designer and celebrity fragrances, and the more creative and arty originals; so you never know, you might yet find your catnip out there.
My mind (and nose) is blown! What next?
You could try a one-day Natural Perfume Course from west Cork’s Waters and Wild, for €195, watersandwild.com; pick up a perfume creation kit, such as Galimard’s, which includes 18 base scents for €89, galimard.com; or go for broke and start from scratch with a home distillation set to make your own oils at €57.99 from Vevor, eur.vevor.com. Or head to Cloon Keen, for some significant scented inspiration, cloonkeen.com.
