Parfumeur createur John Stephen is all set to create bespoke fragrances for Indians, discovers Saimi Sattar
So which perfume are you wearingIJ” “It is my own skin essence, especially crafted for me.” Can you imagine having this conversationIJ No, this is not out of a sci-fi movie nor an exchange from the future. For this is possible right here and right now — for a price of Rs 5 lakh.
For this service, a company called 3003 BC has collaborated with parfumeur createur, John Stephen, the maker of some of the most recognisable and successful fragrances for individuals and brands across the world. As the owner of the Cotswold Perfumery, a traditional British fine perfumery shop that creates ultra high-end custom scents, Stephen has invented fragrances for the veritable who’s who of British aristocracy. And if you do get a bespoke perfume, you would be in good company along with Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philips, Commander Tim laurence and other members of the royal family as well as celebrities like Elton John, Pierce Brosnan, Ozzy Osbourne and Yoko Ono.
Despite the economic slowdown, Anil Panda, co-founder, 3003 BC feels that it is the right time to start this luxury service, for the ultra-rich are still queuing up to buy fancy cars and pampers.
Panda got into fine fragrances by sheer chance when he smelt them and felt that he had experienced nothing like that before. “That led to curiosity and made me question as to what is it and why is it different from any other brand. My research led to John and we got together to create exclusive perfumes for Indians,” he says.
Adds Stephen, “We tend to do it in places where the market is sophisticated and where people have high disposable income.” He believes that people in such markets quickly move on in search of niche market which can be much more specialised. “After brand name fragrances, people want bespoke fragrances,” he says.
Of course, there is a method to create perfumes that are specially crafted for a person, which starts with a certain amount of education as not everyone knows fragrances. “Fragrances can be classified into seven basic groups which gives a broad outline and it can be narrowed down to one classification. And in these seven there are more variations,” says Stephen.
Since he is based out of UK, a team of eight in Gurgaon would facilitate the process of this education as well as creating the perfume. A Skype interview with the prospective client will draw out the basics. “John then goes to his dashboard and starts creating something depending on the preferences. The process is long-drawn and is roughly spread over 12-16 weeks from the moment go,” says Panda. At the end of the consultation, roughly four samples are created and sent to the person to get comfortable with for a week to 10 days. The person can select one, make some tweaks and then a bottle of personalised perfume is created.
However, it is not as simple as it sounds for a couple of reasons. When a perfumer talks to a lay person, it is important to try and interpret the language correctly. “People are not used to using words in perfumery and say things that they don’t mean. They will say that they don’t like sweet smells and then when they smell vanilla, which is sweet, they love it,” says Stephen. Then there is also an overlap of senses. Green is used to express a certain sense of earthy smell. People still know of it only as a colour. Similarly, if you say sweet, then that is a taste. And all of this adds to the confusion. “When we smell a perfume in the first instance, we try to put words to it. This is a part of the training. People need to practise and it improves dramatically. The only reason why people are not good at it is because people are pre-conditioned. For instance, the smell of food is aided by that of sight. In perfumery, there is just a white tester strip and you don’t get any help from it,” says Stephen with a laugh as he waves two of them dipped in different perfumes.
“The way to overcome this hurdle is to make them smell a finished product that they have experienced before,” says Stephen.
Once finished, the perfume is sealed in hand-blown bottles. These are customised, artistic pieces which cannot be replicated again.
But what would be the dent to the pocketIJ A consultation, leading to the creation of a 100 ml perfume in a special bottle would cost Rs 5 lakh upwards. At that price, it is not surprising that the ingredients have to be top notch. “For the materials we have to go to the country where it grows best. No country can produce more than two or at the most three essential oils. The Bulgarians have expertise in creating rose oil but their absolute is terrible and it is just the opposite for Moroccans. So we source accordingly. We source jasmine from Egypt and sandalwood from Australia,” says Stephen.
He elaborates the qualities needed to be a perfumer. “There are two distinct sides to a perfumer — a creative side and a technical side. For the former, you need passion and at the same time you should be able to put things together like you do in places where you need qualitative decision. You need to have a certain flair to put it together so that there is harmony. There is the technical side where you have to build in safety reports.”
A perfumer should also be an avid chemistry student who can notice smells and fragrances wherever she goes. “A certain amount of talent to blend things and understand if it doesn’t fit. It needs to be a smooth harmonious blend,” says Stephen.
Of course there are pitfalls. There are some things that do not mix. There has to be a harmony where two things when smelt separately have individual fragrances but together they come as one whole. “If it smells like a third thing, that’s the trick and that’s harmony and if you can choose the materials that harmonise, then you are half-way to making a great fragrance. Some things harmonise naturally but we do not know why but they just do,” he says.