Scentzilla!

In a recent story for the NPR program All Things Considered, correspondent Susan Stone visited the Osmotheque, and interviewed the legendary perfumer Jean Kerleo. I had a chance to ask her some questions about that experience, her own perfume obsession, and chat up about some oldies but goodies.

What were your expectations for visiting the Osmotheque? What did you think it would be like, and how did your actual visit match up to or differ with your anticipated experience?

It was a bit more technical than I expected – more like a working research lab. The Osmotheque is technically inside ISPCA, the big perfumery school. There were lots of students milling around – we left around lunchtime, and I saw primarily young women. I was left wondering where all of them would end up working! It’s not really a museum – it’s an archive, or a conservatory.

Kerleo in his own words said,

“Our work at the Osmotheque is to preserve the evolution of perfume and perfume of the past and recent past so that students and people interested in perfume can come here, smell the perfume, and understand it.”

There are a small number of perfume bottles on display — Catherine Deneuve, Tabac Blond, Moustache, to name a few, and some framed vintage perfume ads on the walls. But it’s very quiet and simple.

Also on display is a coffret of Parfums de Rosine by Paul Poiret. The coffret was found in the cellar of Jean Patou’s factory by a worker who brought it to Kerleo. One of Poiret’s perfumers named Alméras, had moved to Jean Patou after Poiret went bankrupt in 1925. [Ed. Note: Henri Alméras was responsible for Poiret’s Le Fruit Defendu, and such classics as Joy and Moment Supreme at Patou.] He stayed for 30 years, then when he left, some papers and belongings were left behind, including this amazing coffret.

Were you handled differently because you were visiting there in a journalistic capacity than a regular visitor might be? What might the average person expect to discover if they are allowed to visit?

Yes, absolutely. Primarily in that I was able to get an appointment on a day (Friday) they don’t usually invite guests. But, on the other hand, I also missed out on the special lectures they create for groups, including many more scents, and lots of raw materials to encounter. I get the impression that the level of information they provide to the public is at an extremely high and special level. In addition, I believe group tours are held in a sort of conference room, and since there were only two of us (me and my French friend/emergency translator) we were in with all the bottles and also in M. Kerleo’s office. There is also a cold storage cellar that few people see. I didn’t!

What was the most surprising or shocking thing you learned there?

I had asked Jean Kerleo how he decided which modern perfumes to archive, and was surprised that the Osmotheque gets its collection by donation. He had recently received bottles of the latest Serge Lutens while I was there.

Oh how awful! I’m quite surprised that companies don’t donate as a matter of course…. Why aren’t they more interested or invested in archiving their presumptive legacies, I wonder? Was this a source of frustration or disappointment for him, or did he seem sanguine about it all?

Many companies do donate, but I think he would always like to have more. Although keeping up with ALL the new releases every year would be exhausting, as perfume bloggers well know! Kerleo said they accept all things that are sent, and they add them to the Osmotheque’s collection. If there’s a big release and they don’t get it, they request it. He did seem sanguine about it. They have a list of the collection, and it ranges from Uninhibited by Cher to Chypre by Coty. And looking at some of the new donations listed on a recent newsletter, I see the Armani Prive line, Gaultier2, Eau pour soi by Roger & Gallet, La rose du Petit Prince, and Eau d’Iparie from L’Occitane, to name a few.

I was also surprised at how positive Kerleo was about the EU regulations on perfume. He seemed to think that perfumers could do amazing things with the ingredients available, so it should be no big problem. Then again, the Osmotheque is permitted to use banned or restricted substances in their reformulations – because they don’t sell them (and don’t seem to put them on the skin). He seemed more interested in the creativity and imagination of the perfumer than perceived limitations.

What was the most curious thing you learned?

The very first perfume they reproduced for the Osmotheque was Crepe du Chine by Millot – it was the first time they got a formula from a perfume house. I was surprised to learn that it was created by their in-house perfume — Jean Desprez — who later developed my beloved Bal a Versailles. M. Kerleo got out some Bal a Versailles special for me to smell. They don’t have the formula at the Osmotheque – the family sold the rights and the house and he said you can’t really even buy it in France. It seems funny to me that in Versailles, of all places, you can’t get Bal a Versailles. (Bal a Versailles can be found in Paris, just not everywhere or obviously…)

That is a sure travesty. Desprez made some amazing perfumes, and even all those others that escape the general public notice were heady and complex in ways that some of the more modern infamous fragrances never manage. Is he pursuing the formula from the current rights-owner? Given its importance and slow dissolve from shelves, I’d imagine it’d score high priority for them.

I honestly don’t know. The sample in the collection was given to the Osmotheque by the House of Jean Desprez, perhaps before it was sold.

You had the opportunity to smell a number of perfumes on your visit. Would you describe your favorite, and if you can, explain why it was your favorite?

That’s an easy one. Le Fruit Defendu, hands down. This is the perfume by Paul Poiret – Parfums Rosine - that scandalized WWI Paris. It’s very sweet, gourmand, foody. Not vanilla, but creamy, sort of powdery. What’s bizarre to me is that I have been getting olfactory flashbacks from it in modern perfumes. For example, Kenzo Jungle L’Elephant and Annayake Matsuri. I hate to say it, but cloying might be the best descriptor. In a good way? People hated it when it came out – they considered it too frivolous in light of the horrors of the war. Kerleo said even in 1990, when the Osmotheque opened, people thought the perfume was disgusting. Then came Angel. Now people who smell Le Fruit Defendu think it is a pleasant, modern scent. I think there is a bit of rotting corpse in there after all – Eau de CSI. I still like it.

I love your description of Fruit Defendu. It sounds like it would be mesmerizing to wear. Except I’d totally need the right outfit to go with it, you know? Like, you’d so want to be gloved and properly dressed to match. Not that I could carry off a single one of Poiret’s dresses, hee!

Me neither. I’m more of a Dior New Look kind of gal.

What, according to Kerleo, are the most requested perfumes that the Osmotheque holds?

Fougere Royal, and often Le Fruit Defendu these days.

How was the sniffing experience at the museum both similar to and different from sniffing at a shop or home trials?

You can’t put the fragrances on your skin. You can only smell them on the specific scent strips, which are dipped fresh for you. I don’t know if people ask to wear the fragrances – I didn’t. It seems a bit like asking to try on the First Ladies’ dresses at the Smithsonian.

What perfumer or house that you discussed with Jean Kerleo most intrigued you, and why?

I was really glad to be able to talk about Paul Poiret and to include him in my story. Of course, his perfume was a great way to end my story, but I also think he’s more forgotten than he should be, especially compared to Chanel. I studied the history of fashion design (very briefly) and used to read a lot about it, so some of these perfumers’ names are more known to me from clothing than fragrance.

How does the Osmotheque obtain its information on old formulas and histories? Do they get them directly from the houses? Or the perfumers themselves? Perhaps they must solicit them from the perfumer’s families or estates? Do they find this information given gladly, or must they convince the parties of their intents and aims?

Kerleo obtains original recipes from perfumers and perfume houses, and promises they will remain secret. They can study samples of scents, but it is very difficult to obtain a formula from a finished perfume. And it can take years to remake a perfume from the formula. Certainly, the crop of jasmine will not be exactly the same as in 1925. Then again, it might be just as good.

So, uh, Jacques Fath is a constant source of curiosity for me. what did you think about his Iris Gris? Did you learn anything about the legendary perfumer behind it or about Fath’s house you’d be willing to share?

For me personally, at the moment of sniffing Iris Gris had no “wow” to it, more of a “hmm…’ But I would say the scent really awakened my INTEREST in the smell of Iris. I’ve been checking out Hermes’ Hiris in the Duty Free lately, and I have a sample of DIVINE L’Homme Coeur that has an interesting Iris note. I think Iris is a flower that makes you think (or reflect) rather than instantly feel – perhaps it’s cerebral rather than visceral. Jean Kerleo said they consider Iris Gris very good, and very famous. You either like it or you don’t. Technically speaking, he considers it good work of a perfumer because it maintains the same character consistently – what you smell is what you get from the first impression. It doesn’t change – there’s no evolution from top note to heart note to base note – he admires its stability. It was also a very expensive product to produce due to the amount of real Iris used. I just took out the scent strip and sniffed it – it reminds me of putting my cheek against cold white marble. I’m not sure if that’s in a museum or in a mortuary. It feels a bit sad. What did you think of it?

I find it a strange resolution of conflicts. The way the orange blossom top hovers over the heavy orris butter like an aural blanket should smell incongruous and unbalanced, but it works. There’s something in it, as you say, of a mortuary. The base seems so earthy yet impenetrable. But there’s humid warmth there, too - perhaps a touch of something not unlike a dank root cellar in mid-summer. Iris Gris is so highly structured. I wonder if perhaps it struck you as passionless as a result, and maybe that’s why it seemed more contemplative to you instead of eliciting a swift visceral reaction?

Hmm…passionless. That seems harsh but accurate. Like something to be admired but not touched. Very much like some film divas from the Black and White era.

I need to ask you about Coty Chypre then, (which Ms. Stone was kind enough to share a scent strip with me) if Iris Gris was just a “hmm…” moment for you! There is a quality to it which smells like an animal that pissed itself in fear. That quality comes as a fantastic shock to the modern nose. This one HAD to have struck you in the gut. Did M. Kerleo share any thoughts on it while you sniffed? Any warnings come with it, heh?

No, no warnings. I think the disturbing notes come much later with this one. I have to say having just tried my first Caron (Parfum Sacre), I found the same element in it. I described it recently (I am so sorry…) as old lady underpants. Of course lots of people love Caron, and I’m sure they would love Coty Le Chypre. It’s very important to the Osmotheque. Kerleo said that it took quite a long time and many trials to remake, as they didn’t have the exact specific amounts for the formula for this one. He said some of his friends who were a bit older and thus had more of a connection with the scents of the period (Chypre is from 1917!) were able to lend a nose, and they gave the ok. It amazes me that these wonderful aging gentlemen of perfumery have such an astonishing scent memory.

I’m not even a little familiar with so many of those very old Houbigants - what on earth did you think of Vinaigre Aromatique?

The Osmotheque has several examples of vinegars in their collection – it was used medicinally. Even very famous houses like Guerlain began by making perfumed vinegars – before perfume! According to Jean Kerleo, the first product of Pierre-Francois Pascal Guerlain, the founder of the house of Guerlain, was a vinaigre de toilette. As you can imagine, these products start out with a strong vinegar smell. But it does dissipate, leaving a more pleasant, perfumed aroma. In the case of Vinaigre Aromatic de Houbigant, the lasting smell was light citrus. These vinegars were used to purify the skin, and to ward off disease, not to mention to distract a little from all the bad odors swarming around cities in the 18th and early 19th centuries. It was sold by pharmacists, not perfumers!

What’s your take on the differences between the old Idole and the relaunched reformulation of it (if you’ve tried it?) The original was not quite so whiskey- and vanilla- sweet to me. Perhaps you have a more interesting perspective?

The old Idole de Lubin and the new Idole de Lubin could be from separate planets! The original, from 1964, was a floral green women’s’ scent. Its creator is involved in the Osmotheque. The new Idole, in its Afrodesia bottle is Trader Vic’s done classy – boozy, spicy, warm and dark. M. Kerleo talked about a number of scents that have been introduced reusing old names: Emeraude by Coty, Champs Elysee by Guerlain, Tresor by Lancome.

Partially in thanks to Luca Turin’s new book, Kerleo’s recreation of Houbigant’s Fougere Royale is perhaps their most famous to us perfume-nuts now… What lingers in your own mind about it? What did Kerleo stress to you as the most important facet of its formula and/or recreation?

Well, it is the granddaddy of men’s colognes. Though it has to take responsibility for its swaggering grandson Drakkar Noir (the male equivalent to Giorgio in my poor nose’s formative years). I love Turin’s description of it being bathroom cologne – having a secret nastiness to it. Jean Kerleo told me a nice story about recreating this. He received the formula from Antoine Javel of Houbigant, who was really skeptical that Fougere Royal could be recreated. But Kerleo wore it 50 years ago when he was a young man, and he had a perfect memory of the scent. So he remade it, and gave it to Mr. Javel, who said it was exactly the same! Kerleo said it was fantastic to have proof!

It almost shocks me how ultra modern it smells! Almost a hyper-reality version of lavender, if you will. It’s hypnotic, the smoothness deceptively hiding its dirty underpinnings. Its “secret nastiness” contrasts interestingly to the less oblique skank lurking in some other vintage fragrances. And compared to the modern aesthete of explicit “niceness,” it’s profound, really. Thanks for sharing a scent strip with me.

What’s on your sniffing list outside of vintage fragrances or older houses?

I’d like to experience all of the Comme des Garcons scents, though I don’t know if I would like to wear them all! Also, I’m hoping to smell the Thierry Mugler coffret soon. I am doing a story about the film “Perfume” and will mention the coffret in the report.

How would you describe the difference between perfume shopping in Europe versus the U.S.? Is there one? Do you feel, if there is one, that it affects how you look at perfumery? Does it affect the perfumes you find yourself wanting to smell or the houses you want to explore?

I don’t think people in Europe can really imagine the level of perfumes to be found at discounters (sometimes) for just a few dollars. I do miss that about shopping in the states. But what’s been fun for me are the lovely niche perfume stores I have visited lately in Vienna and Geneva. It’s really nice to have some knowledge about perfume, because I think many of the employees really like to engage in conversation about fragrance, but don’t always get to. And that knowledge gets you some respect even when you aren’t wearing expensive clothing. I have managed to have more-or-less intelligent conversations about perfume in three different languages in the last month! It’s really so wild. I love that perfume is more a part of the culture in Europe. I didn’t know Robert Piguet was Swiss until I was in Geneva speaking (bad French) with a lovely woman at a perfume shop in the old part of the city.

In Berlin we don’t really have one nice niche store that I have found, but I must admit I haven’t looked all over town. I love to go to Galerie Lafayette here, because they have a great selection and it’s partially unsupervised. I can’t stand SA’s jumping on me! Though some, it must be said, are charming. We also have a really unusual luxury department store which seems to have EVERY holy grail perfume – 10 Corso Como, Miller et Bertaux, Keiko Mecheri, lots of CdG. But almost all their perfumes are crammed onto trays together, so it’s hard to see what they have. They also have a huge special Malle area, but I only braved it briefly, and what I thought I would like I didn’t (Noir Epices) I talked to the SA at this store about CdG Tea – my holy grail, which I finally have promised to me from a Basenoter. I am afraid I will hate it, but it’s been a quest of mine since I started reading the blogs. We have a CdG Store which I haven’t visited yet. I don’t know how much in the way of fragrance they have, but it should be an adventure.

How long have you been “into” perfume? Meaning, how long has it been a hobby or subject of interest for you?

My most recent interest, which I would describe at more of a cultural/sociological level was in all honesty sparked by Chandler Burr’s article about Jean-Claude Ellena and his designing of special scents for Hermes in the New Yorker. And of course his book “The Emperor of Scent” is one of my favorites – I’ve returned to it several times. And after reading it last fall, I started doing research online, and reading perfume blogs! But I had in fact been collecting books and research on perfume several years ago, back while I worked on NPR’s Science Desk (from 1997-1999). I wanted to do a “science of perfume” story, but never got around to it. (It’s funny that the notion became so popular!) And I have to admit, that when I think back to my dresser in Washington, DC (where I last lived in the States), it was covered with perfume bottles! A lot of miniatures in really cute bottles and a lot of things bought unsniffed that I didn’t really enjoy as much as I enjoy trying and reading about perfumes now. I had to pack up and get rid of a lot of things when I moved to Europe, so I think I threw out a lot of things I’d like to revist. Like my Vivienne Westwood miniature set. Argh.

My mother didn’t really wear perfume (she says it smells strange on her) but she did sell Avon when I was little, so I remember their solid perfumes fondly – maybe more for the packaging than the scent! Fun to play with. But my first real perfume was Bal a Versailles. My friend’s mother wore it, and on a school trip to London, my friend and I both bought the perfume. It came in such a lovely tiny bottle, in a gold and white pouch, in a special box. Then I started finding the EdC spray in local stores – a white bottle with gold lettering and a gold cap. I wore that all the time, and my boyfriend loved it. It smelled a bit like Dr. Pepper! You can only find the EdT these days, which I don’t think is the same for me. I also wore KL (which is on sale here in Berlin – I don’t know how I feel about that!) and on occasion Opium. I went to a big “Giorgio” and “Poison” high school so those are two things I can’t bear. Certainly I also bought drugstore stuff like Exclamation and Samba, and some essential oils.

What are some of your current favorite perfumes?

Right now, I am wearing MpG Ambre Precieux – it’s a sample. I’ve been trying many different perfumes in samples, as it’s sort of more fun than committing. I have bought a couple of bottles in the last year, but the implied commitment isn’t always there! For instance L’Artisan Bois Farine, which I like but don’t always turn to. I’ve also become interested in lot of “men’s” perfumes. Someone spritzed Guerlain’s L’Homme Instant Extreme on me in Heathrow airport last Christmas, and I made a face and bought two other things, but couldn’t stop smelling my arm an hour later. I finally tracked it down, but the top notes are a little rough. I like sandalwood, spices, amber. I’m not big on most flowers. A friend sent me a tiny sample of Michael Kors (almost all had leaked out in shipping) I was blown away by it. I was shocked. I think it was a Proustian experience of some sort – maybe reminding me of Tuberoses bought with an Indian-American friend in the flower market in Los Angeles, mixed with Gardenias from the front yard of my childhood home. I don’t know if I could wear it, but I like smelling it. I just completed my first MUA swap which will include a sample of Fracas – I live in fear of it, but I want to know! Oh, also, I just got a sample of M. Micallef Gaiac. It’s spicy, woody, sweet, mouthwatering. There might be a cotton candy undertone. I think I love it.

My thanks to Ms. Stone for sharing her thoughts, it was fun!

Coming up in the next week, I’ll finally share what I found when I cracked open a bottle of Jacques Fath’s first fragrance release, Chasuble, and after that hopefully something a little newer, too, since I’ve been trying the Les Nez fragrances off and on for the past few weeks.

All photos in this article were taken by Susan Stone, who has graciously allowed them to be published at Scentzilla. You can find more of her interesting photography, including shots of unusual subjects and street objects, at Flickr.

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 16th, 2006 at 2:15 pm and is filed under Perfume Reviews, Interviews and Essays. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.