07. 02. 2013

The Nose Knows

On my nightstand these days (along with Nurture Shock which I’m finding endlessly fascinating) is The Diary of a Nose: A Year in the Life of a Parfumeur. Tales from the head Nose of Hermés, Jean-Claude Ellena.

I’m fascinated by people who work professionally as a Nose or “Le Nez” as they call them in the mother country. As a wino, I used my nose for work as a sommelier and rep and continue to do so as a Diploma student. But a perfume Nose is an entirely different ball of wax. Sure, a winemaker uses his nose (and taste) to build his elixir, but a Nose uses only his one sense- that almighty olfactory one- to create a scent. It is kind of mind blowing to think about how a Nose can manage to maintain his subjectivity and perspective when constantly surrounded by scent. When I attend an industry tasting and have upwards of 300 sips of wine (with spitting of course), I start to lose it around the 50th sip, and that’s being generous.

These guys spend their lives in the lab in the midst of musk, floral, citrus and even gamey notes. Mind you, they’re probably hanging out in a pretty nice lab if they’re sniffing it up at Hermés or Givenchy. It’s not exactly like they’re spending their days in an office park in Los Alamos, but still.

If you’re curious about what the experience might be like, Maison Guerlain Paris offers a Fragrance Workshop where you learn from the pros in their flagship store (totally worth a visit even if you don’t do the workshop) and even concoct your own scent for 50 euros. Anne McClain of MCMC in Brooklyn also offers custom classes. The classes are taught by her and will run you a bit more for the up close and personal experience. McClain is classically trained at the Grasse Institute of Perfumery in southern France, the Harvard of fragrance education.