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The writer Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin once said, “Smell and taste are in fact but a single composite sense, whose laboratory is the mouth and chimney is the nose.” I first heard this quote from Michelle Krell Kydd, who puts this philosophy into her deeds. Michelle organized the James Beard Foundation event with chef Bill Yosses and perfumer Christophe Laudamiel, during which the relationship between flavor and fragrance were explored in depth. As Michelle reflects, “Smell and taste hit us where we live—in memory and emotion, in the past and in the present, all simultaneously. This is what makes these particular senses so powerful.” Given the close link between the two senses, the discoveries one makes into the realm of cuisine translate into olfactory appreciation and vice versa. As an example from my own experiences, the beautiful note of bitter chocolate woven into Serge Lutens’s Borneo 1834 prompted me to create a cake that allowed the bitterness of chocolate to stand out. Similarly, a Thai basil stir-fry with bean sprouts had me craving a scent that pairs the lemony clove verdancy of this fascinating herb with vegetal musk. One passion never fails to feed another. …

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Marian Bendeth, the founder of Sixth Scents, is a fragrance expert and consultant based in Toronto, Canada. Before I met Marian, I had read plenty of articles in which she was described as a magician of scent, as someone who was able to nail a person’s personality based on their favorite fragrances. When Marian and I spoke on the phone for the first time and she described me down to my idiosyncrasies based on a selection of my beloved perfumes, I was speechless. Marian’s extensive experience fuels her research on the relationship between fragrance preferences and personality, the emotional effects of perfume and the influence of body chemistry, thus allowing her to offer fascinating insights on all aspects of fragrance. She has also worked with some of the most renowned perfumers and perfume industry professionals on countless perfume projects and has written for a variety of Canadian and online publications. It is a great pleasure to welcome Marian’s contribution to Bois de Jasmin, in which she explores the pros and cons of the signature scent concept.

“It’s my signature scent!!”
By Marian Bendeth …

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A honeyed wave of warmth spreads out slowly, its languorous movement revealing a glitter of lily redolent note of rosewood—that unique sharpness of white petals caught in rich woodsy duskiness. A luminous note of saffron falls into the hot wood shavings impression of the composition. A honeyed sweetness underscored by beautiful wood notes reminds me of opening an antique jewelry box—a scent of rare woods, spicy, smooth and alluring. The fragrance in question is Palisander, from Comme des Garçons Red Series created by Yann Vasnier of Quest International. He is a perfumer for the Fine Fragrances division, a position to which he was promoted in December of 2004, after joining Quest in 1999.

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Created by perfumer  Jean Paul Guerlain in 1969, Chamade was a homage to Françoise Sagan’s novel La Chamade. Symbolizing a quick beating of the heart of those in love, “Chamade” is another enchanting name given to the Guerlain creation.

It is a blend, dominated primarily by hyacinth and blackcurrant. As Moslih Saadi, Persian poet who lived in 13^th c said,

If of thy mortal goods thou art bereft
And from thy slender store two loaves (of bread) alone to thee are left
Sell one, and with the dole
Buy hyacinths to feed thy soul.”

Although hyacinth is one of my favorite flowers, I find that its lush exotic scent is often rendered as oily and heavy in perfumery. This is the case with Chamade, which starts out with a heavy green hyacinth note, however blackcurrant adds a tangy green layer, which cuts through the richness.

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