Made by Blog, Nobi, Katie and Yours Truly in WWD

WWD has published an article about Made by Blog. The article, rather puzzlingly entitled IFF Blog Offers Behind-the-Scenes Look at Fragrance Creation, describes the idea behind the project, our two fragrances and how fun and challenging the perfumers, Clement Gavarry and Laurent Le Guernec, find it to create the scents for two bloggers, Katie of Scentzilla and yours truly of Perfume-Smellin' Things. The reason why I find the title, "IFF Blog...", and the focus on IFF "shaking up the traditional formula for creating a fragrance" puzzling, is simply because the blog and the idea are Nobi's and it is he who is shaking the formula. Of course, big thank you and kudos to IFF for allowing the project to happen and for the two of their perfumers to work with us. And being talked about in WWD is a big honor. Since the article is by subscription only, I am going to post an excerpt here, and many thanks to Robin of NowSmellThis for making it possible for me to read the whole article. With the help of an artist and two bloggers, International Flavors & Fragrances is shaking up the traditional formula for creating a fragrance. The project is the brainchild of artist Nobi Shioya, who wanted to experiment with the fragrance development process by including the input of two passionate consumers. It started last May when IFF perfumers Clement Gavarry and Laurent Le Guernec began working with fragrance bloggers Marina Geigert, of perfumesmellin­things.blogspot.com, and Katrina Voll-Taylor, of scentzilla.com. The goal: for the perfumers to create each woman's "dream fragrance." To follow the process online, Shioya created a blog called "Made by Blog," which tracks every step in the development of the fragrances. After receiving specifications from Voll-Taylor and Geigert, the perfumers send them samples for feedback. Le Guernec, best known for his work on Michael by Michael Kors and Marc Jacobs Rain, is working on Voll-Taylor's fragrance, called Auxeos. Gavarry, who created Carolina by Carolina Herrera and Matthew Williamson, has teamed up with Geigert to create a scent called Holy Grail. Also, the two perfumers worked together to create Lovely by Sarah Jessica Parker. Both fragrances are due to be finished by July. Le Guernec said that Voll-Taylor was looking for "leathery, animalistic, sexy notes" for her Auxeos scent that were not commonly found in today's market. "We're pushing the notes further from what we do usually," said Le Guernec. "This triggers lots of new ideas and the desire to explore new territory." On the other hand, Geigert wanted a "spicy scent" for her fragrance, which she had already named Holy Grail — and wanted Gavarry to use notes like cardamom, saffron, iris, vanilla, musk, sandalwood, cedar, cinnamon and amber. "These types of animalistic and sexy notes are hard to balance," said Gavarry. "You have to really stretch the boundaries. For me, it's a nice challenge to work for one person and have fun." (The whole text can be found here)