Interviews

Good Smells for the Workplace!

05/16/15 04:40:26 

by: Serguey Borisov

www.atrbazan.com         The perfume Refrence

 

We've started this interview with two Parisian perfumers, Amelie Bourgeois and Anne-Sophie Behaghel, with a plain enumeration of the perfumes presented at Esxence 2015 Milano made by creative laboratory Flair, where both ladies work. I decided to leave it as-is—it was really unusual for me to meet such fruitful perfumers.

 

 

Amelie Bourgeois, Anne-Sophie Behaghel [adding to each other]: Three of our scents for Room 1015 (Atramental, Blomma Cult, Electric Wood), two for Parfum d'Orsay (Ambre et Musk and Oud et Bois), [pause] three for Jovoy Paris, where we are now (Sans Un Mot, Sombre Dessins, Jus Interdit), one fragrance for Volnay (Ambre de Siam), one for Le Galion (Sovereign), two perfumes for a new brand Olibere Paris (Il Mio Segreto and Midnight Spirit), one for Nobile 1942 (Fougere Nobile) [pause] and one more for Evody (Blanc de Sienne). Seems it's all.

 

Serguey Borisov [counting on fingers]: Well, 14 perfumes per year! It was a  fabulous year for you!

 

Amelie Bourgeois: And also Sogno Reale for Mendittorosa! That's fifteen—if we didn`t forget something!

 

Serguey Borisov: And that's not the end—you have made five ambient perfumes for your own new brand, Beb'Air, which was not presented here …

 

Anne-Sophie Behagel: Yes, and Beb'Air too. Actually, it was my husband's idea and our brand was named after him. His name is Bertrand, so his short funny French name is Beber and we played with letters to add some "air" to the name—that's how Beb'Air appeared. My husband works in a big management consulting company and he spends all his time in offices. So he was complaining about the stinking stale odor in a conference rooms that stays and accumulates after a long meetings, because they cannot open the windows. If he leaves his job, he would love to make a perfume company with me. [laughs]

Serguey Borisov: So, he asked you to make something good-smelling for his office?

Anne-Sophie Behagel: Yes. He wanted his office to become a good-smelling place. A nice working space, comfortable and cozy, where each person would feel good. We created five fragrances specially designed for my Beber's office. And if you look at the name, it says: Beb'Air. Ton Parfum de Bureau ("Your office fragrance"). 

Amelie Bourgeois: I'd like to accentuate the fact that it's not a usual air-freshener made of cheap ingredients. It's an ambient fragrance constructed from high quality components, the very same we use to create our perfumes. The ambient perfumes could be high-end ones, with natural essential oils like Vetiver, Cedarwood, Patchouli and their price can be affordable—like, for example, our 15 ml bottles cost €9.90 on our web-site. Its formulas are simple but the smells are good and pleasant enough for some people to use them as body perfumes.

 

Serguey Borisov: How many components do you use in each "simple" Beb'Air? From five to ten?

 

Anne-Sophie Behagel: More than ten, for sure. I believe, there are about 15-20 components in the most of the formulas. But that`s still simple. I think, that only one Beb'Air perfume created by Amelie has more than 25 components. 

 

Serguey Borisov: You’ve mentioned some natural oils—does that mean that your ambient perfumes have some aromatherapeutic properties?

 

Anne-Sophie Behagel: No, absolutely not. The perfumes just smell nice. And we made room sprays for different perfume families, so that every man and woman could find his/her favorite smell. One woody, one spicy, one citrus, one green … Look here—we brought them for you to smell.

 

Serguey Borisov: The bottles are generic, but the design is super-cool. I like the color code, the ironic pictures and tongue-in-cheek perfume names. I know about ASAP and To Do List, but Comme Un Lundi … I am not francophone … What does it mean?

 

Anne-Sophie Behagel: The name means "As on Monday." It's a well-known expression you use when you are not in the mood for work, you recall your weekend, but have to work anyway. Like, every Monday we ask each other at work "Comment ca va?" (How are you today?), and the answer is “Comme un Lundi" (As on every Monday).

 

Next perfume is named Chu En Reu, it means “I'm at the meeting,” but written briefly. It is a short text message, business SMS, to let other person know that you are busy now and cannot reply or speak.

 

Also we have ASAP (As Soon As Possible), one more brief text, and To Do List, which is always bigger than your life can manage, and Cordialement (Sincerely), like a false expression at the end of an email, which is very musky Vetiver, so musky that it feels very feminine. It's not very strong and overwhelming, because it's for atmosphere, we should be able not only smell but breathe with this air. And there are a lot of different people in the office—so the smell should be a humble, good odor for some time.

 

 Refined notes like polite words you have to say

 

Tangerine, Vetiver and Musks, respectively bright, woody and cottony, marry for the best ... Aldehydic head notes (like bubbles of sparkling water) and tangerine leaves disappear for a lilac heart note, with peanut notes from vetiver odor and white musks. For the new trainee.

 

Serguey Borisov: Did you test the room sprays in the offices before the launch?

 

Anne-Sophie Behagel: Yes, for sure, we did that just before the launch. We tried them at my husband's office and he gave several bottles to his Parisian clients and friends, to let them try and make an opinion.

 

Serguey Borisov: How many times a day do we need to spray it in a room like this?

 

Anne-Sophie Behagel: Three times a day is enough. It's good to spray it in the morning when you enter your office. Then, it's good to spray after lunch, especially when you just had lunch in your office. Then ASAP—it's like an energy drink, it's the perfume to stay in the action. There are only three notes mentioned on the bottles, just for the curious people, not professionals—here those are Citron, Bergamot and Bitter Orange. 

Tart notes to stay in the flame of action

 

Three acid and tangy citruses: bitter orange, bergamot and citron sparkle together to give energy to go faster. ASAP is built like a cologne, head notes of fresh citrus are very present, a light soft and solar heart of floral jasmine, with a subtle almond base note. Look at the label of ASAP and To Do List to see the face of Bertrand Behaghel, trying to make more business in his working hours. For the office joker.

 

Serguey Borisov: Tell me, please, where are you selling it, in Jovoy Paris only? It looks like a perfect cashier's item for supermarkets: it's simple and small, it's cheap and functional, and it's good for making impulse buys. 

 

Anne-Sophie Behagel: We would love to be in supermarkets! But we just started and for now we are presented at Jovoy and at three other Parisian concept-stores: Babel concept store, Le Petit Frenchies concept webstore and Sauver Le Monde des Hommes concept store. And also—our own Internet site has a web-shop.

 

Serguey Borisov: Next one to smell is Comme Un Lundi and it smells more masculine.

 

Anne-Sophie Behagel: Yes, men love it—its woody smell is based upon leather and woody notes. Comme Un Lundi is the bestseller of our line so far. The perfume that reminds you about weekend time—a leather chair smell, the good rest, maybe a table full of family …  

Woody notes to resemble the weekend

 

Teakwood table, a leather club chair and the softness of addictive papyrus, to feel that the weekend is not so far away. The head of “Comme un Lundi” is clean and spicy black pepper. Its heart is woody, a mixture of forest and wet leaves, with a leathery note in the bottom. For the good fellows.

 

Anne-Sophie Behagel: Chu En Reu is a woody incense perfume that makes people more relaxed and tranquil due to sandalwood and frankincense notes. Amelie created it specially for meeting rooms full of stress—to make a peaceful air for constructive work. She used the smell of Cedarwood shavings that is well-known for all people: every kid sharpened his school pencils and these school memories linked with the smell are so relaxing. Even for stressed office workers.

Zen notes to liberate all the bad spirits and make them to go away 

 

A thin incense, a structured dry cedar note and a soft milky sandawood give together a peaceful atmosphere. Its refined head note of incense prevails in its scrolls, cedar wood (with its note of sharpened pencil) and sandalwood (with its warm milk and hazelnut note). The base is almond again. For the marketing director.

 

Anne-Sophie Behagel: And the last perfume is To Do List, the transparent spicy smell that helps you to do every task you have for the day. There are cardamom, pepper, pink pepper—it's an energizing and stimulating perfume.

 

Spicy notes to boost all the hidden folders

 

An explosive mixture of spices created by an combination of aromatic and peppery notes that rouse our sleeping neurons. Its fresh and spicy head, cardamom, black and pink peppers, reveals a Granny Smith apple heart and then patchouli (Indonesian leaves with incense hippy notes) in the base notes. For the latecomers and soft-knees.

 

Serguey Borisov: Do people mix the perfumes? Are they created for mixing? Is it a sort of collection?

 

Anne-Sophie Behagel: I don't know—if some people want to, they could make it in the air. Just spray different perfumes in the air and be ready to open the windows in case something goes wrong.