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Say it with Scent
French perfumer Gerald Ghislain on his life, his inspirations, his line of fragrances - and what goes into the creation of a unique scent
- PUBLISHED: Fri 26 Mar 2010, 9:37 PM UPDATED: Mon 6 Apr 2015, 1:26 PM
Gerald, you are of French origin and were raised in Morocco. How much of your Mediterranean-scented youth is directly responsible for your chosen profession as a perfumer?
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I spent my childhood travelling between France and Morocco. I was a solitary child and was very much a dreamer. I would observe the world around me, people, landscapes, colours, life on the streets... My youth in a Mediterranean atmosphere gave me an awareness and a taste for herbs and spices. Keen observation of the women around me, the importance they attached to essential oils and their particular Mediterranean beauty rituals also contributed to my interests. Growing up and being surrounded by the scents of lavender, amber, thyme, laurel and spices of North Africa, naturally, made me want to be a cook and a perfumer.
Tell our readers about Gerald Ghislain, the man, your passions, your travels, adventures, likes, dislikes, transcending moments ...
This is a very wide question…About the man, I would just say again that I am a dreamer. I am enthusiastic and generous, a bit imposing, yet versatile. I am very curious about life but am easily bored. Today, I am passionate about perfumes because I have the impression that it is an unlimited area. However, I can want to do something else tomorrow. In life, everything makes me wonder and I am, without a doubt, a wanderer and wonderer. I draw my inspiration from my travels to New York, Dubai, Barcelona and even to the familiar streets of Paris where I live — there is always something to learn. Lately, I have travelled to Japan and discovered Tokyo. There is an electric atmosphere to the city which I am dazzled by. It is a crazy, poetic city, with pure energy and serenity at the same time. As for trencending moments, the birth of each of my four children were transcending moments for me.
Lingerie, lipstick and hairstyles all express, in a visual form, sexiness and a smouldering sensuality of sorts. How does a scent convey this?
To me, a perfume is not always sexy. It depends on the way people wear it and why they wear a particular perfume at that particular moment. Perhaps they want to seduce, maybe they want to feel comfortable or to reinvent themselves. With my creations, I am telling stories but the person who is perfumed with my fragrance can recreate their own story. There are also raw materials that are undeniably sexy like musk, amber, tuberose, vanilla, animal notes...
I’ve read that perfume-making was an old dream of yours. When did all of this start for you [childhood; family business; a memory evoked by a scent]?
During holidays, we went to the Grasse museum of perfumery with my family. Grasse is a village in the south of France where the French art of perfumery was born. This entire little city is a tincture with perfumes and smells. It was at this time that I understood that perfumes were the perfect way for me to translate my emotions, my imagination and all my dreams. Perfumes provided the perfect way for me to tell a story and perfumes give me the opportunity to tell my stories on people skins.
How did historical figure references and literature come about as a springboard for the basis of your scents?
A long time ago, I had a sort of ‘revelation’. I wanted to create my own type of perfume ‘story’ while respecting the proven historic fundamentals of perfume creation (Chypre, woodiness and florals). Through inspirational characters, each of the fragrances would be identified by its character’s birth date. Each perfume, therefore, is the embodiment of an illusionary volume of an illusionary encyclopaedia; a poetic ‘atlas’ in which one can freely travel.
For the men’s colognes, I chose Jules Verne, Casanova and Marquis de Sade, because they are a representation of three fundamental elements that are important to me: travelling, romanticism and sensuality. They were each chosen because of their unusual personalities. For the women’s perfumes, I followed my instincts and the images I had of notable, powerful women that had fascinating personalities. Mata Hari was an obvious choice because of her mysteriousness and oriental beauty. Eugenie de Montijo had seduction and fantasy. Colette inspired me to create a perfume lively and voluptuous like her. For George Sand, who liked nature and freedom, I made a flowery, yet spicy fragrance.
What other endeavours have you undertaken that correlate to and influence what you are doing now?
My job as a chef influences my perfumes and my fragrances influence my cooking as well! I instinctively pay a great deal of attention to the ingredients. A friend of mine commented that there are many different olfactory touches in each one of my perfumes, like cinnamon, rose, vanilla and lavender. Indeed, I add aromas in my perfumes because I am a cook and an epicurean. The focus is always to be a bit surprising and to create something unexpected...
You are described in the press as a passionate gourmand. Does that come into play with perfume making?
I am, undoubtedly, a passionate gourmand but most of all, I am an epicurean and I taste all the pleasures of life. I try to convey in my fragrances this appetite for life.
Your scents are described as a library, with you bringing your stories to life through perfumes. Books are written with emotion and need to be read to truly evoke those emotions and reactions. So then, like a book, your stories need to be worn to truly bring them fully into being and to bring their stories to life, correct?
Of course! My goal for my perfumes are for them to stay on the skin while diffusing their characteristics and personalities. With my creations, I am telling stories but the person who is wearing the fragrance is the true storyteller, with their skin bringing the story to life.
What made you conceive scents in this manner?
I wanted to perpetuate the great know-how of French perfumery tradition and I did not want to be influenced by any marketing diktats. This freedom is a true luxury.
You are known for an unorthodox approach to creating your library of scents. Is this because you do not follow the formal rules of perfume making, working from your creative soul to see what fruit bears from it?
I am only doing what I love, following my desires and ideas. That is what I have done with the Tuberose Trilogy: I was very curious about this mysterious flower and its paradoxes. I read a lot of stories about this flower in history and I decided to create three fragrances around it.
You have created a genius funnel system that retains the purity of the scent when smelled, yet does not have to be sprayed on the person smelling it. How did this system come about? What was the impetus for its creation? How did you conceive its design? This stroke of genius is the one of Magali Senequier, our designer at Histoires de Parfums. She invented this great system of funnels that permit a discovery of the entire collection without saturation, an ideal restitution of the notes and an intimate diving inside the heart of the collection.
Before getting into scent creation, you were formally trained at the ISIPCA (Institute Superior International of Perfume, Cosmetics and Food Flavouring). What was that like and how did that shape you and your current library of scents?
The most important things I learnt at the ISIPCA weren’t the technical aspects or the smells but the scents’ vocabulary. I learnt to describe a scent with words and very quickly, I was able to describe an image with scents. Ultimately, I learnt to tell a story with a perfume.
Historically, what are your favourite scents, not inclusive of your own, of course?
I am fond of the old Guerlain and Caron’s perfumes. I love Mouchoir de Monsieur which marries the vivaciousness of aromatic notes with the subtlety of a fougere accord nuanced with delicately powder wood: it’s sublime! And Jicky is one of my favourite fragrances too: a brilliant perfume, fresh and animal at the same time, the essence of perfume itself. More recently, I am a great admirer of Pierre Guillaume’s creations for Parfumerie Générale. His fragrances have strong character and he dares to take risks. Now I am wearing a grapefruit fragrance that I’ve created just for myself!
What scent did your mother and grandmother wear? Have those scents influenced any of your scents?
My mother wears Opium and my grandmother used to wear Habanita from Molinard. They passed on to me their taste for strong and full-of-character fragrances.
What scent did your father and grandfather wear? Have those scents influenced any of your scents?
My father wore Habit Rouge from Guerlain and my grandfather didn’t wear anything else other than the scent of his shaving soap, a delicious scent of wild juniper. I don’t know if those scents really influenced my creations.
What three scents from your line should a woman have in her scent library?
It depends on the woman. For the woman of character, who is sensual and not afraid to embrace that side and be glamorous, I would recommend 1876, 1889 Moulin Rouge. For a bubbly woman with a rich and generous nature, 1804 and 1873 would be perfect as well as Tubéreuse 2 Virginale. For an elegant woman, mysterious and sophisticated: Tubéreuse 1 Capricieuse, 1826. For a delicate woman, discreet, reserved and dreamy: Blanc Violette and Vert Pivoine. But there are no rules…
What three scents from your line should a man have in his scent library?
It depends on the man. For a refined man who is both elegant and contemporary: 1725. For a classic man, who is open minded, sporty and friendly: 1828. For a man attracted by unconventional fragrances and is trendy: 1969, Ambre 114. For a sensual and extroverted man: Tubéreuse 3 Animale, 1740 and Noir Patchouli.