Scentarium: An Olfactory Feast for the Senses

Hot weather brings many things. From sun splashed days at the beach to Summer Fridays to lots of exposed skin, hot summer days can be a delight to the senses or an assault.

From the pungent smells that emanate from food carts to animal excrement to the smell of cheap perfume, major urban centers can be a petri dish of city smells.  Still, summer time does not have to be an assault on the olfactory sense. Think of the all the fantastic summer fruity, herbal and spicy fragrances that remind us of delicious food and fresh ocean breezes.

“Our sense of smell is our strongest sense after sight. Our sense of smell triggers memory and emotion,” explains Sue Phillips, the creative mind behind Scentarium. And the emotional impact of summer scents can have a deleterious effect on your workday or brighten and stimulate your emotions.

After years of working as a fragrance expert for such esteemed global brands as Chanel, Saks Fifth Avenue, Coty, Burberry, Diane von Furstenberg, Tiffany, Trish McEvoy, Elizabeth Arden, and many others, Phillips has now focused in on creating a space where consumers can have unique fragrance experiences. “The idea [behind Scentarium] is that you entering a beautiful salon with great fragrances and wonderful art. There is also good music and it’s a great space for people to relax and get in touch with their olfactory sense,” details Phillips.

Phillips, a South Africa native, knowledgably walks each customer through an olfactory journey. Assisting with the selection of fragrances that matches each person’s personality, lifestyle, and personal preferences. “We start with a lifestyle sensory test that determines preferences, moods, seasons; even foods. Judging from the answers I can tell which fragrance categories the consumer fits into. The perfume table has 18 fragrance blends and I take consumers on a fragrance journey. The eighteen fragrance blends extends the entire fragrance palette … these are all blends that I’ve created. Each blend contains 15 to 20 ingredients.”

And like a skilled craftsman, Sue Phillips builds and layers fragrances with precision and her own keen sense of what works. “The vocabulary for fragrances is very similar to music. There are 7 to 8 octaves in music; there are many notes in a fragrance. The notes are either top notes, middle notes and base notes. And basically fragrances are constructed looks like a pyramid. The tops are the most effervescent and lightness, they lasts on the skin for about 15 to 20 minutes, As the fragrance starts to mix with your body chemistry the middle notes (floral and spice scents) come out more. Middle notes last about two to three hours. As the fragrance starts to die down you discover the base notes or the deeper notes—woody, amber animalic scents—that are more long lasting.”

But, the olfactory journey at Scentarium is much more than a sensory-elevating fragrance experience. It is also an education into the world of fragrances and scents. And Sue Phillips is extremely generous with her time. Even taking the time out to match fragrance combinations for Fashion Reverie consumer archetypes.

Below you will find five summer fragrances created for five Fashion Reverie consumer archetypes:

Archetype 1:  A summer fragrance for a young consumer that will last all day and that will match of the bright colors of the summer.

Sue Phillips: Young consumers usually like something sweet so I would combine an edible, fruity note, also a green herbal note which is very fresh with a hint of musk to make it last all day. This is a fresh, fruity fragrance with a hint of sexiness.

Archetype 2:  A summer fragrance for a more sophisticate woman who wants to be feminine but has to be very professional during the day. The fragrance should transition from work to a possible evening out on the town.

Sue Phillips: Let’s start with a gentle floral with hints of bergamot and fuchsia combined with a heady floral that’s fresh. You have a combination of the ozonic which are those fresh marine, early morning notes, the heady floral and the gentle floral. If you want it a hint more sophistication, you could add a vanilla note. This does not make it overpowering but will make the scent last longer throughout the day.

Archetype 3: A summer fragrance that suits the artsy free-spirited consumer.

Sue Phillips: Most artsy, free-spirited people love aromatherapy so they tend to go for herbal, spicy combinations. So have three combinations in this perfume; citrus for the summer, and herbal ingredient like lavender and lastly, a spice ingredient.

Archetype 4: A summer fragrance for the male consumer that is masculine and sexy.

Sue Phillips: Men love a lot of the base notes; notes that are musky and gritty, while still smelling fresh and bright. For this men’s summer fragrance the top note is a sporty note. We also have a creamy sandalwood note combined with an enchanted forest note.

Archetype 5: And lastly, how about great summer home fragrance.

Sue Phillips: Summer notes always have hints of citrus, notes of lemon, lime, grapefruit, bergamot, combined with pomegranate. These are great effervescent notes to waft through your home.

And for those consumers that cannot schedule a consultation at the Scentarium salon in New York City, Sue Phillips has created a fragrance home kit. “If people are not able to book a session with me in NYC, I have developed Scentarium in a box. The kit contains 12 fragrances that is a portable version of my customized session. It also contains a personality test, instructions, two beautiful perfume containers, and you can mix and match your own fragrance; a kind of chemistry lab on the go, as you will.”

For more information, go to scenterprises.com.

—William S. Gooch

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