Scenterprizes: A Fragrance Journey with Sue Philips
Sue Phillips of Scenterprises presented her custom perfume making kit Scentarium at BeautyPress earlier this summer, and I was intrigued. Imagine formulating your own perfect scent? So, I recently visited her custom fragrance studio in Tribeca where I was taken on an amazing “scent-sory” fragrance journey to create my own custom perfume.
Just entering this luxurious studio was a scensory experience. Lightly scented with captivating notes and decorated like a sensual paradise, the Scentarium experience was both alluring and stimulating. The first step in the fragrance journey was to list my personal perfume favorites. Of course, the classic Chanel #5 and Marchesa topped my list, along with my newest fave Lalique’s Satine. Next, I was given a survey, which served to profile my scent preferences via a personality test, of sorts. After the quiz, Sue determined that I prefer earthy scents as well as florals. Who knew?!
“Fragrances are constructed the way art and food and wine are. There is a beginning, a middle and an end.”
And how. I was sitting before a presentation of a number of notes separated in top, middle, and base notes. The top notes – light, bright and often citrusy scents, are what you smell in the beginning, while the middle notes are the main essence of the fragrance. As the skin warms the fragrance over time, the base notes emerge in woody, earthy smells.
“Sometimes fragrances can change radically from beginning to middle to end. Or they can have a more linear feel – there is an element of the same fragrance throughout.”
I was fortunate enough to smell a plethora of these notes, beginning with the lighter ones and building up to the base notes, as Sue explained in detail their origin, ingredients, and even the history of each. As she ushered me through the fragrance journey, my job was to separate out the scents that I loved the best. In the end, I was tasked with pairing 3-4 of my favorites to produce my own scent! And voila: my own personal perfume was born!
The entire “scent-sory” experience was absolutely brilliant! It was quite informative, and I learned quite a bit about perfuming. Want to go on a fragrance journey of your own? Sue Phillips makes herself available by appointment. Alternatively, check out her excellent new custom fragrance kit Scentarium, where you can concoct a new fragrance of your own with her 12 unique perfume blends.
