Grasse, 2017. 5 minutes left until your interview with a famous perfumer. I reached into my handbag and pulled out a small tester bottle of a fragrance I had created with another perfumer, Frank Volkl. I sprinkled it all over myself and went into the conference room. The perfumer greeted me and kissed me on both cheeks, French style.
“What is that perfume you’re wearing?”
“This is a personal project I’m working on with my perfumer,” I said, with just enough mystery to pique his interest.
“Hmm, is that a fig?” he says.
“No, there are sandalwood trees and white flowers…” I said.
He sniffed again. “Pasmal! Pasmal!”
Isn’t it bad? Of course we expect more than this. But later that same day, the master perfumer asked me about it again and added: “By the way, pasmal from me means ‘very good!'”
Courtesy of Kathleen Baird Murray
As market research and consumer testing progresses, my approach to road testing Catch Me If I Fall, a fragrance created by perfumer Frank Fölkl and myself that launches this month, is to ensure that it is the most commercially available. I can’t say it’s solid, but neither requires a perfect 9. It is typical for perfumes to take years to launch from concept to release. But the slow and winding journey was certainly rewarding. A very long incubation period is full of moments like the one just described. I can’t count the number of times strangers have asked me what I’m wearing or tried to guess the combination of precious ingredients. Top notes of neroli, bergamot and green leaves gently fade into the freesia, iris, jasmine and ambrette that accompany it. Its distinctive creamy middle reveals a warm embrace of sandalwood, white musk and cedarwood. Every nod of encouragement takes you a few steps further and gives you one more reason to keep going.
