This year at Esxence, the theme ‘Masters of Dreams’ was dedicated to the perfumers who with their talent ‘transform dreams into olfactory realities.’ Like magicians transform the real world into fiction, perfumers create new visions full of emotions. The type font used for the ‘Masters of Dreams’ and even the trailer reminded me of the magic world of Harry Potter, truly mesmerizing and engaging, an invitation to explore an artistic experience. My magical dream consisted in being able to interact with four talented perfumers in front of an amazed audience. This talk at Esxence felt like a dream given the thrill infused by the four perfumers, each one revealing in turn their favourite magic ‘tricks’ used to create scents!

Two Independent versus Two Inhouse Perfumers.

To spice up the discussion between the perfumers, I was adamant to have a perfect balance between independent and inhouse noses. One key objective of the conference was to find out the differences in their stances, if any. I wanted to know if an independent perfumer could also thrive inside a major fragrance house, and vice versa. Listening to their specific motivation, hearing their personal aspiration, and understanding their opinion on the market evolution, one can clearly see their common passion for perfume creation. Their different perspectives and styles are blurred by the emotions they all agree they want to trigger, by the ingredients’ secrets they master, and their dreams of new creative formulas. It seems to me that the masters of scents draft stunning stories across spell biding journeys where dreams become real with one tangible outcome, the perfume.

I can now reveal the name of the four contenders, the perfumers acting in the fencing game; Stéphanie Bakouche and Patrice Revillard represent the independents while Cristiano Canali and Oliver Riva defend the inhouse group. The two teams oppose each other on the nationality front too as the first one is French and the latter is Italian. Naturally, the opposition is a work of fiction as in reality, the characters are talented perfumers, and the discussion is rich in content and full of good intent.

To set the scene for our scented story, a short biography of each perfumer seems necessary. Let’s start alphabetically.

Stéphanie Bakouche is a French perfumer who graduated at ISIPCA and worked for prestigious houses like Givaudan, Takasago, Hermès Parfum and L’Artisan Parfumeur. Since 2013 she has been an active member of l’Osmothèque and is a perfume teacher at Ecole Supérieure du Parfum. In 2017, she decided to become independent and founded Sensaba. For the production of her scents, she has a precious collaboration with Accords & Parfums, the legendary company founded by Edmond Roudnitska based in Grasse. Exclusive clients of hers are Parfums MDCI, Maison Crivelli, Chabaud, Jul & Mad…In 2023, she added the role of ‘travelling experience olfactive creator’ as the organizer and companion traveler of olfactive trips to raw materials destinations. What a trick! Her magician wand allows the exploration of new scented lands with a perfumer at hand.

Cristiano Canali is an Italian perfumer currently working in Milan for MANE. Cristiano was inspired to follow his grandfather’s path with the completion of studies in pharmacy. However, Cristiano carved his own journey when choosing to use the precision of science in the creation of olfactive experiences. He decided to become a perfumer and completed an International Master at ISIPCA. In Paris, he worked with renowned masters such as Bruno Jovanovic, Carlos Benaïm, Dominique Ropion, and Sophie Labbé. He joined Argeville in the South of France and a year ago has embarked on a new mission at MANE based in Milan. Che bello, an Italian explorer for an Italian exploration!

Patrice Revillard is a young French perfumer, who has graduated from Ecole Supérieure du Parfum. He quickly decided to fulfil his dream of being independent and founded his company Maelstrom in 2017 in Paris. He is elated by the freedom in his exploration of new ingredients, in his extreme precision in his own formulations and in his push for high innovation. Since 2019, he also became a teacher of perfume creation at the ‘Ecole Supérieure du Parfum et de la Cosmétique’ in Paris. His raw passion for botanicals and for the creation of bespoke perfumes has been quickly and surely noticed. Amongst his established clients, he counts prestigious houses such as Jacques Fath, Teo Cabanel, Obvious, Maison Chabaud... What a fresh ‘alpine’ touch from a French boy from Annecy!

Oliver Riva is British & Italian and is the youngest perfumer of the four. He first studied law in the UK before deciding to give his heart and soul to perfumery. He completed the ISIPCA master in 2020 with a training at IFF in fabric care in the Netherlands and in fine fragrances in Paris. He decided to go back to Italy as a perfumer in the Farotti team and then became creative perfumer at Moellausen in Milano. He has just joined the talented Takasago team of perfumers in Paris. Congratulations Oliver! For the position and for the great timing, right on time for Esxence.

The first scent connection stirred a strong emotion.

Each perfumer has a personal connection to perfume, yet the four of them share a common strong emotion in the recollection of the original olfactive experience.

For Patrice, plants clearly drove him to explore the world of smell, and therefore, of perfume. As a young boy, he had developed a passion for botany that made him read an innumerable number of books. A major milestone happened with the reading of a book that described the unique smells of European wild plants. A plant was no longer only defined by its shape, colour, category but with a smell. He was mesmerized by this idea, and this is the moment when Patrice became aware of the richness of the world of smell.

It was an altogether different experience for Cristiano as he explains that his first understanding of the hidden universe inside a perfume bottle happened during a trip to the South of India. There, he had the opportunity to visit an essential oil producer of Sandalwood and dive into that wonderful and powerful smell. His already keen interest in perfumes promptly transformed itself into a passion that then turned into his daily job. For Cristiano, a unique sandalwood smelling experience strongly ignited his curiosity and is still vivid in his memory.

As for Oliver, the aha moment happened at the age of sixteen. He had always been curious about scents but one day he missed a flight and found himself with ample idle time. He stepped inside a duty-free and the smelling of Eau Sauvage created by Edmond Roudnitska’s changed his life. The ‘love at first sight’ or ‘love at first sniff’ was so powerful that it removed the veil from the perfume industry for him and altered permanently the course of his life.

For Stéphanie, her attraction to scents also started at an early age. Still in her teens, she discovered the existence of ISIPCA and was able to decide to go through the application process. She was happily accepted into the school and wholeheartedly fulfilled her passion for perfumes. Her first connection with scents is linked to the Moroccan souks in Casablanca where she used to spend family holidays. Stéphanie’s first and strongest emotion with a perfume is related to the collection of Serge Lutens. To this day, she continues to be captivated by the sublime creative work of Christopher Sheldrake.

A High Level of Admiration for a Perfumer Creation.

Cristiano had the opportunity to collaborate with many master perfumers who inspired and encouraged him to fulfil his aim to become a perfumer. One perfumer really stands out as a true pioneer and Christiano met him thanks to l’Osmothèque in Versailles. It was a virtual and historical encounter with Francois Coty and his fragrances that belong to the precious heritage of l’Osmothèque. According to Cristiano, his iconic fragrances really changed the olfactive landscape and he can only admire this unique signature.

Oliver was fortunate to have Soraia da Costa Silva and Nicolas Beaulieu as mentors while he was at IFF; both were incredibly generous with their time and knowledge and helped shape the perfumer he became. If he must choose only one perfume out of all the ones he is mesmerized with, Oliver picks YSL created by Pierre Bourdon’s Kouros in 1981; it is such a genius idea to combine the Fougère accord from Paco Rabanne Pour Homme and the Chypre accord of Dior Miss Dior, with an overdose of animal notes.

Patrice did not learn under the guidance of a mentor and sometimes he regrets not having had this opportunity. At the same time, he takes comfort in having developed his own vision without any preconceptions. He had to study intensely by himself the classic perfumery, never quench his curiosity and explore continuously… There is so much beauty in the world of perfumery to take inspiration from...

Stéphanie’s mentor is Bertrand Duchaufour. She spent seven years by his side when working for L’Artisan Parfumeur. The creation she most admires from him is L’Or du Sérail developed for Naomi Goodsir. For her, it is the most wonderful tobacco fragrance ever; composed with a contrast between light and shadow, the scent features the most divine tobacco leaves, rounded by the infinite sensuality of amber, woods and musk. An invitation to an exotic world, a dream of Havana, full of colourful fruits and flowers, with an exquisite rum CO2 extract....

A Motivation to be Free. A Stimulation to be Inside.

Both Stéphanie and Patrice have never been in-house perfumers. Patrice played with the idea during his studies, but once he graduated, he knew that for him working happily as a perfumer means being independent. There is more room for trying new things freely and to be directly in contact with the clients. In Stéphanie’s opinion, real freedom in terms of olfactive writing is when the choice of ingredients is completely open and when the creative brainstorming happens directly between the perfumer and the client. Real freedom also entails being able to say no, to choose which projects to work on, sometimes to be allowed to make mistakes and learn from them. Stéphanie’s independent adventure began at Esxence in 2017 with the launch of Mon Seul Désir and Fugit Amor for the brand Jul & Mad. This was the start of a happy adventure...

Instead, Cristiano believes that to be a perfumer in a major fragrance house like MANE gives a powerful set of five core advantages, at least: a rich historical company knowledge, access to an international broad portfolio of clients, a pool of talents highly specialized, the use of unique inhouse natural extracts, captive molecules and natural isolates, and a buoyant team full of innovative spirit pushing the boundaries of creativity, always in a respectful way.

Oliver has only worked in-house and believes that he has benefitted from being surrounded by expert professionals, fellow perfumers, evaluators, technical perfumers, sourcers and even flavourists. First and foremost, it means that he can walk into a colleagues’ office and ask for advice or a second opinion. Secondly, as Cristiano mentioned, there is a luxury access to exceptional raw materials and specialty ingredients. Lastly, in the case of Takasago, the Japanese company heritage opens a fascinating far away culture which is a new source of inspiration.

Projects Under Construction. Hot New Creations.

As you may have guessed, perfumers are busy people, juggling between several projects at the same time in distinct stages and geographies and spending considerable time working on formulas:

Everyday Cristiano deals with many projects in parallel with several formulas to be created, evaluated and modified. Each client has unique demands and expectations also in terms of timing, some projects can be concluded in a matter of weeks, others take months and sometimes years before they are finalized and go to market. This constant state of mental adaptability and flexibility is for Cristiano very stimulating. 2025 kicks off with a very dense agenda and he has set himself a personal goal to further expand his collaborative and creative work with the many alluring Italian heritage brands.

As for Stéphanie, she also works on several projects simultaneously. Her time at Esxence is typically packed with meetings with clients to discuss new projects. Once she has a positive personal connection with the client, adhered to the business ambition and ascertained there is no imitation involved, Stéphanie is in a position to start the project. This is the philosophy shared amongst the perfumers of Art & Parfum, no copies and no chromatography. She is currently working for many brands present at Esxence, as an example, for Plume Impression she created their new release ‘Love No Shame.’ 2025 will be a year of substantial business in India and in the Middle East.

Ten is the number of projects Oliver finds himself working upon for markets all over the world. Evaluators often ask for three different notes to be proposed to the client, of which in most cases only one will be taken forward and developed fully. Working on such diverse projects is so incredibly stimulating for Oliver, he can be creating for the Middle East in the morning, for France or Spain in the early afternoon and for Italy later in the day. What a world rotation in fragrance creation! Oliver has had an incredibly exciting start to 2025 by joining Takasago, so if the rest of the year follows with the same momentum, then we’re in for a ride! Beyond settling into his “new home,” he is looking forward to collaborating with new clients and to create beautiful fragrances.

Patrice is also used to working on a dozen formulas. It is not exactly at the same time as some clients are receiving their lab samples while he reworks formulas according to the debrief of others, or while he receives a new brief. He enjoys the synchronizing of separate stages and balancing of different steps, like dancing with specific characters. 2025 is intense for him too. Many things are in the making, either with new brands or with his ‘usual suspects.’ Amongst the several projects, one is for a beautiful Japanese brand, and many are for French niche brands.

A Special Olfactive Session of a Fragrance Creation.

Each perfumer was free to choose a scent from his-her collection to make the audience enjoy a common smelling experience.

Stéphanie picked Empire T developed for Nose Republic, an upcoming Russian brand founded by Ksenia Golovanova. Luca Turin has already highly praised the quality of the scent but Stéphanie preferred to give us a short extract of the original brief she received from Ksenia: ‘A cool, nocturnal, ashy tuberose — straight from the heart of Moscow’... A secret empire of cigarette tobacco and hushed whispers, history being made on the highest floors of Seven Sisters. What does this secret empire smell like? Tuberose and smoke, cool night air and marble, ash, and aspiration.’

Patrice chose Scoville created for Obvious for its daring originality. The challenge was to reproduce the taste experience of a chilli red pepper into a scent. "Climb the ladder of pleasure and get licked with fire” says the brand about the perfume, the more time goes by, the more intense and addictive the scent becomes. Like the initial bite crunchy and green, like a bell pepper, that then becomes super spicy and red, Scoville turns burning hot, like the chili seeds. In the end, the heat decreases, and a strange sensation appears, both smooth and addictive...

Oliver picked a ‘concept’ scent presented at a Takasago event. Amber On The Rocks is a Golden Liquor inspired by the historical quality of Japan’s Nikka pure malt whisky. Oliver created a unique blend with a rich range of oriental, woody and ambery facets enhanced by a smoky and earthy oud accord. I think the fragrance is a superb translation of the Japanese art of distillery into perfumery, refined and full of character.

Cristiano selected idilios crafted for Rubini and just released at Esxence. The scent is for adventurers who want to find peace and rest after a tempest, for the travellers who search for paradise in far away lands and find it hidden inside their soul. The frenetic tempo quiets down with soft and pastel notes that slowly reveal themselves.

An Ingredients Discussion. Regulations. Solutions.

I asked each perfumer to reveal his or her favourite ingredient and to explain how (if) IFRA regulations and new sustainable solutions impact his work.

Patrice described his personal love for white synthetic floral molecules such as Hydroxycitronellal or Florol. Traditionally used for creating a lily or a jasmine, he loves playing with them in another way; he uses them either as technical ingredients to give ‘special’ effects or as leading role actors. As for naturals, he is fond of patchouli, musks and vanilla. He loves iris too ! In terms of regulations, Patrice wants to underline the fact that it is crucial to preserve the consumers’ health but at the same time to remove an ingredient from the palette is a serious matter; it is like removing a colour nuance from the painter's palette. When an artist imagines a creation, it is always with a mental process using the tools and mediums he knows. If you remove one of them, the very creation is challenged and becomes impossible. He thinks regulations can be both a reason for instability and a source of creativity.

Stéphanie has three favourites, iris, patchouli, and osmanthus. She likes to work intensely with new ingredients, issued from green chemistry and sustainable sourcing for naturals. Companies continuously discover and offer new sustainable ingredients, so she takes it as her responsibility to use them. She believes her independent position adds a unique positive dimension as she is free to choose the house based on the excellence of the ingredient she is after. The ingredients palette is certainly amid a major transformation, so it is the perfumer’s job to find the solutions for the right expression of the notes like an ‘illusionist.’

Oliver is particularly drawn to naturals, both as precious tools in the palette as well as sources of inspiration. He has a soft spot for the animal warmth of jasmine grandiflorum which brings authenticity to a composition. Oliver also loves using vetiver to ground a perfume and bring a contrast to its floral side. He must add vanilla absolute to his list, for its leathery black olive notes and the incredible depth it brings to a perfume.

As previously mentioned, Cristiano has a special attachment to natural Sandalwood and its chemical derivatives. However, since he joined MANE, he became particularly fond of floral notes extracted with the e-pure Jungle EssenceTM (a kind of modern enfleurage) which used in formulations, smell like freshly picked flowers. He also likes spicy notes, such as Jungle Essence™ extractions of peppers. He has discovered fruits extracts which in small dosages bring roundness and naturality to standard fruity accords.

A Creative Evolution. New Olfactive Directions.

For Oliver, this is an exciting time to be a perfumer. Consumers have never been so perfume-literate, which means they are pushing for more daring contrasts and more creative ideas. In terms of olfactive trends, he enjoys the neo-gourmands, fragrances with a gourmand element, but not sugar-focused, especially if they have an accent of saltiness, bitterness, or contrasted with marine and mineral effects.

Cristiano believes the gourmand trend in feminine fragrances is gradually diminishing with new directions focused on freshness, cleanliness, and mineral elements. On the masculine side, dry ambers and dark woods used to dominate, the trend is now shifting towards greater seductiveness and less stereotypical masculinity, with the usage of smooth aromatics, gentle greens, subtle hints of fruitiness, and refined touches of bitterness.

Stéphanie sees an interesting trend in oud perfumes; the material is truly exceptional, and clients expect a creative direction with unusual associations and new propositions different from the classical oud-saffron or oud-rose notes. Histoire d’Amour 2.0 the new release from Jul & Mad is a good illustration as the fragrance is based on a mango-oud-chantilly accord composed by Stéphanie. About the trend for naturals, she wants consumers to understand that using 100% naturals is exhausting soils so innovation on new sustainable ingredients is critical for the future of the palette. She says ‘Thank you Mane, you are lucky Cristiano! Your company is doing an amazing job as an ingredient’s researcher and supplier. Mane’s Jungle Essences (TM) are among my favourites!’

As for Patrice, he outlines two trends that he finds particularly interesting. As Cristiano said, one is the mineral notes; as a derivation of the woody-ambery trend, without the metallic pungent sensation. Minerals can follow a spicy route - akigalawood, georgywood - or a soft and dusty one -evernyl. They are often mixed with a musky or aquatic vibe. The second trend is the new “savory gourmand,” not the usual sweet one. Patrice is happily exploring two ‘fabrics;’ the Pyrazines, which smell like rice, puffed rice or cereals, used in ‘Harran’ created for Soul of Makeen, and in “Je ne sais quoi” for Teo Cabanel. The other new texture is fruity, but fresh and juicy, instead of a sweet jam.

The Situation for a Sparkling Creative Inspiration.

This is the question that most people are curious about. I had to ask.

Stéphanie humbly says that clients come up with great ideas. She would not have created by herself a salty rose like Rose Saltifolia for Maison Crivelli. She interprets the initial story-telling and expresses it in the best way. Surely, travelling is for her a major source of inspiration as it represents sixty per cent of her creative ideas. Her travels take her to Europe and the entire world, this is when she steps back, meets new people, cultures, colours, smells, and foods. Lovely and Yummy!

For Oliver, perfumers never really turn their perfume brain off, whether at the office, at home or walking round the supermarket. Inspiration comes from moments of reflection and re-elaboration, meeting a new person, listening to personal stories, enjoying new culinary experiences, visiting novel places, walking along the long Camino de Santiago, or simply looking at things through “new eyes” …

Putting aside the client brief, Patrice has two ways to start his creative work; a classic one is to be inspired by a new olfactive element from a daily life moment. A second one comes from pure research into new olfactive forms and from the test associations of raw materials. This is the reason he spends most of his time at the lab.

As for Cristiano, his inspiration comes primarily from Mother Nature, which already holds all the answers, one only needs to grasp them. That is why, he goes out of Milan to connect with the greenery of a flowery meadow, the purity of the mountains, the wild forests, the seashore ever-changing beauty, or the serenity of the water in the open ocean. People are also a major source of inspiration and mutual evolution: a personal story to be heard, a vision to be embraced, ambitions to be expressed, listening and sharing these with one another becomes a key creative driver.

Perfumers Create New Visions Full of Emotions.

I asked the perfumers to reveal their overarching personal aspiration. I am so impressed by their answers, poetic, magnetic and artistic:

Oliver’s goal is to create beautiful perfumes that people wake up in the morning and look forward to wearing, that accompany them throughout their day and that linger on their skin in the evening. He encapsulates his aspiration in the following sentence:

“Perfume is storytelling. Flowers, Spices and Woods become my heroes, dancing on skin in a silent yet fervent symphony.” Oliver Riva, Perfumer at Takasago Paris.

Stéphanie explains her aspiration to grow Sensaba to a point when she can hire and give a chance to a young talented perfumer. She can also envisage a future as the in-house perfumer of an independent niche brand where she will be able to fully represent the spirit of the brand, while enjoying free creativity. Here is the expression of her artistic work:

« Perfumes are masterpieces of passion, art and craftsmanship designed to awaken the soul and paint invisible memories ». Stéphanie Bakouche, founder of Sensaba.

Cristiano’s grand mission is to create fragrances able to shake inner souls with innovation and make them available to the greater audience. His personal articulation is:

“Perfumery is the precise moment when science stops, and art begins. Accuracy blends with creative mystery to create intangible beauty.’ Cristiano Canali, perfumer at MANE.

As for Patrice, a young perfumer, he knows how difficult it is to become well-known. He aspires to new collaborations with innovative brands and the explorations of alternative creative inspirations. Ultimately it is all about emotions:

‘My aspiration is to trigger emotion through fragrance. When someone tells me that my creation generates vivid emotions and reminiscences, I know I have fulfilled my purpose.’ Patrice Revillard, founder of Maelstrom.

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As you know, I was looking forward to the event, well its content was above my expectations.

What an inspiring discussion! Full of sparkling creative inspiration and strong emotions. What an exploration of the complex work of perfumers! Rich in talent, never arrogant, always brilliant. What a common passion! Between in-house and independent noses, a joint vision and close union prevail.

Watch the panel discussion session from Esxence on replay at the link below:

A live debate between perfumers. Independent versus inhouse contenders

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Stéphanie Bakouche. Photo credit Romain Bassenne.

Cristiano Canali. Photo credits Antoine Duhamel and Florian Bonin.

Oliver Riva, Photo credits Jonathan Moyal.