According to Ernesto Collado, “Smell has more to do with emotion than with intellect and the language of plants is smell.” Having been an actor and director, he is an animated soul who discovered a passion for the plant world of his local surroundings in l’Empordà, a Catalan region in the Northeast corner of Spain.

Dear reader,

Over these long months, during which the pandemic has shocked the whole world, we have never interrupted our activities to monitor and analyze the markets that have had to embrace the digital world as best as they could in order to overcome the limits imposed on maintaining interpersonal relationships without face to face meetings.

Think for a moment about how fragranced products can enhance your daily routine: you start with an invigorating shower gel, you spritz on a perfume that makes you happy, you light a calming candle as the day ends and retire to bed using a relaxing pillow spray to induce sleep. More than ever people around the world are looking to fragrance to enhance their well-being and create a cozy ambiance at home. Since 1995 global fragrance and flavor house Givaudan has been a pioneer in researching ways to create feel-good fragrances and has now launched their patented MoodScentz® program. To dive deeper into this subject I interviewed MaryPierre Julien, Naturals Innovation Perfumer at Givaudan, who shares personal anecdotes that bring special meaning to her mission.

The word “essential” indicates that something is absolutely necessary, indispensable, fundamental, even vital. When something is essential, it can’t be done without, it is necessary to have it. In regard to fragrance, the scent is essential and therefore so is the perfumer, but much of the rest is secondary. Consequently, the idea of putting the fragrance at the heart of a brand may seem obvious, but is it? In 2018 Geraldine Archambault did that very thing with the launch of Essential Parfums, a brand that’s challenging the (fragrance) establishment in so many ways.