Basenotes.net - latest Interviews

An interview with Johann Maria Farina

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 00:00:01 EST

For any perfume lover, the Farina Haus at Obenmarspforten 21 in Cologne, Germany is something of a shrine – the birthplace of Eau de Cologne, a revolution in perfumery, and the seat unto this day of the world’ oldest fragrance house, Johann Maria Farina gegenuber dem Julichsplatz, founded in 1709. Formerly also the site of its production, it now houses a spacious store, as well as a museum which features an impressive array of historical artefacts and documents. After a guided tour by “Johann Maria Farina” (1685-1766), garbed in resplendent Rococo attire, I was led through an inconspicuous door to the office of the present-day Johann Maria Farina, managing director and direct 8th generation descendant of his namesake.

An Interview with Katie Puckrik (of Katie Puckrik Smells)

Mon, 09 Feb 2009 00:00:01 EST

Katie Puckrik has many talents: TV presenter, TV producer, journalist, dancer, author, actress... Well, we can now add another string to that bow: fragrance reviewer.Last year, Puckrik began reviewing fragrances on YouTube. As Basenotes was more familiar with her other work we thought we would find out more about her new venture... How long have you had an interest in fragrance? Can you pinpoint when it became more of an obsession that a casual interest?I’ve always been entranced and stimulated by smells – all odors, be they pretty – or pretty stinky. I think that comes from having traveled so much when I was growing up. My dad was in the Air Force, and we were bouncing around from the US to Berlin, Moscow, London, Athens, Tangiers – so many places with distinctive cultures and scents!

An interview with Victoria Christian of Clive Christian Perfumes

Mon, 02 Feb 2009 00:00:01 EST

In 1999, luxury furniture designer, Clive Christian launched three feminine and three masculine fragrances based on the original values of a fragrance house known as The Crown Perfumery. Like Clive Christian's furniture designs, the fragrances are known for their quality and luxuriousness.Basenotes interviews Victoria Christian, daughter of Clive and the company's publicist.

An Interview with Mandy Aftel

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 00:00:01 EST

Mandy Aftel is a woman of many talents and achievements. She has written “Essence and Alchemy- A Natural History Of Perfume” which is essential reading for the perfume enthusiast and contains fascinating insights into raw materials and perfume structures as well as excellent contextual history with wonderful historical illustrations. She has, among other things, written about Brian Jones, set up the Natural Perfumer’s Guild, and composed and launched her own line of liquid and solid natural perfumes under her Aftelier label. We spoke on the telephone across the ocean one Thursday, evening for me, lunch time for Mandy. I am especially grateful for her continued good humour when we spoke later than arranged due to my failure to properly check the time difference.

The guerrilla perfumers: An interview with Mark and Simon Constantine (Lush & B Perfumery)

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 00:00:01 EST

Mark Constantine is the head and co-founder of the cosmetics retail chain Lush, and also the co-founder of possibly the most awkwardly named perfumery in the word, B Never Too Busy To Be Beautiful. He likes to call his business “guerrilla cosmetics” and has hit the headlines in UK this week for openly supporting a group of environmental activists, Plane Stupid. Mark trained as a trichologist and when working at a salon in the 1970s, he met Elizabeth Weir (now Bennett), with whom he started Constantine and Weir and subsequently opened a small herbal hair and beauty clinic in Poole. They made henna hair colours and beauty products based on natural raw materials. Mark's wife Mo was involved in the business from its earliest days and several other people soon joined the team, which over the years grew to be one of The Body Shop's main suppliers. Anita and Gordon Roddick were a huge inspiration to Mark, but he was arguably an even bigger influence on their business, as the person who introduced the anti-animal testing policy to the brand.

Scent Treks through Time ~ Mathilde Laurent, Thierry Wasser, Harry Fremont and Serge Lutens

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 00:00:01 EST

This is the final part of interviews from Marian Bendeth's Scent Treks Through Time series, where we find out where perfumers would go if they could travel back in time, to meet, chat and co-create with a perfumer of the past. Our last willing time-travellers are: Mathilde Laurent (Cartier Parfums), Thierry Wasser (Guerlain), Harry Fremont (Firmenich) and Serge Lutens.

Scent Treks through Time: Evelyne Boulanger, Patricia Choux, Jean-Pierre Bethouart and Christiane Plos

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 00:00:01 EST

This is the penultimate set of interviews from Marian Bendeth's Scent Treks Through Time series, where we find out where perfumers would go if they could travel back in time, to meet, chat and co-create with a perfumer of the past. This week our time-travellers are Evelyne Boulanger and Patricia Choux from Symrise; and Jean-Pierre Bethouart and Christiane Plos from Firmenich.

An interview with Michael Boadi of Boadicea the Victorious

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 00:00:01 EST

You might not recognise Michael Boadi’s name, but you’ve almost certainly seen his work. Boadi has a background in high-fashion hair – names like Chanel, Gucci, Etro and Missoni litter his CV, and he’s worked his magic on the iconic scalps of Kate Moss, Madonna, and Jennifer Lopez.Boadicea the Victorious is Michael’s first perfume line. Surprisingly, he’s had no formal training in either hair or fragrance, but this collection of curiously voluptuous, rounded perfumes is full of warmth and quality, and has a thread of personality linking each fragrance. This is a luxe range, with only high-concentration, pure parfum available, all extravagantly packaged in black tissue, lead crystal, lead-free pewter and silver. Boadi calls the vessel designs, heavily engraved with knotwork on both sides, ‘Year 3000 Celtic’. The line, he tells me, is inspired by the very feminine strength of Boadicea, as well as the ideas of Britishness she embodies – all the fragrances, candles and containers are made in Britain.

The High Notes of Basenotes: Interview with Founder, Editor and Owner of Basenotes.net - Grant Osborne

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 00:00:01 EST

To celebrate our eighth birthday, our award-winning writer, Marian Bendeth interviewed site owner, Grant Osborne to find out more about the ideas behind Basenotes.

Aurelien Guichard, Stephen Nilsen, Michael Carby, Yann Vasnier - Scent Treks Through Time

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 11:19:01 EST

This is part thirteen of interviews from Marian Bendeth's Scent Treks Through Time series, where we find out where perfumers would go if they could travel back in time, to meet, chat and co-create with a perfumer of the past. Today we have four perfumers from Givaudan stepping in to Marian Bendeth's time machine: Aurelien Guichard, Stephen Nilsen, Michael Carby and Yann Vasnier

Cecile Krakower, Karine Chevallier, Lyn Harris and Sylvie Jourdet -- Scent Treks through time

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 15:21:01 EST

This is part twelve of interviews from Marian Bendeth's Scent Treks Through Time series, where we find out where perfumers would go if they could travel back in time, to meet, chat and co-create with a perfumer of the past. This time our time-travellers are Cecile Krakower (Mane), Karine Chevallier (Olfactive Design / Nez a Nez), Lyn Harris (MIller Harris) and Sylvie Jourdet (Creassance).

The perfumer who hates perfume: An interview with Christopher Brosius

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 00:00:01 EST

Zephyr is a big dog. I met him a month ago and a few thousand miles away, but as I shut my eyes, it is as if he's lying on the carpet in front of me. He's rolling on his back, encouraging me to rub his pinkly dogsome tummy, and he smells very strongly and wetly canine. His master, Christopher Brosius, would understand this hallucinatory kind of scent memory - in this case sparked by some smears of doggy smell that rubbed off my hands onto my notebook and seem to have been fixed by something on the scent test strips I have tucked into the cover. Brosius' perfumery is all about lucid and occasionally startling scent memories and illusions. The vials in his shop are magic portals which allow you to revisit your grandmother's tomato greenhouse, experience a worm's-eye view of a luminous flower or stamp your way through a hot, mulchy forest; all standing in a bare room with your eyes tightly shut and your nose twitching with surprise.

James Krivda / Sophie Labbe / Laurent Le Guernec / Christophe Laudamiel ~ Scent Treks through Time

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 00:00:01 EST

This is part eleven of interviews from Marian Bendeth's Scent Treks Through Time series, where we find out where perfumers would go if they could travel back in time, to meet, chat and co-create with a perfumer of the past. This week our time-travellers are James Krivda (Mane), Sophie Labbe (IFF), Laurent le Guernec (IFF) and Christophe Laudamiel.

Filling the Gilded Shoes of Guerlain - an interview with new in-house perfumer, Thierry Wasser

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 03:25:01 EST

It must feel a bit daunting when you receive an honourable request to be heir apparent to one of the most celebrated French Perfume and Cosmetics Houses in the world! Especially when you are not a blood relative of the perfumed peerage Guerlain family. Marian Bendeth interviews Guerlain's new in-house perfumer, Thierry Wasser, and finds out how he feels about his new role; his relationship with Jean-Paul Guerlain and the future of the Paris-based house.

Nathalie Feisthauer / Christoph Hornetz / Jane Hendler / Isabelle Michaud ~ Scent Treks through Time

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 00:00:01 EST

This is part ten of interviews from Marian Bendeth's Scent Treks Through Time series, where we find out where perfumers would go if they could travel back in time, to meet, chat and co-create with a perfumer of the past. This week our time-travellers are Nathalie Feisthauer (Symrise), Christoph Hornetz (Les Christophs / IFF), Jane Hendler (Ajne) and Isabelle Michaud.

Rodrigo Flores-Roux / Ralf Schwieger / Neil Morris ~ Scent Treks through Time

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 00:00:01 EST

After a short break we return to Marian Bendeth's Scent Treks through time series, where we find out where perfumers would go if they could travel back in time, to meet, chat and co-create with a perfumer of the past. In the ninth installment our time-travellers are Rodrigo Flores-Roux (Black Cashmere, Zirh Corduroy...), Ralf Schweiger (Lipstick Rose, Eau de Merveilles...) and Neil Morris.

Maurice Roucel / Linda Pilkington / Lorenzo Villoresi ~ Scent Treks through Time

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 00:00:01 EST

The eighth set of interviews from Marian Bendeth's Scent Treks Through Time series, where we find out where perfumers would go if they could travel back in time, to meet, chat and co-create with a perfumer of the past. Today our time-travellers are Maurice Roucel (Musc Ravageur, L'Instant de Guerlain, Gucci Envy...), Linda Pilkington (Ormonde Jayne) and Lorenzo Villoresi.

Jean-Michel Duriez / Calice Asancheyev-Becker / Vero Kern ~ Scent Treks through Time

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 00:00:01 EST

The seventh set of interviews from Marian Bendeth's Scent Treks Through Time series, where we find out where perfumers would go if they could travel back in time, to meet, chat and co-create with a perfumer of the past. Today our time-travellers are Jean Patou's in-house perfumer, Jean-Michel Duriez; creator of J'Adore, Calice Asancheyev-Becker and independent perfumer Vero Kern.

Bertrand Duchaufour / Marvel Fields / Steven DeMarcado ~ Scent Treks through Time

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:01 EST

The sixth set of interviews from Marian Bendeth's Scent Treks Through Time series, where we find out where perfumers would go if they could travel back in time, to meet, chat and co-create with a perfumer of the past. Today our time-travellers are L'Artisan's Bertrand Duchaufour, Marvel Fields and Steven Demarcado.

Nathalie Lorson / Roja Dove / Michael Storer - Scent Treks through Time

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 16:14:01 EST

The fifth set of interviews from Marian Bendeth's Scent Treks Through Time series, where we find out where perfumers would go if they could travel back in time, to meet, chat and co-create with a perfumer of the past. Today our time-travellers are Nathalie Lorson going to the sixties, Roja Dove (pictured) travelling to the 1910's and Michael Storer to 1945.