A. Needless to say, it is important to tailor your explanation to the person you are speaking to. First, though, organize the basics in your own mind and talk about them: an overview of the brand, what the perfume portrays and how it was created (its story, in other words), and what you personally think is good about it.
Once you have a firm foundation, research fragrance ingredients, fragrance families, the detailed background to the perfume’s creation, its perfumer, and perfume history so that you can draw on these in your explanations. If you have time, it is also worth learning about film, fashion, literature, and art.
Deepening your knowledge in these areas will broaden your range and enable you to explain perfumes to all kinds of customers. For example, it is important to be able to take comments such as “I like labdanum,” “I like amber fragrances,” “I want a fragrance that suggests an attractive woman with a wicked side,” “I like Bertrand Duchaufour,” “I like Guerlain’s Après L’Ondée,” “In fashion, I like so-and-so,” or “In films, I like such-and-such,” and use them to choose similar perfumes, perfumes with a similar atmosphere, or scents that someone with those tastes might like. If you can do this, you will probably find explaining perfumes easy, too.
Finally, the key points when speaking are to “speak in your own words,” “express your passion and love for perfume,” and “mix nine parts truth with one part fiction (that is, dreams).”
Illusion is truer than reality. The appearance of truth is more believable than truth. … Illusion is not a lie. It is a way of answering desire.
Jean-Claude Ellena
Art is a lie that allows us to recognize truth.
Pablo Picasso
