A. Do you need explanations of the story, background, or ingredients to enjoy a perfume or scent? This question occasionally sparks debate.
To begin with the conclusion, this website’s position is that “both views are right, and both are wrong.” In other words, everyone enjoys perfume differently: it is equally valid to enjoy it without knowing anything about it and to research it, broaden your imagination, and enjoy it that way.
What do I mean by “both are wrong”? Even people who say they know nothing may look at the ingredients or read the description. If they do, I believe exploring further can expand their world of enjoyment of fragrance. In this respect, I think the view that “you do not need an explanation to enjoy perfume” is mistaken.
On the other hand, the more you pursue a perfume’s background, descriptions, and ingredients, the more you may neglect the scent itself or acquire odd preconceptions. There is nothing more refreshing and pleasurable than enjoying a scent without complicated theories. In this respect, I think the view that “you need an explanation to enjoy perfume” is mistaken.
Feeling and Reason
If we examine this question of whether explanations are needed to enjoy perfume more closely, I think we can broadly distinguish between choosing a perfume through “intuition” or “feeling,” thinking “This is good!” because of the memories or emotions that come flooding back the instant we smell it, and choosing through “reason,” thinking “This is good!” after hearing, “This is the story behind the perfume, and this is what the perfumer wanted to convey”.
If so, rather than one being better than the other, a perfume that lets you experience both may be the most wonderful scent for you. I think the same applies in other fields, such as fashion, music, and film.
And does being invisible mean that no explanation is needed? There are times when love cannot be conveyed unless we put it into words. Since perfume is also invisible, I think there are times when we need to talk about it.
Words from Well-Known Figures in the Industry
What do well-known people in the perfume industry think? I hope you find their perspectives helpful.
Until recently, it was thought impossible to discuss the artistry of perfume intellectually. Somehow, it has become something that must be discussed.
Tania Sanchez, from The World Perfume Guide
Perfume is absolutely not memory and sex. Perfume is beauty and intellect. Perfume is not a smell, but a message contained in a bottle. That message is written by the perfumer and read by the person who smells it.
Luca Turin, from The World Perfume Guide
I believe that long before a great perfume has a beautiful harmony of scents, it first has a great story. I am a storyteller of universal emotions, such as love, joy, seduction, and addiction, and my aim is to tell olfactory stories that appeal to the senses of men and women.
Kilian Hennessy
If you wish to show appreciation for a perfume, you must know its background.
Jean-Claude Ellena
What matters is the emotion you feel when you smell that fragrance.
Mathilde Laurent
Even if you can read a perfume’s formula and know its aromatic molecules, that alone cannot give you a complete understanding of it. Only those who can sense poetry, music, landscapes, and the feel of skin beyond its scent can remain with it for life.
Satori Osawa
People always want to talk about the stories surrounding perfume, but even as a professional, I take the same position as you do. That is, if I like a perfume, I do not try to analyze it, because it is its distinctive world that captivates me.
Olivier Polge
Ultimately, perfume is emotion, and I create perfumes to move someone on an emotional level.
Christine Nagel
Everyone tries to understand art. Then why do they not try to understand birdsong? Why can people love the night, flowers, and everything around them without trying to understand them? Somehow, it is only art that people insist on understanding.
Pablo Picasso
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