Nocturne. Ainslie Walker for Alexi Freeman

July 5, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 22 Comments

Post by Ainslie Walker

Hello my favourite fragrant folk!

Earlier this year I developed a fragrance to accompany the scenic launch of Australian fashion designer, Alexi Freeman’s latest collection. The scent was released ambiently during the catwalk showing of White Noise trans-seasonal 2016 on the clifftops at MONA Museum, Hobart – possibly the most southern and most scenic catwalk in fashion history!

“As daylight shifts to the still of night, silhouettes move upon a cliff face. Ultra violet light reflects from pale, voluminous and translucent threads. Nearby vineyard fruits sweeten the air. Vapor escapes from shimmering bitumen. White leather treads, pulsing the earths surface. Light amber woods waft upwards carrying the salted air if the river towards us. Soon darkness reigns, broken only by the glimmer of the star filled sky”

MONA is one of the worlds most iconic Art Museums. I am honored to have been the first ‘fragrance artist’ to scent the iconic outdoor space. Here’s hoping there will be more scent events at MONA in the future! Over a few glasses of the local Pinot Noir I talked to owner, art collector David Walsh, discussing ‘scent as art.’ David finds wearing perfume “misleading.” He likes to smell the “natural scent of a person,” deeming it sexy, rather than “a false mask that wears off and is no longer there in the morning.” We discussed basic instincts and attraction in humans and the potential to find a lover attractive due to their natural odor and how wearing fragrance can potentially mess with proceedings and attract the wrong person! (The concept of odiferous ‘beer goggles?!’)

The event was curated by Brian Ritchie, ex-bassist for The Violent Femmes. Each day as he passed by me he opened his collar for a few squirts of Nocturne and a giggle. He loved it and even read it’s description out for the whole crowd!! (My teenage-90s-grunge inner child SQUEALED all the while, believe me!)

Morag from Aussie Fragrance Network Facebook Group came along to the show with her daughter and here she describes the evening:

“We walked uphill from the bitumen car park past lawns and sculptures. Looking out over the river we watched the mix of fashionistas and conventionally styled audience members drift in. We took our seats on heated benches beneath the ** installation, to wait for the fashion show to begin.
**not-allowed-to-mention-the-artist’s-name-due-to-marketing-restrictions

We basked in the change from daylight to night, watching the silhouette of gum trees against a darkening sky. The sculpture’s coloured lights shifted through the rainbow, whilst seamlessly melding with the sky.

All the while, the air was filled with colour, Ainslie Walker’s Nocturne. Rich, luscious fruits and florals – deeply velvet. Byron Meyer produced accompanying soundscapes which in turn carried ethereal gowns, white on white, floating and gliding past us: Alexi Freeman’s White Noise collection. Shorts and tank tops, beautiful gauzy dresses over bodysuits threaded with silver and textural contrasts of leather and perspex glowed under UV, surrounded by the darkness of night.

A feast for all the senses. A subtle fusing and truly experiential. A sensory experience full of provocation.

Wearing Ainslie’s Nocturne, I am transported to that evening and beyond. Because what I smelt that night was just the beginning. On the skin, the scent is much much more. After the voluptuous ripeness dissipates, there is a calm quiet center of gentle leather and musk. The easing into the night after a spectacular sunset.”

Nocturne. Ainslie Walker for Alexi Freeman

APJ READERS OFFER: contact Ainslie Walker to order sampler in card, including postage for $20

Nocturne limited edition candle from Ainslie Walker or Alexi Freeman’s Studio in Fitzroy, Melbourne.

Limited edition Nocturne parfum via emailing ainslie@ainsliewalker.com

PS big thanks to Morag for her support and story xx

Please tell me about a scent installation you’ve attended?

Xx Ainslie

All Photos donated by Ainslie Walker

A mixed tape from Geza Schoen? Ephemera by Unsound

April 19, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 4 Comments

Post by Ainslie Walker

Hi Fumees! Hope you are well?

I am a big fan of nose, Geza Schoen’s work, which includes creation of the Eccentric Molecules collection, many Ormonde Jayne fragrances, Beautiful Mind Series, the naughty Kinski and plenty beyond.

Late last year I observed Geza was working on a project linking sound and scent, so I reached out and got in touch. A week later I received three fragrances with specific and intriguing instructions, printed on transparent paper, explaining the method behind creating the fragrances and allowing me to follow the same journey as the nose himself.

A mixed tape from Geza Schoen?

The project was called Ephemera, the initiative of Unsound – one of the worlds leading electronic and experimental music festivals.

The letter clearly indicated not to open the fragrances, instead diverting me to a link, suggesting I also pop on some headphones:

Clicking on the first video is a track by Steve Goodman (aka Kode9) which inspired Geza to create the fragrance ‘Bass” I open the fragrance whilst listening and watching the video by Marcel Weber. With bass sounds interspersed with crackling white noise, I inhale and smell earthy woods, dirty, smoky cigar, rum, lapsang souchong tea, mossy robust leather and castoreum seeping into my olfactory system. I see tan/reddish brown but I feel a dark green presence too…something slightly soapy. A woody, kind of dirty, aromatic.

Neutralizing my nose I pop on the second track called “Drone” by Tim Hecker, whilst smelling the accompanying fragrance and watching the video, which I feel is a perfect match. Otherworldly…out-of-spacey and surreal to begin with visually…I hear an ethereal airiness in the music. Aldehydes sparkle and an almost citrus sharpness mix in a more hyper-real way with juniper trees, cold, possibly covered in snow…and there’s some definitely ‘unnatural’ aspects. Earthy and in time, getting more oily and rounded. Notes of patchouli, ambergris and vetiver pass by leaving a kind of cannabis and papyrus scent, which is not unpleasant, but strange.

After a third break, Noise by Ben Frost begins dry, peppered and pencil case-like-cedarwood with a saffron sour tang. Birch tar smoulders, reminding me of the scent after an Aussie bushfire, very thick and ashy in its nature. (Seen before in Naomi Goodsir’s Bois d’Ascese, but still quite different) Continuing smelling the ash turns a little like welding, metallic. The notes make total sense when watching the film, which to me looks like X-rayed smoke!!

Wearability: I like Bass best, followed by Noise, then Drone (based on the drydown on my skin after an hour or so)

Interestingly the bottles are handmade in Krakow (see my article involving Polish glass and vodka tasting for APJ last year: Borscht, Vodka and Tears) I like them a lot, especially the design printed on the thick glass.

Naomi Goodsir, Andrea Maack, Byredo, By Kilian, Nasomatto and Comme de Garcons fans, these will most certainly be up your street

Which of the three fragrances do you want to try the most and why? What scents do you have at home that you would match to the videos/music?

Ainslie Walker Scents Alexi Freeman at MONA

March 23, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 12 Comments

Post by Portia

Hey crew,

Our very own Ainslie Walker is making her way in the big world of fragrancing events and this is set to be the biggest yet. As one of our APJ Contributors (and my buddy) we are incredibly proud of her achievements to date and wish her another major popular and critical success. Hopefully we will get a post event story from Ainslie because it’s so hush-hush that I’ve only now been allowed to tell you. Stay tuned.

Here is a short interview with Ainslie, I wanted the details.

Good Luck Ainslie, couldn’t be prouder of you.
Portia xx

ALEXI FREEMAN WHITE NOISE

TRANS-SEASONAL 2016 COLLECTION LAUNCH AT MONA

What is it you are scenting?
The runway/catwalk of a fashion show for the launch of Australian designer Alexi Freeman’s latest collection which is set on a cliff top on the rooftop of the Tasmanian MONA museum, so completely outdoors in the elements and interacting with an art piece situated there.

How did they find you to do the job?
Alexi and I went through my fragrance portfolio 2 years ago in Melbourne and he kept me in mind for future reference. When he was asked to launch his collection at MONA he saw this as a great opportunity to collaborate.

How do you go about creating a scent for someone elses vision?
Initially Alexi wanted something very natural based around Eucalyptus, in keeping with the natural beauty of Tasmania, leaving things quite open for me to experiment. However as the collection evolved and I understood it further we talked about night time/dark/twilight and wanted to play with dark and light and play of moonlight/ultraviolet light onto white fabrics/flowers. So I went from creating a very dark scent to a much lighter scent, based on materials Alexi is using. Billowing white fabrics, leather etc.

How is the scent being released in the air?
I am using a few different sized scent diffusion machines…plus the natural flow of air created by the models passing by. if weather is wild I have a few other options up my sleeve! Also I have created scented candles in dark pots that look like the Tasmanian night sky for people to purchase as part of the collection which will be sold at MOMA (Mona market) and then on both Alexi and my websites

What is the major note and why?
Peony: to represent the white fabrics reflecting ultraviolet lights
White leather: in the collection
Musks: representing wet bitumen /cement: which glitters at night around MONA
Patchouli and white woods: earthy/woody: natural component
Fruit note: to represent the MONA vineyard surrounding MONA

MudAustralia Candles: Re-Priced in time for Christmas 2015!!

November 15, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 2 Comments

Post by Ainslie Walker

As some of you know I’m involved in a scented candle collaboration with Mud Australia, who are an all Australian designer porcelain company based in Sydney. Recent expansions see Mud Australia stand alone stores in New York, London, Melbourne and a new Double Bay location in Sydney opening next week.

MudAustralia Candles

Re-Priced in time for Christmas 2015!!

I am happy to announce today that we have been able to reduce the price of the candles in time for your Christmas shopping

From $100 to $85!! at Ainslie Walker<<JUMP

Here is some further information from Portia’s APJ introduction & APJ Christmas Guide 2014

All their gorgeous porcelain designs (plates, bowls, mugs pendant lights, fruit bowls, vases etc.) are handmade in small batches in their Marrickville workshop, including the vessels for the candles. The hues and textures are gorgeous and the reason why they are in demand worldwide.

The candles burn for more than 80 hours. The vessels are reusable either by refilling with a candle refill (also available $40) or through use as a vase, drinking vessel, toothbrush/pen holder etc.

Mud01 – slate, milk or red

The collaboration Mud01 fragrance explores and draws from the soft hues and smooth textures of mud Australia’s porcelain. Ainslie uses a combination of white florals -tuberose, jasmine and orange blossom to create a smooth, creamy note, tolu Resin to add an earthy element, whilst green ginger and spices are used to add depth and warmth. The fragrance is feminine, yet strong, and reminiscent of Shelley Simpson, Mud Australia’s founder.

Mud02 – plum, dust or bottle

Features a fragrance with cedar, leather, amber and musks forming the base with neroli, orange, fresh cut herbs and sun dried hay floating above. The whole combines to give the effect of warm amber and deep woods throughout your home

Available now from Ainslie Walker<<JUMP and Mud Australia stores and stockists worldwide.

Christmas Perfume Masterclasses: Ainslie Walker + Nick Smart

October 21, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 2 Comments

Post by Portia

Hey gang,

OMG! Christmas is almost here!! For many small businesses they are so busy that they don’t have a moment to ask themselves what they will do with and for the staff this year as a Thank you. The eternal question “What are we going to do for our Christmas Party?” has just found an extraordinary answer. Why not treat your team to a Perfume Masterclass?

Christmas Perfume Masterclasses

Ainslie Walker + Nick Smart

Here’s how we think it. It usually costs about $150-300/head to do something fun and fabulous for your Christmas Party. Why not take your people to a Perfume Masterclass and give them each a $100 Gift Voucher towards a fragrance at their Libertine Perfume Masterclass. There will be a glass of bubbles, some nibbles and they’ll really learn something fun and helpful over the 2 hours. They’ll learn about their perfume preferences.

Great for the girls and the guys, who doesn’t want to look a little more savvy when shopping for their next fragrance. Ainslie and Nick will help with your fragrant vocabulary too so you will have an easier time explaining to sales assistants exactly what you want in a scent for yourself or loved ones.

Maximum of 15 people per class

Here and Now – Tamara Dean and Ainslie Walker: An Immersive Installation

February 20, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 12 Comments

Post by Catherine du Peloux Menage

HERE AND NOW – an immersive installation

APJ is all about perfume – so it’s all about smells, not those of everyday life which we often ignore, but the ones that are purposefully created, manufactured, and put in bottles. Many argue that perfume creation is a form of artistic creation. Tamara Dean and Ainslie Walker have turned this idea around by making scent an integral part of a work of art and challenging our perception that only certain smells count as ‘scent’. Tamara is the artist who created the immersive installation Here and Now, and Ainslie (well-known to APJ readers for her reviews) created the scent which forms part of the installation displayed at the University of New South Wales last week.

The idea was to create a piece of nature in the middle of a busy city to remind alienated city dwellers of powerful, primordial connections between humans and nature. It was a truly immersive work. We entered a low-lit penumbral space after removing our shoes and walking through a darkened tunnel (birth canal?), to be faced with a large photograph of a river bank and crouching naked figures covering the whole wall opposite, with wall-size mirrors on both sides. The ground was a pool of water with stepping stones leading towards the image. Walking across the stones, water splashed onto the feet. There was a low buzz of sound and an ambient scent.

The scent was so perfectly appropriate to the surroundings that at first I almost didn’t smell it, but just experienced it as natural. It actually felt as if I really was in a forest, crossing a stream, hearing cicadas and bellbirds, taking in the smell of the earth, the decaying tree trunks, the dampness of water. It was a brief moment of (re)connection with the natural world which many of us rarely experience. All the senses were involved. Touch, as we wore no shoes, sound through the cricket and bird song. We could see the photograph, its reflections and our own image. The air had a scent and smell and taste are so intertwined that the smell of the air almost left a residual taste at the back of my throat.

Photo Donated Tamara Dean

Ainslie said that the process began with research into the smells of the environment of the installation, wet vegetation, water, earth and leaves. She didn’t want to create a pretty ‘bottled perfume’ smell but to draw our attention to the scents around us to which we often pay no attention. As she experimented to create the final ‘Eau de Here and Now’, she avoided obvious ‘green’ smells of grass, mint, or eucalyptus or specific ‘woody’ smells and came back to the smell of the vegetation, the soil and rain. We were given a small vial of the scent to take away so we can plunge ourselves back into that darkened room, back into that artificial recreation of the natural though the perfume of nature.

Installations are ephemeral but if you want to share in the experience see the links below.
Please click here and here

Catherine du Peloux-Menage XX

Libertine Sydney Perfume Masterclass

February 15, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 7 Comments

Hello fellow fumies,

Nick Smart (of Libertine), Ainslie Walker and I have a special invitation for you to join us and attend a master class at the new Sydney Libertine store.

We are arranging for a small group to go together on the Wednesday 4th March and see the new Libertine Sydney premises.

Nick is Australia’s most knowledgeable importer of niche perfumery, Ainslie is one of APJ’s contributors, perfumer and scent/product designer. They will take us through the Libertine ranges and show things still unavailable in Australian stores. We get to have some fun with the Michael Edwards Fragrance Wheel, sniff, laugh, mingle and shop. What better way to spend a Wednesday evening?

Please come and join us for this FAB event. Hopefully you’ll get to spend some quality time with fragrances you’ve only ever read about on blogs, this is the time you can really smell them on your skin.

Also, selfishly I love to see you all and hang out. Afterwards we can go grab a drink.

HURRY UP, BOOK NOW! 8002 4488
Portia xxox

Australian Perfume Junkies Niche Perfumery Masterclass

Hosts: Nick Smart + Ainslie Walker

Date: Wednesday 4th March 2015

Price: $49 (redeemable against purchases on the night)

Time: 6pm for a 6:30 start

To Book call Libertine Sydney on 8002 4488. Payment is required to secure your booking

Here and Now: Tamara Dean: Special Event Announcement

February 3, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 7 Comments

Post by Portia & Ainslie Walker

Here and Now: Tamara Dean: Special Event Announcement

An Immersive Experience
Viewing: February 5-7 by registration HERE<<JUMP
Address released 24 hours prior

~~Opening Night February 4 2015 6-8pm~~ Fully Booked

Award winning artist and photographer Tamara Dean’s Here and Now Exhibition opens on 4th Feb and is already booked out for the opening night.
There are still places on Thursday and Saturday bu you must register quick.
APJs Ainslie Walker has scented the exhibition, collaborating with Tamara Dean for this fully immersive exhibition and says the experience “involves getting lost, at one with your primordial senses heightened”

Artist bio: Tamara Dean is an Australian artist whose practice explores the relationship between humans and the natural world. In 2013 she was selected for the ArtOmi International Artists Residency, New York. Works produced during this residency won first prize in the 2013 New York Photo Awards – Fine Art series category. Dean’s works have been widely exhibited both nationally and internationally.

Her work has featured in the Hamptons Art Fair, NYC, 2014, Melbourne Art Fair, 2014, Fotofever Brussels Art Fair, 2012 and Pingyao Photography Festival, China, 2012 as well as at leading Australian galleries including Inheritance 2009 and Hijacked 2 – New Australian & German Photography 2010, both at the Australian Centre for Photography; Sydney Now – New Australian Photojournalism, Museum of Sydney 2007; Terra Australis Incognita at Monash Gallery of Art.
Dean is currently Artist-in-Residence at UNSW and is represented by Olsen Irwin Gallery, Sydney and JHB Gallery, New York.

The Sydney Perfume lovers Meet up group, run by Catherine du Peloux Menagé are gathering their forces and attending the exhibition on Thursday evening 5.2.14. They will be privy to a special talk by Ainslie and Tamara and a keepsake of the evening to take home.

Catherine from the Sydney Perfume Lovers Meetup says:
“The artist Tamara Dean has collaborated with one of our members, the talented Ainslie Walker, to create an innovative art installation ‘Here and now’. Our senses will be heightened (including the sense our group is all about, naturally) as we take in the artwork and each one of us will have a different perspective. To say more would be to detract from the evening so you’ll just have to come along to be part of it.
We’ll experience the installation one person at a time, then Tamara and Ainslie will talk to us about the inspiration and ideas behind the installation, as well as the process of creation, over a drink . ‘Here and now’ will take place in the Kensington area of Sydney. The exact location has not yet been disclosed (not even to me!) and I will let you know the address by email nearer the time.
You will take away a special gift which will remind of your experience of the evening by stimulating your limbic system in a unique way. Intrigued? See you there. “

If you prefer to come at a different time or with your friends register with the details below:

Portia's Christmas Giving Guide 2014

December 12, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 17 Comments

Hey there gang,

Yes, 2 weeks till Christmas! Crazy how it comes up so quickly. I have been thinking long and hard about things I would like to gift my friends and family with, some are fragrant, some not.

Portia’s Christmas Giving Guide 2014

Candles

What candles do I burn in my house? These are the ones I burn and the ones I gift. A candle is an excellent gift because it lasts for ages, they are lovely and for people who already have everything they need a candle is something they may not think to buy themselves. I like to have my bath with candlelight whenever possible, so glamorous.

MudAustralia Candle #1: Ainslie Walker: Our very own Ainslie Walker designed and produced these gorgeous candles for MudAustralia. They have a beautiful scent with a white floral/woody tone that clears out all the bad juju in my house/apartment in about 30 minutes. The porcelain container can be re-purposed as a vase or glass and you can buy candle refills too. This lush and creamy candle fragrance gives me a rich satisfying fragrance in the whole apartment and comes in a super great range of colours too. Everyone that I have gifted one of these to has fallen instantly in love with it.

Diptyque 34 Boulevard Saint Germain Candle: Mecca Australia: When I need something calming and soothing in the air that won’t overwhelm but will allow me to really centre myself then I choose the 34 Boulevard Saint Germain Candle by Diptyque. This is what I used to scent my house while it was for sale and one of the things that ALL the prospective buyers said was that the house smelled beautiful. I have had this candle for over a year and use it often, there is still about a quarter left, that is serious lasting power.

34 Blvd St. Germain celebrates the brands 50th anniversary since their original boutique opened in Paris. Green notes, moss, blackcurrant, fig leaves, exotic spices, fresh flowers, woods

Soap

Yes, most of you know I have a ridiculous collection of soaps too. Here are two that I use regularly and a new brand I discovered in the USA recently at Twisted Lily.

Rancé Acqua di Colonia Soap: Rancé Soaps: Billed as Made Originally for Catherine di Medici, that may even be true. What really matters though is how freaking LAVISH you will feel when you use Rancé Acqua di Colonia Soap. Super creamy and scented with mainly citruses, white flowers and spices. If ever you need to feel like the king or queen of your world then this is the soap that will send you on your way.

Tabac Original Soap by Maurer & Wirtz: All Beauty: Yes, I bang on about this one quite a bit. I love it. Gorgeous scent, lathers beautifully, leaves my skin feeling soft and clean. Anyone who has touched my skin can tell you that soap has not ruined it over the years (nor has all the other stuff I’ve done to my poor self), it’s as soft and supple as it was in my teens, just stretched a bit tighter. Did I mention Cheap As Chips? Unbelievably good value.

NEW!!! Sandalo Soap by Ortigia: Twisted Lily: I have not used this yet but the packaging is exquisite, so glamorous with its heavy silver card and picture of a Rajasthani elephant. The whole presentation is luxurious and the Italian form Ortigia is also very reasonably priced. 4 x 100g bars of glycerine soap that smell heavenly.

From Twisted Lily: The essential oil of this exotic tree with narcissus, cedar, teak, vetiver, rose and jasmine. Rich, complex and sophisticated. Bars of pure vegetable glycerine; wonderfully translucent, naturally coloured, and generously fragranced with the cool and spicy Sandalo perfume

Books

The Perfume Lover by Denyse Beaulieu is one of my all time favourite fragrance books. Filled with fragrance, romance, insider perfumer information and a wonderful stary of a woman finding herself, and some company along the way. Great read. I have read it twice now.

Buy The Perfume Lover from Book Depository in paperback for around AUD$16 delivered to your door.

The Perfect Scent by Chandler Burr is the story of two fragrances from opposite ends of the spectrum. Sarah Jessica Parker’s Lovely and Hermès Un Jardin sur le Nil come to life as you read the book. It’s an eye opening insiders fast track and a really great read. I started rereading this on my holiday but there was no time, I will complete it this week.

Buy The Perfect Scent from Book Depository in paperback for around AUD$20 delivered to your door.

Revelation!: Reveal Your Destiny With Essential Oils by Suzanne R Banks is a really interesting look at creating a new life for yourself with Essential Oils. Aroma-Life-Therapy that gets you to become more mindful and present in your own space through scent, personal and ambient. It’s all about the naturals and very natural specific, shunning chemicals and synthetics, to use the energy of the plants and nature to help propel you to a higher level. Our very own APJ contributor Suzanne R Banks is a published author!! COOL!

Buy Revelation! Reveal Your Destiny With Essential Oils from Amazon for $3.30 on Kindle, also available as a book $11

Oh, My God, Am I Alright? by Michael El-Bacha is the ‘coming out’ story of a young confused man growing up in the Western Suburbs of Sydney to strict Lebanese Christian parents. From the outside looking in, Michael El-Bacha seemed like any other Lebanese boy from a large family with strong values and an appetite for football, fast cars and chicky babes. But after his parents notice that Michael is not like other ‘typical’ Lebanese boys, he is whisked off to Lebanon to marry his first cousin. Young Michael struggles to deny his true sexuality and leaves his young bride and infant child to find his identity. He embarks on a downward spiral until losing a lover leads him back home. Sex, drugs, homosexuality and love potions are what make this tale of self-discovery so tantalising. Michael’s story will make you laugh, cringe and cry.

Do you know any kids/adults on the cusp? Maybe they need a story like this to ease the heartache of coming out? Extra plus? I have a whole chapter! Michael was my friend when much of this was happening for him.

Buy Oh, My God, Am I Alright? from The Bookshop Darlinghurst AUD$20

Hopefully this has helped you in your Christmas Shopping in 2014.
Portia xx

PS> Just so you know, I love these products because they are really good. Yes, I am affiliated with some of the people who have produced these lovely gifts. They are my friends and I am justifiably proud of their efforts, no one is paying me to write about them. Fingers crossed they are thrilled I wrote about them and that some of you go buy their shit.

Michael Edwards Interview + 50% Off Book Deal

August 30, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 11 Comments

Post by Ainslie Walker

Ainslie Walker’s personal interview with Michael Edwards

[50% off Michael Edwards book offer and Meet the Legend himself in Sydney next week!]

How were you drawn into the World of Fragrance? How then were you able to make your passion a career?

I was working for FMCG in their toiletries marketing department in the mid 1960’s which led to me being very intrigued by the power that fragrance has to change consumers perceptions of a products performance. Intrigued as I was, I knew nothing about perfume until 1975, when I attended a Firmenech workshop. I absorbed their ‘Bouquet de la Perfumerie’ a guide (out of print since 1978) that grouped fragrances, by their accord, into 11 olfactory families. From there my work developed quite by accident. I became intrigued about how hard it was for people to find a fragrance in store that was right for them. How could we use the power of the fragrance families to help? I set up as a retail consultant training and merchandising. But there was no guide asides from H&R’s book. In 1984 I released my first Fragrances of The World Guide of 300 fragrances. Older released Fragrances that had sat on the shelf began to sell in an environment where sales staff normally sold what they liked, or what was new. I wanted the industry to speak the same language through my books. I added 3 new categories to the wheel; Fresh with the release of Eau Sauvage, as it was not just citrus of EDC that came before it, Green was added with the release of Estee Lauder’s Alliage – it was so green, it was no longer floral, when Calone was introduced as an ingredient in perfumes, I created the Water section of the wheel.

Please tell me about 2-3 of the most inspirational/interesting people you’ve met/worked with.

Yves De Chiris is the fifth generation of the fabled Chiris dynasty that began with his great-great-grandfather, Antoine Chiris, in 1768. It was Yves grandfather, George, who gave François Coty his start in perfumery. It was a Chiris company, too, that employed Ernest Beaux, the creator. Yves himself, in his role as Senior vice president of Quest International, now part of Givaudan, masterminded the creation of such gems as Angel and Féminité du Bois. His knowledge and expertise fascinate me.

Guy Robert more than anyone, has influenced my work. The creator of such gems as Madame Rochas (1960), Calèche (1961), Doblis, Amouage Gold and Dioressence, and many of the early Gucci scents. Guy is considered by his peers as one of the great 20th century perfumers. I first met him in the late 1980s. Without his help, insight and introductions, PERFUME LEGENDS would probably not have been possible. For more than sixteen years until his death last year, he acted as my FRAGRANCES OF THE WORLD technical consultant. His comments and advice proved invaluable. He became my mentor, adviser and friend. I miss him terribly.

Edmond Roudnitska the master of 20th century perfumery. When I first wrote asking if he would speak to me about his creation of Femme (1944), Diorissimo (1956), Eau Sauvage (1966) and Diorella (1972), I held out little hope that he would agree to meet me. I not only wanted to talk to him about the legends he had created, but also because he was then the only living perfumer who had known such perfumers as Ernest Beaux (Chanel No.5 1921) and Henri Alméras (Joy 1930). In the event, he agreed to receive me and, on our first meeting, gave me more than two hours of his time. The piece of advice I remember to this day? “Simplify, simplify, simplify,” he one said. It’s become my motto too.

Jean Claude Ellena I find him fascinating! Now Hermès’ in-house perfumer, Jean Claude has inherited Edmond Roudnitska’s mantel. In a work of bland flankers, his creations remind us how sublime perfume can be.

Luca Turin because no one writes more eloquently about perfume. His original book, Parfums. Le guide is for me a ‘bible’. I adore him.

What trends in fragrance can we look forwards to seeing over the next 2 years? Men’s/women’s/niche etc?

We live in rapidly changing times, in that old perfumeries are closing due to IFRA restrictions, on the other hand we have the golden age of new molecular perfumes on the horizon. The explosion of niche will lead to increased creativity – there will be many interesting developments, for example we have already seen Tom Ford and Editions de parfum come from this.

What are you working on at the moment?

Books
• I am reediting and updating Perfume Legends, for release in 2016 – I have added Fracas – Robert Piguet, Feminite Du Bois – Serge Lutens, Flower-Kenzo, Coco Mademoiselle – Chanel and Jean Paul Gaultier
• Fragrances of the world 2015 is due for release soon, with 1400 new fragrances added
• I am interviewing the great American perfumers for my new book American Legends – I have completed 95% of the interviews, but no release date as of yet.
Projects
• I am also working on the Nuance Fragrance Wheel installations in a number of airports across Europe
• I shall be presenting a Saudi Arabian education programme to the press in Jeddah on September 8, dedicated to enriching the olfactory experience with a deeper understanding of international fragrances

What is your connection to Australia?

Well my wife is from Australia, thus I have an emotional connection to Australia. It is the country that let me experiment and learn to make it understandable for people to talk about, and sell perfumes. I trained 30 000 staff in Australia. It was Australian retailers who gave me the chance to create the books and train their staff.

Where do you spend the rest of your year, and what are the highlights?

• In October I go to Cannes for the Duty Free & Travel Retail Premium Event: TFWA World Exhibition –a 4 day show of all new brands- I am there from 8 am to 11 pm seeing a different brand every 30 minutes
• Fragranze in Florence in September
• Esxence in Milan
• NYC I go 2 times a year – I visit all the brands like Bond No 9, Ralph Lauren, Estee Lauder and Victoria’s Secret. I also go to all the perfumers, evaluating, such as Robertet, Drom and Firmenich

Can you suggest fragrances EVERYONE should ensure they experience and why they are of importance?

• Jicky – Guerlain 1889 was the first to turn perfume into an art, not just an imitation of nature
• L’Heure Bleue – Guerlain 1912 was a miracle
• Eau Sauvage – Dior – transformed 200 years of Eau De Colognes into something fresher and longer lasting
• Feminite De Bois – Serge Lutens– brilliant and original
• Terre d’Hermes – Hermes
• Portrait of a Lady– Frederic Malle Editions de parfums was a miracle, and one of the most expensive juices on the market being high concentration of 50% perfume.

Are you documenting everything and writing your autobiography to release at some point? – I for one would love to read it. Michael was quick to reply and gently say “I have been asked before, and I have always been reluctant to speak of myself, avoiding personal things, including my own opinions. What good is that – for me to tell my favorite or most disliked perfumes? This serves no purpose. I am independent, and thus able to work with all the brands. “The perfumes are the stars, I am not the star – there is enough pomposity in the world today without me joining in”

Michael Edwards 50% Off Book Deal

If you didn’t win, the legendary Fragrances of the World 2014 guide, Michael is offering a generous discount for APJ readers!! If you go to Fragrances Of the World<<JUMP at the checkout Redeem Code: APJ2014 Normally $195, but until the end of October, only $97.50

Michael Edwards In Sydney

On September 4th Sydney Perfume Lovers will meet with Michael Edwards in Potts Point to hear an in-depth interview with Michael, led by Catherine and Clayton Ilolahia from What Men Should Smell Like. – there are still a few spaces left!

Ainslie Walker x