Christopher Brosius started exploring the world of fragrance while he was working at Kiehl's. In 1993, he left Kiehl's and founded Demeter, where he eventually built up a huge "fragrance library" of individual smells translated into perfume. You can hear Christopher talking about his work at Demeter on the radio show Studio 360.
In 2004, he left Demeter and started a new line, CB I Hate Perfume. He was also the nose behind Cumming: The Fragrance.
On his website, you can read a brief biography, find out why he named his new company "I Hate Perfume", and discover why he doesn't use alcohol in his new line.
Demeter specialized in capturing a specific odor, or scent memory. In retrospect it seems like a brilliant idea, but I am wondering if you were surprised by how successful the company became?
Yes actually I was surprised – I knew on an intuitive level that there were a lot of people who wanted something different from fragrance but wasn't really prepared for just how many. I'm still slightly astonished sometimes by the number of people who respond so powerfully to my work. It's really wonderful though!
Many of the fragrances you created for Demeter were inspired by memories of your childhood on a farm in Pennsylvania. Is there a particular smell from that time that you love but that you have not yet captured to your satisfaction?
Birthday candles – that scent has been particularly elusive. I'm still working on it though. Puppy has also been very hard but I'm actually very close to solving that scent.
I have a new collection of scents that will be appearing in my gallery beginning later in the year that are all about memories of my childhood – the collection will be called Secret History.
For a number of years, the scents that I love best myself have been the most popular with my customers and clients – that’s always astonished me. Still the wonderful thing about any scent is that no two people smell it in just the same way – my memories are always different from those of my clients yet each person who chooses to wear one of my fragrances has a unique association of their own with the scent. I think that's one of the most magical and marvelous things about scent in general.
And are there any notes that you dislike and prefer not to work with?
There are a number of commonly used aromachemicals I personally cannot stand - hydromercenol is one such. Indole is another chemical that I am very sensitive to and keep it to a bare minimum in the white flower scents I create.
I loathe the majority of synthetic "musks" and will not have a pure "musk" scent in my collection - at least not until I can either get real musk which I understand is now being farmed once again in China (they've found a way to extract it from the deer without harming them although it's prohibitively expensive at the moment) or it can be successfully genetically engineered.
Any clients or customers who insist on having "Musk" I direct to Kiehl's - they have the best Musk I've smelled - I can appreciate it objectively but still can't stand it!
I do have a number of accords though that I use in place of musk as the base of a number of my scents: Old Leather, Cistus, certain Ambers, White Truffle and Oakmoss can all be combined to give that beautiful deep rich sexy skin note that "musk" is supposed to evoke.
As a matter of fact, I'm working on a "Skin" series now - they're going to be a small collection of scents that just make the skin smell like SKIN! I'm hoping to have this collection complete by the fall of this year - I'm planning on having these individually available but am also planning on using them in the bases of some of my custom perfumes. I'll keep you posted!
Many of your scents for CB I Hate Perfume also seem to be evocative of a specific place or time. Other than the obvious fact that you will be able to work on a smaller, more personal scale, how do you see your focus now as differing from Demeter?
I’ve gone back now to making true perfume – my mission has always been to use the "notes" created to tell very specific stories with scent. My scents are now far more complex yet still very special and unique.
My perfumes are not now about simply causing "sensation" but using that sensation intentionally to make the person who wears the scent feel really wonderful and special. It's the difference between "oh my god this smells just like dirt!" and "I love this because I love gardening and I'm always happiest then".
Because the sensations evoked by fragrance are so individual and unique, I prefer to work on a small scale – this keeps me in close contact with all the people who use my scents – I want to know how they use them, why they use them and what they really want to smell! I've always chosen to create perfumes that do something for those who use them – they must make people feel GOOD.
Alan Cumming appears to be having a blast promoting the Cumming fragrance, and I would imagine he was fun to work with. Did he approach you with specific ideas about what he wanted his fragrance to smell like, or how did you develop the scent?
Alan is having a blast and he is great fun to work with. I've known him for years now and he's always been a great fan of my work. CUMMING the Fragrance started as a personal scent that I was designing for Alan himself. He was completely involved with deciding what the scent was going to be and what was going to be in it – it's made from Alan's favorite smells.
It was our mutual friend Jason Schell (the former creative director at Kiehl') who had the idea of turning it into a scent we would actually sell and came up with the Theater Of Fragrance idea that the promotion is all about. I've been approached a LOT over the past ten years to do "celebrity" scents but Alan's is the first one that seemed like a really good idea – that it would be fun – fragrance takes itself far too seriously too much of the time...
The whole project has been a blast to work on. Alan is charming, witty, sexy, extremely talented and versatile in the work he chooses to do and is very funny to boot. Making a fragrance that says all that and smells great when you wear it (if I say so myself!) was SO much fun!
Which of your perfumes are you most proud of and why?
Now that's a tough question and I'm not sure how to answer it. I really don't think about my scents in those terms. There are a number I love though – CB93 for instance, which I'm just about to release – it's one of my personal scents and I wear it a lot in the summer. It's so bright and green...
I was very proud of Snow – I worked such a long time on capturing that scent although now I'm redoing it. I realized that I can now capture it far more exactly than I could back in 1999 when I first did it. And that means that I can finally after ten years, do the perfume that I originally created Snow for...
I think though that I am proudest of the effect that my scent have on people – there's a wonderful smile they get when I create something special for them or they find a perfume I've made that they really love. The scent truly means something to them and they really light up. That's always the effect I go for and it's really wonderful to see!
You have said that before you became a perfumer, you almost never wore cologne yourself. The obvious question from a fragrance addict: when you did wear cologne, what did you wear? And are there certain lines or perfumers whose work you particularly admire now that you are in the field yourself?
I did wear Chanel for Men ages ago as well as Guerlain's Vetivert. I also had a bottle of Penhaligon's Quercus when it was first introduced although I didn't wear it all that often. These were good but not quite exactly what I had in mind.
I've always very much admired the Hermes scents – they're brilliant and now that Jean-Claude Ellena has taken over creating them, the new ones are really marvelous.
I also tend to like very much the Serge Lutens scents.
Your first book, on the art and science of scent, is due from Harry N Abrams in the Spring of 2006. Can you tell us what it will be about? Will it be a "how-do" book?
It's not going to be a "how to book" per se – making good perfume is very tough. My book is going to be largely about "aromachology" – the study of how smell really affects us and how that can inform the art of perfume. Everyone knows how powerfully and deeply scent can touch us yet most people take it totally for granted. We all have this marvelous tool literally right in front of us and my book is going to encourage people to understand how it works, what we can use it for and how scent can and does really make us feel GOOD!
Thank you to Christopher for participating in this interview. He is working on establishing an online sampling program, meanwhile, if you're in Brooklyn, you can visit the CB I Hate Perfume store at 93 Wythe Avenue. You can also read more about the store, including a review of his new Russian Leather scent, on This Bananafish Smells Like Leaves.
Tomorrow: Cumming, the fragrance. Wednesday: The CB I Hate Perfume line.
ANOTHER great interview, NST! You are fabulous! I look forward to reading his book.
Very cool! His perfume aesthetic and mine are very different, but I still really admire the stuff he does. (I love spraying Thunderstorm on when I need to jolt myself out of a glum mood.) I hope when I visit the next time, he'll actually be there.
Thank you L!
Hi T, I just got a nice decant of Demeter Greenhouse and it is a cheering scent too. Still need to get Dirt & Thunderstorm. And, still need to get over to Brooklyn 🙂
Wonderful interview, R! Absolutely fascinating. I am intrigued by this line and am looking forward to the online sampling program and my next trip to NYC. I've been told that CB I Hate Perfume has many interesting single note scents in the store that are not listed on the website.
Fantastic interview as always darling R! I look forward to testing more of his work and can't wait until CB I Hate Perfume comes out with a sampling program!
Hi there! I don't know which I enjoyed more – your question or his answers. What a great interview! Is Christopher the one that opened a shop in Brooklyn?? If so, I must put that on my 'to do' list – it certainly beats packing! Cheers and well done – brava!
Excellent interview! I knew little about the nose behind Demeter, and it is great to fill this gap. I remember going to the store and having absolute blast with Farran, as we sniffed a whole range of scents. I still wish I had my Demeter Linden, the most beautiful linden with a great honey note. Thank you for this great start of the week!
I will do cartwheels in hapiness if he can perfect “Puppy.” That would be wonderful, I think.
Interesting about his view on synthetic musks. I do enjoy them, just as I do the real musks in some of the older vintage scents I have. I can't say I like all of the versions of musk I have encountered either, but I think there is a good purpose for many of the synthetics (those reasons having to do more with the actual effect on a frag, rather than the cruelty part, though that's not unimportant either.) I cannot imagine the deceptively simple Helmut Lang parfum without its synthetic musks. It would be unthinkable to not have this one in existence.
Ooopsies, forgot to mention that I like the “banner” ads for specific retailers you've added. It looks visually cleaner than the google bars, and I think handier, in that you are better able to control links to reputable stable businesses. Plus, you've included some of my favorites, so I will now use your page to click through links to shop with them in the future.
Kudos to you again for keeping up this page so we can all keep up on the lastest news and gossip. I hope that these ads will help you afford to keep this blog running. And perhaps eventually compensate you for the time you put into it. I really don't know how you do it.
Great interview, as usual!
While I find the idea of scents capturing memories intriguing, it's not something I would necessarily buy and wear, though. I like perfume to be perfume! For me, it's an accessory and mood enhancer. Not a walk down memory lane for the hours that the scent lingers.
Ooo, what a wonderful interview! You've inspired me to dig through my Demeter stash today. Maybe I'll layer Dirt and Tomato together — that was always one of my favorite combos. And I still maintain Demeter's Fig Leaf is much more interesting than L'Artisan Premier Figuier at a fraction of the price!
K, I keep hearing that the honeysuckle (among others) is wonderful. We need a trip to Brooklyn!!
Hmmm…beats packing or unpacking?
Thank you S!
V, I will have to look for Demeter Linden now, it is one of my favorite scents.
K, Now see, Puppy is not going to be tops on the list of things I am looking forward too. Birthday candle is probably more up my alley 🙂
I like synthetic musks too. Actually I don't care for the Kiehl's, which is too dark & sweet.
K, The banner ads are actually for an “affiliate” program, so if you buy through them I get an actual commission. I need to think of some way to make that clear on the page.
And thanks for the support!!
Wow! What an extensive, informative interview, Robin. Bravo!
I, I definitely find certain “memory scents” to be mood enhancers, but I do know what you mean 🙂
What a great interview! I was curious about his aversion to musk, and about which colognes he wore himself. I'm looking forward to reading your thoughts about Cumming, LOL!
Oops, and yes, Brooklyn.
I must get Fig Leaf!! I don't know why, but my local Sephora has a very tiny selection of Demeter. I wish there was a way to sample them. The prices right now on Scentiments are really good.
Thanks R!!
Thanks L! And love the piece on This Bananafish!!
I really enjoyed your interview, R! Excellent questions. I especially liked his take on musk, as I seem to be hooked on this scent myself these days. I'm not sure I'd want to wear anything “natural” from a deer, even if it isn't harmed in the “harvesting.”
I'm glad to find out that AC was very much involved in the development of Cumming, and that he is as wonderful a person as he appears to be on stage and screen. I'm also looking forward to YOUR review of this interesting scent tomorrow. Thanks again, R!
Thanks K!
I am realizing more & more that I would just as soon not know where any of the ingredients in my fragrances ultimately come from. Real musk makes me a bit squeamish, synthetic musk may well be carcinogenic and certainly is an environmental hazard. I'd rather not think about it!
Hello all.
This is my first venture in the on-line blog world and I must say I've found it fascinating to read all the comments here. I think we creative types in general really appreciate the response our work evokes!
now a bit more on “musk” – please note that my personal aversion to synthetic musks is just that – personal! I don't generally use any fragrance materials that I personally can't stand – this doesn't mean they're bad at all. As a matter of fact I've run across countless people in my time who smell wonderful in musk. also please note that the synthetic forms of musk in use today are perfectly safe – those that were in fact carcinogenic have been dissallowed for use in fragrance for quite some time.
I also really appreciated the comment from IrisLA who likes perfume to be perfume – frankly I'm right there with you my dear. while I do think the walk down memory lane is extremely important in certain fragrances it is certainly not the end of what perfume is.
much of my current work is really about exploring the art of abstract scents – those that simply smell glorious. I've always been fascinated with abstract perfumes and one of the major reasons I chose to leave demeter behind was to get back to exploring just that aspect of the art.
I confess I was compelled to get back to this part of perfume when I smelled the original version of Norell a few years ago. The sample of this scent had been recreated from the original formula by the house that originally made it. it was DIVINE and suddenly I understood not only why so many women asked me to copy it for them (which I do not do) but why they truly loved it. that original Norell was alive in a way that synthetics on their own cannot currently match and it's that living aspect of perfume that I am now out to bottle.
after all, no matter what the concept behind a perfume may be – whether a trip down memory lane or just a simply fabulous smell, the point of perfume is that you feel WONDERFUL when you wear it!
Thanks very much to all & Best Wishes!
Christopher Brosius / Perfumer
i have to say, i can't imagine demeter fig leaf winning out over anything by l'artisan – but maybe i just don't have enough experience with demeter. the ones i have smelled or tested have done nothing for me – they epitomize one-dimensional (which i guess is the point?) and all smell incredibly synthetic to me. they have no warmth and no staying power. i don't think it's just that they are one-note scents either – i've smelled plenty of one-note fragrances and oils that are beautiful. the demeter scents just have something in them that's really off-putting, which i can't describe or pinpoint. does anyone know what i mean, or am i a lunatic?!
Yes, I think one dimensional was the point: capture a smell at a low cost. Not one note really, but one accord, and they do have poor lasting power. I wouldn't think they were competing with L'Artisan exactly, but at the same time, many of the “fragrance freaks” I know love one or another of the Demeters.
RE: Musk…this article did prompt me to look it up, very interesting! (Besides looking up Christopher Brosius's site! Hoping for some perfume absolute samples!)
This article's made me think about some things. I also looked at Greenpeace's chemical analysis of various perfumes…I think I might try steering to perfumes (it looks like there are some) that are less damaging to the environment.
Musk Deer (Endangered Species, very cute little deer)..
http://www.fao.org/documents/show_cdr.asp?url_file=/docrep/q1093e/q1093e03.htm
“..The Chinese have farmed musk deer since 1958 and are reputedly able to milk the musk of males up to 14 times over a period of years: the substance is used in oriental medicine…
(Everywhere else, poaching) of musk-deer by well organized gangs is unchecked. Animals are killed indiscriminately, regardless of sex or age, … Some figures suggest that four or five females and juveniles are killed for every adult male, which alone has musk. Each (male) provides about 20 g of the substance.”
Greenpeace chemical analysis for various perfumes: (some of the info is very interesting..and kinda makes me not want artificial musk getting into the environment.)
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/press/reports/perfume-an-investigation-of
PDF with the details:
http://www.greenpeace.org/raw/content/international/press/reports/perfume-an-investigation-of.pdf
They still aren't sure what is the cause of all those frogs in the wild disappearing, being born with deformities, and also birds in the Pacific NW developing beak growth deformities.
I'm sure this is the start of a new field in more natural perfuming. If they can grow meat in a petri-dish and human ears on rats, it shouldn't be too long before plants can grow musk.
Yes, have read most of the Greenpeace info, and you might also want to look at:
http://www.fpinva.org/
Natural Perfumery is definitely a growing field, and you might want to look at the interview with Anya McCoy if you didn't see that one already:
https://nstperfume.com/blog/_archives/2005/9/14/1224275.html