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Trying 20 times

Posted by Robin on 9 August 2015 11 Comments

"My approach is very intellectual. I don’t do a lot of work,” [Jean-Claude Ellena] said, smiling. “I’m thinking a lot and making tiny changes. Christine [Nagel] is trying 20 times – her approach is much more intuitive.” On the day that we met, this was made manifest by two blue stickers on Nagel’s arm – perfume trials that she had been working on earlier that day. Ellena, by contrast, never wears scent – save for Terre d’Hermès about three times a year – the better to neutralise his nose.

— Read more about the changing of the guard at Hermès at Hermès perfume: scents of beauty at The Telegraph.

Filed Under: perfume in the news
Tagged With: christine nagel, hermes, jean claude ellena

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11 Comments

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  1. austenfan says:
    9 August 2015 at 11:50 am

    Oh to be a fly on the wall….

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    • Robin says:
      9 August 2015 at 12:51 pm

      Ha, yes!!

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  2. nozknoz says:
    9 August 2015 at 2:49 pm

    I am looking forward to her first Hermes, although I must say I do not care at all for Nuit Magnetique, which she did for The Different Company last year.

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    • Robin says:
      9 August 2015 at 3:04 pm

      She’s a great perfumer, but I don’t really love anything she’s done other than Fendi Theorema. So we’ll see! I’m sure she’ll do well by Hermes, and frankly, if I no longer love such a huge percentage of Hermes launches, that will save me $.

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      • nozknoz says:
        9 August 2015 at 4:31 pm

        Very practical, Robin! 🙂

        I’ve tried only three or four out of her long list of perfumes, that I remember. I think I may like Mauboussin even better than Theorema and Ambre Soie, though.

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  3. nozknoz says:
    9 August 2015 at 4:39 pm

    Also, I wish they’d had a better translator. What does “trying 20 times” mean, anyway? Does it mean she’s experimenting with 20 different approaches to a brief, while he thinks up one and then tweaks it? And let’s hope he doesn’t “neutralize” his nose, at least not before he retires. 😉

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    • mals86 says:
      9 August 2015 at 6:47 pm

      Yeah, I wondered that too. Might be just me, but it sounds just a taaaad patronizing. But that could also be because I’m not much of a JCE fan.

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    • Robin says:
      9 August 2015 at 7:17 pm

      I had not assumed it was translated, but just went to check and at the moment, looks like the article is removed from the Telegraph website.

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  4. tiffanie says:
    9 August 2015 at 5:36 pm

    Interesting article! Thank you, Robin.

    It amazes me that M. Ellena has chosen to reduce the number of ingredients he uses in his work. Perhaps that is why I have enjoyed each of the samples of his recent fragrances I have tried. I love several of them, I like the rest, and even those I would not wear myself I would not mind smelling on someone else. Or perhaps it is simply that his style of fragrance appeals to me? Either way I’m a fan.

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    • Robin says:
      9 August 2015 at 7:19 pm

      He’s been working with a reduced palette for some time now. He often talks about how there are only 12 notes in music…

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  5. shellyw says:
    9 August 2015 at 9:07 pm

    Enjoyed the article, thanks for the link

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