That’s also why he’s not a fan of consumer testing. “It’s a tool, but it’s about how you use the results,” he says. “Some clients use the consumer testing to please everybody and they need to check all the boxes. And that’s where making a fragrance becomes making a soup. I’m always more in the niche world, and trying to do something different — I’m not doing it to please everybody.”

— Perfumer Jérôme Epinette, quoted in Inside the Mind of Beauty’s Most In-demand Perfumer at Women's Wear Daily.