My job is the most beautiful job on earth and I love everything about it, but there are a few important moments that happen [in my process]. The first is when I discover a new material, as that’s when the whole process [of creating a new scent] begins in my mind. I wonder, what can I do with this? How can I use that treasure? The second is the process of creating, which I really love. But the ultimate part is what happens when I’ve put my heart into something. I don’t have a recipe for success, so I can only hope that I’ll touch somebody’s emotions.

— Perfumer Christine Nagel on being a perfumer. Read more in Career Girl: How Hermès’s Christine Nagel Got The Chicest Job In Beauty at Vogue UK.

It’s also become apparent to me that the pandemic has revealed we traditionally haven’t tied much importance to our sense of smell. We teach children to listen to music, and how to recognise things by sight and taste, but we never train their nose. But I think scent is the most primitive sense we have. For those who have unfortunately experienced COVID and lost their sense of smell, it’s raised a whole new appreciation for scent. I can’t predict the future of course, but I think perhaps once this is over, we will really savour the beauty of fragrance.

— Perfumer Christine Nagel on the pandemic. Read more in Hermès in-house Perfumer Christine Nagel on Scent, Creativity and the Famous Fragrances That Shaped Her at Grazia.