What inspires French perfume nose Celiné Ellena? "Just looking at people and how they live, hearing what they are talking about, seeing what kind of clothes they are wearing," she says. What inspires French perfume nose Celiné Ellena? "Just looking at people and how they live, hearing what they are talking about, seeing what kind of clothes they are wearing," she says.

Siobhan Roth

FOR HIRE: Perfume Nose

A third-generation fragrance expert tells us how to smell a winner

  • By Siobhan Roth
  • Smithsonian.com, August 01, 2007

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    What's the biggest misconception about your work?

    People think I am disturbed by the fragrances of other people. They think I need to be like a monk and live far away from everything. They think I don't smoke, don't drink, don't make love—but yes, I do everything.
     

    What do you most love about your work?

    That it's an abstraction. You can't catch it, a fragrance. I'm very independent; I feel free. And creating fragrances, you feel free. You are creating something that exists for one moment, and then it disappears. I love that. And each time I create a fragrance, there is a story.
     

    Evidence of humans creating scents goes back thousands of years. Why do you think we feel the urge to use perfume?

    At the beginning, I think, we created fragrances to talk with God. Fragrance is mysterious. Now when you wear fragrance, you want to send a mysterious message. You want people to smell you, to be listening.
     

    How do perfume tastes differ among Americans and the French?

    American people are more romantic than French people. French people love a lot, but they love and forget. American people are very romantic. They love, and it's for life.

    Americans like the romantic flower fragrances. In France, those are less in fashion than the sensual, sexy, amber, chypre types. And for young people, very fruity fragrances.
     

    What's your favorite fragrance?

    I love Bois Des Iles of Chanel. It was created in 1926 by the same perfumer who did Chanel No. 5. For me, it captures what perfumery and creating fragrances means: to use materials and to balance all the materials and create music. And that's what I am still learning.
     

    Any advice for aspiring perfumers?

    You've got to have a very strong and bad character. [Laughs.] The other point is to have an open door in your mind. It's a never-ending story. When you're creating fragrances, you never know the end. If you say, "I am arriving, I know everything," you are finished.
     

    Siobhan Roth is a writer based in Washington, D.C.

    Perfume runs through the blood of Celiné Ellena, a third-generation nose, or perfumer, and one of a vanguard of women who have broken into the traditionally male-dominated industry in recent years. A resident perfumer at Charabot, based in the ancient perfume capital of Grasse, France, and one of the oldest fragrance companies in the world, she is also the chief creator for The Different Company, a boutique perfumery in Paris. This month Ellena tells Smithsonian.com what it's like to smell good all the time.

    How did you get into this line of work?

    My grandfather was a perfumer. My father, Jean Claude Ellena, and my uncle are also perfumers. My grandfather told me about his job, and he taught me to smell the flowers in the garden. He taught me a lot about nature. He died when I was 14 and never knew that I wanted to become a perfumer.
     

    Did you have formal training?

    Today, young perfumers must study chemistry. I've been creating fragrances for about 14 years. I have a diploma in psychology. It's helpful. Fragrances are very sensuous, sensual. When you talk about fragrance, you talk about the intimate. It's very deep, very personal.
     

    What inspires you?

    Sometimes, it's the people I meet and see. I live in Paris, and I love to walk in the city as a tourist and take coffee at a bistro on the terrace. Just looking at people and how they live, hearing what they are talking about, seeing what kind of clothes they are wearing. I love summertime because the women are almost naked, and all the men are looking at the women. Sometimes, I will put on my headphones while I walk through the city, and I'll listen to very strong hard rock, or perhaps music that is very rich, such as [Claude] Debussy or [Gabriel] Fauré.
     

    What's an average day?

    I think of different fragrances for different customers. When I think of a fragrance, it is like an image that I have in my mind. I have the image of the smell of the fragrance. And then writing the formula is like drawing the image. It's like I'm trying to build a puzzle. In the same day, I could imagine a flower fragrance, a woody, masculine fragrance, something very feminine, while also thinking about scents for shampoos and cosmetics.
     

    Some are easy. An apple shower gel: a few drops of apple. Sometimes I have to take my time, close my door and think about it. I write my formula on the computer, and my assistant mixes it for me in the lab. The smell of the lab is too strong for me to work there.
     

    Does your nose ever get fatigued?

    When I was younger it did. Now I know how to clean my nose. [Laughs.] There is something you can do, something very easy. I just smell my own skin. It's something very familiar. And then I feel well, and my nose is clean.
     

    Do you talk shop with your father?

    We don't talk so much about what we are creating, but we do talk about perfumery in general—the philosophy of perfumery. It's funny, though. I've noticed that at the same moment we imagine a fragrance from the same flower and the same idea, but we do it in different ways. The fragrances smell different.
     

    My father has always wanted me to be very independent, to do on my own, with my own perceptions and feelings. He told me always to be honest to my self and the formula. He said, if you want to put some rose oil in the perfume, do it because it's necessary to the fragrance, not because you love rose.
     

    What's the most difficult aspect of your job?

    There is a lot of competition in this business, and there is so much money involved. I have such pressure on my shoulders. When I am trying to create a fragrance, sometimes I have no answer, but I have to find one in perhaps one hour. At these moments, I feel as if I am near a black hole, and I feel really alone. It's funny because I just have to go outside and have a walk. Coming back, I'm OK. I have the answer.

    What's the biggest misconception about your work?

    People think I am disturbed by the fragrances of other people. They think I need to be like a monk and live far away from everything. They think I don't smoke, don't drink, don't make love—but yes, I do everything.
     

    What do you most love about your work?

    That it's an abstraction. You can't catch it, a fragrance. I'm very independent; I feel free. And creating fragrances, you feel free. You are creating something that exists for one moment, and then it disappears. I love that. And each time I create a fragrance, there is a story.
     

    Evidence of humans creating scents goes back thousands of years. Why do you think we feel the urge to use perfume?

    At the beginning, I think, we created fragrances to talk with God. Fragrance is mysterious. Now when you wear fragrance, you want to send a mysterious message. You want people to smell you, to be listening.
     

    How do perfume tastes differ among Americans and the French?

    American people are more romantic than French people. French people love a lot, but they love and forget. American people are very romantic. They love, and it's for life.

    Americans like the romantic flower fragrances. In France, those are less in fashion than the sensual, sexy, amber, chypre types. And for young people, very fruity fragrances.
     

    What's your favorite fragrance?

    I love Bois Des Iles of Chanel. It was created in 1926 by the same perfumer who did Chanel No. 5. For me, it captures what perfumery and creating fragrances means: to use materials and to balance all the materials and create music. And that's what I am still learning.
     

    Any advice for aspiring perfumers?

    You've got to have a very strong and bad character. [Laughs.] The other point is to have an open door in your mind. It's a never-ending story. When you're creating fragrances, you never know the end. If you say, "I am arriving, I know everything," you are finished.
     

    Siobhan Roth is a writer based in Washington, D.C.


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    Comments

    Where can we meet her? She is amazing!! My idol! Robin Balbo

    Posted by Robin Balbo on December 29,2007 | 07:47PM

    Hello, I have always had an extraoridinary nose, smelling everything first and strongest, often to the annoyance of others. I am trying to make a life career change and want do something that I would really love to do. Do you know how one would get hired to smell, and if there is some kind of training/certification required/available to do this? Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, Gigi

    Posted by Gigi on January 16,2008 | 12:50PM

    i have a daughter that is interested in becoming a nose or perfumer. she has an extraordinary nose. she has traveled to paris last summer and loved it. she is in high school and wants to look into the art of this. what kind of education does she need to think about in the very near future for a possible career in this field. your response is very much appreciated. thank you karen (her mother)

    Posted by karen on April 13,2008 | 02:59PM

    Hi this reponse is for KAREN. Just like you daughter I am intersted in becoming a perfumer also known as a "nose". I too have been to Paris and enjoyed it. Since a young age I have known that this is what I've wanted to do. As a child I was always smelling things and sometimes was teased because of it. I am now 18 years old and plan to attend the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in NYC. NYC is the place in America for perfume. That school is the best for breaking into this line of work. It is the only school in America that has a fragrance lab on campus. I hope to graduate with a degree in cosmetics and fragrance marketing, then I hope to study to become a junior perfumer for a fragrance house for a few years before becoming a perfumer. I wish your daughter the best of luck. If you have any questions feel free to e-mail me at tkelley@sasmaui.com

    Posted by Tera on April 27,2008 | 11:43PM

    to Karen: the e-mail is actually tkelley@sasmaui.org

    Posted by on April 27,2008 | 11:44PM

    I am a sophomore in high school and i absolutely love fragrances. I just wanted to know what it would take for me to break into this kind of business. My favorite part of magazines had always been the smelling and testing of perfumes. PLEASE HELP ME!! Thanks so much, I really appreciate it!

    Posted by Kate on October 20,2008 | 11:58AM

    Hi! I am from the Philippines, where the best quality of Ylang Ylang in the world comes from, which extract is mostly used as one of the ingredients in perfume and other products. If It's any help to anyone who might be interested in my assistance in obtaining this flower in a massive quantity please e-mail me at salazar_tdii@yahoo.com. Thank you!

    Posted by Tiffany Salazar on November 5,2008 | 01:17AM

    I'm a perfumer from India with more than 10yrs of experience and a degree from IFF. Currently looking for openings in Europe.

    Posted by Pramod.K.K on February 27,2009 | 10:03AM

    My daughter is 21 and has an incredible sence of smell, I have never seen anything like it. I think she may be part bloodhound Ha! All joke aside, how would she go about finding training and a job as a nose.Thank you Sharon Legge

    Posted by sharon legge on April 14,2009 | 12:32PM

    Hi,I'm from Ga.I know I have a God-given nose.I have loved fragrance every since I was two years old.At that time I carried a purse around with only a bottle of perfume that was given to me from my great aunt.She was in her sixties at the time,andI fell in love with fragrance ever since. I'm 45 years old today, and I truly know its a chemistry thing. I sell oils ,and I match fragrance of what i'm wearing ,according to several things, the weather,the colors,and etc...For years, I have friends and family that will call me and ask me what fragrance they should wear,either to the prom,their wedding day,or going out.They woould stop by and let me see what they're wearing. I get so excited,to be of assistance,It's a Natural high. I would be very excited to be part in a Perfume Nose,or anything to help me get started on that journey to having my own perfume

    Posted by Kim Heath on September 10,2009 | 10:46AM

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