Perfume is Pleasure

Perfume is Pleasure: Raymond, you have been the force behind some hugely successful commercial fragrances including Happy by Clinique. Now Happy is one of those scents I will invariably stop a woman to compliment. What are the names of some of the others?

Raymond: The first fine fragrance I ever worked on was White Diamonds. As of lately, I have been designing all the new Abercrombie, Abercrombie and Fitch and Ruehl fragrances. I have designed the IZOD fragrance as well. In my prior position I was responsible for all the Clinique fragrances, Tommy Hilfiger, Origins and Aramis fragrances. Fragrances like Happy, Happy for Men, Happy Heart, Happy to Be, Happy in Bloom are all my designs. I was fortunate to design some of the more creative fragrances for Tommy Hilfiger including True Star for Him and Her. There have been many but a portion of the credit belongs to the greatest perfumers in the world I work with. What we do together is a true collaboration. I enjoy bringing them to where they would not think to go …

Perfume is Pleasure: Would you tell me a bit more about your new theory on fragrance marketing? The other day, you mentioned that you don’t think fragrance families and ingredient marketing are the right answer. These are tools I use as the point of departure in my fragrance matchmaking process. I am seriously provoked! So what can you tell me?

Raymond: Not sure I would refer to it as fragrance marketing… I see it more or less as an evolving way of communicating scent and what we smell. A language, which enables the user to better communicate their needs or desires from a scent. The tools that you use are excellent tools. I would prefer we taking it one step further. I do believe in fragrance families, and it is always important to know why it falls under the classification. However, I blur those lines in my work and therefore need an additional method. I believe that Michael Edwards is a nice modern approach and I too use his books. However, as a person who designs fragrances I need to go further and this is what I will share in seminars and training clinics.

Perfume is Pleasure: Ahhh. So we’ll all have to stay tuned. Of course, Raymond, as a fragrance matchmaker, I consider the mood of the scent and the style of a woman in addition to the families and ingredients, but it is clear that you have some fascinating twists on this. I am impatient to learn more! In the meantime, how do you think the industry will respond to your approach?

Raymond: If there are companies, retail establishments, beauty advisors or merely our consumers who are interested in the world of perfumery and a method that is use to design and explain a fragrance based on the journey used to create… than I feel it will be embraced with open arms. My method has worked at certain Clinique counters and they experienced incremental sales increases. My approach and style is different in this industry, my fragrances represent a modern approach to perfumery. I’m not say it is better, I’m merely looking to offer the consumer another option that doesn’t exist.

Perfume is Pleasure: We’re beginning to see more informed consumers demanding greater transparency about the contents of the juice. How do you feel perfume shoppers will respond to your approach? Will it truly help them find a scent they will love?

Raymond: Interesting question, when one visits a museum I don’t ever recall a key explaining each color that was used from the palette. When I see an ad for an automobile I do not recall ever reading about the components and the production process. When I buy wine, an experience is always parlayed to me that helps me to understand what I will taste. When I buy clothing, I care about fit, style and I how I feel wearing it. Fragrances are liquid emotion, I design fragrance based upon sensations, emotions and experiences we come in touch with every day. So yes, I can and have helped one find what they desire. Plus, my fragrances are enveloping; how could one not fall in love with them…once they understand them. The time has come for the fluff to disappear in this industry! I have to ask those that recite ingredients, does the consumer really care…I have done many in-store events… I’m not convinced!

Perfume is Pleasure: Any other new projects of note?

Raymond: I hope so…We are in tough times…and bringing a new sensorial journey is always on my mind… to caress a woman…touching her through scent is my pleasure in life… allowing men to dream, to move them beyond what their father wore is always a challenge I accept. I also have a strong desire to bring the same creativity to branding a space with scent.

Perfume is Pleasure. Thanks so much for this interview, Raymond! Will you promise to keep me informed?

Raymond: Absolutely, I look forward to chatting with you again… Good luck my friend…It has been a pleasure.

If pressed to share my favorite perfume, I would say it is Chanel Cristalle. I don’t always have it, but have returned to it more times than to any other scent.

In a women’s beauty magazine, actor Chris Noth commented: “Cristalle — oh, man, I have to get on my knees and beg for a whiff. It makes me stop dead in my tracks.” Celebrity endorsements aside, not many are with me on this. Cristalle is the opposite of a warm and fuzzy fragrance. It seems to say: “I may be pretty, but I’m all about business, buster.” After a long period of disloyalty, I saw it on the dressing table of a new friend and tried it on. Much better than I remembered. On that day, I particularly noticed the lushness underneath the severity of Cristalle.

Another time I purchased Cristalle online and was surprised at how much sharper, greener it was than my previous bottle. Still very pleasant, but in a more bracing way, I assumed it had been a knock-off, only later learning that Chanel uses a different formula in the eau de parfum and the eau de toilette. Chanel and Hermès are known for this. A good reason to try before we buy!

Once, on a train from New York to Boston, I smelled Cristalle. A woman in her early 60’s, eyes closed, slept on her husband’s shoulder. Comfortable, distinguished, surely the one. I held myself back from approaching: “Excuse me, I notice you are wearing a fragrance I have admired for decades. Who are you and when did you find Cristalle? Is it your signature scent or part of a fragrance wardrobe? You have great taste. I love you. But so sorry to interrupt. Thank you. Goodbye. But one more thing, I meant to tell you that you smell great.”