The Master Perfumer Session: The Secret Ingredients

In part five of The Master Perfumer Session, Patty Canac and Clémentine Humeau reveal the unexpected natural materials that define Prem Rouge's distinctive character.

Falling in Love with Olive

"The final choices that we had available here were very beautiful natural raw materials," Clémentine begins. "There were a few that we fell in love with, especially Olive Absolute."

Olive Absolute? In perfume?

"Which is extraordinarily beautiful, balmy and powdery," she explains. "It is very innovative and you can hardly find it anywhere. It's truly art. It's the innovative side of tuberose."

This wasn't about following perfume rules. It was about finding what worked.

Building the Rose

For the rose, they chose materials that told a story.

"We really liked to work with several natural raw materials that are very noble," Clémentine continues. "In particular, Tuscan iris that elevates the rose a lot, but also spices - cardamom and mint that come from India - which bring a freshness to the dewy side of the rose."

Each ingredient had purpose. Each connected to place.

The Water Challenge

"We must not forget that the brief for the rose is in a watery and green landscape," Patty adds. "So Clémentine had to bring water ingredients to this rose to keep it authentic to where it came from."

But water in perfume? Not simple.

"What was not obvious was that aqueous materials are not easy to find. It is very complex," Clémentine admits.

Creating Kashmir

Their solution was ingenious.

"So we worked the aqueous side with mint, cardamom and rhubarb, also the mineral aspect of stone, water on limestone, with a hint of carrot which brings a pebbly mineral effect."

"And all these materials we mentioned tell the story of the garden in India - Chashme-Shahi," Patty explains. "It was like a very delicate puzzle and a huge job.".

Southern France in Scent

The tuberose told a different story.

"Compared with the tuberose, which was paired with lovely lavender. In the south of France with its abundant sunshine, we have lavender fields side by side with tuberose fields."

Two flowers. Two rhythms.

"The tuberose soaks up the sun later in the day, with lavender basking in the sun all day," Clémentine describes. "And Clémentine had to work on bringing these different aspects together between lavender and tuberose to bring this delicacy that is found in the landscape of southern France.”

Next week: Why these perfumes work differently from anything you've tried.