Marie Salamagne’s Perfume Ritual

Marie Salamagne is one of the world’s foremost perfumers. You likely have one of her creations in your collection. As a Principal perfumer at Firmenich, she has a remarkable 208 fragrances on her resume including: Coach Green, Kate Spade New York, L.12.12 Eau de Parfum Blanc Pour Homme, Atelier Versace Tabac Imperial and Cédrat de Diamante. She’s even co-created an upcoming blockbuster scent for Jimmy Choo.

What’s fascinating about her family life is that she was born into a family of doctors. She was born in Paris in 1977 and actually attended medical school before deciding to follow a passion for perfumery. From an early age she had a keen sense of smell and an attraction to perfume of all styles and types.

“A good perfume acts like Proust’s ‘Madeline’. It has the power to transport and the emotion it arouses is uncontrollable and powerful,” she says. To her, a perfumer embodies both the craftsman and the artist. She is constantly in search of something magic which is why she is never without her notebooks where she records ideas, thoughts and inspirations. Marie approaches creating a fragrance like painting, each ingredient creates a unique contrast and hue.

Her creativity process is a solitary one. She has a ritual: she shuts the door, gathers her notebooks and thinks. Slowly ideas and concepts reveal themselves to her. The relationship between materials and colour particularly fascinate her. She closes her eyes and visualizes a fragrance like a painting, where hues create contrasts.

For Atelier Versace Tabac Imperiale, she begins with tobacco absolute and enriches it with gourmand facets of Provence honey and the amber tones of benzoin. Everlasting absolute adds an unmistakable aromatic shade. Refined and elegant woods, patchouli and cypriol, enhance the depth and character of the perfume.

“A good perfume can transport people to another place and time, evoking powerful , uncontrollable emotions,” she adds.

For Kate Spade New York, she felt inspired by the colorful and carefree nature of wild strawberry. “My objective was to capture the unique scent of this lush and extremely elegant red fruit to feature joyful femininity, sublimated by gorgeous rose essence, the queen of flowers.”

Arguably, one of her greatest compositions is Atelier Versace’s Cédrat De Diamante, a joyful citrus-woody scent that blends the brightness of Italian lemon, juicy pink grapefruit with precious natural woods. It’s vibrant and uplifting.

“I often say that ‘what is done you don’t do over’. I live in the moment,” she says.

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