Behind the Scenes of an Independent Perfumer's Crowdfunded Scent Launch

In the November 2022 issue^a of Perfumer & Flavorist+ (P&F+) independent perfumer Pierre Bénard penned a love letter of sorts to tuberose for our "Perfumer Notes" column. Two years later, Bénard returns to discuss his recent project involving a crowdfunded campaign to launch Lilith, Sombre Héroïne through his French brand OZPARFUM. The fragrance is shaped like a soliflore (a single floral aroma) around a heart of tuberose, which is said to be the perfumer's signature flower.

P&F+ connected with Bénard to discuss the creation of Lilith, Sombre Héroïne, the significance of tuberose and other utilized notes as well as how this perfume differs from what's currently on the market. 

P&F+: Congratulations on the launch of your artistic project Lilith, Sombre Héroïne! Can you share what inspired you to create this project?

Pierre Bénard [PB]: I am very honored by your interest in Lilith, Sombre Héroïne. Right from the start, a black case whose mysterious opening is in the shape of a flower (Hana in Japanese) reveals a bottle that evokes the shape of a spinning top and, like the playful art object, arouses the irrepressible desire to grab it.

This androgynous bottle is inspired by Samā‘, a sacred whirling dance of the whirling dervishes listed as intangible cultural heritage of humanity. Like a poem by Baudelaire, the bottle was also a source of inspiration for the composition of a musical work^a in which the Italian Bel Canto soprano Veronica Granatiero^b honored me with her vocalizations. Like wisps of perfume carried by the air, her voices escape from a bottle that is opened.

A model of the brand, this bottle registered under the name Apocalypse reflects the spirit of peace and freedom of Lilith, Sombre Héroïne. Through this personal olfactory creation, the wish is to celebrate femininity, particularly the women who accompany me.

Lilith is a woman who dares to be herself. She is free, loving and in love.

Naturally, the essence of my inspiration for Lilith, Sombre Héroïne is found in the essence of the tuberose flower.

^ahttps://www.perfumerflavorist.com/fragrance/ingredients/article/22525394/perfumer-pierre-bnard-shares-how-to-formulate-with-tuberose

^bhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySJj5DwPgHg

^bhttps://crescendiartists.com/portfolio/veronica-granatiero/

The fragrance is shaped like a soliflore around a heart of tuberose, which is said to be the Bénard's signature flower.Pierre Bénard

P&F+: Can you share the significance of tuberose in this project?

PB: Absolutely! Lilith is shaped like a soliflore, literally a single flower. This name is given to a division of the classification of floral perfumes.

If I had to represent an image of this artist's proof, I would photograph a vase, also called a soliflore, in which a single stem of this plant would be dipped. Arranged on a desk, a young perfumer, whose art is to bring the scent of flowers to life, would take the path of this flower, holding his head, pen in hand, in front of a blank page.

Often unsuspected, tuberose is less popular than traditional perfumery flowers, such as centifolia rose and grandiflorum jasmine. However, its essence has all these floral facets but it is a difficult exercise to master. Untamable, it can be tamed like a sculptor who models it, the perfumer can make it more docile without losing its magic or revealing its mysteries.

For me, tuberose is unique; she is my spearhead. She is the beating and loving heart of this composition. He gives life to Lilith. He irrigates her cool head. Her suave and maternal wake is a balm to this heart.

P&F+: What are some of the technologies that were used to create this scent?

PB: Obviously, the main tool used to create Lilith was my sense of smell, via the nose, an appendage with tunnels, to create the link with the extra-corporeal environment. Feeding my olfactory memory, my olfactory learning ensured the analysis and choice of the highest quality raw materials. In order to understand the essence of the flower, my brain was the go-between its volatile molecules and my thoughts.

However, the analytical method of multiple headspace extraction on the living flower also allowed me to process the olfactory data of the plant. The selection of extracts of this flower from new techniques proposed by natural ingredient companies was the examination. And then, this tuberose was adorned with other equally precious technical materials.

As an example, I can mention a vanillin from an enzymatic process whose precursor ferulic acid comes from rice bran. She symbolizes the oshiroi and the cosmetic powders that geikos and maikos use. Lilith is a modern geisha.

I am a music lover, I like practicing arts, and music sometimes, and creating links with artists. In the perfume or music industry, to transcribe the scores of these composers, perfumers, or musicians use computer-assisted tools.

These technologies on ingredients could be similar to effect plugins found in computer-assisted music software, such as filters that allow you to isolate certain sound frequencies, such as fractional distillation, which allows you to isolate and enrich certain molecules of essential oils. The purified or enriched ingredient is offered new functionalities without modifying its source code. Technology plays an increasingly important role in the creation of perfumes. It optimizes the composition of the perfume. It strengthens the talent and expertise of perfumers.

But for the futuristic science of perfumery, I think rather of an artificial intelligence capable of teleporting scents and perfumes rather than replacing the human brain, because it is more complex, for olfactory creation. The smell is, it seems to me, this sense that connects us to our reality.

Bénard shares, "A model of the brand, this bottle registered under the name Apocalypse reflects the spirit of peace and freedom of Lilith, Sombre Héroïne."Pierre Bénard Ségu

P&F+: Can you touch on some of the notes within Lilith, Sombre Héroïne? 

PB: Yes! Moreover, this answer will reveal a part of Lilith's mystery; that of her head space intimately linked to her heart, petrifying with emotion.

A cardamom crystal, a reflection of narcissus and this heart of tuberose suggest olfactorily the myth of Medusa. This crystal is a simple accord between two materials of Indian production; between a fraction of cardamom, a cold spice, and menthol, a molecule that gives a tactile and icy grip. An effect that bites your skin like the solenoglyph hooks of this gorgon. It expresses the coldness of a free woman, mistress of her life who thanks to the absolute of narcissus will deposit on the skin a halo of poetry.

This extract of narcissus brings a green reflection to the crystalline accord; a hybrid nuance, vegetal and animal. It supports the green note of the heart of the tuberose, formerly called Indian hyacinth.

A heart that gives life to this hermaphrodite icon, human and animal, evil and beneficial: the Medusa. Lilith is apotropaic like an olfactory amulet that protects the one who adorns himself with it.

For an even more immersive olfactory experience of the spirit of this perfume, a dose is contained in a breakable ampoule. It is equipped with a stethoscopic roll-on that will allow you to nakedly perfume your skin and the areas of your pulsations.

P&F+: What makes this scent different than what’s on the market? 

PB: Led by Trent Reznor, Nine Inch Nails is an independent band that particularly inspires me for its audacity and depth. It is known for pushing artistic boundaries and a unique melodic signature.

When the EP "Not the Actual Events" was released in 2016, the public had the opportunity to subsequently receive a "physical element," an envelope with rather unusual contents: photos and texts, but above all a strange black powder that dirty skin and clothes upon opening.

Lilith, Sombre Héroïne like the bottle named Apocalypse where it is contained are personal designs. The first editions of the bottle, during the crowdfunding campaign, in Limoge’s porcelain biscuit were delivered covered with a matte Japanese Musou acrylic paint (the blackest water-soluble acrylic paint in the world with a light absorption rate of 99.905%).

The purchaser of this UFO (Unidentified Fragrance Object) was supposed to reveal (in ancient Greek ἀποκάλυψις (apokálupsis) - to discover, to reveal) the white and naked fragility of the biscuit by delicately washing the dark paint, for some as one bathes a newborn under a trickle of water, for others as a garment slide on the skin of a body that is undressing. The user becomes a stakeholder in the artistic process with this direct and personal interaction.

A tactile play of chiaroscuro that is revealed olfactorily in the composition of Lilith, Sombre Héroïne, and that can be discovered thanks to a roll-on sample in a breakable ampoule. These multi-sensory experiences appeal to the senses as much as the intellect and invite us to go beyond the product itself, "From matter to spirit."

In this quest for aesthetics, sometimes with provocation but above all poetry, the brand's philosophy is to position perfume as a work of the mind.

Bénard shares, "A cardamom crystal, a reflection of narcissus and this heart of tuberose suggest olfactorily the myth of Medusa."Pierre Bénard Ségu

P&F+: How can it best be utilized?

PB: Here is the best I wish for her. Previously, you have seen that many intense sensory and emotional experiences are available to users who wish to discover the brand and the perfume. Through this OZPARFUM (https://www.osmoart.com/ozparfum/) label: an artistic approach; that carries the message and the expression of my own ideal of independent, authentic perfumery and cultural exceptions.

Perfumes with total artistic freedom for both the creator and the one who consumes it. Lilith is not a consumer perfume but an alternative.

The rare raw materials that design it are dedicated to exceptional moments, moments of expression, of declaration…

They are linked to unique moments of intimacy, alone or with others

They are linked to moments when one takes the time to perfume oneself or to perfume.

Time, like perfume: an invisible and volatile sumptuousness.