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Jean-Paul Goude, nature-documentary director…

Photographer and director Jean-Paul Goude, to whom we o... Go

 Marc Chevrier, perfumer
Do you accord a preference to natural or synthetic producs?

Through my island orgins (Vanuatu, Tahiti), I have a passion for natural materials. Through my memory and my olfactive sense, I take particular care in recreating the fragrances of tiara flowers, of frangipani and white ginger...I compose as well with natural essences as I do with synthetic products. I have immense respect for the quality of natural materials. It's a love of the product, of the planet, an exercise in style that demands time, poetry and emotion. We can make beatiful things with references that are close to us while remaining faithful to one's inspiration. For example, when I use Ylang-Ylang in my compositions, I travel from the flower of Madagascar to my laboratory, and that journey makes me dream...



Jean-Pierre Bethouart, perfumer
How do you compose today with the support of new manufacturing techniques?

Perfumes aren't composed like they were in the past. In one century we've gone from a few hundred raw materials to thousands. Thanks to new technologies like "Softact", we treat natural products differently. With "Nature Print" we entirely reformulate the odor of a flower or an ambiance: Infinite nuances enrich our palette. Today chemical synthesis brings the most resources to the perfumer. Often 50 to 90% of ingredients is a composition are derived through this process.



Jean Jacques, perfumer
As a perfumer, what do you expect from technological advances?

In our metier, we work increasingly fast. We have to allay inspiration with impulse to create new notes and to constantly stay abreast of change. It's true that we are on the lookout for new products, whether it's a new molecule, which is rare, or a new quality. It's like discovering a new color as a painter! For example, the contribution of extraction by CO2 is extraordinary. We get materials with headnotes that have a very strong impact, with an optimal respect of natural odor, exceptionally rich cinnamon, freshly ground bay roses... The consumer isn't mistaken here: within seconds he is seduced by this very modern and very qualitative presence. Synthetic raw materials are very precious ingredients for creating new balances, new harmonies and momentum that drive us toward the future. It's also often a reconstituted scent that rekindles a substance from the past, like animal or iris notes, sure values that we modernize and that transport us out of time.



Françis Thibaudeau, President of the Société Française des Parfumeurs
Can a raw material disappear?

In Grasse, we have production sites for jasmine, rose, lavendar and we practice three traditional manufacturing techniques: extraction with solvents, distillation and enfleurage, which we are the only ones who still use. Today as President of the Société Française des Parfumeurs, I'm committed to preserving natural raw materials like the Geraniol or Limonem because some of them are threatened by increasingly strict legislation and considered allergenic without taking into account neither their concentration, nor the degree of risk, which remains minimal (one per 500 million)... at that pace, the Brussels commission SCCNFP* will impose a systematic and fastidious labelling that will run counter to the interests of the market as well as the consumer.
*Scientific Comity Cosmetics & Non-Food Products