Scently's #1 Community Meetup

Hello, Fragrant Friend 👋,

It’s happening! The very first Scently Speaking Community Gathering will take place in Amsterdam on July 25th — and you’re invited. Together we’ll smell and evaluate the final version of our very first fragrance (prior to launch), hear directly from Chester about the creative journey, and unveil the name of the publishing house plus a preview of our design studio’s work. RSVP by June 15th.

🗓️ Contents of this Issue

1. Note Worthy: Industry illusions, Mid East Masters, and Gen Z
2. Strictly Independent: Angelos Balamis
3. Quiz: Tiny traces – big effects
4. Scent MythBusters: The biggest challenge after creating a perfume is selling it

Note-Worthy 🔎🌸

#INDUSTRYILLUSIONS: The boom isn’t the issue — it’s the gold rush that followed. Post-pandemic and TikTok hype sparked an explosion from 500 launches in the ’90s to 4,000+ today. Many now market pre-made bases with poetic backstories. “Niche” has lost meaning, often mass-produced with shortcuts — the rich world of perfumery diluted into fast product, with budgets favouring branding over craft.

#MIDDLEEASTERNMASTERS: Amid fleeting trends, Middle Eastern perfumers redefine luxury with depth and intent. Emirati brand Widian fuses oud with modern elegance; Oo La Lab offers personalised scents through lab-grade precision; ByMoudz challenges norms with June Child; in Abu Dhabi, Mohamed Hilal layers incense, rose and musk to explore cultural identity.

#SCENTREVOLUTION: Gen Z and men are rewriting the playbook. Teen boys boosted fragrance spending by 26% in 2024, shifting from signature scents to versatile “fragrance wardrobes” — buying smarter, favouring niche artisanal brands.

Strictly Independent 🎨 🌟

Some perfumers emerge from unexpected places. Angelos Balamis is an electrical engineer turned artisan perfumer whose scientific background infuses his artistic vision. Since 2014 he’s been crafting remarkable high-concentration compositions (15–25%) from his olfactorium in Thessaloniki, bottling Greek heritage, family memories and agricultural traditions.

ANGELIKI — The Devotional Chypré. Bright apricot and citrus over a heart of wisteria, freesia and lilac, with a base of oakmoss, beeswax and precious woods. Inspiration: the gracious life of Balamis’s grandmother Angeliki, who lived to 104.

TABAC LIBRE — The Tobacco Symphony. Rum, coffee and cardamom open; raspberries and plum weave through hay absolute and tobacco leaves; patchouli, oakmoss and tonka anchor the base. Tobacco liberated from convention.

YLOUD-YLOUD — The Floral Oud Symphony. Ylang-ylang’s tropical creaminess over osmanthus, jasmine and rose anchored by orris butter, with dual agarwoods and subtle civet — a contemporary oriental with vintage soul.

Quiz 🎲

Which perfumery plant has the shortest annual harvest window?
Orange Blossom (Neroli) · Immortelle · Ylang-Ylang · Mimosa

Scent MythBusters 🎭️

“The biggest challenge after creating a perfume is selling it.”
Myth of the week

TL;DR

The real behind-the-scenes struggle begins after a fragrance is born. From navigating regulatory landscapes to sourcing increasingly scarce materials, perfumers face a constant battle to maintain their creations — monitoring supply chains, reformulating due to restrictions, sometimes discontinuing beloved scents.

Patchouli — the price explosion

In 2008, Indonesia faced agricultural and climate challenges; farmers abandoned cultivation and rainfall destroyed crops. Prices soared tenfold, threatening bestsellers like Mugler’s Angel and Chanel’s Coco Mademoiselle. Houses scrambled to secure supplies, reformulate, or absorb costs.

Orris root — the patience-testing treasure

Orris must be aged 3–5 years; it takes ~1,000 kg of iris root to produce 1 kg of orris butter — often €50,000–€100,000 per kilogram. Poor harvests force impossible choices.

Lyral — the regulatory casualty

Lyral (HICC), a lily-of-the-valley molecule and cornerstone for decades, was banned by the European Commission in 2017 (full effect 2019), forcing hundreds of brands to discontinue or reformulate.

So, is the myth busted?

Absolutely. Selling is a challenge, but the idea that it’s the only major hurdle dramatically underestimates the ongoing complexity of maintaining a fragrance against forces entirely outside a perfumer’s control.