Scently's 1st scents are here...

Hello, Fragrant Friend 👋,

🔬 Another big step! Chester and I just met for the first time — and with our compound producer and evaluator Dario Siegel (ISIPCA; ex-IFF, now MD of ScentTalent) in Offenbach, Germany. Together, we blended the final modifications of the Scently Speaking Perfume #1.

From right to left: Chester Gibs, Dario Siegel and me

🌺 Chester’s creation is rooted in a quiet, transformative moment he experienced on Bali — watching a woman prepare a ‘Canang Sari’, the daily flower and incense offerings made by Balinese Hindus. Time seemed to stand still. The perfume captures this emotional stillness in motion: a spicy, floral, incense-laced composition inspired by the elements of the offering itself.

Canang Sari — Courtesy of Chester Gibs

📍 On July 25th, we’re hosting a casual community meetup in Amsterdam. If you’re nearby, we’d love to say hi — and let you be among the first to smell the finished perfume.

Modifications #30, #31, #33, #35, #37

🗓️ Contents of this Issue

1. Note Worthy: Who made my scent, Tariffs, and Notes Shanghai
2. Strictly Independent: Anatole Lebreton
3. Quiz: Tiny traces – big effects
4. Scent MythBusters: Natural ingredients smell exactly as we expect — a rose is a rose?

Note-Worthy 🔎🌸

#WHOMADEMYSCENT: When a simple question to Bvlgari — “Who produces your perfumes?” — led to silence, it sparked something bigger. The fragrance industry reveals a troubling pattern: outsourced production wrapped in stories of craftsmanship. The real issue isn’t outsourcing — it’s the illusion of artistry. In 2025, truth isn’t just refreshing — it’s revolutionary.

#TariffTurmoil: Upcoming 50% tariffs on goods from regions like China threaten the fragrance supply chain. Osmo CEO Alex Wiltschko suggests “olfactory intelligence” can help by enabling reformulation to manage costs without changing scent — pointing to adaptive production and potentially more US manufacturing.

#ShanghaiScentScene: Notes Shanghai, a new perfume trade show by Alex Wu, debuted at Shanghai Fashion Week with 200 brands from 19 countries and 15,000 visitors, promoting an emerging “Chinese scent” via brands like Reclassified and Zhufu.

Strictly Independent 🎨 🌟

Meeting Anatole Lebreton at Esxence shifted our perspective — a true Urgestein whose passion radiates through his work. Then came the Artefacts line, and it floored us: bold, moving, unforgettable. As he puts it, “I wanted to explore the mechanisms at work in the creative act by drawing inspiration from emblematic episodes of human history.” The result: perfumes that feel like time capsules.

ARMONIA — The Renaissance Cadence. A velvet of powdery iris and supple leather over soft woods — serene elegance inspired by Florence in the High Renaissance. Key essences: iris, leather, soft woods.

KAIROS — The Prophetic Spark. A gourmand vanilla with bite: bitter almond, orange blossom lift and warm vanilla depth — radiant yet grounded. Inspired by sunlit Ancient Greece and the opportune moment. Key essences: vanilla, bitter almond, orange blossom.

URUK — The Mesopotamian Whisper. A dark, resinous weave of labdanum, nutmeg and incense — rich, ritualistic and reflective, anchored to the roots of civilization. Key essences: cistus labdanum, nutmeg, incense.

Quiz 🎲

Which plant owes its characteristic scent to a molecule present in only trace amounts — yet defines how we perceive it?
Galbanum · Violet · Lavender · Orange Blossom

Scent MythBusters 🎭️

“Natural perfume ingredients smell exactly as we expect them to — a rose is a rose is a rose, right?”
Myth of the week

TL;DR

Natural ingredients like saffron, rose and jasmine are complex chemical cocktails. The scent we associate with them is often just one dominant molecule, while the raw material can unleash surprising notes — menthol in saffron, metallic tangs in rose, animalic whispers in jasmine.

Saffron — the cool spice

While Safranal gives warmth, pure saffron can unleash a sharp, almost medicinal, menthol-like coolness — far from just a cozy spice.

Rose — the thorny truth

Citronellol and geraniol give the soft-floral impression, but a true rose absolute often presents green, leafy notes, a metallic tang, and sometimes a bitter, waxy or earthy facet.

Jasmine — the untamed flower

Benzyl acetate gives the familiar fruity-floral sweetness, but indole and skatole introduce animalic, almost “dirty” notes — the indolic character that gives jasmine its depth and sensuality.

So, is the myth busted?

Absolutely. What we perceive as a “typical natural scent” is often a beautifully orchestrated illusion — a chemical symphony far more intricate than we assume. Lean in closer; that’s where the real magic of perfumery begins.