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Courtesy of Christian Louboutin Perfumer / Byrdie
Red soles make Christian Louboutins themost recognizable shoesin the world.
Though practically everyone knows what Christian Louboutin looks like, what does the brand smell like?
Courtesy of Christian Louboutin Perfumer / Byrdie
Below, Karagueuzoglou chats about Le Cuir, her favorite ingredient, and the smell of her grandmothers house.
What was your creative process for making Christian Louboutin Beauty Fetiche Le Cuir?
I started on Le Cuir thinking about a leathery fragrance that is soft and sexy.
Christian Louboutin Beauty
So, in this one, we used a special ingredient, osmanthus.
It’s a little flower from China, and the smell is very soft.
There’s a creamy apricot aspect that is not sweet but more like a floral.
Christian Louboutin Beauty
It’s fresh and velvety, soft, and a bit fruity.
It brings [in] some of the DNA of Louboutin being leathery, sexy, sensual.
There’s a joy for me in this brand that we needed to have in the fragrances as well.
Christian Louboutin Beauty
When did you decide to become a perfumer?
Since I was a child, I was really interested in fragrances.
I have always been passionate about smelling.
Now Im at IFF.
Whats your earliest scent memory?
When we experience fragrances they provide us with emotions that stick in our brains for all our life.
What you remember from your childhood is very important for your future.
Your memory is capitalizing on what you feel and experience before.
You remember places, people, food a lot.
In fact, I think that’s what you use as a perfumeryour first emotion to fragrances.
Then you create based on that later on.
What did your grandmother’s house smell like?
Lilac because [she had] a huge lilac garden.
So now for me, lilac is linked to my grandma.
What is your favorite smell now?
Back then the chypres [fragrances] were very strong and very common on the market.
What are your favorite notes to formulate with?
Patchouliis one of my favorite ingredients.
It’s like a magical ingredient.
How would you describe your fragrance style?
I like to express strong ideas with my fragrances.
So, the sillage and the trail its going to leave for others is very important as well.
What is your personal fragrance wardrobe like?
It doesn’t evolve that much because I stick to things that I like for a while.
Then at the end of the day, I’m wearing the trials of the day on my skin.
[Oftentimes, the] next day, I’ll [go back and] rework them.
What are your tips formaking fragrances lastlonger?
You have to have hydrated skin.
Being hydrated keeps the molecules on the skin.
