A world-renowned, award-winning French perfumer has tracked
the enticing scent of Treedom oud oil all the way from his base in New York to
Thailand. Fragrance designer extraordinaire, Christophe Laudamiel incorporates
Treedom oud oil in some of his key signature perfumes and in June 2016, visited
the Treedom agarwood factory and plantations. Here, he was given a genuine
insight into the sophisticated oud oil production process.
A chemist, osmocurator and fragrance director at the Perfume School in New York, Christophe takes scent to a whole new creative level. Luca Turin, one of the very few true perfume critiques and judge on the Women’s Wear Daily Smell Test panel, recently wrote about him as being “the greatest inventor of novel perfume structures working today”.
A chemist, osmocurator and fragrance director at the Perfume School in New York, Christophe takes scent to a whole new creative level. Luca Turin, one of the very few true perfume critiques and judge on the Women’s Wear Daily Smell Test panel, recently wrote about him as being “the greatest inventor of novel perfume structures working today”.
Christophe’s passion for perfume has seen him establish a bespoke
perfume enterprise DreamAir which partnered with Firmenich, a worldwide leader
in fragrances and fragrance ingredients. He is also the founder of the
non-profit tax-exempt Academy of Perfumery and Aromatics for the advancement
and education of the art of fragrance-making.
Christophe adds true artistic dimensions to perfume’s possibilities and has been featured in art galleries and collaborated on a ‘scent opera’, Green Aria, at New York’s Guggenheim Museum, pairing music, visuals and scents in high-profile events and exhibits.
Under the Air Sculpture® umbrella, Christophe creates innovative scent installations within the hospitality and retail industries. His knowledge of fragrances came from his learning experiences with legendary perfumers, Pierre Bourdon, Carlos Benaim and Sofia Grojsman. With his trademark Mohawk
Christophe, who first came across oud oil in Southeast Asia when no-one really knew about it in the Western world, gained treasured knowledge from his trip to Treedom’s unique distillery and trade-secret know-how.
“Although the true smell of 100% pure and natural Agarwood oil is still not so well known, I love the fact that we can now use that oil much more in fragrances. When I first showed it to collaborators in New York in very early ‘00’s they thought I was crazy to love such untamed smell. There is still a long way to go. Oud adds another dimension of mystery and sensuality to perfume. There are not so many natural wood ingredients that can create this animalistic character of the wild.”
Enamoured with agarwood, Christophe believes men and women in
the West should become connoisseurs of such specific ingredients as oud oil to
really appreciate its nuances, complexity and variety much like they would
value a fine whiskey.
“I'd like to encourage everyone to smell more and, just as with chocolate or wine, discover the differences and become more educated about Oud oil. This is a very so-called masculine oil and, actually, in Western cultures men should become as literate as women in the art of perfume. They should know their Agarwood as much as they know their wines or whiskeys. Not only for their own pleasure, but also that of others surrounding them, since a fragrance is to be noticed and shared by those closest to you.”
With scent gurus such as Christophe introducing oud oil to new markets, its essence is permeating beyond the Arabic, Indian and Japanese traditions. It is enriching the culture of perfume across the globe and is writing an exciting new chapter in the history book of fragrances.
Important note:
