The scent of your soul

In her words

The last drop is yours.

For twenty years I composed for houses whose names everyone knows. I learned the palette the way one learns a language — the hour at which Jasmine Sambac opens, the way Sandalwood stays in a room long after everyone has left it.

And each time a formula was finished, the same thought came back to me: this has been made for millions of people. Which is to say, for no one in particular.

A perfume is not a product. It is a second skin. It is what remains in a doorway after you have walked through it, what someone recognises before they recognise your face. Something so close to a person cannot be decided for them — not by a committee, and not by me.

So I gave the palette away. Fifty-two essences, drawn from the most beautiful naturals I know, each composed so that it can be paired with any other. And the gesture that always belonged to the perfumer — the drop, the blend, the patience while it settles — placed in your hands.

I am still there, at the Scent Bar. I still suggest, and sometimes I argue. But the last drop is yours.

Twenty-one grams, they say, is the weight of a soul. I believe yours has a scent. My work is simply to help you find it.

Johanna MonangeFounder & Master Perfumer