Thursday November 19, 2009

Romantic notes

By WONG LI ZA

What does love smell like?

LOVE is in the air, literally.

The Body Shop’s latest fragrance for women, Love Etc... is about sending out a universal message of love, happiness and pleasure, according to its creator Dominique Ropion.

“Love Etc... sounds like a chorus, it smells like a captivating fragrance and it means people are connecting in a world in movement. It suggests force, happiness, pleasure and life,” said Ropion via e-mail.

Only the best: ‘We knew that the finest ingredients were needed to bring the Love Etc… concept to life,’ says Dominique Ropion.

He has worked with other leading perfume brands including Cacharel, Givenchy and Calvin Klein, developing fragrances such as Armani Code, Lovely, Dune, Euphoria and Amarige.

The Eau de Parfum’s dominant note is jasmine, which is merged with base notes of vanilla, sandalwood and musk cream. It carries top notes of pear, neroli and bergamot while middle notes are concocted with jasmine, heliotrope and lily of the valley.

“While developing this fragrance and its unique concept, we knew that the finest ingredients were needed to bring the Love Etc… concept to life,” said Ropion, 54.

“One of the greatest pleasures for me was knowing that this fragrance features alcohol which is sourced through a fair trade programme, the Community Trade programme at The Body Shop. This is definitely another route by which the whole concept of universal love comes alive.”

Love Etc... is reputedly the first Eau de Parfum to feature alcohol created from an ingredient that is fairly traded and organic.

The alcohol is supplied by organic sugar cane farmers from the CADO co-operative in Ecuador, South America, who are believed to grow this ingredient with environmental sustainability and biodiversity in mind.

The farmers produce the perfume base, or “cane juice”, from the foothills of the Andes, where they have been cultivating organic sugar cane and distilling it for generations, using traditional methods of farming and production.

“The Body Shop has always been a brand that greatly interests me. I’d known of it for years and knew it had already established a rich fragrance heritage, so working with the in-house team to design a fragrance that is all about love was a privilege.

“The concept which drove this fragrance, love in all its forms – love for friends, family, places and times in our lives – is one which sits perfectly with The Body Shop and the lives it has enriched around the world,” added Ropion, who trained at the famous Roure Bertrand Dupont laboratory in France before going to work with Jean-Louis Sieuzac, one of the world’s finest perfumers.

“I was told this profession was a journey of patience and learning, and that fitted me like a glove,” recalled Ropion, currently one of the star perfumers at International Flavours and Fragrances Inc.

Some of his favourite ingredients are classic flowers like jasmine, rose, tuberoses and violet.

“With very few petals you can recompose the floral olfactive range. It’s fascinating and the study of their chemical make up is one of my passions,” he shared.

Ropion often finds inspiration for a fragrance from a central theme composed around one raw material.

“I like the idea of working with perfume as an olfactive form, like a sculptor or an architect. Going to the core of a scientific study of the make up of a natural raw material and then, suddenly being seduced by its beauty all over again, is a great satisfaction for me.”

As a perfumer, making each new fragrance unique is key.

“The starting point of a creation is deeply linked to the brand itself. Its core values and fragrance brief are the very first information which helps us find an innovative idea.

“The quest for uniqueness, quality and olfactory intensity, the search for beautiful ingredients and unexpected contrasts, drive the creation till the final original and memorable signature,” he said.

● The range also offers Love Etc... Body Wash, Body Lotion and Body Butter, which contain Community Trade ingredients. Available at all Body Shop outlets.