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Today I’m Wearing Carnal Flower by Frederic Malle

Who: Judith Gross, Creative Director at I.F.F (International Flavors & Fragrances). We met Judith at her recent Post Modern Speed Smelling™ session at Claridge’s, where we speed-dated a number of wonderful fragrances created by top noses at I.F.F.

The idea behind the event is to allow each of the talented in-house fragrance creators to construct beautiful, conceptual fragrances with no budget or creative restrictions. They are effectively let off their leashes and allowed to show who they are and what they can do. It’s a concept that inspires innovation within formula creation as well as great excitement among those lucky enough in the industry to experience the extraordinary results. The creative exercise is in its 10th year and there is considerable interest from the public too, so IFF now sell each year’s collection in limited numbers on its website.

We were intrigued to discover what Judith* – who has such fabulous access to fragrance – wears herself….

Today I’m Wearing Carnal Flower, by Dominique Ropion for Frederic Malle. It smells of carnal white flowers, tuberose, jasmine, and muguet (lily of the valley). It makes me feel sexy and feminine.

Fragrance is my second skin. People know I’m here when they smell it. It’s who I am.

I spray everything with fragrance, my hair, my skin, my clothes. Even when I don’t wear it for several days, it still lingers around me. I can’t wear perfume at work as it would disrupt the olfactive environment, so it’s one of the first things I do when I get back home.

I have one other scent I’ve started to wear a couple of months ago, Berber Blonde, created by Carlos Benaim for Sana Jardin. It’s an intoxicating orange flower, incredibly powerful. It has a unique radiance.

I do scent my house, it’s the first thing I do when I spend time at home (which is not often as I travel a lot!). I light the gorgeous Fornasetti Otto candle which I was lucky enough to receive as a gift. My other home indulgence is the Dyptique Tubereuse candle, which reminds me of Carnal Flower.

I’ve been at IFF for 25 years and every day is a new day. I’m probably more appreciative, respectful, and admiring of the perfumers’ talent than I would if I didn’t experience their art of creation every single day. I know the efforts, the hundreds of trials (sometimes thousands) that go behind creating the perfect scent!

*For anyone who is interested, Judith’s gorgeous gold velvet trouser suit comes from Topshop and her shoes are Valentino.