When considering a purchase, Wilson suggests dabbing a fragrance on your skin and then walking around for about 30 minutes and then consider if you still like it enough to buy. [Photo by Duncan Garrett Photography]
distraction from the malodor of others and also as a prophylactic barrier from disease, which was long thought to be spread by bad air. Perfume kept in jeweled rings and pendants could be brought to the nose when accosted by unpleasant smells; it formed an aromatic wall.” While we may not always reach for a body wash, candle or perfume for those reasons anymore, most of us enjoy things that smell pleasant. Which is why the fragrance and perfume market is huge—worth $50 billion last year, according to marketing firm Research Nester. Wafting out on her own After working for other companies, including the largest fragrance company in the world, Givaudan, for decades, Wilson decided she wanted to call her own shots, which lead to the birth of Scent & Strategy. “I’m able to walk that fine line between being an expert with my clients and also knowing what’s going to be commercial and sell versus having that passion of a perfumer who is concerned about his perfect fragrance composition,” she says. “I’m an extension of a brand.” Which means she often has to talk a client out of bad ideas. “Before we even start any work with perfumery, we have to identify what is our strategy, what are we trying to
accomplish, and we stick with that,” she says. “The moment the client’s personal opinion interferes with what that strategy is, we start to get into trouble.” Take something like a fragranced candle. It’s a lot more complicated than something that just looks nice and smells nice. Which company is selling the candle and who’s buying it from the company matter. “If it’s something you’re selling at Target or Walmart, you need to make sure you are creating a fragrance that will be successful for that audience. So that might not reflect your own personal taste,” she says. A candle for an upscale store like Neiman Marcus or a boutique shop would be an entirely different thing, what’s known as “niche distribution,” which can take into account personal preferences. Like when Gwyneth Paltrow released a $75 candle that she sold on her Goop website titled, “This Smells Like My Vagina,” in 2020 and, more recently, “This Smells Like My Orgasm” and “Hands Off My Vagina,” a fundraiser for reproductive rights. “It got people talking,” Wilson says with a roll of her eyes. “Was it about the smell of the candle? Probably not. It was about the concept.” Smell is what matters to Wilson, although all of her work is behind the scenes. There isn’t a body wash, perfume or
June 2024
NorthBaybiz 43
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