Sonoma Scent Studio: Interview with Laurie Erickson

You seem to be truly inspired by your surroundings.  How do you transform the original inspiration into the final perfume you create?

Laurie Erickson:  I haven't done a scent based literally on California surroundings, though I would love to do that someday.  I'd love to do something that captures the smell of the dry oak grasslands in the summer sun, a dry hay and green scent, but I'd need to take some liberties with that vision to make it wearable. Jour Ensoleille has a bit of that summer sunshine in the afternoon feeling for me, but it is much more floral than a literal interpretation of our landscape.  Although I haven’t tackled a literal scent like that, in a more abstract way loving my natural surroundings connects me to the natural ingredients I use, the woods, flower absolutes, and incense essences.  My appreciation for natural essences has led to scents like Encens Tranquille, Ambre Noir, and Fireside Intense with their high amounts of naturals.

I usually start by thinking about how the notes I'm envisioning will translate into accords composed of various aroma ingredients. I start by writing the general accords down, just thinking about the components. Then I go back and take a guess at the ratio for the ingredients in the accords. I start with the most important notes and add the embellishments later on in the process. I work it out on paper first and then make tiny batches to test my concept.  Sometimes I get the heart of the scent right away but it often takes a long time to get the surrounding notes. I can't remember which perfumer said this, but I read a quote once saying that the hardest part of creating a scent is doing the finishing work on it, and that's really true. The inspiration and starting is easy, but the final stages are harder.

Your love of natural sciences is apparent in your qualifications—B.S. in Environmental Earth Science and M.S. in Geomechanics at Stanford University—but do you approach creating new perfumes from a technical or mainly an emotional point of view?

Laurie Erickson:  I believe that perfuming is both an art and a science—to get the best results you need to take a combined approach.  The concept for a scent usually comes mostly from my artistic and emotional side, but the execution combines both the technical side of my nature and the artistic side. 

The artist sniffs the scent to evaluate what it needs or lacks, and the technician decides what adjustments might bring about the desired effect. 

I may also do some research in my books and online to try to find new ingredients that will improve the formula at hand.  This dual nature is one of the things that I like best about perfumery: the combination of art and science suits my personality well.

Sonoma Scent Studio fragrances create quite vivid stories in my mind, whilst I wear them. Could you describe some of the memories you draw on whilst envisioning new fragrances, and the scent journeys you hope to create for the wearer?

Laurie Erickson:  Sometimes I have something specific in mind, for example the Firesides bring back memories of evenings around the campfire, Velvet Rose makes me think of sniffing a rich garden rose, and Jour Ensoleille makes me think of being outside in the warm late summer sunshine. 

Other times I don't have an image in mind as much as a feeling.  For example Encens Tranquille is a very natural scent that dries down to something peaceful for me, and Lieu de Reves feels romantic and dreamy with its soft florals and sweet heliotrope.  I think each person brings her/his own scent memories to fragrances, and I can't always predict what people will associate with my scents, which is part of the fun.  It's wonderful when I hear feedback from people telling me what scent memories come up for them when they wear my fragrances.   

An interesting current topic of discussion on Fragrantica's forum is entitled: Fragrances from your Childhood.  Which smells do you associate with your childhood? Do they continue to inspire you, now?

Laurie Erickson: All my scent memories help make me who I am and contribute to what I do, but the garden scents and outdoors smells are the ones that resonate strongest with me and continue to play a theme in my fragrances.  These are some of my childhood scent memories; I bet many people share some of these…

Floral smells: fragrant flowers in the gardens of my Mom and grandmother and the cut flower bouquets they’d make with their roses, jasmine, sweet peas, and carnations.

Outdoors smells: camping trips each summer with scent memories of the campfires, the vanilla-scented Jeffrey pine bark, and the damp greenness in the air around the fern-lined stream beds in the redwood groves; also the scent of the sun-warmed dry grass under the oaks in our home town that I associate with the freedom of childhood summer vacations.

 
Horseback riding: leather, oats, alfalfa, hay, cedar shavings, dust, pungent green grass in the early morning dew, and ultra tart green apples I’d share with my horse from the trees at the barn (I took the first couple of bites and he got the rest).

Perfume smells: my grandmother’s aldehydic florals, a mini of L’Air du Temps with the doves on top, and a violet perfume I had as a girl (my mother didn’t wear perfume very often so I don’t have the kinds of memories many girls have of perfumes on their mother’s dressing tables).

Holidays: Mom’s gingerbread cookies baking and the wonderful fresh green smell of the Douglas fir Christmas tree.

Other: Mom’s bread baking in the oven, sunscreen and chlorine on our skin after an afternoon of swimming at a neighbor’s pool.

Do you have a particular favourite of your fragrances—one which you personally enjoy wearing the most, or does this change all the time? How about perfumes from other houses? I suspect many people assume that artisan perfumers only wear their own creations; but surely that's like suggesting a master chef should only ever eat food they have personally cooked!

Laurie Erickson:  Oh, yes, of course I wear perfumes from other houses as well.  Chanel has many fragrances I love, including No. 22, Coco, No. 19, Sensual Elixir, Pour Monsieur, and Bois des Iles. 

Many of my favorite scents have strong rose notes, such as L'Artisan Drole de Rose, Rosine's Poussiere de Rose, Guerlain Nahema, and Annick Goutal’s Rose Absolue. 

Some other favorites include Serge Lutens La Myrrhe, Serge Lutens A La Nuit, Parfums MDCI Enlevement au Serail, L'Artisan La Chasse aux Papillons, Frederic Malle Carnal Flower, Caron Pafum Sacre, The Different Company Sel de Vetiver, and Divine L'Homme de Coeur.

As for my own line, I tend to wear whatever I am working on at the moment because I have to test versions as I work, but some of my favorites right now are Sienna Musk, Encens Tranquille, Fireside Intense, Ambre Noir, and the new Tabac Aurea.  For spring I’m looking forward to wearing Voile de Violette and Lieu de Reves, when I can squeeze them in!
 
How do you go about sourcing your ingredients, and which have been the ingredients that have surprised, inspired or frustrated you the most?

Laurie Erickson:  I source ingredients from a number of companies such as IFF, Givaudan, Symrise, Firmenich, etc.  I watch for new releases from them and get samples when they become available, and I research older items that I don’t have yet but that may make good additions to my stock. 

Then I evaluate the samples and purchase things as I need them, usually going through their distributors because that way I can buy a kilo instead of a drum. 

For natural materials in small quantities, Eden Botanicals and White Lotus are favorites, but for kilo quantities I use wholesalers that specialize in naturals like Biolandes in France.  It's always fun to get new samples and see what doors they open for blending possibilities. 

I also do a lot of research in books, journals, and online to find ingredients that might be new and useful to add to my collection.  It's getting to the point where keeping inventory of bottles is a challenge, but new materials are always exciting.
 
Many ingredients are inspiring, both natural and synthetic.  I love labdanum absolute, frankincense, myrrh, birch tar, oakmoss, floral absolutes (rose, jasmine, orange blossom, mimosa, osmanthus, tuberose).  

I love many synthetics too; the beauty of some sandalwood reconstructions is amazing, and the new macrocyclic musk ingredients fascinate me.  As for surprising, smelling the weird scent of choya loban was a surprise the first time;

it opens with very raw rubbery nuances and is so potent and smoky it demands a lot of respect.  Nagarmotha was another unusual one to sniff the first time, though I like it a lot.  One ingredient that has frustrated me is Buddah wood; I worked with it for a while and found it very interesting but haven’t found the right use for it yet.  It’s very strong and lasting but quite unusual and can easily take over too much.

I know you are currently working on a new fragrance, Tabac Aurea. Could you describe this for Fragrantica's readers, and who you imagine wearing it? What other forthcoming fragrances can we look forward to?

Laurie Erickson: Tabac Aurea features a soft pipe tobacco note with woods, spices, labdanum, leather, patchouli, amber, tonka, and vanilla.   It has a slightly gourmand quality in the drydown that is a bit addictive, and I think it should find an audience with both men and women who enjoy soft pipe tobacco, leather, and amber but don't want cigarette smoke notes with the tabac.
Other scents that will be coming in the future include Gardenia Musk for spring and summer as well as a sandalwood musk blend for any season.