Bespoke or high-end scents are now factored into plans for hotels, hotspots and homes.
定制或高端香水现在已经被纳入酒店、热点和住宅的规划中。
The luxe lobby of the WestHouse Hotel (Photo: Courtesy WestHouse Hotel)
西屋酒店的豪华大堂(图片来源:西屋酒店)
Byredo Bibliothèque is, according to no particular survey but everyone who cares, the dream, high-end home fragrance. It’s hard for a layperson to describe the smell though. “As if someone who smells very good was just sitting in a leather chair, in a room full of carefully hand-bound books in an elegant, slightly decrepit hotel, situated in the back street of a European city,” suggested one fan.
Masculine, evening, sexy, mature, urban. Those are the kinds of words to use when working with a perfumer to create a custom scent. Never say woodsy, oak, citrus, cigar or any other obvious smell descriptor. “It’s fine to tell these really creative people ‘the story’ and let them do their thing,” said Jorge Trevino, executive vice president of brand operations for Commune Hotels, referring to scent designers and, yes, the persona or sensation you wish to convey.
Hotels have scented their lobbies, elevators and other public spaces for years. Mr. Trevino recalls the past: housekeepers at luxury properties weekly refilling hidden, thimble-sized, clay oil dispensers. Now scenting is high-tech, involving building engineers and motorized compressed cartridges. Lately, hotels, airlines and amusement parks are using less ubiquitous, more bespoke fragrances and savvy guests are picking up the scent. Literally.
Created in about 12 months with olfactory branding firm 12.29, Velvet, the scent of the Thompson Hotels, including Gild Hall and The Smyth, is perfect, according to Mr. Trevino, because the “velvet-ropey” brand turns on when the sun sets. A related candle will appear later this year, a response to guest demand. Similarly, last fall The Carlyle (a little more Prince and Duchessy) introduced a candle modeled after the hotel’s famous soap “meant to remind guests of their fond memories of The Carlyle,” said Jennifer Cooke, a spokesperson for the hotel.
The home of Milly’s Michelle Smith (Photo: Emily Assiran/New York Observer)
《米莉》中米歇尔·史密斯的家(图片来源:Emily Assiran/New York Observer)
Smell is processed in the olfactory cortex in the brain’s limbic system, near the places emotion is processed and memories are stored. This makes scent memories among the most powerful, emotional and lasting, Dawn C. Buse, Ph.D., clinical psychologist in the Department of Neurology at Montefiore Medical Center, told the Observer. “The first time that we experience a particular scent, we associate it with events, people and emotions of the time.”
That’s why winter shopping smells like cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla, evoke memories of happy holidays (Grandma’s baking) and encourage more shopping and spending. It also explains why luxury hotels and retailers want to establish their own scent in your memory: to encourage return.
Scent designer Tracy Pepe and her firm, Nose Knows Design, is working with the InterContinental New York Barclay on a custom, site-specific scent, as part of their extensive renovation. “A client choses a vision. We create it. I’m no different from the architect,” she explained.
香水设计师特蕾西·佩佩(Tracy Pepe)和她的公司Nose Knows Design正在与纽约巴克莱洲际酒店(InterContinental New York Barclay)合作，设计一种特定场所的定制香水，这是他们大规模装修的一部分。“客户选择一个愿景。我们创造了它。我和建筑师没什么不同，”她解释道。
In addition to large-scale hospitality work, Ms. Pepe has a Whiff Collection, eight scents created to transform a room by complementing another design element: color palette. Purchase a $20 sample kit and try out the scents as you would paint chips. (What does a fragrance do to the space? Make it bigger? Smaller?) “If you’re a homeowner savvy with paint and color you’ll be able to understand how to choose a scent for your space,” said Ms. Pepe.
除了大规模的接待工作外，佩佩还有一个“气味系列”(Whiff Collection)，通过补充另一个设计元素——调色板，创造出八种气味来改变一个房间。购买一个20美元的样品套件，试着像涂薯条一样闻到味道。(香水对空间有什么影响?让它变大?“如果你是一个精通油漆和颜色的房主，你就能理解如何为你的空间选择一种气味”。佩佩说。
Chances are you’re currently scenting your home all wrong. You know smells can impact our perceptions and evaluations (often negative when the odor is unpleasant). But while store-bought air fresheners and candles and oils may mask last night’s curry, they’re just making everything smell like, well, everything else. And they’re not specific to a particular space.
很有可能你现在对家里的气味闻错了。你知道，气味会影响我们的感知和评价(当气味令人不快时通常是负面的)。但是，虽然商店里买的空气清新剂、蜡烛和油可以掩盖昨晚的咖喱味，但它们只会让所有东西闻起来像其他东西。它们并不局限于某个特定的空间。
Many scents have common emotional responses: vanilla, lavender, jasmine (calming); citrus, rosemary, cinnamon, peppermint (energizing); leather, wood (luxury). But the strategy may not work on everyone because preferences can vary by experience, gender, geography and culture. “One woman whose father was a carpenter may feel comforted by the scent of wood shavings, while someone else may find this scent particularly noxious,” said Dr. Buse.
许多气味都有共同的情绪反应:香草、薰衣草、茉莉花(镇静)；柑橘，迷迭香，肉桂，薄荷(充满活力)；皮革、木材(奢侈品)。但这种策略可能并不适用于所有人，因为偏好会因经验、性别、地理和文化而异。“一位父亲是木匠的女性可能会对木屑的气味感到安慰，而另一些人可能会觉得这种气味特别有害，”布斯博士说。
Which, noted Ms. Pepe, is one reason scenting is not about “what I like” (that’s narcissistic), it’s not a guessing game, and it’s not about glamour: it’s science. “You don’t have a ‘Betsey Johnson’ scent if your interior is beige.”
佩佩指出，这就是为什么香味不是关于“我喜欢什么”(那是自恋)，不是猜谜游戏，也不是为了魅力:它是科学。“如果你的室内是米色的，你就不会有‘贝茜·约翰逊’的气味。”
A shot of Noa Santos’ abode (Photo: Emily Assiran/New York Observer)
Noa Santos住所的照片(图片来源:Emily Assiran/New York Observer)
Ms. Pepe’s custom scents run $10,000 to $50,000, about the going rate. Depending on complexity, a custom scent by Air Aroma, the firm behind scents for brands like Sofitel Luxury Hotels, Morgans Hotel Group, SLS Hotels (opening in NYC in 2016) and the Marmara Collection (opening in NYC this summer), runs $5,000 to $30,000.
佩佩定制的香水价格在1万到5万美元之间，这是目前的价格。Air Aroma为索菲特豪华酒店(Sofitel Luxury Hotels)、摩根酒店集团(Morgans Hotel Group)、SLS酒店(2016年在纽约开业)和马尔马拉精选(Marmara Collection)(今年夏天在纽约开业)等品牌提供香水，根据不同的复杂程度，一款定制香水的价格在5000美元到3万美元之间。
Air Aroma works with celebrities and executives in scenting their private homes, said Cathy Fowler, national account manager and fragrance curator. Ms. Fowler cannot reveal names but mentioned designing a scent for a palace in the Middle East and one for the home of a businessman who considers red wine to be the epitome of luxury. “People who create a scent for their home tend to have a sophisticated level of taste and life experiences,” said Ms. Fowler. Many have experienced her firm’s products while traveling.
Air Aroma的全国客户经理兼香水策展人凯茜·福勒(Cathy Fowler)说，该公司与名人和高管合作，为他们的私人住宅提供香水。福勒不能透露名字，但她提到，她曾为中东的一座宫殿和一位商人的家设计过一款香水，这位商人认为红酒是奢侈品的象征。福勒说:“为自己的家创造香味的人，往往有着复杂的品味和生活经历。”许多人都在旅行中体验过她公司的产品。
Before a site visit, it’s important to understand the space, layout which rooms should be scented and how, and for a “smell test evaluation” involving a portfolio of fragrances Ms. Fowler will ask clients a variety of questions—such as where have you traveled—to pick up clues about a client’s life and tastes. “Stories come out when you start to understand the background of a person.”
在实地考察之前，重要的是要了解空间、布局，哪些房间应该有香味，以及如何有香味。在“气味测试评估”中，福勒会问客户各种各样的问题，比如你去过哪里，以此来了解客户的生活和品味。“当你开始了解一个人的背景时，故事就出来了。”
Fragrance consultation comes next. “They have an old-school makeup bag with vials of natural raw scents,” Mr. Trevino told the Observer. This stage is the same no matter which company you’re working with. The scent designer dips strips of blotter paper into the vials, passing each one to everyone participating. “You don’t say a word. You write down what each scent is evoking. ‘Ohmygod that’s tangerine,’ but it’s not. The nose is funny,” said Mr. Trevino. See importance of site visit, above.
接下来是香水咨询。“他们有一个老式的化妆包，里面装着小瓶的天然香料，”特维诺告诉《观察家报》。无论你在哪家公司工作，这个阶段都是一样的。香水设计师将吸墨纸浸入小瓶中，将每个小瓶分发给每个参与者。“你什么也不说。你写下每一种气味能唤起什么。“天哪，那是橘黄色的”，但其实不是。鼻子很有趣，”特维诺说。请参阅上面的实地考察的重要性。
The living room of David Scott, Interior Designer (Photo: Emily Assiran/New York Observer)
Next round is the presentation of a few possible scents combining multiple base fragrances. Clients of Ms. Folwer often chose multiple, for different seasons or moods or rooms. Hotels choose one. Development usually takes up to one year. Then there’s the set up of equipment (cold air diffusion, explained Ms. Fowler, converts liquid fragrance into dry microscopic mist, then diffused through HVAC, as strong or delicate as you wish).
“This is a craft,” said Ms. Pepe. “A space has to capture everything. Scent is a tool.”
“这是一门手艺，”佩佩说。“一个空间必须捕捉一切。气味是一种工具。”
