Hopefully you know what Flawsome is by now? Once you do you’ll start to notice it everywhere! There are so many examples in my book, and here’s one of them to wet your appetite:
CB I Hate Perfume was started by a perfumer based in New York, Christopher Brosius. Described as one of the most innovative perfumers of the 21st Century, Brosius has won a number of awards, and his work is featured in museums. His background includes working for the Demeter Fragrance Library and one of the world’s largest and most successful cosmetic retailers, Kiehls.
According to Brosius, his inspiration for CB I Hate Perfume was inspired by his experience as a cab driver. In his promotional video (do a quick Google search to find it, it’s worth watching) he describes how most of the women who would pile into the back of his taxi to go out for the evening were drenched in perfume, which he called “horrible crap”. He describes how twelve hours later in the freezing cold dawn, his eyes would still be watering and his stomach churning.
Brosius describes most perfumes as “an arrogant slap in the face from across the room” and “a lazy and inelegant concession to fashionable ego”. The ethos of this perfume company ironically reflects the founder’s opinion of mainstream perfume: “People who smell like everyone else disgust me.” The variety of scents CB I Hate Perfume developed are inspired by his childhood memories. One of the first perfumes he developed was named ‘Dirt’ and was inspired by one of his greatest childhood pleasures: digging among the vegetables, herbs and flowers in a small garden on his family’s farm. He says: “I loved the smell of the fresh clean earth and decided to bottle it.”
According to the company, the CB I Hate Perfume range is quite subtle and has been carefully crafted to reflect particular memories like dirt and dandelions, vegetable gardens, walks in the autumn woods, snow, wet rocks and fresh home-made cookies. Brosius probably isn’t one of the first people to find powerful mass-produced perfume repulsive and offensive. Judging by his brand’s immense success, it’s safe to say a whole bunch of people feel the same way. His company was born out of the flaws of an industry and profession he loved dearly. He saw more beauty in the flawed and honest smells of life than in the harsh abrasive fragrances for which the perfume industry is known.
