Three
Ambient fragrance
Isabelle Doat runs Immo Angels, a national network of real estate agents specializing in luxury properties. We met through a mutual friend, a jeweler, in Biarritz.
Her request was not for a generic welcome candle or an office fragrance. Instead, it focused on three specific moments, and it was this precision that shaped the project.
The first, and perhaps most unexpected, moment is the car ride. Agents often drive prospective buyers to the property; Isabelle wanted this journey to help the clients relax and feel at ease, rather than letting the tension build in anticipation of the viewing. The second moment occurs in the first room of the property, which is scented just before the clients arrive. The third moment comes later: once the sale is finalized, the fragrance becomes a gift.
The three core objectives she outlined can be summed up in three words: relax, put at ease, and instill confidence.
There were three meetings, all held at the laboratory, a detail that is far from insignificant. This is where the raw materials are kept; one can smell them, compare them, backtrack, discard one path, and open up another, all within the span of an hour. A meeting at the laboratory is far more productive than one held anywhere else.
The first meeting lasted between an hour and a half and two hours. It is always the longest, as there are many raw materials to sample and many questions to ask, but, above all, it requires listening closely to what the person is truly asking for. This stage feels more like a conversation than a formal brief, and it sets the course for everything that follows.
For the second meeting, I presented three trials, three distinct directions, all serving the same underlying intent. Isabelle took the samples home to evaluate them; this, too, is a crucial detail, as a scent is perceived differently within one’s own familiar olfactory environment, the setting to which one’s nose is accustomed. That is where the nuances truly reveal themselves. That is where the nuances truly reveal themselves.
She selected one immediately, without requiring any modifications. This is rare, and it made the subsequent steps very straightforward.
Once the sample was chosen, the perfume had to be produced, moving from the manufacturing phase to bottling. This production period requires several weeks of maceration, a stage that cannot be shortened.
The third meeting was the handover of the bottles. Three and a half months elapsed between our initial discussion and this final delivery.
There is a common misconception that I am constantly trying to dispel: the idea that a specific scent note
always produces the same effect on everyone. People often say that lavender is relaxing, this may be true on average, but it is not the case for many individuals.
If someone were to walk through a lavender field, fall, and break their leg, a touch of lavender would certainly not relax them; it would have the exact opposite effect. A scent does not act in a vacuum; it acts upon a person’s lived experience. For this reason, I never work from a pre-established list of effects; instead, I base my approach on what the individual shares with me.
This working method is rooted in a specific discipline known as OSTMR, Olfactory Stimulation Therapy and Memory Reconstruction, taught at the École Supérieure du Parfum. For Immo Angels, the chosen focus was the "regressive" register. The reasoning is straightforward: for most people, childhood represents a safe space. Scents that evoke this period help lower one’s guard, which is precisely the desired state for someone preparing to make an important decision.
In practical terms, this translates into a sweet accord centered on an amarena cherry with a subtle hint of almond. To provide a reference point that almost everyone will recognize: it evokes the scent of the white "Cléopâtre" glue used in primary school.
The fragrance was delivered as a room scent, packaged in a glass spray bottle with a wooden cap, accompanied by a card describing its composition.
The card captures the essence of the fragrance better than I could paraphrase it: a candied, almond-tinged cherry, accented by notes of amber and musk, creating a comforting, indulgent atmosphere.
One hundred and twenty bottles were delivered in two sizes: seventy 8 ml bottles and fifty 30 ml bottles. Both contain the same fragrance, with no specific format designated for any particular use. Each agent chooses the size that best suits their needs, whether for scenting a car, freshening up the entryway of a property before a viewing, or gifting to a client after a sale.
Immo Angels continues to use this fragrance today.
Upon receiving the bottles, Isabelle remarked, "This is exactly right, thank you." She added that it was so spot-on that she decided to order one for herself, a personal fragrance to wear on her skin. This led to a second order.
A national network of luxury real estate agents identified a need spanning three specific moments: the car ride, the first room entered in a property, and the gift presented after a sale.
Three meetings at the laboratory, three distinct fragrance options presented, with one selected and finalized, and a timeline of three and a half months from the initial discussion to delivery.
The chosen scent features a nostalgic, "regressive" accord of amarena cherry and almond, a deliberate choice, as the evocative power of childhood memories proves far more disarming than notes traditionally labeled as "soothing."
One hundred and twenty bottles were delivered, 70 in an 8ml format and 50 in a 30ml format, all containing the same fragrance, which remains in use today.
The project also led to a second, personal order, placed by the company’s director on the very day of the delivery.
Three. I always develop three distinct directions, all serving the same underlying intention, and the client selects one. This is my approach for every project, whether for a business or an individual client.
For this project, it took three and a half months, spanning three meetings, from the initial discussion to the delivery of the bottles. This is just a rough estimate, not a fixed timeline: every project progresses at its own pace, and the number of rounds of revisions and testing makes a significant difference.
However, some parts of the process cannot be rushed. Once a formula has been selected, the production phase requires several weeks of maceration before the fragrance can be bottled.
Generally, at the laboratory, that’s where all the essences are kept. We smell, compare, discard one direction, and explore another, all within the same hour. Une séance au laboratoire avance beaucoup plus qu’une séance ailleurs.
I do travel to other locations in three specific cases: when a client cannot come to me—in which case I bring a selection of essences; Quand le projet demande de s’imprégner du lieu et d’en saisir l’atmosphère. and when I need to assess the scale of a site firsthand to provide an accurate cost estimate.
As for the samples, you always take them with you. A scent is perceived differently in a neutral setting compared to one’s own olfactory environment, and it is the latter that truly matters, as that is where the fragrance will ultimately live.
For Immo Angels, it takes the form of a room fragrance in a spray bottle, available in two sizes: 8 ml for on-the-go use, and 30 ml for use on-site or as a gift. Both contain the exact same scent.
Another corporate olfactory identity project: « Bagflip ».
Do you have a project like this in mind?
An olfactory identity is built based on the experiences you create for your
customers, not by choosing from a catalog of scents. The starting point is always a conversation.
a conversation.
