The veteran perfumer tells Tatler about working with Commes des Garçons and Hong Kong brand Oddity, the challenges of making fragrances and his favourite scents
With more than three decades in the fragrance industry, perfumer Mark Buxton’s résumé reads like a who’s who of the beauty industry.
Beyond his eponymous fragrance brand, he has worked with the likes of Givenchy, Versace and Commes des Garçons, as well as boutique brands like Folie à Plusieurs and Hong Kong-based Oddity, for whom he created its second fragrance, Dead Air, last year.
The “nose”—a term affectionately given to fragrance experts who convey emotions through their creations—tells us about his work.
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How did you become a perfumer?
I became a perfumer by accident. I was born in England and grewup in Germany. I wanted to study fashion design but I couldn’t get into that university course, so I studied geology.
At the time, I went on a TV show in Germany, where my friend and I made a bet that we could identify any perfume on the market. I was able to complete my end of the bet but my friend didn’t.
After that, I was approached by [the fragrance and flavour producer] H&R, which is known today as Symrise—it offered me a place at its perfume school. That was 35 years ago, and that’s how it all started.
Explain your process of developing a fragrance.
I always start from a blank sheet of paper. The briefing [with the client] is important; [the inspiration] can be a song, colour, images, a city, a general mood board—but the more abstract [it is], the better. When I’m satisfied with the creation I’m working on, I send it to my client and we take it from there.
The first round takes three to four weeks, so we get our first idea of the fragrance. [The client] smells it, and it goes back and forth until they’re happy with the product. From the day we receive a brief until we send it to the factory, it takes about two to three months.