Meeting with Marie Salamagne, perfumer for Atelier Des Ors
A perfumer at dsm-firmenich, Marie Salamagne was born into a family of doctors whose work and passion were intrinsically linked. It was during her studies that she heard about perfumery school. Immediately, her instincts took over, and she knew it would be her destiny. She had always been sensitive to scent, from the scent of a teacher to the scent of a home. Slowly but surely, her future became clearer. Marie mapped out each step of her journey, each one guiding her in the right direction. She found her path and flourished from the very beginning, and has found satisfaction in her career ever since.
For Marie, a perfumer embodies both the craftsman and the artist.
“A good perfume acts like Proust’s ‘madeleine’. It has the power to transport, and the emotion it arouses is uncontrollable and powerful. It is an entity in itself.”
Marie is constantly searching for this magic. Her creative process is solitary. She has a ritual: she closes the door, picks up her notebooks, and thinks. She becomes one with her notes. Each book has its purpose: the largest matches scents to materials, another studies natural notes, and the last describes her overall vision. The relationship between material and color fascinates her.
She visualizes her creations like paintings, where hues create contrasts. Marie is actually much more organized than she claims, and relishes her freedom when defined by a framework. Marie has always danced, first in a classical style before moving on to modern jazz. She still dances, although she hesitates to improvise. She recalls powerful emotions evoked by watching Alvin Ailey or Jorge Donn dance for Béjart as a child.
Always spontaneous, she can't help but experiment to bring ideas to life. Marie is a generous person and cannot find happiness alone. She readily admits that she can be impatient and sensitive, with a nervous personality. Yet all we see in this brilliant young Parisian is a loving, gentle, and happy woman, a perfumer whose scents are luminous and sumptuous.
