a day in the life of a beauty editor
Yves Dombrowsky talks perfume with beauty ed's
Ever wondered what happens at beauty launches? Usually a lot of nibbling, drinking (often bubbly which is very delightful) and A LOT of talking about products and procedures. We’re lucky that here in New Zealand we’re a fairly friendly bunch and we all get along well, so attending them is like catching up with old friends. You’d think we’d be competitive – but we’re not.
I always hate having to miss a launch – you really feel like you’re missing out. Unfortunately I did have to miss this particular one – it was a morning of pampering courtesy of Procter and Gamble. P&G wanted to share three exciting new products – the new Olay moisturiser – Olay Regenerist Micro-Sculpting Cream, the White Tea infused razor from Gillette - Gillette Venus Spa Breeze and Pantene’s new Nourished Shine range.
Beauty Ed’s were treated to an Olay Regenerist facial, a Pantene conditioning hair treatment and blow dry and a chance to play with fragrances and talk to renown perfumer Yves Dombrowsky.
Yves grew up in Noumea and trained as a biochemist. After being made redundant from his research position (for essential oils as a solution for Sick Building Syndrome) he moved to the South of France and worked as a perfume designer for Chanel. After a few years he returned to New Zealand and has been designing fragrances. He has worked with many New Zealand beauty brands – Trilogy, Living Nature, Linden Leaves, Antipodes, BEE, Ecostore and Sarah Priddy.
‘Scents conjure up different things for different people and we are generally attracted to scents that give us a sense of what we feel about ourselves or even our dreams,’ he says.
‘Some of us are more attracted to woody scents because they are grounding and tend to bring us back to the present whereas others are attracted to more florally type scents which are heady and take us away from the present,’ he explains. ‘Citruses are happy scents that tend to uplift us and spices are exotic which are reminscent of far-off lands.’
Smell is such an integral part of our memory and such a personal experience it can jolt you back in time in an instant and bring up old ghosts from the past. I can still remember the way my grandmother smelt – of talcum powder and perfume.
Wouldn’t it be nice to create your very own bespoke fragrance?
