Nez: The Olfactory Magazine 7

Issue Spring/Summer 2019
Language English
Publisher Le Contrepoint

Description Smell has long been considered an animal sense; primordial, subconscious and wholly untamed...

When our distant ancestors stood up on their two hind legs, they took their first steps away from a world dominated by scent. Over the course of thousands of years, our hearing and sight slowly developed, senses now recognized as noble and intellectual. Meanwhile, animals retained the sense of smell as their primary means of communication and, over the years, they too developed, and the sense of smell was put to use in impressive (and sometimes unexpected) ways.

Animals experience the world via their sense of smell, but they each have their own distinct aroma: sometimes good, sometimes bad. While the smell of their fur can sometimes attract us, the aroma of their flesh is equally likely to repulse us, except when it's grilled on a barbecue.

From musk to ambergris to civet, animals have always supplied long supplied raw materials used in fine fragrances; that is, until very recently.
Yet from Le Panthère de Cartier to Serge Lutens' Koublaï Khan Musks, animals continue to appear in our fragrances, spreading their objectionable tawny notes and lurking behind fresh flowers. It's as if humans are compelled to spread a message in this long-forgotten language, longing to regain a part of ourselves that we lost along the way.

The latest issue of the quintessential olfactive magazine takes an in-depth look into the world of primitive scents and why we as humans find them so intriguing.