Online Exclusive: The Sensorium—An Interactive Journey through Science and the Senses
Premiering in New York City for a limited engagement, a joint venture by Sephora and Firmenich explores the emotions and instincts of scent.
by Nancy Jeffries, Contributing Writer

Sephora and Firmenich have partnered to create The Sensorium, an interactive and immersive journey though the world of fragrance. The installation, which explores the emotions and instincts of scent through

Debra Butler, vice president of creative marketing, Firmenich, explains the structure of the Sensorium installation and the science of scent.

interactive experiences, film, story-telling and three-dimensional art, is housed in a street-level space in New York City’s Meatpacking District, and is open to the public in a limited engagement run.
The premise of the installation is to encourage individuals, both aficionados and the public, from all vocations and disciplines, to enter and experience a multi-sensory world of fragrance, devoid of brand retailing and merchandising messages. This approach, according to Debra Butler, vice president of creative marketing for Firmenich, enables visitors to experience a pure relationship with a variety of scents, scent families and personalities, without a need to name brands or be influenced by anyone else’s scent preferences.

Firmenich, a global leader in fragrance and flavors, along with Sephora, a leading specialty retailer, created the installation as a journey to be undertaken by anyone wishing to discover the magic of fragrance. According to Sharon Rothstein, senior vice president of marketing for Sephora, the collaboration provides insight and expands the depth of the fragrance experience. “Fragrance is such an important part of our business, and our clients are always searching for the newest and most unique offerings. The Sensorium, created with the experience, knowledge and insight of Firmenich, offered us a tremendous opportunity to reengage, educate and excite about scent in an innovative way,” said Rothstein.

Butler, who led the journey through the installation, said, “Firmenich is thrilled by the opportunity to work with partners like Sephora to share the Sensorium dream with the people in a way that will educate about scent as well as illuminate its emotional impact on our lives in a modern, visionary way.”

Upon entering the exhibition visitors discover six distinct encounters, beginning with the back story of

Glass Perfume Bottle Molds (display courtesy of SGD).

fragrance creation, in a historical overview that traces the use of fragrance in different cultures, from the ancient Greeks, who bathed in essentials oils, and ascribed the arts of perfume, beauty, healing and writing to the Greek goddess, Philyra; to the Native Americans, who ritualized scents in communing with the gods. In the Greek pantheon, for example, Hera smells of ambrosia, Adonis smells of myrrh, and Aphrodite smells of myrtle leaves. On earth, the Greeks used oil-based perfumes on the body for pleasure and healing.

A variety of uses for scent reveal the history of how various cultures thought about scent, experienced it, and interacted with it. The minimalist-style pathway, with white walls and glass chandeliers, features scent machines to compare and contrast fragrance families along the way, from mossy green botanicals, to floral scents, and exotic woods and ambers. There is also an opportunity to compare the scents of vanilla beans from Mexico with those of Madagascar, and perceive the differences in scent of vanilla that is pollinated naturally, by bees, as in the Mexican vanilla, with the scent of Madagascar vanilla, pollinated through mechanical means, and highly regarded in the fragrance world. It is an opportunity, which leads to a discussion of natural benefits versus synthetics, what the variables are, and how determinations of usage are made.

Flat screen televisions along the pathway support the encounters with supplemental information. For example, the second encounter on the journey traces the ways in which the brain reacts emotionally to fragrance and provides a detailed anatomical representation of the limbic system of the brain, explaining where and how our brains perceive and respond to scent stimuli. In addition, isolation compartments, padded and soundproofed, provide an opportunity for individuals to step in, don headsets, and listen to personal reflections on experiencing anosmia, a lack of the sense of smell, and the ways in which this impacts perceptions and tastes. A cherry red lollipop provides both metaphorical and tangible evidence of the power of scent memory and experience.

This leads to an exploration of how scent connects everyday actions and memories, making them integral parts of our lives; and then, how molecules and extractions blend together to form a finished fragrance that evokes a unique emotion. There is an opportunity to experience pure, instinctual reactions to scent, and a chance to experience a visual manifestation of our breathing patterns while smelling a range of scents. This phenomenon, provided by a Stanford University-designed gauge, which registers one’s breathing patterns as various scents are inhaled from a standing globe, cleverly unites the physical experience with the emotional, as the patterns, ranging from floral bursts, to geometric moiré patterns, to bursts of bubbles, register on a screen in front of each individual’s scent globe. The experience is reminiscent of one’s own personal lightshow, a feast for the senses, as well as an opportunity to share a communal experience, as individuals each create diverse patterns and colors in the projections.

Finally, the Fragrance Bar, designed much like a wine tasting, with five seats at a white bar, attended by a

Sensorium Fragrance Bar delights the senses.

fragrance guide, provides a place to engage in a series of scent smelling exercises, where unbranded finished fragrances are presented to guests. In this way, individuals discover their scent preferences based on emotion instead of marketing messages or a bottle’s appearance and packaging. The scents are presented in glass snifters, and like in wine bars, are grouped and offered in “Flights,” according to specific impressions. The Sensorium Flights of Fragrance include Playful, scents that are flirtatious, carefree and fun; Polished, sleek, put-together and chic scents; Casual, effortless, comfortable and soft scents; and Addictive, captivating, confident and mysterious.

They are further categorized by Tonality, the architecture of the fragrance, which describes its overarching effect, for example pure, sparkling, and bright, for the Fresh group; multifaceted, contrasted and sophisticated, for Refined tonality; airy, dewy and lush, for Petally tonality; and soft, sensual and velvety, for Warm tonality. These characteristics comprise the composition that is created by master perfumers, when ingredients interact with each other. Fragrance is then, a composition crafted by the impressions ingredients convey and the tonality and texture the ingredients impart.

As guests smell the flights, they experience the tonality and composition of each scent. For example, someone smelling a Playful scent may perceive the tonality as fresh, and experience ingredients that together convey a sunny, modern, whimsical composition with aspects of raspberry, apple blossom and musk; or an Addictive flight might reveal a refined tonality, with a mysterious composition featuring gardenia and patchouli. Whether an individual is drawn to a Casual flight, with refined tonality, and an enticing sensual composition of myrrh and amber; or a Polished, chic flight, with fresh tonality, transparent florals, and warm woods, the reaction is purely personal and informed by one’s own responses.

Clearly, this is a significant point in The Sensorium, which first and foremost seeks to introduce a fresh context to the world of scent, where individuals explore the magic of fragrance on their own terms. The Sensorium, which opened on October 7, 2011, will remain open until November 27, 2011, at 414 West 14th Street, in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District. The $15 admission is redeemable at any Sephora store, sephora.com, or toward any fragrance offered at the Fragrance Bar. For additional information or to purchase tickets, log on to: www.sephora.com/go/sensorium or call 1-877-SEPHORA.