Woman conquers horse phobia through creation of fragrance mimicking equine scent
Christine Nagel's Inspiring Journey into Equine-Inspired Perfumery
Christine Nagel, the celebrated perfumer behind Hermès' renowned scents, has a unique muse: horses. Her latest creation, Paddock, was initially codenamed Crottin Délicieux, or 'Delicious Manure', reflecting her fascination with the intriguing trail of scent that riders bring home from the yard or the arena.
Nagel joined Hermès in 2014, continuing a tradition that dates back to the company's founding in 1837 as a maker of equestrian harnesses and saddles. In 2022, she returned to Saut Hermès, where she was inspired by a horse named Hermes Ryan. This encounter led to the creation of a limited-edition scent for the annual event.
Paddock, bottled in a lantern-shaped flacon and topped with a saddle-stitch leather cap, is only available at a handful of elite equestrian events, including Saut Hermès. It opens with a cloud of honeyed hay and beeswax, bolstered by herbal and amber notes, then dissolves into nutty, earthy leather.
Nagel's preference for perfumes with a musky or leathery undertone is evident in her work. She has a soft spot for Prada's Iris and Matière Première's Parisian Musc. In creating Paddock, she used a headspace capture machine to collect and profile aromatic molecules from various objects, including a goldfish bowl and horse manure.
The complex chemicals found in horse droppings, such as para cresol, with its intense, animalistic depth, were mixed with recreations of pine tar used on a horse's hooves, floury breakfast oats, woody bed shavings, and herbal-smelling carrot seeds.
Nagel finds horse droppings not to have a bad smell but rather a cellulose-like scent. This fascination led her to use horse manure as an ingredient in some of her perfume creations.
While Paddock was not released until 2022, another of Nagel's creations, Hermessence Oud Alezan, was not released until 2024. This scent was inspired by a chestnut mare named Scheherazade.
Nagel's work has been well-received by both horsey and non-horsey friends. She now recognises that, like fragrances, horses can unleash precious memories. As she continues to draw inspiration from the equine world, we can expect more captivating scents from this innovative perfumer.
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