Wafting my Way
by Cheryl Gushue
A few years ago I was hired as the first ever Beauty Ambassador for Saks Fifth Avenue when they opened their flag ship store in Toronto. During this exciting time, I had the opportunity to meet the founders of luxury fragrance brands by Kilian, Le Labo, Ex Nihilio, Francis Kurkdjian (The Nose of Paris), Memo, Clive Christian and the fragrance creator for Guerlain. These founders came in for special client events to talk about the story behind their brands, their creative process and their passion for the way fragrance makes us feel and evokes lasting memories.
One day on the cosmetics floor I decided to count how many fragrances we sold. My rough estimate was 536 bottles! That was certainly a lot to learn. With my experience in that year, I essentially became a fragrance Sommelier learning as much as I possibly could about this amazing industry and the luxury brands we sold.
I went from someone who wore one signature scent for over ten years (Angel by Thierry Mugler) to understanding that fragrance has purpose and special occasions that relate to the scent you are wearing. You probably wouldn’t wear your delicious, gourmand, sexy fragrance to a daytime business meeting. You also may decide to wear something that smells green and fresh in the summer versus a deep, amber woodsy scent in the winter. We change our style daily and our fragrance can represent edgy, feminine, androgenous, daytime or black tie. Our fragrance can have as many personalities as we do!
Discovering WAFT was super exciting for me. I could take my love of fragrance and design to create something that is uniquely my own. The added bonus is that the ingredients are natural and 100% clean compliant. It was an easy online creative process asking you some key questions to create your signature scent. I selected a few of my favourite notes and created Jungle Flower which is a delicious, gourmand scent with notes of Rose, Raspberry, Ocean, Praline and Black Current. I also designed the label and the beautiful gift box. My 50ml bottle comes with two complementary layering fragrances so you can create several varieties depending on your mood.
As a trend reporter and curator to the professional beauty industry, I find this concept is in line with the trend of diversity and customization as well as addressing the movement towards clean beauty. Who wouldn’t want to design a fragrance that is uniquely their own?
You can learn more and receive a 5ml mini of my signature creation Jungle Flower when you purchase your own scent. Go to the link below and follow the journey that blends these beautiful, high quality, sustainable ingredients and make it your own! The brand is out of New York and currently only shipping to the US but coming to Canada soon! Let me know about your experience and please share with me!
LEARN MORE ABOUT WAFT. CLICK HERE:
Image Credits: Photo: Natasha Gershon. Hair: Duyen Hyunh. Model: Elyse Saunders. Creative Direction, Makeup, Fashion Design: Cheryl Gushue. Set Design: Brandy Mahaney