Cosmoprof North America 2016 Day 2 Wrap-Up- The Crossroads of Tech and Scent

One of the overarching themes of this year’s Discover Scent at Cosmoprof North America 2016 is that there is more to fragrance than just perfume. I started Day 2 speaking with the team behind X Sense. Co-founder Dr. Ashok Gowda presented a product where specific scent blends are meant to provide boosts to memory (worksense), sleep, (restsense) and athletic endurance (playsense). Each of these were studied in clinical trials which showed significant percentage increases. The blend is meant to be rolled on underneath your nose with a rollerball design to make it convenient. I find the idea interesting backed up with data gathered in clinical settings. Dr. Gowda has his degree in biomedical engineering which makes me more confident in their conclusions.

The next stop was my first meeting in real life with perfumer Christi Meshell the founder of House of Matriarch. This past year or so has been a transformative time for Ms. Meshell’s brand as she is one of the rare independent perfumers who has expanded into a wider retail space. She began having her perfumes carried by Nordstrom. I’ve written often about how important I think it is to have an independent perfumer breakthrough at the mall. Having the opportunity to check in with her shows a perfumer and brand representative who is passionately dedicated to trying to achieve this. More importantly I got a preview sniff of her next new release, Kazimi. I wore this on one arm for most of the day. My first impression is this is one of her best.

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Abby Wallach co-founder of ScentInvent Technologies introduced me to Linger Lasting Fragrance Primer. Certainly one of the more prevalent consumer complaints is the lasting power of some of their favorite perfumes. Linger is a skin treatment you apply prior to spraying on your perfume. This morning I treated one arm with Linger and the other with nothing. The perfume I sprayed on the Linger patch lasted hours longer than the untreated arm. If you have wanted something which can increase the longevity of a lighter perfume Linger seems to be able to do the trick.

As a blogger with a long time relationship with many brands it can sometimes be frustrating waiting for something I’ve smelled years ago to be released. This was the case with Raw Spirit the fragrance line which has made it a point to use indigenous materials from around the world. What had me anticipating this new release, Mystic Pearl, is the second word in the name. The perfumers have made an extract of pearl which adds an incredible brininess. It is very different than ambergris. This seems saltier which allows it to become more of a focal element to the rest of the perfume.

One more day left in Vegas.

Until then Colognoisseur has left the building.

Mark Behnke