Capucine, Head of Fragrance Marketing at Yves Rocher, talks to us about the Eaux Fraîches Collection and brings us behind the scenes of its creation!
Going behind the scenes of the collection’s creation:
What trades and expertise come together in the design of a fragrance?
It takes a lot of people!
To create our fragrances, we use a fragrance house; for The Collection, it’s Firmenich. In the development phase, the Marketing team is in charge of all the briefs and coordinates the various development stages. They produce several briefs:
- A fragrance brief provided to the fragrance house, and approval of the final fragrance
- A design brief for the bottle and box, provided to the creative agency
- A formula brief, provided to the R&I teams
- A brief provided to the internal teams for the technical and industrial development of the fragrance
Creating this Collection truly involves a collective effort! All of the internal teams in charge of development come together: development expertise, safety, regulatory affairs, legal, retail, and communications.
What are the key steps when creating a fragrance?
There are 4 main steps:
- The fragrance brief provided to the fragrance house
This is a fundamental step carried out by the Marketing team, which is necessary for the smooth development process! This creates the framework for the entire project: what type of fragrance, what fragrance family, for which target audience, what story we want to tell, etc.
- Delivery of the interpretation of the brief and the first creative ideas by the perfumers
A dozen ideas are submitted for a “classic” fragrance project. For example: with The Collection, we evaluated more than fifty, and the Marketing team chose 3 or 4.
- Development of formulas for 1 year before bottling
The Marketing team, the Fragrance Laboratory team, and the Fragrance House meet once a week to adjust the notes, in order to provide the maximum amount of pleasure, character, and natural ingredients. During these meetings, we evaluate the perfumers’ submissions on test strips; we also test them on our skin and discuss the notes at length. In particular, we ask ourselves each week what natural raw materials compose each note, how we can maximize their presence, and if they come from traceable sources.
- Consumer panel testing
When we are satisfied with the notes being developed, we test them on a consumer panel. This allows us to correct any flaws we did not pick up on and choose the note that’s most in line with the story we want to tell.
In Nature, there are no stereotypes, no ideals to achieve, no uniformity. It inspires us.
How long does it take to create a fragrance and launch a collection?
On average, it takes about 2 years to create a fragrance, from the initial idea to its launch on the market. For The Collection, it took 3 years of hard work and passion!
What inspires you?
At Yves Rocher, Nature inspires us. In Nature, there are no stereotypes, no ideals to achieve, no uniformity. Nature is nothing more than experiences and emotions.
That’s why it is always the starting point for our fragrances.
About The Collection:
What connects the fragrances within The Collection? And why do we speak about it as a “Collection”?
We created a Collection of fragrances inspired by Nature. These fragrances are all experiences; they offer different positive emotions to wear depending on what suits you!
Behind this Collection is the desire to push our commitment to the well-being of humans and the planet even further. Each natural raw material highlighted is carefully chosen for its symbolism, quality, traceability, and of course what it adds to the scent!
In an effort to limit our impact on the environment, we’ve worked to create a more eco-friendly packaging design: the caps are made of recycled plastic, and the bottles and boxes are completely recyclable. Finally, we’ve removed anything unnecessary: ourformulas no longer contain colorants or BHT, which is suspected of being an endocrine disrupter.
With the Eaux Fraîches, why did you decide to revamp the range?
Un Matin au Jardin got a completely new look, and the Eaux Fraîches are even more natural and committed! There are more natural ingredients in their formulas, there are no more colorants or BHT, and the packaging is more eco-friendly... all while preserving the beloved scents of the original fragrances. Consumers will therefore be able to find their Eau de Toilette, but in a more committed version.
Are you afraid customers will be disappointed that they can no longer find their fragrance?
We’re confident that this new fragrance Collection will be a nice surprise for our customers: more natural ingredients, more joy, and more pleasure while maintaining a lot of character. We hope our customers will find happiness among all of our new scents!
What is your favorite Eau de Parfum or Eau Fraîche in The Collection?
I love Matin Blanc, because I feel like I'm wrapped in a cocoon; I also really like Nouveau Genre when I go out or when I need a confidence boost! I also adore Sel d’Azur, which is great even for men!
Within the team, Cuir de Nuit is also popular: it develops a beautiful trail, and we get a lot of compliments when we wear it.
The same Eau de Toilette, now in a more committed version
Some tips for our readers:
What can I do to make my fragrance last throughout the day and prevent it from wearing off?
Don't rub your wrists or neck after putting on the perfume! This unfortunately common gesture “crushes” the scent molecules. Let your perfume dry naturally!
How should I store a perfume? How long can you keep a bottle of perfume?
Preferably away from light and heat.
What do you do to make your transition back to reality as smooth as possible? Tell us in the comments!