I MET A HAIR PERFUMER
He’s responsible for concocting the scents of an American brand’s shampoos, conditioners and more, as AMANDA LAI finds out in Minneapolis.
inspires him.
Find out what
t the Aveda Congress which took place in October last year, I wasn’t expecting to meet a perfumer. After all, this biennial convention brings together hairstylists and colourists from all over the world – not perfumers.
But Australian Guy Vincent is a rarity in the haircare industry. The self-taught “nose” (industry speak for someone trained to concoct perfumes) has been Aveda’s in-house perfumer since 2010. So, he’s the one we have to thank every time we use the American brand’s shampoos or hair oils and enjoy their relaxing, spa-like scents.
Says Guy: “Scent is the emotional connection to every product. A shampoo needs to perform – to cleanse hair – but performance is fundamentally unemotional, so a scent is there to create a pleasurable experience.”
His biggest challenge is that, unlike most of his perfumer peers, he has to work with only organic raw materials like essential oils, which the eco-friendly brand is known for. In short, Guy has a mere 80 ingredients to play around with, compared to the 500 that other perfumers can choose from.
But do natural ingredients make for long-lasting scents, as synthetic accords do? Guy says: “Natural scents last and fade in a rhythm, and that’s beautiful. When working on Aveda products, I try to find the natural scent rhythm of a product so that its aroma fades gradually in tune with (how long the product lasts). It’s like the harmony in a string quartet that fades towards the end of a symphony piece.”
Plus, we love how essential oils do more than just perfume our hair – some, such as bergamot and rosemary, actually have scalp-and hair-nourishing properties.
Here, Guy gives a breakdown of the scents that make Aveda haircare products such a pleasure to use.
dry remedy range
Guy chose ginger-lily, lavender and bergamot essential oils for this line because these evoke a sense of calm and have lightweight moisturising benefits. Ginger-lily is also said to boost blood circulation in the scalp.
Scents aside, the Dry Remedy range – which targets dry but not necessarily damaged hair – has recently been reformulated. For instance, the shampoo now lathers better, without stripping away moisture. Its previous formula was thicker and creamier, and therefore harder to lather, especially on dry and rough hair.
The range now has a new addition: the Dry Remedy Daily Moisturizing Oil ($50). It is made with organic buriti (say bu-ri-chi) oil that comes from the fruit of the Moriche palm found in the Amazonian rainforests in Brazil. The oil is full of beta-carotene and vitamin A, and supposedly softens dry, coarse hair.
A little of the Daily Moisturizing Oil goes a long way. If you have fine hair, warm one to two drops of the oil between your palms and use it as a smoothing “finisher” by patting it through your hair. On coarser tresses, use the oil as a daily leave-in treatment – on damp hair – to add shine and moisture. And if you have a short crop, use a little of the oil only on your crown, where hair is most exposed to UV-damage-induced dryness.
invati range
Formulated from traditional Ayurvedic remedies, products from the Invati hair loss range – such as the Exfoliating Shampoo – stimulate the scalp with turmeric and ginseng, and are scented with rosemary and ylangylang. Guy says that these two essential oils are traditionally used for invigorating hair and maintaining a healthy scalp.
pure abundance range
The scent for this range is light and fresh – a combination of peppermint, palmarosa and jasmine. These hydrating oils also prevent hair from drying out so tresses looks fluffier and bouncier. The lightweight Volumizing Clay Conditioner also has kaolin clay and acacia gum to give a volumising effect.