Christine Nagel

Christine Nagel (born 7 October 1959) is a Swiss perfumer. She has served as the in-house perfumer at Hermès since 2016. Prior to joining Hermès she created designer perfume hits like Narciso Rodriguez for Her (2003, with Francis Kurkdjian) and Miss Dior Chérie, as well as niche perfume like Wood Sage & Sea Salt, one of 47 perfumes she created for Jo Malone London. She has been recognized with awards from the Fragrance Foundation France, the François Coty Foundation, and the Marie Claire International Fragrance Awards.

Early life and education Born on 7 October 1959 to an Italian mother and Swiss father, Her earliest scent memory is of the Italian talc powder her mother bought to care for Nagel's baby brother. Her grandmother was a seamstress, sewing men's trousers, and the smell of freshly pressed pants formed another important early scent memory.

With the goal of becoming a midwife, Nagel began her studies in medicine, but found her calling was chemistry, At the time this was an unusual route into the industry—most perfumers were men who grew up in the perfuming business in Grasse—but Nagel notes that since then perfumery schools have begun requiring training in chemistry as a prerequisite and more women have joined the industry.

Career

Early career Nagel began her career in the research department of Swiss fragrance firm Firmenich, where she became enchanted with the strong emotional reactions a male perfumer colleague's work elicited from the women smelling it. The perfumer was Alberto Morillas, one of the giants of the perfume industry. Nagel asked to transfer to the perfumery section, but lacking the traditional background was told no and switched to chromatography instead, examining fragrances and their ingredient recipes on a molecular level.

Nagel established herself with successful creations in a variety of registers. These include major hits like her 2003 collaboration with Francis Kurkdjian, Narciso Rodriguez for Her, as well as niche perfume creations like 2011's "bizarre yet fascinating" Archive 69 for Etat Libre d'Orange, a camphorous rose and incense scent, and Wood Sage & Sea Salt (2014) for Jo Malone, a skin scent of salt lingering on the body after a day at the beach. This made her the second woman ever to hold an in-house perfumer position at a major luxury brand (the first was Mathilde Laurent at Cartier).

Two of Nagel's first Hermès releases were Galop (2016), Critic Tania Sanchez (co-author of Perfumes: The Guide) said this made for a totally new perfume accord, "an androgynous fougere of fantastic beauty". and two additions to the Hermès line of colognes, Eau de Rhubarbe Écarlate (2016) and Eau de Citron Noir (2018). They were recognized again for this fragrance with the "Twenty Years of Creativity" Prize at the 20th anniversary of the FiFi Awards in 2012: Narciso Rodriguez for Her was selected as the most iconic women's fragrance of the 20 the Foundation had honored with its annual prize over its 20-year history. Nagal also won the 2007 Prix François Coty (then briefly retitled the Cosmetic Valley's International Fragrance Prize, but since returned to its original name). In 2015, the Marie Claire International Fragrance Awards honored Nagel's creation Wood Sage & Sea Salt for Jo Malone as the year's most daring fragrance for women.

Influences Speaking to The Cut, Nagel said her favorite perfume is always the "next one" she's working on, but she continues to feel the admiration for perfumers that first drew her to their profession, inspired by their creativity and the signature "personality" of their scents. and have a weekend home in Normandy. They have three children