Meet the Man Behind Aesop’s New Gloam Eau De Parfum

In recent news that no fragrance fan missed, French perfumer Barnabé Fillion developed a new alluring scent for Aussie skincare brand, Aesop.

In 2021, Aesop launched three eau de parfums—Miraceti, Karst and Eremia—in a collection called Othertopias. These are developed to transport the wearer by way of scent to what the brand dubs liminal spaces. That is, imagined places that blur the lines of what is or isn’t real.

Gloam, the latest addition to the collection, is meant to “give the mind a freedom to observe nothing but itself.” Both explore similar themes, only this time, it urges the wearer to enter dreamscape. By lying down or taking a nap, the imagination enters and the waking world recedes, allowing the uncanny and the surreal to take over. 

“For Gloam, it is a balance between old and new perfumery, and modern nostalgia. It was a challenge to not make it too vintage, to make sure we bring the modernity, and that’s really in the top note, and also in the way the absolutes are used,” Barnabé said. 

Ahead, we speak to Barnabé on his olfactory process and the story behind Gloam. 

Metro.Style: Describe a day in the life of a perfumer such as yourself. Can you share with us a bit about what your daily schedule is like?

Barnabé Fillion: I like to work early because there’s something quite accurate in my mind in the morning. 11am feels like the peak of productivity for me because you have a certain appetite at that time that is quite specific, which is why in the world of wine tasting, and spirit tasting, that’s when you do the testing. Music also helps me bring a certain rhythm to the day, the discovery of music as well as exploring music I already know and love. Also in the morning I will smell things that I love, maybe some sort of treasures from the 20th century, then I will smell the project that I’m working on in that moment and I will smell some new ingredients. So the day is really an olfactory journey. It’s also important for me to be in nature, so every day I try to have a moment of direct inspiration from nature.

MS: Where do you get inspiration from when you are developing a new scent?

BF: When I seek inspiration, my focus is always first the quest for the best ingredient. Once I get fascinated by an ingredient or an angle on a certain ingredient, the whole story appears. This usually starts visually, it becomes the focus in the development of the scent. The second inspiration is literature. The third are my travels, capturing scents and looking for new ingredients.

MS: How do the ingredients used in Gloam Eau de Parfum convey the concept of the fragrance through scent and bring it to life?

BF: The ‘divan’ or the ‘bed boat’ was an important reference and Gloam very much centers around this object, acting as a passage between worlds real and imagined, a taking off point for travel and exploration, and the creation of the intimate world of the mind and how we can journey within it. There is definitely something a little bit powdery, something a little bit musty, something spicy to reference travels which you can find in this fragrance with spices like Pink Pepper and Saffron.

We took this ‘horizontal’ approach to the appreciation of scent. I guess all the different Othertopias have had a special approach, offering different forms of self-appreciation or certain observations of the self. Gloam is about when we lie down, when we are not sleeping but somehow inviting dreams, inviting a different way to think, a different way to analyse. Somehow perfume is part of this imaginary guide or a sort of stimulation that is an entry to this mindset of ‘horizontal thinking’. It’s very pleasant.

MS: Can you tell us more about the aromatic profile of Gloam Eau de Parfum?

BF: The top note features splendid Orange Flower. There is the Pink Pepper which, for me, captures this classic British elegance, referring a little bit to Juniper. It’s stimulating, almost itching in the nose, it really calls the wearer to smell it. Cardamom is also something we have present in Marrakech Intense Eau de Parfum which brings a lot of brightness and obviously something a little bit spicy, but it’s mostly something very green and fresh, especially because we are using the CO2 extraction. 

For the heart, we are combining spices with things like Saffron, but also Jasmine Sambac, which gives this rich, warmth. Mimosa is really giving this sense of pleasure of imaginary travel. It gives this absolute texture of florals that is a bit powdery, Iris also plays this role. 

And in the base notes we have Patchouli, Copaiba and Iris which really work on this earthy note, so I imagine it to be present in the sculpture and fabrics of the setting and atmosphere that inspired Gloam.

MS: What are your favorite smells?

BF: My all time favorite smells are Iris, Mimosa, Lila, Whiskey and Skin. I also love the smell of a forest, it’s like a wooden temple, and the smell of Frankincense, especially during the Semana Santa in Seville, Spain.

MS: How many scents do you think a person should have in their scent wardrobe?

BF: Depends on their personality, I think 3 to 7 fragrances, to be able to experience them in different moods and contexts.

Shop Gloam here. Also available at Aesop boutiques.