The lights dim... Subtle spicy and flowery scents fill the space of the Orangerie. At dusk, perfume expresses a different and fascinating personality. It seduces, bewitches, transforms, regenerates.

It was to this connection between darkness and fragrances that the Istituto Marangoni in Paris dedicated an evocative experience-talk on Thursday 20, moderated by journalists Francesca Delogu and Silvia Manzoni, as part of the prestigious Paris Perfume Week program.

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A post shared by Istituto Marangoni Paris (@istitutomarangoni_paris)

Taking turns on the speakers' stage were master perfumer Pierre Guéros of Symrise—partner of the Fragrances and Cosmetics courses at the Paris Marangoni Institute—journalist and writer Marco Martello, author of La Formula del Sentire, a psycho-emotional atlas of the world of fragrances; Natalia Outedo, founder and CEO of the Argentine fragrance brand Frassaï; Bernard Nazaire, co-creator of the mook Resonant, which dedicated its first issue to the creative freedom of the night; and Fabiola Bardelli, creative director of the Italian fragrance brand In Astra, themed on constellations.

To conclude the meeting, Nadia Geyken Firenze, perfumer and founder of the brand Scentception, read a passage from Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince, inviting the audience to smell an olfactory accord she had composed, inspired precisely by that moment in the tale. This multisensory journey was also accompanied by musical tracks, listened to while sniffing perfumes whose nocturnal voices offered the attendees a deeply emotional experience.

As Pierre Guéros said in his magnificent narrative:
“The night transforms any landscape from precise, clear, known to invisible, changing, moving and terrifying. The night transforms a perfect human being who can see around to a human being who needs to use its more primitive senses (hearing and smell) to understand its surroundings. The night transforms people because what is allowed and socially acceptable during the day is gone when dawn is coming. The night in perfumery inspired a lot of brands and creators… because it is perhaps the best moment of our existence.”