The Tequila Wasn't The Plan
Carlos Benaïm on Pamplezest, the Mediterranean, and building Serotonin Spritz out of a scene instead of a formula.

We put a camera in front of Carlos Benaïm and asked him about Serotonin Spritz. He opened by explaining our own brand back to us.

"L'Epoque is, for me, of course, from the French, directly a certain moment in time. And I have many moments in time in my life and many fragrances associated with moments in time. And this is one of them."

That's the entire thesis, delivered by a man who has been marking people's moments for longer than most fragrance brands have existed. He said it like it was obvious. Fine. We'll take it.

it started with a grapefruit

Not the grapefruit you're thinking of. Not the juice, not the flesh, not the candied pink cliché that shows up in every summer launch.

"The whole thing started with a novel ingredient that came to our palette. It's called Pamplezest. And it had that tremendous refreshing feeling of the grapefruit — of the zest, of the peel of the grapefruit."

Zest, not fruit. The bitter oil that sprays out when you twist the peel over a glass. The part that stings a little.

Carlos built an accord around it: other materials chosen specifically to hold that one note up and push it further.

"So I decided to create an accord around that ingredient, using other facets that would complement it, and that became my Pamplezest accord, which is at the heart of this creation."

The heart of the fragrance is a single material that most people will never be able to name. You'll just know it doesn't smell like the others.

then he imagined a drink

Here's our favorite part. Nobody briefed tequila. It wasn't a trend call. It wasn't a note we asked for.

We asked him to describe his perfect summer day:

"An afternoon in the sun, in front of the sea with a breeze, enjoying the beautiful Mediterranean views."

And then, when we asked how the tequila got in there:

"In fact, tequila was not specifically part of my creative idea. It came as part of the drink I imagined I would be having in front of the sea."

He wasn't constructing a fragrance. He was constructing an afternoon. The tequila accord is in the bottle because a man imagined himself holding a glass, and then made the glass real.

That's not how most fragrance gets made. Most fragrance gets made from a mood board and a competitive set. This one got made from a scene, and you can smell the difference: the salt, the buzz, the specific brightness of light coming off water at four in the afternoon.

where to wear it

We asked. He didn't overthink it.

"Anywhere you could go. Anywhere where you feel on vacation, where you feel like you are relaxing."

So: the beach, obviously. But also the Tuesday you decide to behave like you're not at work. The airport. The rooftop. The three hours between leaving your apartment and deciding you're not going home yet.

You don't need a coastline. You need the feeling. That was always the point.

Serotonin Spritz — Eau de Parfum, 20%, 30ml. Grapefruit, pink pepper, pomelo zest / tequila accord, thyme, geranium, cassis leaf / watery musk, cedarwood, amber. Created with Carlos Benaïm and Laurent le Guernec at IFF.

Mark your moment.