On March 29th, Sylvie held two interactive workshops at Harrod’s dedicated to women’s presence in the industry, additionally sharing details on Ex Nihilo’s newest creation – My Sweetest Morphine, a lilac-induced limited edition perfume that celebrates womanhood, elegance, and female magnetism, and comes as a “late Women’s Day present from Ex Nihilo,” according to Sylvie. My Sweetest Morphine was created by a renowned French perfumer, Natalie Cetto, who finds inspiration in strong floral scents and is also behind Ex Nihilo’s 70s-inspired Love Shot and orange-infused Honoré Delights. My Sweetest Morphine’s floral heart of lilac and mimosa sublimated by rose unveils a bouquet that clouds the senses and the mind. Its charming powdery sillage is wrapped in solar and musky notes that “trigger ultimate addiction.” The perfume will be available in Harrod’s Salon de Parfums from the 2nd of April at Ex Nihilo’s store, with an option to personalize it by adding extra notes of customers’ preferred scents using Ex Nihilo’s signature Osmologue machine.
Sylvie Loday, however, was not simply promoting her newest scent. The lucky attendees had a chance to get to know the legendary lady of the chic perfumery as she spoke about her journey to becoming one of the co-founders of Ex Nihilo. Growing up in a family of mathematicians and spending her childhood in America with her mother, who owned many different perfumes that Sylvie loved to explore, influenced Sylvie’s passion for perfumery and her perspective on scents. She even confessed that her first memory would be her mother’s scent, a detail that, to this day, has an influence on the perfumes produced by Ex Nihilo. Sylvie did not take her love for perfumes too seriously and studied astrophysics at MIT; however, after graduation, she pursued a career as a strategy consultant at McKinsey, with one of her clients being Givaudan, a Swiss fragrance manufacturer. Sometime later, Sylvie met her future perfumery partners, Olivier Royère and Benoît Verdier, while on a skiing adventure in France, where the young trio had a vision of an alternative to stereotypical, mass-produced luxury products and created Ex Nihilo (Latin for “out of nothing”). Despite their original stand as the outsiders of the perfumery world, Ex Nihilo has managed to grow over the years into one of the most innovative and exclusive perfume brands in the world, promoting a new uncompromising vision of perfumery. The trio derives inspiration from French avant-garde and a desire for self-expression and innovation. This year, the company is turning ten years old and will be celebrating by releasing another limited edition secret scent in September, which is promised to combine the old and new Ex Nihilo and is named after the company’s signature color – Talisman Blue.
The captivating power of Sylvie as a speaker could easily be one of the definitive reasons for Ex Nihilo’s success. The workshops at Harrod’s were almost as personalized as Ex Nihilo’s perfumes in the Salon de Parfums. Throughout the presentation, Sylvie asked numerous questions, created conversations, and did not let anyone feel left out. The presentation gradually went through every scent on Ex Nihilo’s cart and every time a new one was being presented, Harrod’s assistants would provide guests with perfume trials, allowing attendees to explore different bouquets as they transformed following Sylvie’s description of the olfactory notes. The experience was amplified with the presentation of the pure sandalwood scent, which Sylvie challenged the attendees to guess.
Although there was no winner, it was a great way to show how exclusive, yet innovative the scents that Ex Nihilo uses to make their luxurious collections are. The workshop ended with a short Q&A session, after which the guests were invited to purchase the new pre-release My Sweetest Morphine. Sylvie stayed with the guests to answer any additional questions in a less formal atmosphere.
