Meet the Panelists: An Interview with Ariella Halperin

On June 6, The World Taste & Smell Association will present Unleash Your Sensory Potential: Smell Edition on June 6. This digital panel will explore the phenomenon of synesthesia, the extraordinary blending of senses, and how it can inspire innovative and groundbreaking product opportunities for the modern consumer. 

Smell scientist, entrepreneur, and author Avery Gilbert will moderate the panel featuring Ariella Halperin - Founder & Creative Director of Storied Senses, Natalie Kuhles - Founder & President of Artistscent and Kelly Jones - Creator, Founder, and Scent Sommelier of Kelly+Jones.  

Stephanie Feuer recently interviewed panelist Ariella Halperin. She is the Founder and Creative Director of Storied Senses, a fragrance consultancy specializing in developing unique fragrance stories and experiences that transport and transform. 

SF: How did you get started in the sensory field? What drew you to this work?

AH: I've been obsessed with scents from a young age. My sense of smell has always been highly sensitive, but I first became drawn to the sensory world in a high school neuroscience class when learning about the different senses. I found the olfactory and gustatory systems quite intriguing; discovering how our brains are wired to connect smell with memories and emotion – completely bypassing our thinking mind – was especially fascinating and eye-opening.

Years later, when choosing a career path, the fragrance world was a no-brainer. I landed my first job within the industry in the marketing department at Tru Fragrance, a manufacturer, and once I was introduced to this world of scent and creation, I knew it was meant for me. After getting my feet wet creating brand stories and working with product developers, graphic designers and category managers, I decided to try the brand side, where I worked in the fragrance marketing department at New Avon. It was there that I realized I wanted to create and work on multiple brands simultaneously - I yearned for the excitement of an agency while also learning the ins and outs of the creation process behind the perfume. 

My dream job came along working in creative marketing at Firmenich, one of the world's top fragrance houses. The more I learned how olfaction influences our emotions, the more I returned to what appealed to me about the industry in the first place - memories. After a decade of working in marketing, and years of gaining fragrance-specific expertise with big-name brands, I realized there was an untapped market I wanted to dive into – helping emerging brands craft unique fragrance stories using nostalgia, synesthesia and emotion to resonate with their consumers. 
SF: Please describe your current work.

AH: I am the Founder and Creative Director of Storied Senses, a fragrance consultancy that specializes in developing unique stories and experiences that transport and transform. What I do for my clients is combine my love of senses and passion for fragrance with emotive storytelling that connects people to their memories in a way that only the sense of smell can.

One of my main goals is to help brands stand out in a crowded marketplace. I do that either through comprehensive new product development guidance or by creating unique ways to nurture existing products that consumers can engage with more. What this looks like in a day-to-day sense includes conducting thorough brand, audience and portfolio analyses, researching and curating trends, evaluating and guiding olfactive directions, conceptualizing and building out product stories and providing aesthetic recommendations. In essence, I help to craft a world around a new or existing fragranced product.

SF:  Could you share a memorable sensory experience you’ve had?

AH: For over ten years as a child, my family vacationed on Lake Winnipesauke in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. Everything about that yearly August vacation week was special, but returning there last year for my sister’s wedding proved how extraordinary this place was for me. My fond childhood memories in Wolfeboro will forever be inscribed in my mind because of the sensorial experiences I had there. 

We would stay in the same tiny cabin on a grassy hill, just a few yards from the clear water lake. As we would enter the grounds through the windy rubble driveways, the distinct New Hampshire pine tree aroma wafted through the air. As I’d take that first step into the cabin, an overwhelming whiff of the wood-paneled walls that lined the interior came through. This scent is forever ingrained on my mind. Every morning, my siblings and I would wake up to the muffled sounds of jet skis zipping by on the lake and subdued, tiny waves crashing against the little sandy beach. I’d hear the creak and soft slam of the porch door as my dad stepped outside to take in the summer morning air. Later in the day, I’d run down to the small beach, feeling the dry sand under my feet quickly turn to a gooey-wet texture as I walked closer to the water, my toes curling underneath and squeezing the muddy sand. 

I could go on and on, detailing every tidbit. Each sensory trigger – the unique sights, sounds, smells, tastes and textures  - etched themselves in my mind, forever connecting to these rich memories. And that is why, when returning last summer, for the first time in years, every one of those sensorial stimuli invoked intense and detailed memories of my many days there in the past.   

SF: Many studies say vanilla is a universally favorite scent. What’s one scent you consider essential?

AH: The scent of clean, fresh air outside I think is universally essential. And people realized that more during the pandemic, how important it is to experience fresh air and a sense of cleanliness that the outdoors provides, especially to cure some cabin fever. I also love that each season (at least in cities that have seasons) has its own unique smell. The Fall has a crisp freshness, the Winter gives a chilly and revitalizing airiness, the Spring smells floral with new buds blooming on trees and the Summer brings a warm, sunny aroma. 

SF: Could you suggest one way people can explore the power of scent?

AH: From my past trainings with seasoned industry vet and perfumer, Ron Winnegrad, I’ve learned a few tactics on how best to smell, which illustrates the profound power of scent and our sense of smell.Because the limbic system reacts faster than the cortex in the brain (where reasoning takes place), Ron consistently advised “don’t think, just smell”. This is why it is better to smell with your eyes closed, blocking out all other stimuli and focusing only on the fragrance. By doing this, the limbic system allows intuition to kick in, preventing the cortex from rationalizing what you’re smelling. As soon as you begin smelling, try envisioning which specific colors come to mind. This is a very central idea of synesthesia and training the mind to “see smells,” as the brain makes the appropriate associations between specific scents and their color counterparts, thereby creating a feeling, connection and emotion attached to the scent. 

SF: One goal of The World Taste and Smell Association is to elevate our appreciation of our senses of smell and taste. What’s one “hidden power” of smell you think people should be more aware of?

AH: A “hidden power” of smell, for me, is the imprinting of memories that the sense of smell provides. The brain does all this work to connect specific scents to specific memories and then attaches emotion to those memories and stores, or embeds them, rather. It’s all on a subconscious level. The fact that humans can smell a particular aroma  - years after imprinting the memory on your brain  - and then conjure vivid imagery of that particular memory, is quite amazing. 

Hear more from Ariella during our webinar, 

Unleash Your Sensory Potential: Smell Edition

Tuesday, June 6, 2023

11:00 AM  12:00 PM

Tickets are $25 and available here