Meet the Panelists: An Interview with Natalie Kuhles
On June 6, The World Taste & Smell Association will present Unleash Your Sensory Potential: Smell Edition. 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 Natalie Kuhles. Natalie has more than four decades of fragrance and leadership experience in scented products. She currently owns Myst LLC, her consulting business, and Artistscent, a home fragrance brand which collaborates with artists to bring their art to life through scent
SF: How did you get started in the sensory field? What drew you to this work?
NK: I was fortunate enough to land in the fragrance industry with my first job out of college as a QC Chemist for ingredients. I liked the industry but didn’t want to stay in QC and found another position as an Applications Chemist for a prestigious French fragrance company, Roure Bertrand Dupont (now Givaudan) There I fell in love with this relatively unknown industry which merges creative talent with technical excellence. My goal was to go into Fragrance Evaluation and in late 1980, I joined Revlon as an Associate Fragrance Evaluator. Here I developed fragrances with our chemists and partner suppliers for hundreds of different scented products, from fine fragrance to hair dye, which allowed me to use both my technical background and olfactive skills.
SF: Please describe your current work.
NK: I “retired” from my decades-long corporate fragrance career in 2020 and decided to become an entrepreneur. I leveraged my expertise in scented product development and extensive business experience to launch my candle brand, Artistscent. Our concept is close collaboration with visual artists to create candles that allow them to express their artwork through another sense; their olfactive vision of the scent inspiration. I also have a consulting company where we work with new brands to develop their scented products from concept to production.
SF: Please share a memorable sensory experience you’ve had.
NK: The most interesting experience I had was when I was working on the Artistscent line with my first artist, Elizabeth Karlson. One of the paintings in the line is called Dockside Morning. As a fragrance professional, my vision based on the name and the colors for this painting would have been a watery type fragrance with some misty notes reminiscent of a lake in the early morning. When Lizzi sent me her direction, she described something quite different —coffee, cinnamon buns, warm pastries. I asked her about this fragrance vision, and she told me this painting was inspired by a vacation at a lake with her husband and their mornings in the lakeside lodge, with the smell of coffee and breakfast. That connection which was so different from what I would have imagined and brought an entirely new interpretation of the name and colors. As one of our vendor partners said, it is like looking into the “soul” of the artist.
SF: Many studies say vanilla is a universally favorite scent. What’s one scent you consider essential?
NK: Scent is very subjective, so what one considers essential, another doesn’t like, and tastes also vary a lot by international region. Sweet (and strong) edible/gourmand fragrances have historically been important in the US and UK, but don’t do well in other European countries or others such as Japan.
My current focus is candles, and vanilla is certainly important in the US, as are fruity scents in general, especially citrus. Florals are less popular although the market is continuing to grow in more natural fresh smelling scents which would include fresh natural florals. I think all lines need to have a cross-section of all different types to appeal to the widely varying tastes of consumers.
SF: What is one way people can explore the power of the scent?
NK: Scent can change a mood and bring you to another place. When you close your eyes and smell a favorite scent, it can help you feel more invigorated, calm, relaxed, etc. Scent can also be used to enhance the experience of other activities, for instance massage (with Aromatherapy oils), meditation (with a candle scent to match your practice), baths and showers (to take a necessary routine into something enjoyable).
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?
NK: The power of smell and scent can influence how you feel about the performance of a product. In my past life, I was involved with many consumer panels where we would test different fragrances in the same base formula. During one panel for a new shampoo product, the only variable was the scent, the rest of the formulation was exactly the same. What was so interesting was that the perception of the fragrance affected the way consumers felt about the overall performance of the product. For example, people who didn’t like the scent also thought attributes like detangling, cleansing ability, or shine were poor, while those who liked the scent generally rated those characteristics much higher. This is called the “Halo Effect” of scent—when someone doesn’t like the smell, they will often think the product is inferior. It is critical that the selection of the scent for new products appeal to the target audience.
Hear more from Natalie 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.
