Perfumes de Christopher Brosius

Christopher Brosius, founder of CB I Hate Perfume, is a perfumer who takes a unique approach to creating scents. On his website, he states: “For me, perfume is a special individual experience, so I prefer to keep things on a small scale. I design all my perfumes myself, and each one is carefully composed, blended and hand-bottled here in my workshops. My traditional methods are laborious but they allow me to create unique perfumes that are impossible to produce on a mass scale”.

Brosius has always felt contempt for conventional perfumes, as expressed in his manifesto, which says: “I hate perfume. Perfume is far too often an ethereal corset that traps everyone in the same not-very-elegant form, a lazy and not-very-elegant concession to the ego of fashion…”. However, he is deeply passionate about his work, stating: “I love perfume. I love being a perfumer”.

Before founding CB I Hate Perfume, Brosius co-founded Demeter Fragrances with Christopher Gable in 1992. The company gained a cult following for the unusual fragrances Brosius created for it, such as Snow, Dirt, Gin and Tonic. Brosius’s passion for custom fragrances led him to leave New York City for Dornsife, Pennsylvania, where he established Demeter Fragrances. Brosius says: “I love to listen to people to find out what smells they really love and why. I love seeing people light up when they smell a scent they love so much and realize they can have it whenever they want”.

Brosius’s background is in visual design, but his interest in scents was sparked during his time as creative director at Kiehl’s Pharmacy in the East Village of New York. There, he learned the art of blending essential oils to create a unique fragrance. Brosius’s first custom scent was for the model Cindy Crawford, a fan of Kiehl. Brosius’s quest to replicate the smell of tomato leaf, which he remembered from his childhood, led him to launch eight single-note fragrances in 1996, including Dirt, which became Demeter’s best-selling product.

Brosius’s approach to perfumery is rooted in his love of art and the individual experience it provides. He explains: “Perfume is an art always informed by science, and the look of my perfumes reflects that marriage. The bottles and boxes I use are inspired by the lab equipment and materials from the artist’s studio. They’re elegantly simple but they constantly remind us that the goal of a perfume is its scent. Perfume is meant to be enjoyed”.