In the inhebriating world of perfumery, where scent tells a story and evokes emotion, Sonia Constant stands as a visionary and pioneer perfumer. Her deep-rooted passion for fragrance blossomed into a career marked by creativity and resilience: with an impressive background forged at Givaudan, Sonia embarked on her own journey, founding the brand Ella K in 2018.

As Ella K unveiled its latest creation, the perfume Amber K, Sonia and I chatted about her inspiring experiences and insightful perspectives on life, exploring her personal journey, the challenges she has overcome as a woman in the perfume industry, and her vision for a more inclusive future of fragrance.

What’s your first olfactory memory?

It’s the perfume of my mother, of course, she would always wear fragrances with rose in them.
Another one is grass cut from my father in our garden.

You have an impressive background and experience in the perfume industry. When did you first realize that this was the path you wanted to pursue?

When I did my first course at Givaudan, the number one perfumery company in the world, I realized it was the job of my dreams. I had no doubts, as soon as I entered the school.

And your passion for fragrances, where does it come from?

When I was a little girl, I remember my father shouting because I was mixing perfume samples [laughs]. Also, my grandparents tell me that when I was very young, I loved to go to gardens, walk in the nature, and go to flower shops – my first word was “fleur” (flower).

At some point, I started writing poetry, and they showed me something I wrote when I was very little, where I talked about perfume, flowers, smells. So, it’s always been my thing, apparently, I had it in my soul.

What was the biggest obstacle you had to overcome in your journey?

I think it’s being a woman in this industry. When you’re a woman, you always have to double-prove your talent: you have to be two times bigger than men to exist. When I finished the perfumery school, the doors opened very rapidly for my male colleagues, while I had to work harder on small projects, growing little by little. Unfortunately, it was difficult.

When I started my brand, I was – and I am still – the only woman perfumer to have created her own brand. I think it’s a kind of impostor syndrome we feel, so it takes a lot of courage, and we need walk a street two times longer compared to men.

But you made it, so do you think the fragrance industry is changing in terms of inclusivity and female representation?

I made it, yes, so I’m leading the way as a woman. Yet, I created Ella K in 2018, and since then no woman has followed my path, while when Francis Kurkdjian created his brand in 2007 – so almost ten years before mine – he paved the way for other perfumers who actually opened their own brands after him.

Women are scared, I think, they believe they are not capable of making it, that they’re not good enough. The impostor syndrome is very common among women, especially older women who think it’s too late for them, or who don’t think it’s worth it to take risks in this world, creating their own brand and taking on responsibility. You know, when you create your own brand, if it’s unsuccessful, it’s your fault, because not only you are the perfumer, but also the artistic director, so it’s all on you and you have to be very strong and resilient.

What a shame because there are so many talented female perfumers in the world.

ELLA K fragrances tell a unique olfactory journey, which corresponds to your own “real” journeys with your Leica camera by your side. During your travels, you mention creating a “miniature mental space” to capture unknown scents, which you later analyze. How does this process work for you?

You know, when I’m traveling, I carry a special glass with me with a little hole on the bottom. When I find a flower with an interesting smell, I place the glass on it, insert a tube in the hole, which includes a filter that belongs to a small pumping machine system. The machine pumps the molecules from the flower up to the filter, and after two hours it will be completely saturated with the molecules. At this point, I can bring the filter to the lab, where they analyze the smell of the flower or whatever it is, anything with a smell actually, like tobacco, tea.

Do you have a background in chemistry?

No, I don’t. Actually, this system, which is called Scent Trek®, is patented by Givaudan, and I always need a chemist to analyze the molecules. Sometimes, though, you don’t find these molecules in the perfumer palette, so I need my imagination to replace what misses.

It’s like an Impressionist painting, natural but with the prism of the vision.

Scent Trek® is not just the recognition of the flower, it’s also my vision, the atmosphere. I like to compare synaesthesia, the ability to transform one sense into another sense, to my work: Scent Trek® mixed with the feelings of the atmosphere. Baudelaire says in Les Fleurs du Mal “Les parfums, les couleurs et les sons se répondent”, the smells, the colors, and the sounds answer to each other: this is how I love to describe my work process.

That’s so fascinating.

Speaking of your latest fragrance, Amber K: it was born from a journey to Punta Cana and the desire to capture the essence of a lover’s skin. How did you manage to translate this concept into a perfume?

During that trip, my partner wasn’t with me, we had broken up at that moment, and I thought I wanted to have his smell always with me. That was the inspiration. So, for Amber K, I tracked the smell of my partner’s skin and mixed it with the smell of Punta Cana, which means a combination of tobacco, cigars, and also spider lilies, beautiful white flowers whose smell reminds of vanilla and cocoa. In the formulation, I also added actual cocoa and tonka beans. You know, I wanted something very sensual, a fragrance that tells the story of a woman who’s sad because she’s broken up with her lover but stays resilient and faithful she will meet somebody else.

In fact, the notes of Amber K evoke contrasts between sweetness and depth, femininity and strength. What do you believe makes this fragrance truly unique?

It’s very simple, its formula is very essential, like I said it’s a combination of tobacco, coca and “human skin”, so that’s it, I think. My partner’s skin is beautiful because he doesn’t smoke, he doesn’t drink any alcohol, so it smells very nice, it reminds me of a freshly baked croissant, a bit buttery and sweet. This element gives a very specific tone to the fragrance.

Furthermore, Amber K is the first ambery fragrance I’ve created for the brand, though it’s not classic ambery, it’s very modern: I used Ambrofix in it, which is a very modern woody ingredient produced by Givaudan.

Between past, present, and future where would place this fragrance?

I think I would place it in the past, because it was inspired by a trip I did in the past and a moment from the past where I was separated from my partner, and this doesn’t apply to the present (we’re now together again). It reminds me of how I went through that difficult moment with a very strong spirit.

Amber K is like an Avatar – it’s you, but a stronger and better version of you.

“a combination of tobacco, cocoa and ‘human skin'”

What has been the most surprising olfactory discovery you’ve made thanks to this technology?

It’s the emotions conveyed by the ingredients. When I started doing this job, I was very fascinated by this; now, I know almost everything, every accord is in my mind, but in the beginning, it was like discovering for the first time that yellow and blue mixed together become green, it was like magic. You feel like a little sorcerer, suddenly understanding some mysteries of life that almost nobody else knows – you understand that you can make other people fall in love with a creation of yours. I can fall in love with a man even just from his smell, for example, so I feel like I have this power to make people more desirable with “just a spray”.

I like to be a nice sorcerer who can bring joy or sensuality to people.

Yeah, I think it’s an enormous power that you have, which also involves evoking memories and connecting people. What was the latest thing you discovered thanks to your job?

I discovered how difficult it is. It’s a very long process and no matter how hard worker and passionate you are, you need to be very resilient and humble. In this field, someone is always going to criticize what you do, so you have to be very strong.

What dreams and hopes do you have for your legacy?

I would love to continue to develop Ella K, also in other countries like South America, and continue to share my story and my view of life. So, I want to see the brand grow yet staying niche.  

Like you said, Amber K represents a strong and confident woman, who believes in herself and her potential. What does it mean for you to feel comfortable in your own skin?

For me, you feel strong when you’re aligned with what you are. If you follow your own path, then you’re going to feel good in your skin.

I think it’s also important to have good habits in life – to eat healthy food, practice sports and meditation. I’m much better in my skin now that I’m 46 than when I was 20, and I think it’s also because of the good food, meditation, yoga, and a better knowledge of myself. I think when you’re young, you’re still searching for who you are, and when you find it, you align with what you are and become stronger.

And what was your biggest act of rebellion?

You know, we were talking about how men-oriented my profession is, so doing the job I do is my biggest rebellion, I think. I love to have quality in my brand, a lot of women onboard in the company, and I think we could help change things in the industry.

What’s your biggest fear?

That something could happen to my kids. That’s the only thing that would really devastate me – anything else I could manage, lose my job, lose money, but the thought of my kids hurt is unbearable.

What’s your happy place?

It’s inside of me, when I practice meditation – when my soul separates from my body and I feel like levitating. You can be anywhere when you are in this state, which is a bit like after an orgasm, that feeling of detachment from your body and floating in the air. In moments like those, your soul is free.

Thanks to Negri Firman PR & Communication.