Sao Jose dos Pinhais (PR)
Legend has it that there are more astronauts in the world than perfumers. The maxim seems a bit exaggerated: since 1961, when the Russian Yuri Gagarian became the first person to travel into space, around 500 astronauts have flown into space, reports the international astronaut database of Aerospace Security, a project of the American nonprofit Organization CSIS (Center for Strategic and International Studies).
Counting the number of perfume manufacturers is much more difficult. This thousandyearold art, whose greatest adherent was Cleopatra (69 BC 30 BC), but who was not born in the modern version in glass until 1714, was among its exponents Napoleon Bonaparte (17691821). main propaganda figures. , requires longterm commitment. According to consultant and perfume specialist Renata Ashcar author of “Brasil Essência acultura do Perfume” (BestsellerVerlag, 2001) and the biennial edition “Guia de Perfumes” there are around 1,000 trained perfumers worldwide.
“In Brazil there are less than 40 in total,” says Renata. Professionals must spend at least a threeyear season in one of the four major perfumery houses in the world: the American IFF (International Flavors & Fragrances), the French Givaudan, the Swiss Firmenich or the German Symrise, says the expert. “After this time, they have the opportunity to do an internship in the perfumery house themselves and complete their training there,” he says.
Also in Versailles is the renowned French institute ISIPCA (Institut Supérieur International du Parfum, de la Cosmétique et de l’Aromatique Alimentaire), founded by perfumer Jacques Edouard Guerlain. “There you learn perfumery in French, it’s something very limited,” says Renata, recalling that the entire perfumemaking process is exclusive. “It takes three tons of May rose petals, which grow in Grasse in southern France, or Damascena, which grow in Bulgaria and Turkey, to produce a single liter of rose oil, the price of which reaches 12,000 euros.” [R$ 64 mil]”, it says.
“I’ve learned to trust my nose, not my brain”
In Brazil, there is no technical or higher education for perfumers. However, the candidate for the creation of new fragrances must have an education in chemistry or pharmacy. This is the case of Cesar Veiga, 55 years old, a perfumer from the Boticário Group, who has just completed his training in this field at ISIPCA. Aged 26 at Boticário, the Bachelor in Pharmacy spent around six years abroad, taking courses in France, Germany and the United States funded by the company (which doesn’t give away the value, but is around tens of thousands of euros and dollars).
“In perfumery, we are compared to the maestro: we direct the raw materials so that they tell a story as if it were a symphony,” said Veiga Sheet, at the Boticário headquarters, in São José dos Pinhais (PR). “We work with sensations, our job is to turn the invisible into the tangible, that’s the smells,” he says. “I’ve learned to trust my nose, not my brain.”
Sharp noses like Cesar Veiga’s have managed to make the perfume industry substantiate not only feelings but also increasing profits. According to consultancy Euromonitor, the global perfume market was worth US$57 billion (R$282.5 billion) in 2022, up 7.5% yearonyear. It aims to reach US$79 billion (R$391.5 billion) by 2027.
Brazil is the second largest perfume market in the world after the United States. Revenue last year was $6.8 billion (R$33.7 billion), a 24% increase from 2021. It’s a market so resilient that not even the onset of the pandemic in 2020 could touch it This year domestic consumption increased by 8% (in dollar terms), while global consumption fell by 13.5%. A value of 10 billion US dollars (49.5 billion R$) is forecast for 2027.
According to specialist Renata Ashcar, perfumes in Brazil reveal cultural roots linked to indigenous peoples, religious customs and African influences.
Euromonitor analyst Mariana Teixeira points out that the Brazilian has a habit of wearing a perfume for every occasion day, night, parties, which contributes to rising consumption in this category, which is more than three times that of makeup sales. Last year, the total value of face, eye and mouth paint was US$2 billion (R$9.9 billion).
“In the country, 90% of perfume consumption comes from big brands, especially Brazilian ones, with more competitive prices,” says Mariana. “Are brands that support consumption even in times of crisis,” he says. For comparison: in the main market, the United States, 88% of perfume sales come from premium brands such as Dior, Lancôme and Chanel.
The technology team at Boticário grew from 200 to 2,500 in four years
In the country, perfumery leadership is equally contested between Brazilian companies Natura and Boticário. “But Boticário saw accelerated growth in 2022 and benefited from the reopening of stores,” says Mariana. In addition to O Boticário, the group owns the brands Eudora, Quem Disse Berenice?, Vult, OUi, Truss Professional and Dr. Jones of retailers Beleza na Web and Beautybox and also holds the license in Brazil for brands such as Australian Gold and Revlon.
A new moment arrived for the group with the reopening of its product research and development center, dubbed “Laboratory of the Future”, late last year. The company was the first to use artificial intelligence to create a perfume Egeo, which was founded in 2019. Since then, investment in technology has accelerated.
In the last four years, the company has increased its investments in the region tenfold (undisclosed). In terms of personnel, the team increased from 200 to 2,500 people in order to bring more innovation and quality into the products. The use of artificial intelligence to create new fragrances continues, often in combination with traditional techniques such as Headspace, developed in the 1970s to absorb a few micrograms of the molecules responsible for creating odors.
“In 2018, on a trip to Cuba, we went to the Botanical Gardens and spotted a palm tree with a woody, slightly lemony smell. We quickly used headspace to capture that smell,” says Cesar Veiga, referring to the latest scent he discovered.
The new fragrance is translated into a formula or ingredients that become part of a database populated with other formulas, ingredients, perfumery history and consumer research. Using this analysis, artificial intelligence is able to identify patterns and new combinations for this new smell. Nothing to intimidate Veiga, on the contrary. “A perfumer has around 3,000 ingredients at his disposal, 350 of which are of natural origin and more than 2,500 of synthetic origin,” he says.
It can take a perfumer anywhere from six months to two years to develop a formula, he says. “But within 24 hours, the computer shows me several ideas with potential for implementation. I pick them and go to the workbench to give them the finishing touches, the human sensibility,” he says. “The machine is a tool, not a substitute for the perfumer.”
Artificial intelligence is used in the provision of beauty services
At Boticário, artificial intelligence is also used in product quality control, says Juliana Canellas, quality manager. “We developed a digital product internally, the Lyra, that is ready to compare data on formulations and packaging with a product’s stability tests before it goes to market,” says Juliana, referring to the tests to determine the effectiveness of items such as creams and makeup.
The goal is to reduce the time it takes for the product to reach the end user while reducing testing costs. “We’ve collected data for the last 14 years, including 3,000 stability studies and 7,500 tests per year, and we’re going to start crossing that information,” he says. “Our expectation is to drive a product to market between 60 and 90 days, in addition to achieving savings of R$6 million per year through stability testing.”
The competition is also moving when it comes to artificial intelligence, but with a focus on services. Consumers arriving at one of Natura’s nine stores can receive an individual diagnosis of the damage their hair has suffered. A device connected to the cellphone, linked to a proprietary artificial intelligence algorithm, magnifies the image of the strand of hair by 20x to observe the damage. More than 15,000 product combinations from the Natura Lumina line are now available to consumers for treatment.
Multinational perfume and cosmetics company L’Oréal bought artificial intelligence company ModiFace, which specializes in augmented reality, in 2018. Since then, more than 1,400 services have been offered. One of them is the Effaclar Spotscan from La RochePosay.
“The customer takes three selfies and receives a personalized recommendation of the beauty routine she needs to follow,” says Guilherme Eler, the group’s director of new business and innovation in Brazil. “After implementing the tool, the sales conversion rate doubled and the average ticket was 25% higher.”
Reporter and photographer Eduardo Knapp traveled at the invitation of the Boticário Group