Nuria Cruelles, Loewe perfumer and sommelier: "Wine has a lot in common with perfume"

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The history of

is inextricably linked to aromas.

She was always smelling everything and since she was just a child she was fascinated by

, which she learned to interpret and began to collect in the form of perfumes while others collected cards.

Until at the age of 17, sitting in her room in front of her already well-nourished

, she knew that she wanted to dedicate herself to the world of

and she got down to work.

"It was a very beautiful and innocent moment," she recalls, "because I would never have imagined that I would dedicate myself to something that was then my passion and that today is my

."

And one of authentic luxury, because now, at 38 years old, she is the new nose of

, the woman who directs the process of creating all the fragrances of the

.

A responsibility in which she has taken over from

the Lavanda chair of the Perfume Academy and who held the position before her for more than three decades.

"It's a dream come true and a source of pride," Cruelles tells us, "even more so because

is the only Spanish

brand ."

But a dream forged on the basis of effort and work, which he claims to have achieved with "

and the commitment and dedication" of all the years in which he has been Emilio's right-hand man, with whom he began working at

International Flavors & Fragrances, just after graduating in

and after specializing in the world of

.

A company to which he has dedicated a large part of his professional career and in which he claims "to have learned, grown and

.

Now his day to day is divided between the

, where he spends hours formulating, and the management work that involves giving support to the different departments;

"a

is not just the

, there is also a lot of work behind it and a lot of people involved", she confesses.

"Things happen very quickly at Loewe and you have to be very

to respond to those needs, it's a daily

. We have some wonderful teams where everyone goes together as one; it's a small brand but big in people".

And although there is no day like the previous one, he explains, he says to start them all "with

", because "working on what you like makes you get up effortlessly and

".

Her latest creation is

a perfume that has just been released, with vanilla as the protagonist, and which is part of the new

that the firm presents with the essentials of summer in the

.

"The intention of my work is to translate the experiences and beliefs of

(creative director of

) with different ingredients, to bottle them in a perfume", explains Nuria Cruelles when we ask her where she finds her

.

"Starting from the previous idea that he brings, I start looking for scents that remind me of her or that define her. Many times I use those

that I have associated with memories to create new

from them. And before getting the perfect formula, the one that transmits everything I want to tell, I try many

, until I find the right one".

Inspiration

and work.

Because in addition to the bucolic part that we all imagine when it comes to finding a perfume in

there is another less prosaic but equally effective part, organic synthesis, "a creative part within chemistry where odors are investigated with the design of new

Combining natural and synthetic scents enriches a

," he says.

Loewe is the only Spanish luxury firm.

What does luxury smell like? Time is a luxury and luxury smells like time.

One that we also dedicate to the creation and definition of projects;

that time invested is what determines a good perfume. And what does our country smell like?

On occasion it has been said that garlic... Spain, in the end, is a land of citrus fruits, thyme, rosemary..., we also have labdanum.

It is a country of aromatics and that is what it smells like.

Perfumes condition our way of approaching things, what is the one that remembers in a different way?

For me, the most special smells are those that have marked my childhood, the smell of home, of my mother... It is the smells that evoke sensations that leave a mark on memory. Are you faithful to a perfume or, on the contrary, Do you like to change? Working as a perfumer I don't have any favorites,

everyone has their moment.

I am not faithful to a single fragrance, but to all my creations.

I am testing my own compositions to see how they evolve on the skin, how they react and behave.

In the end, I cannot use a single perfume because for me they are all special.

Perfumer and sommelier

Oenology is

of her great

and has led her to become a sommelier as well as a perfumer, a quality that very few noses in the world possess.

"The discipline of

has always interested me, because it has a lot in

with perfume, especially on the

side . That is exactly what attracted me to this field; in the end, everything that has

captures my attention. It is It is true that I have never dedicated myself to it, but it is something that completes my career as a

", he affirms.

And has she at some point considered changing her

, leave perfumery and focus on oenology?

"Never, but wine is part of my daily life, to the point that my husband is dedicated to that world; I am lucky enough to try all of his creations."

Nuria Cruelles lives in

, ​​in a small neighborhood with cobbled streets full of orange trees.

"Now, in spring, they are all in bloom, so it smells like

. At night the freshness that aroma gives is wonderful. I wouldn't be able to live in a place that I don't like the way it smells, it's my lifestyle and I wouldn't know how to

if that were the case," he confesses.

She, who works with flowers and raw materials "from all corners of the world", is currently left with the smell of vetiver -"recently I was able to see how it was distilled and it was wonderful", she points out- and she cannot hide her " desire to visit

to discover its vanilla".

And it is that her highly developed sense of smell completely conditions her way of living.

"In the end, smells are part of my day-to-day life, moreover, through smell I imagine

, figures, shapes and colors..., it is something that complements my

appreciation ".

What is the best way to put on a perfume? Putting on a perfume is like a ritual, and at the same time, it is something very personal.

It is always better to give it to the famous hot areas, such as the neck, wrists... Although I also like to perfume my clothes, handkerchiefs and scarves.

Now that the heat is here, what scent notes do you recommend? For summer I would recommend flowers, such as those of the orange tree;

citrus or green notes, which give a lot of freshness and energy.

The new Paula's Ibiza Eclectic is perfect for this time of year, it transports you to those summer nights and freedom.

Are there fashions in perfumes? Do they also follow trends? Of course!

Trends are followed in perfumery, just like in fashion.

Today there are some very marked ones: floral feminine aromas with vanilla notes are popular.

Is there a perfume for the whole day,

one that lasts 24 hours, or does each moment of the day need its own perfume? I am in favor of a perfume for each moment, such as clothing or jewelry.

You have to select it based on the time of year, the time of day or even depending on the mood you wake up with or what you want to convey.

Passionate

about everything that surrounds the world of aromas, she places this condition at the heart of her success: "

is important, but the key lies in

," she says.

In this new stage at Loewe, in which he says "he is savoring the first fruits of the brand transformation although there is still much to see", his intention is " to

the classic to bring it to the contemporary, but without losing the

and identity ", because in the long term he continues to see himself at the helm of Loewe, "doing the same, but in a better way.

helps you grow and advance; I still have a lot to

".

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