Jean-Claude Ellena is standing in his workshop - a modern architect-designed house in the hills overlooking France's southeastern perfume capital of Grasse. The Hermès perfumer picks up a bottle of his latest scent, closes his eyes and breathes in deeply. "Perfume is like poetry; an artform," he says as he recollects ingredients, inspirations and the "story" behind the fragrance.
Born to a perfumer father, Ellena has made well over 60 different scents since starting his career in companies such as L'Oréal and Givaudan. He joined Hermès as their in-house perfumer in 2004 and has total creative control. He claims to be the "nose" who uses the fewest ingredients in the world - composing with fewer than 200 substances compared to between 1,000 to 1,500 for a typical perfume.
Describing himself as "a scavenger of odours" Ellena's aim is to capture the best of nature's scents and transform them. For Hermès perfumes, nature's scents have seen him travel the globe, inspired by fresh flowers from Paris, spices from India and bark from rare Indonesian trees.
Choosing to wear no fragrance himself so as to be as "neutral as possible" when working, he has created a whole family of scents to share for the Hermès brand. His latest - the 10th in the Hermessence collection, Santal Massoia, made its worldwide debut last month. He talks to Jemma Nicholls about his life and passions.
JEAN-CLAUDE'S WORLD
I GET MY INSPIRATION FROM… everyday life, books, odours, words, people. The difficulty comes from choice. To choose is to create! MY FAVOURITE WAY TO RELAX IS… to read and vacuum. AN INDULGENCE I WOULD NEVER FORGO IS… time with my children and grandchildren. MY LIFE MOTTO IS… when there are no more (ideas and creations) there are still some. THE LAST THING I BOUGHT AND LOVED WAS… a painting from a Provençal master. THE BEST PIECE OF ADVICE I HAVE EVER BEEN GIVEN IS… do not ever close the door. Whether that be to people, experience or to words. FIVE WORDS TO DESCRIBE ME ARE… I don't know myself yet.
Wicked
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
The story in numbers
18
This is how many recognised sects Lebanon is home to, along with about four million citizens
450,000
More than this many Palestinian refugees are registered with UNRWA in Lebanon, with about 45 per cent of them living in the country’s 12 refugee camps
1.5 million
There are just under 1 million Syrian refugees registered with the UN, although the government puts the figure upwards of 1.5m
73
The percentage of stateless people in Lebanon, who are not of Palestinian origin, born to a Lebanese mother, according to a 2012-2013 study by human rights organisation Frontiers Ruwad Association
18,000
The number of marriages recorded between Lebanese women and foreigners between the years 1995 and 2008, according to a 2009 study backed by the UN Development Programme
77,400
The number of people believed to be affected by the current nationality law, according to the 2009 UN study
4,926
This is how many Lebanese-Palestinian households there were in Lebanon in 2016, according to a census by the Lebanese-Palestinian dialogue committee
Company profile
Company: Rent Your Wardrobe
Date started: May 2021
Founder: Mamta Arora
Based: Dubai
Sector: Clothes rental subscription
Stage: Bootstrapped, self-funded
Bareilly Ki Barfi
Directed by: Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari
Starring: Kriti Sanon, Ayushmann Khurrana, Rajkummar Rao
Three and a half stars
The team
Videographer: Jear Velasquez
Photography: Romeo Perez
Fashion director: Sarah Maisey
Make-up: Gulum Erzincan at Art Factory
Models: Meti and Clinton at MMG
Video assistant: Zanong Maget
Social media: Fatima Al Mahmoud
The five new places of worship
Church of South Indian Parish
St Andrew's Church Mussaffah branch
St Andrew's Church Al Ain branch
St John's Baptist Church, Ruwais
Church of the Virgin Mary and St Paul the Apostle, Ruwais
SPECS
Nissan 370z Nismo
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Transmission: seven-speed automatic
Power: 363hp
Torque: 560Nm
Price: Dh184,500
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Company%20profile
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Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode
Directors: Raj & DK
Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon
Rating: 4/5
DUNE%3A%20PART%20TWO
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Company%20Profile
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Company%20Profile
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