Helder Suffenplan describes how a scent can influence our mood and which fragrances already make use of this knowledge …
Helder Suffenplan
Fragrancing against climate change, more women’s rights thanks to more eau de toilette, spraying scent for world peace? that may sound a bit optimistic, but actually there are a lot of examples of how even the perfume industry is attempting to help make the world a better place to live.
Sigmund Freud saw dreams as puzzling enactments of our subconscious that allow our repressed wishes, anxieties and passions to be brought to life. He also recognised in them all the characteristics of fully fledged psychosis, including mania and hallucinations. Nevertheless, he was convinced that dreams have meaning and considered them to be the “royal road to the unconscious” …
Although we live in a materialistic world, “things” have a surprisingly bad reputation: they are seen as dead and soulless, and inferior to the organic world of plants, animals and humans in every respect. Anyone devoting themselves too enthusiastically to “things” is quickly suspected of being superficial. You might find that somewhat hypocritical considering we all invest a lot of energy in the quest for beautiful and valuable things, and in order to buy them we have to earn that thing called money…
The world is gradually starting to pick up pace again. But what has happened to us as people during the supposed downtime? We present four different perspectives …
Taking inspiration from this quote by Hermann Hesse, I want to see every single moment as a new beginning, as the start of a new story with a happy ending. But in tough times – like during a pandemic – I admit that it’s not always easy to maintain this state of constant joyful anticipation …
I received some incense sticks as a souvenir from our neighbour following a trip to Asia. I was eight years old at the time and they seemed infinitely precious to me. They smelt different to anything I’d encountered up until that point, and soon the whole linen cupboard where they were put smelt the same, enchanting and exotic …
Helder Suffenplan is an independent publicist and creative consultant from Berlin. Since childhood Helder has had a particular passion for perfume…