Dancing, Magic and Chasing Melancholy: Talking Scents with BIBBI’s Stina Seger
September 14 | 5 minute read
Words by Kaylah Joelle Baker
One inhale of a scent can instantly transport you – to somewhere familiar, new or completely unexpected. As a believer in the poetic power of fragrance, Swedish-born Stina Bibbi Seger, founder of niche Parisian fragrance house BIBBI, pushes the boundaries of traditional perfumery, finding a scent’s beginnings while in a deep meditative state.
Fleeting encounters. An unseen presence with an air of mystery. The alluring nature of an abandoned factory. BIBBI fragrances are a portal into Seger’s mind, and in this instalment of Talking Scents, she takes us there again, opening up about the scent she can’t quite capture, the fragrance she believed in against all odds and why perfume is "the ultimate accessory"...
My earliest scent memory…
Stina Bibbi Seger: "My doudou [Editor’s note: the French term for a comfort toy or blanket] that I had when I was a child. It was the scent of comfort and home. I also have a very strong memory of my childhood garden. We had a big honeysuckle tree, and I loved to sit under it and just inhale its scent."
The first fragrance I wore…
SS: "The first fragrance was called Date, and you could buy it at the supermarket in Sweden. They had them in four or five different colours, and I chose the purple one because I preferred that colour, but I remember that I did not like the scent at all. I was around seven or eight years old at the time."
Falling in love smells like…
SS: "Dancing in the wet grass. A summer night in Scandinavia."
My favourite person smells like…
SS: "Boy of June! [This BIBBI fragrance] is dedicated to Jan, my partner in life and the father of my children – it’s really him in a bottle. It’s a sparkling and loving scent, with a sensual edge, just like him."
The end of the day smells like…
SS: "The Other Room is the perfect end-of-day fragrance with its depth and royal sexiness – a scent I love to put on for an evening. It's when the day is done that the more mysterious side of you gets to come out and play."
Australia or Aotearoa (New Zealand) smells like…
SS: "Swimming Pool and Ghost of Tom combined. Swimming Pool because of its summery quality, and Ghost of Tom because of its mysterious depth. Like the wild, untamed side of the landscape."
The fragrance I wear every day…
SS: "I mix a lot of my fragrances. Right now, I mix Ghost of Tom, Swimming Pool and Deep Lotus. But I also wear new creations. My day-to-day fragrance varies a lot depending on my mood and my outfit. Fragrance, for me, is the ultimate accessory."
The one note I would never wear…
SS: "That would most likely be a heavy, dirty patchouli. It’s a difficult one for me; I can like it on other skin, though it just doesn’t work on me."
The scent I wish existed…
SS: "The scent of my grandparents’ garden. My grandfather was probably a [professional] gardener in a former life. They had the most stunning garden in the south of Sweden, and his love for roses truly flourished there. I loved being at their house in early summer, immersing myself in all the beautiful scents dancing together in the air. It was pure joy for me as a child."
The scent that changed my life…
SS: "The scent of my babies. There are really no words that can describe it. But they definitely changed my life."
The first step in creating a scent…
SS: "For me, the scents are born in the space between waking and dreaming, drawn from my subconscious, where emotional visions and experiences arrive. Then I take those experiences and translate them into scents – an invitation for the audience to join me in this place."
The scent I’m most proud of…
SS: "I cannot choose. I’m so proud of BIBBI... and the fact that it’s now becoming a world-known brand. I’m so happy and proud of that. But if I have to choose one fragrance, I choose Swimming Pool, since it’s so special. In the beginning, no-one believed in it except me, and now it has become one of the absolute bestsellers."
The scent with the most interesting story is…
SS: "Ghost of Tom has a very interesting story – a bit mysterious yet intriguing at the same time, just like the fragrance itself. In some circles, it is known that around 2 percent of the world’s population is invisible to us. To the unchosen human eye, they cannot be seen – beings made of matter, not from this world. The only way to sense their presence is through their addictive, smoky, tea-like scent. Hence, they are commonly known as the 'ghosts of Tom'."
The note combination that surprised me…
SS: "The one in Deep Lotus. It has the feeling of an oud scent – without having oud. Just like all BIBBI fragrances, the combination of notes is unusual, surprising and contemporary."
The most important thing I’ve learnt about fragrance…
SS: "They go straight to the heart, and you need to love it to wear it. And it’s a magical product that transports your mind and your soul to places you forgot or didn’t even know existed within you. I think perfumes are so poetic."
The hardest feeling to capture in scent…
SS: "Coming from Scandinavia, the melancholy runs in our blood. If it’s because of the darkness and the long winters [and] the short, breathtaking summers – or simply the way we are, I don’t know. But to this day, I have not yet smelled anything melancholic."
A fragrance is finished when…
SS: "You just feel it."
