Ursula Wandel

From Chemistry to the Givaudan School

Ursula Wandel says she came to the profession by chance: curious, she poked her nose into everything. She studied chemistry, took a keen interest in photography, and these two passions led her to the Givaudan perfumery school in Geneva.

In the first year, she learned to recognize some 3,000 natural and synthetic materials; the second was devoted to imitations of great perfumes, the way a painter copies the masters, and the third to her own creations. She then trained under a master perfumer and spent time in Asia before returning to Europe.

Hugo Woman and Boss Intense

Hugo Woman, launched in 1997, was her greatest success. In an era of aquatic fragrances, she describes it as a new direction, a little wet, a little melon, a little sweet and juicy. She also created Boss Intense for Hugo Boss, as well as Image for Cerruti in 1998 and Boss Soul in 2005.

She composed five perfumes for Nina Cerruti and those of models Cindy Crawford and Naomi Campbell. For her, a success is born when advertising, bottle and fragrance are consistent.

A Craft of Practice

She compares perfume to a meal: a base like a sauce, a body, a roof. Three to four hundred trials are sometimes needed before the moment when everything comes together. She prepares her trials late in the evening and says she loves smelling the previous day's creations each morning. Her favorite perfume is Mitsouko by Guerlain.