As part of this month's Value of the Mind series, we explore harnessing our olfactory power and its connection to the brain. Does it lower stress levels? Can it help with memory? What are the secrets of scent?
Along with smorgasbord of scents for us all to test out and bell jars with natural materials from Heckfield's estate, join our panel of experts. This includes Megumi Fukatsu, Aroma Space Designer/Director, Maurice Joosten, Aroma Space Designer/Artist, Flo Glendenning, AVP at The Nue Co, and Nicola Moulton, the award-winning beauty journalist and the Creative Director of SEEN studio, who has written for some of the world’s top publications and spent nine years as Beauty Director at British VOGUE.
Particularly passionate about perfume, Nicola has interviewed every major perfumer and written many pieces looking at the creative process of perfumery, and considering perfumery’s position as a cultural barometer of our times. She is now Creative Director at Beauty SEEN, a communications agency.
Scent is everything to Heckfield. As Maurice explains on our Instagram (heckfield_place): “We created a scent identity for Heckfield Place. The inspiration for it was to bring the outside inside the house. It’s a scent that was inspired by high summer and the flowers that grow in the walled gardens — roses, English lavender, camomile, and some herbal notes. It is a fresh scent with hints of lime and florals. The second scent is an Autumn, Winter scent inspired by the smoke of the open fireplace — it’s spicy with hints of single malt whiskey, leather and wood.
"We collected materials from the trees — the oak moss on the bark of the tree. It is a perfume ingredient — a delicious scent that smells like pine needles and tree bark.”
Maurice was born in Haarlem, Netherlands in 1962. He studied in Amsterdam at the Academy of Fine Arts and completed a research-fellowship/artist in residency at the Royal Academy of Visual Arts in Amsterdam. In 1997 he moved to Torino, Italy, where he worked as a visual artist.
After completing a public art project for Panasonic in Tokyo in 2003, he moved to Japan. From 2006 he started to work for @aroma Co.,Ltd in Tokyo as Aroma Space Designer, developing natural fragrances for use in public spaces for various exclusive brands. Since 2013 he's worked for @aroma Europe in Berlin.
Megumi was born in Oita, Japan, an area well known for forestry. In her early career she acquired an international license for aromatherapy. Her approach is rooted in the centuries old Japanese tradition of space scenting. She uses her abundant 20 years of experience in Aroma Space Design at @aroma Co.,Ltd. to share the power of essential oils by incorporating natural scents into our daily lives. As a director of @aroma she has developed unique bespoke scents for renowned global clients.
Overseeing all research + development at The Nue Co., Flo is responsible for taking a product from an idea to an actuality. The Nue Co. are seen as true innovators in the industry. Their most recent launch, Functional Fragrance, is an olfactory supplement designed to lower stress levels - the launch of which marks a shift in market, as we begin to see the worlds of fragrance + wellness merge.
With a background in business development, marketing and sales, Flo has spearheaded brand growth across Europe and the USA since launch in 2017. She currently lives in New York with her husband.
