Olfactory translation of a concept.” That’s how Ann Gottlieb defines perfume. And we better take her seriously because with 23 years of experience in the fragrance business, the perfumer is truly “the international diva of fragrances”.

“I also have an easier way to define the process of perfume making — translating an image into a scent,” she says on the phone from Mumbai.

Ann was in India to promote Axe, the brand she is working on at the moment. “The new Axe effect is still very much a deodorant but smells more and more like a fine fragrance,” she says. “One thing you have to keep in mind with Axe is that many competitive brands are now entering the market. So we are keen on taking the brand even higher. The idea is to make it more and more prestigious as a brand.”

Having the most entertaining ads on telly is great, but not enough. It may also mean bringing in fresh fragrances.

“There are brands where every single piece has its own signature. Now that is the complete opposite of something you would do with Axe.... They all look the same in their black packs if you are not discriminating them. So each and every variation has to be distinctly different from the other. So if you are standing on the shelf and are spraying more than one, they should all smell very different.”

Then of course there is the gender divide. “Men are much less risk-oriented and really care about being safe,” feels Ann. “The idea is to have a fragrance, a part of which is familiar and a part of which is creative enough to make him feel that he is smelling it for the first time. But it really is a derivative of something already created before.”

When it comes to women, the smell spell needs to be very different. “With women, you can be much, much, much more experimental. Women, who are really good perfumistas and can appreciate different kinds of fragrances are not afraid to try different new scents.”

Would these rules apply to all countries around the world? “Not really,” Ann admits. “Like the fragrances that sell in India are much more macho in character. Indian men are fantastic to create perfumes for because they just love scents. And they love rich, dark fragrances. If someone really likes scents, it’s a pleasure to design fragrances for them.”

That’s something Ann has done over the past couple of decades with relentless precision. For Calvin Klein alone, she developed Obsession, Eternity, Escape, cKone, cKbe, Contradiction, Truth and Crave. She is also credited with Caroline Herrera, Chic and 212. “I have been busy!” she laughs.

“But I don’t think I have a favourite fragrance. The first successful fragrance I did was Obsession for men. So my heart always goes out to that scent because of the way we grew up together. Apart from that my favourite is whatever I am working on at that moment.”

And how does Ann Gottlieb explain her spot-on nose? “Part of it is a lot about listening and understanding what brands are all about. You don’t just make a beautiful fragrance and expect it to sell. Beautiful doesn’t always sell. It has to be beautiful with respect to a specific market. It has to come out of a specific bottle. People smell with their eyes and brains first before they smell with their noses. You have to ensure that the perfume is well represented.”