Abel sets out to make scents that evoke fond memories which provoke, inspire and challenge us. Abel does this by triggering our most primal of senses, the sense of smell. A sense that is able to detect odours and aroma’s while unconsciously associating these with occasions, people and places. Abel’s founder Frances Shoemack explores the enigmatic world of scent with the Abel vita odor perfume collection.

The art of making a fragrance sits directly at the intersection of art and science. Crafting something with technical perfection means nothing without the feeling of the soul. This soul Abel draws from using natural ingredients for their perfumes. Too often nowadays fragrances lack the shine of these natural ingredients.

Shoemack comes from a background working in wine, where the skill and craft are in working with the unique terroir of a vineyard. This same skill is applied when working with fragrances. The art is in bringing out the unique personality of these extremely rare, beautiful, natural oils.

With fewer master perfumers in the world than astronauts, it becomes increasingly important for a perfumer to be at the centre of the process. For the vita odor collection, Shoemack and her colleague Isaac Sinclair shut themselves in a room in Paris for days exploring their favourite ingredients, notes, and compositions. Instead of working to one certain point or idea, they experimented until they found something that worked. An example of this is that the original idea was to make four fragrances for this collection, but due to an obsession with a Labdanum oil sample, they ended up making five. Once this process is done the technical skill comes in: methodically trialling, testing, and evaluating until a complete, balanced, polished perfume is the end result.

For Abel, a fragrance is more than just an image or aspiration. A fragrance is a language, a language that creates the environment, lets the perfume shine, but forces you to draw your own conclusions. This makes each of Abel’s fragrances unique, as the owner has their own experience with it.