L'Officiel Nose: Corentin Hamon of Nomad Noé

Corentin Hamon brings the world into his perfumed candles. Over the last decade, he never seemed to stay in one place, living in nearly a dozen countries across five continents while building his career at the fragrance houses of brands like Kenzo and Penhaligon. Now, he's settled down in Manhattan's NoMad neighborhood, giving the candle company he recently established, Nomad Noé, a clever double meaning. Each of the brand's five scents (the same number as continents he lived in—the alignments just keep coming) embodies a different personality and location, from a poet in Hangzhou to a dreamer in London to a rebel in Bahia. And, naturally, each candle's production process is as nomadic as its name and inspiration, featuring perfume from the iconic French town of Grasse, porcelain from Chaozhou in China, hand-pouring in Normandy, and sustainable packaging from Ohio in addition to the brand's creative home of New York. Talk about an olfactory initiative that feeds your wanderlust, transporting all who experience it to new places in far more ways than one.

A compelling member of the new line is Visionary, a yellow-rimmed saffron and rose candle that pays tribute to the royal courts of Esfahan, the breathtaking city famous for its Persian architecture. Woody notes help to bring out the mystery and intrigue of the creation's dominant scents, and vetiver completes the mission, bringing the qualities of the visionary who inspired the scent to any room. This candle will certainly have your nose's attention for all 55 hours it burns, and to draw you in further, we asked Hamon about the scent's revelationary yet calming identity.

If Visionary was the star of its own movie, which actor would play the starring role? 

The love child of Lupita Nyong'o and Dev Patel.

What color does your fragrance smell like? 

A sparkling yet calming saffron yellow.

Which city/place in the world does your fragrance encapsulate best? 

The gardens and royal courts of the Persian palaces in Esfahan. 

If you had to place your fragrance in an iconic decade past, which one would it be?

Esfahan, Iran, during the 16th century when the city had a well-known reputation as the most beautiful in the world, serving as the cultural crossroads that led to a golden age of art and trade. 

What item from your wardrobe would you compare your scent to? 

My bathrobe after taking a long, hot bath in Epson salt. 

What genre of music do you think your fragrance most aligns with and why? 

A string quartet meets upbeat bebop jazz.

If your fragrance had a night out on the town, what drink would it order at the bar?  

A Macallan whisky, single malt with a single square cube of ice.

If you were to relate your new scent to a book, what would it be? Why?  

Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair by Pablo Neruda. His poems inspire and invigorate the soul. It is incredible that he wrote them when he was only 19 years old.

If your new fragrance had a soundtrack, what three sounds would play once you spray the scent?

The breath of Charlie Parker on his saxophone, the soulful fingers of Sarah Chang on her violin, and the reverend voice of John Legend. 

If it wasn’t called Visionary, what would it be called? 

Enlightened.