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Six burning questions for Carlos Huber

Date: April 21 2013

Rachelle Unreich

1. Your life is like fabulous fiction: you've gone from conservation architecture to founding your own perfume line, Arquiste. You're from Mexico City, but you now live in New York City. And you're just 32. Is that why each of your Arquiste perfumes tell a story?

Perfume not only opens up your nose but can give you a story to daydream about or spark the curiosity to travel. Flor y Canto, a tuberose perfume, speaks about this Aztec festival where they cut flowers and load them on top of a temple altar and burn a minty incense called Copal. There's a zeitgeist right now where we're interested in product that's not turned out of a machine, but there's thought and intellect behind it.

2. Many celebrities - Britney Spears, Kim Kardashian, Jennifer Aniston - have their own perfume. Your take?

It says a lot about our culture. There's an aspiration that is always going to be in luxury goods, which is OK. They can be lowbrow or highbrow; it's all about quality. Some are made by real artists. I don't think all of them are garbage. I'm sure there's salvageable material there. But I've never actually picked up a bottle.

3. How did you come up with your candle fragrance for Cire Trudon?

I discovered the story of a Belgian-born Empress of Mexico, who went to Yucatan to campaign for the imperial cause. She wrote a letter to her husband underneath a guava tree in the courtyard, and there were festivities going on with fireworks. We wanted to evoke that moment when she picks up a pen and is smelling everything.

4. Do people ''smell up'' for you?

Certain friends may wear something they know I'm going to appreciate. If somebody smells nice, I always tell them. But it's not only about the fragrance.

5. What are the worst smells for you?

The smell of an aeroplane. Bad breath. The smell of sickness. Butyric acid, I'm extremely sensitive to … I'm very sensitive to smells.

6. What smell gives you a strong scent memory?

Rosemary. I lived in Ibiza in Spain for six months. I would go hiking with friends through little hills and mountains, discovering beaches with cliffs. Rosemary was everywhere, so that smell takes me to those hike trips. Tuberose is the market in Mexico. And Casablanca lilies remind me of an expensive five-star hotel, because they had them at the Marriott in London the first time I travelled there with my parents.


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