I’ve loved St. Clair’s fragrances for several years. My perfumer friend Kaitlyn “Kait” ni Donovan introduced me to the brand, praising the sensibility, talent, and kindness of Diane St. Clair, the founder and perfumer. Kait was kind enough to give me samples of her creations, and I also bought one of the discovery sets, which deepened my appreciation for her work.
I tried the fragrances once, but then set them aside for months, even years, before revisiting each one. Each time, they transform and surprise me in unexpected ways. Ever-changing fragrances are the type of scents I like the most; they are the ones I will always enjoy and go back to.
Every fragrance created by Diane is a tribute to nature, which I have learned to enjoy and never take for granted in my everyday life. I reach for them when I need an escape, just like I go for a walk when I need to relax or recharge. Some of Diane’s fragrances also evoke the timeless perfumes of the past, which I have a lifelong affinity for.
A former public health professional specializing in maternal and child health, Diane began her artisanal career by making butter from cows raised and milked on her own farm in Vermont for over 20 years.
She launched her line of artisan fragrances in 2018, releasing three fragrances that represent her own view of life in Vermont. First Cut, described by Diane as a “hay/spring meadow perfume”, Gardener’s Glove, an interpretation of the scent of leather gloves while working in a garden, and Frost, dedicated to the poet Robert Frost, who wrote in a cabin just 15 miles from her house!
I enjoy the lush, pastoral themes embodied present in all three fragrances, but I have a predilection for Gardner’s Glove because of my love for leather accords.
In 2020 Diane released Edge Effects, a fragrance that instantly appealed to me as a microbiologist because it represents the ecological shifts (“edge effects”) found at the borders of different habitats. These transition areas, for example the zone between a country field and a forest, are known for their rich biodiversity. Diane brilliantly captured this concept by combining chypre and fougère, the two olfactory styles that best walk the line between classic esthetics and nature’s charm. In this fragrance, high quality raw materials are blended to represent biodiversity. You’ll find flowers (jasmine, champaca), fruits (peach), leaves (tomato leaf), and woods (sandalwood) blended in a seamless way. This is a pastoral chypre, where citruses, aldehydes, and greenery glimmer, where the florals transport you, and where abundant woods ground you. The fougère style comes through with the use of lavender and geranium, which peek out with their aromatic character.
I may have the softest spot for Moving On, also created in 2020, a fragrance designed to acknowledge the feelings the COVID-19 pandemic stirred within us and to help us move forward. This is a nod to bold, unapologetic fragrances of past epochs, blending a sparkling aldehydic accord, vibrant greens, opulent florals, resins, and subtle yet present (synthetic) animalic notes. You’ll get the sensation of the most luxurious soap transforming into a more primal scent.
Edge Effects and Moving On are paired with distinctive visual art developed through some of Diane’s collaborations. The picture for Edge Effects was taken by photographer Katie Cooke. The artwork for Moving On was created by painter Josh Highter.
Casablanca is for anyone who loves daring and decadent opulence that, once again, nods to the past. The top is full of juicy citruses, the heart brims with heady, nectarous white flowers, and the end is dense, mossy, and animalic. Casablanca is fleshy and richly floral, with hints of fur and pelt that add an enthralling magnetism to the fragrant composition.
Finally, a few words about Song of Aubrac, a soliflore centered on the precious narcissus absolute. If you’re familiar with this raw material, you also know it has a bitter green and carnal, almost animalic floralcy. In this fragrance, the narcissus comes is herbal, sharp, prickly green, and slightly soapy, softening as the woody and musky notes unfold.
Gardener’s Glove, Eve, and Call Me (designed in 2024 for American Perfumer) were all finalists for the Art and Olfaction Awards in the Artisan Category.
Learn more about Diane’s brand, concepts, and fragrances on her website.
The St. Clair discovery set with First Cut, Gardener’s Glove, Frost, and Casablanca was purchased by me. Edge Effects, Moving On, and Song of Aubrac were given to me by Kait ni Donovan.
Photos were taken by me or kindly provided by Diane.
Interview
It’s been a real pleasure to talk with Diane over the past years. We first connected through our shared love for Chanel No. 19, and later she graciously opened up about her journey as an artisan perfumer, her affinity for classic perfumery, and her thoughtful perspectives on the fragrance industry.
Diane, you started as an artisan of farmstead dairy products. How did this craft connect to your love for perfume and how did you become an artisan perfumer?
As much as I loved farming and making butter, it does become routine the longer you do it. In 2014, while still running the farm, I decided I wanted to try something new. I had somehow found myself reading perfume blogs and reviews. As a certified “tomboy”, I was not someone who grew up interested in “the beauty industry”, where I always thought perfume belonged. (Although in college, I wore Charlie, but that was more for its sentiment/marketing image, then anything else,) But I love good food and cooking, and as I read more and more about perfumery, I thought about how much smell and taste are connected and got more interested. I had just written a cookbook on buttermilk in cooking and baking and was going to New York City for a book engagement. I signed up for a perfume workshop that was being given by Eliza Douglas, who worked at DreamAir with Christophe Laudamiel. I did a 3-hour session with her and was hooked. It was a gateway to a huge world of smell and its endless combinations, and I found it fascinating. Because of my inability to travel regularly, (milking cows twice a day and processing 3 times a week), she agreed to work with me remotely (pre-Zoom!!). After two years of making accords and learning materials, I decided to start a brand that would launch in 2018. I worked on getting 3 perfumes that would represent my sense of place in Vermont: First Cut, Gardener’s Glove, and Frost. As I worked to finish these perfumes, I also worked with some people in Burlington who helped me with branding and design elements. It was a crash course in getting a small perfume company off the ground! It was really challenging doing all of this while still holding down the farm and butter business, but also exciting. There were not as many artisan and independent companies as there are today, and the pressure to have a slick social media presence was not like today’s. “Influencers” were still web-based perfume reviewers. So, it all felt like you could make it on merit and substance, versus now, which feels very much about appearances, marketing and algorithms that stress a certain lifestyle “vibe.”
What do classic fragrances mean to you, and who has influenced your journey in the world of fragrance?
As I got into making perfume, I also delved more into classic perfumes. I developed a real crush on vintage scents, probably because they had a more “natural” feel to them, smelling richer and more opulent. References of beauty such as these— Jolie Madame, Vent Vert, Bandit, Chamade, Vol de Nuit, Jicky, Mitsouko, Je Reviens, Cristalle, No.9, No.22, Silences, Miss Dior, Femme, My Sin, and their compatriots, have all effected my style and sense of perfume wonder. There are also modern perfumers who I love—Liz Moore’s (a lovely person and magnificent perfumer); Vero Kern, whose work I very much miss; Marc-Antoine Corticchiato; Antoine Lie; Olivia Giacobetti; just to name a few. Christophe Laudamiel has had a tremendous influence on my journey, continually challenging me with my work and assumptions. His ongoing advocacy for openness and transparency in the perfume industry is slowly but surely having an impact.
What forms of art or artisanship move or influence your fragrant work?
I make perfume by tapping into passions and beliefs that are important to me—things like nature, ecology, paintings, poetry, women’s rights—and try to represent them through scents within the structure of a perfume. It requires a lot of technical skills to do this, and I can’t say that I’m always 100% successful, but it is my goal to continue to strive towards this. It is a constant balancing act to capture one’s intellectual concept (like the innocent curiosity of figures like Eve and Pandora) through the chemical structure of olfaction. These are what motivate me to make perfume.
Are there any fragrant raw materials you love and others you find difficult to work with?
I prefer working with naturals, but I use synthetics to modify and/or enhance the naturals. To me, naturals are like the deep, soulful paints in my toolbox. I think using naturals will become more difficult as some EU legislators move to ban or severely restrict the use of naturals. I think that climate change and sustainability issues may also impact the use of naturals, though the fragrance industry is trying to work on this. I’m afraid that in the coming years, we will continue to see changes in what materials we are allowed to use as perfumers. Sadly, I am not sure these decisions will all be based on good science.
I always like to ask artisan perfumers this final question. What does the perfume industry need more?
The perfume industry needs more dialogue between professional and independent perfumers. We need to get over this idea that the French are the gatekeepers of perfumery. We need more schools of perfumery, more access to mentorships for independent perfumers, and more unity among us as a profession.
Diane was also featured in the New York Times in 2022! (Read the article here).
