Still Life in New York is a perfume built on contrast: cozy and warm notes are set against cool and fresh materials.
The photo for this smellscape was taken by an artist who only shoots cities in the snow. She might be trying to capture that feeling of being snug while it’s snowing heavily outside.
The perfume design is toying with the same idea. Cozy warm notes of saffron, leather, smoky birch tar and vetiver are highlighted by a generous portion of cool clary sage and violet leaf.
The perfume feels like standing by a window in winter to peep at the falling snow and being able to feel both the cold ambiance coming from the glass and the warmth of the house in the background, the fireplace, steaming tea and cashmere blanket.
Perfumer: Jérôme Epinette
Photographer: Vivienne Gucwa
***
The Sniff on Flash Back in NY:
"Imagine that you are walking along a city street in the winter. The air is cold, crisp, making your lungs tingle as you breathe it in. You’re wrapped up nice and warm but the end of your nose is cold. Up ahead is a youth in a battered leather jacket smoking a marijuana cigarette and you get a second-hand whiff of it as he exhales a plume of smoke. That’s exactly what this perfume reminded us of."
All about this fragrance
Vibe check
This is a fragrance for close winter spaces and sharp city air: a coat collar turned up, a window fogged from the heat inside, the street still visible beyond the glass. It projects a composed, slightly smoky presence that feels urban, intimate and quietly self-possessed.
How to wear
Best in cool weather, especially when the air can carry its smoky and green contrasts without flattening them. Use a moderate hand: one or two sprays are enough to let the birch tar, vetiver and clary sage unfold clearly on skin, with a drier, more atmospheric trail in the air.
Who it’s for
For those who like woody-smoky fragrances with a cool, aromatic edge and a polished urban feel. It will appeal to wearers who enjoy contrast, leather facets, dry vetiver and compositions that feel modern, textured and slightly austere rather than sweet or plush.
Release year
2018
The nose
Jérôme Epinette is a senior perfumer at Robertet known for composing modern niche fragrances with clear structure, tactile materials and a strong sense of contrast. His work often balances brightness and depth, giving compositions a polished but expressive edge. For Flash Back in New York, he leans into that style with a city-at-winter composition: smoky birch tar, vetiver and leather facets are sharpened by clary sage and violet leaf, creating a fragrance that feels both atmospheric and architectural.
Collaborators
Céline Verleure, Olfactive Studio’s founder and creative director, shaped the concept by pairing the perfume with Vivienne Gucwa’s snowy New York photograph and giving the perfumer an image-led brief rather than a conventional marketing one. Her role was to define the artistic direction and the emotional contrast at the heart of the scent.
Olfactive Studio’s story
Olfactive Studio builds fragrances from photography, treating each perfume as an olfactory interpretation of an image. The house favors artistic freedom, emotional resonance and unisex compositions with a distinctive, contemporary signature rather than trend-led crowd appeal.
Flash Back in New York’s concept
Flash Back in New York was inspired by a snowy nighttime view of Manhattan, with the city glowing through cold air and falling snow. The composition translates that scene into scent by setting warm, smoky and leathery materials against crisp green aromatics, capturing the tension between shelter and street.
Extra info
It is Olfactive Studio’s second city-inspired fragrance after Still Life in Rio. The bottle and concept continue the house’s image-first approach, with the scent built from Vivienne Gucwa’s snowy New York photograph.
Still Life in New York is a perfume built on contrast: cozy and warm notes are set against cool and fresh materials.
The photo for this smellscape was taken by an artist who only shoots cities in the snow. She might be trying to capture that feeling of being snug while it’s snowing heavily outside.
The perfume design is toying with the same idea. Cozy warm notes of saffron, leather, smoky birch tar and vetiver are highlighted by a generous portion of cool clary sage and violet leaf.
The perfume feels like standing by a window in winter to peep at the falling snow and being able to feel both the cold ambiance coming from the glass and the warmth of the house in the background, the fireplace, steaming tea and cashmere blanket.
Perfumer: Jérôme Epinette
Photographer: Vivienne Gucwa
***
The Sniff on Flash Back in NY:
"Imagine that you are walking along a city street in the winter. The air is cold, crisp, making your lungs tingle as you breathe it in. You’re wrapped up nice and warm but the end of your nose is cold. Up ahead is a youth in a battered leather jacket smoking a marijuana cigarette and you get a second-hand whiff of it as he exhales a plume of smoke. That’s exactly what this perfume reminded us of."
All about this fragrance
Vibe check
This is a fragrance for close winter spaces and sharp city air: a coat collar turned up, a window fogged from the heat inside, the street still visible beyond the glass. It projects a composed, slightly smoky presence that feels urban, intimate and quietly self-possessed.
How to wear
Best in cool weather, especially when the air can carry its smoky and green contrasts without flattening them. Use a moderate hand: one or two sprays are enough to let the birch tar, vetiver and clary sage unfold clearly on skin, with a drier, more atmospheric trail in the air.
Who it’s for
For those who like woody-smoky fragrances with a cool, aromatic edge and a polished urban feel. It will appeal to wearers who enjoy contrast, leather facets, dry vetiver and compositions that feel modern, textured and slightly austere rather than sweet or plush.
Release year
2018
The nose
Jérôme Epinette is a senior perfumer at Robertet known for composing modern niche fragrances with clear structure, tactile materials and a strong sense of contrast. His work often balances brightness and depth, giving compositions a polished but expressive edge. For Flash Back in New York, he leans into that style with a city-at-winter composition: smoky birch tar, vetiver and leather facets are sharpened by clary sage and violet leaf, creating a fragrance that feels both atmospheric and architectural.
Collaborators
Céline Verleure, Olfactive Studio’s founder and creative director, shaped the concept by pairing the perfume with Vivienne Gucwa’s snowy New York photograph and giving the perfumer an image-led brief rather than a conventional marketing one. Her role was to define the artistic direction and the emotional contrast at the heart of the scent.
Olfactive Studio’s story
Olfactive Studio builds fragrances from photography, treating each perfume as an olfactory interpretation of an image. The house favors artistic freedom, emotional resonance and unisex compositions with a distinctive, contemporary signature rather than trend-led crowd appeal.
Flash Back in New York’s concept
Flash Back in New York was inspired by a snowy nighttime view of Manhattan, with the city glowing through cold air and falling snow. The composition translates that scene into scent by setting warm, smoky and leathery materials against crisp green aromatics, capturing the tension between shelter and street.
Extra info
It is Olfactive Studio’s second city-inspired fragrance after Still Life in Rio. The bottle and concept continue the house’s image-first approach, with the scent built from Vivienne Gucwa’s snowy New York photograph.