Carlos Viñals
Born in Manhattan to Cuban parents before moving to Virginia when he was four years old, Carlos Vinãls’ interest in perfumery emerged at an early age through his father, who worked as a Flavor Chemist.
Passionate about his red Ducati, Carlos is a self-proclaimed “adrenaline junkie”. “I wanted to create a fragrance that would ignite an energy”, he affirms. Carlos’ high-octane lifestyle and the feeling of freedom that comes with riding a sports motorcycle sparked FR/18, his signature fragrance.
“When my father returned from work he always smelt very strong. My curiosity became a game. He would come home with notes – tobacco flavoring at the time was very much about Maple, Vanilla – sweet notes, and a few spices. Over time I came to be able to distinguish the unique smells – like ‘Oh, that smells like the syrup on my pancakes, that’s maple’. So I guess I owe it all to my father and to this game we played when I was a child.”
Carlos went on to secure a job as a Perfumer technician for a leading fragrance company while at college. His potential was not lost on his employers - within the first year he started training by their Master Perfumer.
“Scent created who I am,” Carlos declares. “And it has allowed me to express myself through my creations in ways I didn’t know was possible.”
He also draws a strong association between smells and memories. “My greatest goal is to put a smile on someone’s face, or get a reaction. To actually bring back a memory. Fragrances are very memory driven. The first smells I remember were the beach in Virginia and the smell of my mother,” he says.
“Working on my fragrance for A. N. Other was refreshing,” Carlos states. “It helps to let the creative juices flow when you have a larger budget and you are free to think out of the box. Having no brief, no budget or walls was a Godsend, perfumers dream of working like that.”
For his contribution to the collection, Carlos focused on concocting an uplifting perfume that would capture the feeling of coming together with neighbors around his backyard pool house. “I wanted to create a fragrance that would ignite an energy of fun and freshness to bring people together. It’s almost like the energy of when people make the first toast of an evening. The accord I created is based on a gin and tonic – it’s fun, it’s effervescent, it’s refreshing."
Fresh by Carlos Viñals
