Post by Admin on Mar 1, 2020 15:30:22 GMT -4
Mr music man himself is making the tune of Hello smell heavenly
I was very careful, upon starting my conversation with Lionel Richie, to say hi, not hello. If I was going to talk to one of the most prolific, talented, and influential figures in the last half-century of music — a man whose songs, like 1984's hit ballad, "Hello," make up a significant portion of my childhood's soundtrack — I wasn't about to open with what could be construed as a pun.
Turns out, however, that he wouldn't have minded.
"I have people that walk up to me and they go, 'Hello,' and they apologize a lot. 'I didn't mean it like that,'" he tells me. "That's exactly why I wrote 'Hello.'" And it's why he named his new eau de parfum and eau de toilette after the song — the Grammy-winning legend thrives on encouraging connection.
Richie is responsible for writing and singing some of the most amorous songs in pop-music history, so while it may seem like a lot of celebrities launch scents just because it's what a lot of celebrities eventually do, it actually makes perfect sense that he would consider scent a natural extension of his romantic brand. And aside from perfume's ability to influence our moods and memories, Richie has long appreciated the impact of fragrance in his day-to-day life.
"I’ve probably been a frustrated perfumer for years," he says, explaining that, while he has always loved fragrance, he didn't have the knowledge or tools to create his ideal scent — in stark contrast to his music mastery.
"In my business, I play with my ears. My ears tell me exactly when the vibration is correct," Richie tells me. And while I would never dare suggest that his musical creations are simple, he laughingly suggests that creating a beautiful fragrance is a much more complicated endeavor. "In the music business, there are only 12 notes. In the fragrance business, I could drive myself crazy — they've got more notes than I want to deal with it. And being a Gemini does not help matters any because you can't give me too many choices."
So when it was time to start working on the two Hello scents, to help him narrow down the notes he might like to include, the perfumer he worked with offered a brilliant suggestion. "He said, 'I tell you what — to make this easy for you, you have a garden in the backyard. Let's walk through your garden.'" There, they pinpointed scents he loved like that of flowers such as tuberose and night jasmine and fruits like grapefruit and pear. But at the time, as much as he loved each individual smell, he couldn't fathom them combined.
"They'll put together a combination that makes absolutely no sense at all," he says of the blends his perfumer's team suggested. "How would you want to mess it up with a sour thing like grapefruit? Because cause I'm thinking literal grapefruit — but then when you put it together, the combination is exquisite."
Bottles of Lionel Richie's Hello eau de toilette and eau de parfum fragrances
Courtesy of brand
It was during this process, Richie says, that he went from loving fragrance to understanding it — specifically the concept of values, or how much of each note goes into the final fragrance. "It's not that you have to put in the same, equal amount. They showed me how to mix them to get the values that I'm looking for. And of course, I fell in love with that," he says enthusiastically. "It was the best lesson I've ever taken in my life. I sat in the room with the chemist, and they actually showed me how they did it. From that point on, I became obsessed."
The result of that obsession is Hello. The eau de parfum is considered the more feminine fragrance, with top notes of jasmine and tuberose, and base notes of honey, tonka, ambrox, and patchouli swirling around with pear, lemon, and grapefruit. The more masculine eau de toilette opens with bergamot, grapefruit, bitter orange, and mint, giving way to heart notes of lavender, cashmeran, and violet leaves atop a base of patchouli, vetiver, and ambrox.
"I’ve probably been a frustrated perfumer for years."
Both versions feature a lot of the notes Richie personally surrounds himself with wherever he goes. "I'm an aromatherapy nut to the point where I love carrying my home smells with me around the world," he tells me. "I spend most of my time in hotels and fabulous places, but I like to make my space smell like my space."
Needless to say, even staying in fabulous hotels can't fully cancel out the stress of near-constant travel or the toll it can take on skin, which is why Richie's interest in the beauty world doesn't stop at fragrance. "I’m a believer in facials — basically a great facial every once in a while at the beginning or end of a strenuous tour," he says. "You know, a little dermabrasion always helps here and there to kind of take that first layer off that you couldn't get to. After a grueling tour, you want to pamper."
He sounds almost apologetic as he justifies his completely understandable skin-care habits to me, but considering how much he's given to the world in the form of music — and now fragrance — he doesn't have to defend doing nice things for himself. And ultimately, he knows that.
"Everyone's fallen in love, everyone's gotten engaged, married, you know — I've done an amazing job to get everyone together," he half-jokingly says of the impact he's had. It's no wonder he takes time to take care of himself. "I've taken care of the entire world."
Hello by Lionel Richie fragrances are available on Amazon and at Walgreens.
All products featured on Allure are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
I was very careful, upon starting my conversation with Lionel Richie, to say hi, not hello. If I was going to talk to one of the most prolific, talented, and influential figures in the last half-century of music — a man whose songs, like 1984's hit ballad, "Hello," make up a significant portion of my childhood's soundtrack — I wasn't about to open with what could be construed as a pun.
Turns out, however, that he wouldn't have minded.
"I have people that walk up to me and they go, 'Hello,' and they apologize a lot. 'I didn't mean it like that,'" he tells me. "That's exactly why I wrote 'Hello.'" And it's why he named his new eau de parfum and eau de toilette after the song — the Grammy-winning legend thrives on encouraging connection.
Richie is responsible for writing and singing some of the most amorous songs in pop-music history, so while it may seem like a lot of celebrities launch scents just because it's what a lot of celebrities eventually do, it actually makes perfect sense that he would consider scent a natural extension of his romantic brand. And aside from perfume's ability to influence our moods and memories, Richie has long appreciated the impact of fragrance in his day-to-day life.
"I’ve probably been a frustrated perfumer for years," he says, explaining that, while he has always loved fragrance, he didn't have the knowledge or tools to create his ideal scent — in stark contrast to his music mastery.
"In my business, I play with my ears. My ears tell me exactly when the vibration is correct," Richie tells me. And while I would never dare suggest that his musical creations are simple, he laughingly suggests that creating a beautiful fragrance is a much more complicated endeavor. "In the music business, there are only 12 notes. In the fragrance business, I could drive myself crazy — they've got more notes than I want to deal with it. And being a Gemini does not help matters any because you can't give me too many choices."
So when it was time to start working on the two Hello scents, to help him narrow down the notes he might like to include, the perfumer he worked with offered a brilliant suggestion. "He said, 'I tell you what — to make this easy for you, you have a garden in the backyard. Let's walk through your garden.'" There, they pinpointed scents he loved like that of flowers such as tuberose and night jasmine and fruits like grapefruit and pear. But at the time, as much as he loved each individual smell, he couldn't fathom them combined.
"They'll put together a combination that makes absolutely no sense at all," he says of the blends his perfumer's team suggested. "How would you want to mess it up with a sour thing like grapefruit? Because cause I'm thinking literal grapefruit — but then when you put it together, the combination is exquisite."
Bottles of Lionel Richie's Hello eau de toilette and eau de parfum fragrances
Courtesy of brand
It was during this process, Richie says, that he went from loving fragrance to understanding it — specifically the concept of values, or how much of each note goes into the final fragrance. "It's not that you have to put in the same, equal amount. They showed me how to mix them to get the values that I'm looking for. And of course, I fell in love with that," he says enthusiastically. "It was the best lesson I've ever taken in my life. I sat in the room with the chemist, and they actually showed me how they did it. From that point on, I became obsessed."
The result of that obsession is Hello. The eau de parfum is considered the more feminine fragrance, with top notes of jasmine and tuberose, and base notes of honey, tonka, ambrox, and patchouli swirling around with pear, lemon, and grapefruit. The more masculine eau de toilette opens with bergamot, grapefruit, bitter orange, and mint, giving way to heart notes of lavender, cashmeran, and violet leaves atop a base of patchouli, vetiver, and ambrox.
"I’ve probably been a frustrated perfumer for years."
Both versions feature a lot of the notes Richie personally surrounds himself with wherever he goes. "I'm an aromatherapy nut to the point where I love carrying my home smells with me around the world," he tells me. "I spend most of my time in hotels and fabulous places, but I like to make my space smell like my space."
Needless to say, even staying in fabulous hotels can't fully cancel out the stress of near-constant travel or the toll it can take on skin, which is why Richie's interest in the beauty world doesn't stop at fragrance. "I’m a believer in facials — basically a great facial every once in a while at the beginning or end of a strenuous tour," he says. "You know, a little dermabrasion always helps here and there to kind of take that first layer off that you couldn't get to. After a grueling tour, you want to pamper."
He sounds almost apologetic as he justifies his completely understandable skin-care habits to me, but considering how much he's given to the world in the form of music — and now fragrance — he doesn't have to defend doing nice things for himself. And ultimately, he knows that.
"Everyone's fallen in love, everyone's gotten engaged, married, you know — I've done an amazing job to get everyone together," he half-jokingly says of the impact he's had. It's no wonder he takes time to take care of himself. "I've taken care of the entire world."
Hello by Lionel Richie fragrances are available on Amazon and at Walgreens.
All products featured on Allure are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
