Darryl Do Photo Courtesy of Remy Bhatia of Givaudan

 I have known Darryl Do for nearly eight years, since we first met at Sniffapalooza. I have visited Delbia Do labs in the Bronx on several occasions, where Darryl runs a small independent  and family owned fragrance business that manufactures, formulates and creates many perfumes and ancillary products such as scented lotions, soaps and creams. Some of them you would know or heard of but based on confidentiality, he cannot be given credit as the perfumer– and is as Maurice Roucel once called himself–a ghost (three are in my permanant collection).  Delbia Do is also a Certified Organic Producer and has created a number of organic perfumes. Darryl's life is not only about essential oils and perfume. He is known as "Sensei" to his friends, lives in New York City and is as an accomplished a martial artist as he is an olfactive artist (Darryl is a Black Belt, 4th Dan). And he rides a Harley. Which I won't get on, but thought it was time that Darryl revs his Engine for the readers of CaFleureBon.-Michelyn Camen, Editor in Chief

Darryl at Delbia Do

Profile: I fell into the world of perfumery quite by chance, it's not something I sought out.  I was immersed in it growing up.  I was born and raised in New York City and as a child I would travel to visit family in Hawaii, where my dad is from.  He was born on the Garden Isle, Kauai and this is where he developed his appreciation for fragrance.  On these family vacations to see my uncles and aunties, my father would point out all the different varieties of flowers to me.  One of my earliest memories of fragrance is stepping off the plane in Hawaii where the warm fragrant air enveloped me in an aromatic cocoon.  The combination of the flowers and the sweet smell of pineapple permeate the air.  When dad would drive us around the island, I would sit in the back seat with my eyes closed and I began to know where we were just by how it smelled.  This is how my fragrance education began.  I always knew that I wanted to work in a creative field.  Before I joined the company full-time, I had a job as a photographer and I would spend hours in the dark room making modifications to prints.  Which is exactly what we do in perfumery where you need patience and imagination to figure out how each modification, each subtle change will noticeable in the end product.  After that stint, I realized that I enjoyed the creative aspect of perfumery.  When I asked to join the family business my dad was very happy that I chose that on my own.

Darryl Do

You could say I trained under my Father my entire life.  He was a perfume and flavor chemist at several international companies in his career before starting his own company in 1968.  Growing up, any chance I would get I would spend time with my Dad at work. He would often take time out to show me what he was working on and how he constructed it. Unbeknownst to me he was training me how to evaluate essential oils and other raw materials.   My formal training occurred under the tutelage of Vincent Ellis for 4 years, who was a chief perfumer at Felton and a past President of the American Society of Perfumers.  After this time, I began creating my own fragrances, primarily for small niche brands but I can scale up production to 5,000 kilo batches.

One thing that has become clear from my training is that I truly appreciate essential oils, the different grades and their country of origin.  To me this is similar to wine.  The same grape found in different countries at different altitudes will have different characteristics. Much like a sommelier, the perfumer learns to distinguish the slight nuances of say, a Geranium Bourbon from Egyptian or Chinese, or a Turkish Rose versus a Moroccan Rose.   When given the opportunity and creative license, I always gravitate toward using these luxurious essential oils that are so complex and full bodied on their own, where adding a few drops can really round off the product. 

Darryl created Amber for Six Scents' exhibit at the Arnhem Mode Biennelle  (the largest fashion exhibit in the Netherlands) in 2011, which explored the olfactory notes and themes behind this fragrance

Recently, I created a Blood Perfume for Kaimin Noir and Nicola Formichetti’s Zero Zero Project in collaboration with Joseph Quartana of Six Scents notoriety.  I chose a creamy Turkish Rose and a warm Patchouli as the main notes.  After the third mod, they signed off on it and did a soft launch at Colette in Paris before bringing it to the US later this year. While I love natural products, I’m conscious of the limited amounts available globally and as a result, I try to use sustainable crops.  Over the past decade I have become a USDA certified manufacturer and have created several products under this guideline. This year we are launching a line of USDA certified products starting with face oil for Manveena’s Solutions with other products to follow.  Recently we launched a line of hair and body perfumes inspired by the flowers of Hawaii for Ex Animo Fragrances, O’Delish, O’Me, O’Hana.  One of the reasons I enjoyed this project was that it reminded me of the conversations I had with my dad whenever we’d go back to visit family in Hawaii.

Annette Green, former President of the Fragrance Foundation with Darryl Do, his mother and brother

On American Perfumery: I think American Perfumery is more like a series of short stories as opposed to traditional French Perfumery I see more as literature in the way it’s constructed like the formulas of Jean-Claude Ellena and Edmond Roudnitska. Most of my fragrances are formulated for niche brands with a focus on domestic distribution and have smaller production runs allowing me flexibility to use essential oils with a smaller crop yield so I don’t have to consider a supply that will have to produce global distribution and the hurdles that entails.  Over the years I have had the pleasure of working with DelRae Roth, Sarah Barton King, Kelly Podorsek   (Kelly & Jones Notes of Wine) and Horst Rechelbacher (who founded Aveda) among others. Every time I would speak with Horst he was always excited to tell me about his current formulation and how good it is for the body. He would end our conversations telling me I have to become an organic farmer like him. As a result, I am starting a farm in Nicaragua to grow organic vanilla.

Darryl's favorite song by Lenny Kravitz is Let Love Rule

Favorite American Artist: One artist who I admire and had the opportunity to meet is Lenny Kravitz. I love his music and the feeling you get when listening to it and how it changes your emotions, your energy and your perspective.  Plus, we’re both motorcycle enthusiasts. When Lenny is writing a new song he first plays all the instruments on his own and once he puts the tracks together, then he calls the rest of the band in.  I thought this was a very interesting the way construct his music.

–Darryl Do, Perfumer and President of Delbia Do

Thanks to the generosity of  Suzanne DeWitt and Nanette de La Pena of Ex Animo Fragrance (who partner with Daughters of Cambodia, a non-governmental organization that embraces a lasting vision by providing safety, education, and innovative opportunities, for victims of sex trafficking) we have a reader's choice draw for a US reader of O'Delish, O'Hana, O'Me which are perfumes for the hair and body. To be eligible, please leave a comment about what you found fascinating about Darryl Do and your choice of Ex Animo Perfume. Draw closes June 25, 2014.

Gratuitious Photo of Lenny Kravitz added by Michelyn (who met him, but this is Darryl's story!)

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