Manuel Cross of Rogue Perfumery©

Profile: “It was a cold day in December, 1974. Barbra Streisand’s ‘The Way We Were’ was at the top of the charts…   details, details, details…”

 

I was born in La Mirada, California. My mother worked and later managed at a credit union; my father was a dock worker who later learned computer programming; he’s an absolute computer wiz! I still remember the Commodore 64 computer he started out with in the early 80s. I spent a lot of time with my grandfather while they worked; he was a retired navy man. At his house I recall the permanent smell of tobacco in the air. From the kitchen was the perpetual pot of coffee and in his grooming kit a bottle of Old Spice. I’d pull that bottle out often and open the cap to smell the magical contents within. It was quite magical actually, the imagery that would soar through my head from that fragrance! Even now the fragrance of Old Spice evokes a collective stream of imagery of those childhood days. My grandfather had a lady friend who was the quintessential free spirit. She was an artist, she was travelled, and she had an impressive library of books. E.E. Cummings, Kurt Vonnegut, tons and tons of art books. One could imagine that she was quite the Auntie Mame to a young impressionable child like me. She taught me art –basic sketching, charcoal and acrylics. It seems from this point that when I think back to my childhood, I can almost see the memories as impressionist images. Blots of sunlight through dark clumps of leaves, simple strokes of pastel colors make out the details of my surroundings.

 

 Pierre Cardin Pour Monsieur ad

One Christmas I received a gift of Pierre Cardin Pour Monsieur. The mysterious ambery liquid, housed in that avant-garde glass bottle leapt out like a genie. In an instant my mind was transported to so many places, so many times. I never really wore it but rather kept it in a drawer to be pulled out and sniffed as a treat.

By the time I was 11 I was learning to cook. My parents patiently taught me the basics before moving onto actual dishes. I was pretty competent by 13 and would eventually delve into a career in the kitchen industry after graduating St Paul High School in Santa Fe Springs, California. I met my wife June at the now defunct California Culinary Academy in San Francisco. Her family had emigrated from Southern Thailand and she grew up working in a Thai restaurant. A door to a whole new world of tastes and smells was opened wide.

The fragrance of fresh cut galangal root, the zesty aroma of crushed lemongrass stalks and kefir lime instantly takes me back to our first days going out, the first time I held her hand. Rogue Perfumery Chypre-Siam is a multi-trip for me: I am a child at my maternal grandmother’s house sniffing the bottles of Maja and White Linen on her vanity, next I’m in my early twenties exploring San Francisco, misty foggy mornings, meeting my wife to be, the farmers markets; piles of sugar plums, chanterelle mushrooms, fresh thyme.

I never planned to be a perfumer. I worked in the kitchen industry for nearly 25 years. There’s a correlation between food and fragrance. Many kitchen aromas are like perfume in a way and are very evocative. Fresh picked marjoram leaves are like a perfume unto themselves, their sweet herbal fragrance transports me right back to the kitchen days with Wolfgang Puck. The smell of white wine being splashed into lightly toasted Arborio rice and bay leaves takes me back to cold November nights in San Francisco, working at Scala’s Bistro – the packed dining room in the heart of Union Square, warm autumn colors, anticipation of the festive holidays, the dark woods and art deco décor.

Essential oils and perfume ingredients in Manuel’s lab©

I had a growing collection of fragrances from over the years which grew exponentially after discovering Basenotes in 2005. What sparked my interest in actually making fragrances was after learning Creed’s Cuir de Russie had been discontinued. It’s a relatively unimpressive fragrance but I was intrigued by how well the bright lemon opening over the smoky leather base worked; two polar opposite accords that collide, work their magic and race apart from each other. For the hell of it I thought I’d attempt to mimic it and purchased a number of essential oils and sourced some birch tar and began mixing with horrible results. I did this repeatedly over the course of months, constantly tweaking, constantly arriving at poor results. This was definitely not going to pan out as trying to replicate a dish in the kitchen. I began to research perfumery and fell into the rabbit hole. I studied, researched and practiced for nearly nine years before I was able to produce an actual fragrance that actually performed as a fragrance. There is a wealth of piecemeal information on the internet (as well as misinformation).

Paul Kiler of PK Perfumes does the photography for Manuel and you can read his September 1, 2013 profile here

On American Perfumery: What does being an American perfumer mean to me? I’ve been ruminating over this question and cannot conclude a definite answer as to actual personal meaning. That is what I am. There is, however, a definite feeling of challenge that looms above. We’ve derived from the old world; the cultures, food, music etc. We have derived those things and morphed them into our own distinct American culture. The challenge I constantly feel is to eventually create something equally distinct.

Rogue Perfumery Chypre Siam, Mousse Illuminee, Bon Monsieur and Vetifleur © Manuel Cross

So far I’ve only been creating fragrances well-rooted in the classics. “So what is the next step?” that is what I’m always asking myself. Is the next step introducing notes and accords based on local and native plant species? Or perhaps drawing from the usual palette of notes but changing up the structure? I’m still running down that path of discovery.

 

Laurie Anderson and Ramblin’ Jack Elliott collage via Manuel Cross © courtesy of the musicians

Favorite American Artist: Laurie Anderson and Ramblin’ Jack Elliott are two particular American musicians I find most intriguing. Jack Elliott was basically a city boy from Brooklyn who wanted to be a cowboy, and he did just that! He ran off to join a rodeo. He taught himself guitar, studied under Woody Guthrie (nearly became Woody Guthrie!) He belts out traditional American folk and blues yet all the while he is distinctly Jack Elliot, no question about it. For all the derived songs and styles, he invented himself completely. Laurie Anderson is one of the most unique artists I’ve ever listened to. Her mashup of spoken word and stories, multi-media, her violin; there is nobody else like her. When I’d play her records as a teen I remember my parents coming into my room asking “What in the hell are you listening to???” These two musicians are from completely different ends of the music spectrum yet they’re both so uniquely American in their sound. Perhaps my answer lies within these artists who have resonated with me for so many years. There’s something that can be harnessed and applied to my own art, I just need to discover it first.

–Manuel Cross, Founder and Perfumer of Rogue Perfumery

Boxed Sample Set contains twelve1.50 ml mini rollerball vials of each fragrance from the Rogue Perfumery collection including Champs Lumieres, Bon Monsieur, Chypre Siam, Deriviche, Derviche 2, Tabac Vert, Fougere L’Aube, Jasmin Antique, Vetifleur, Tuberose and Moss, Flora and Fauna, Mousse Illumine

Thanks to Manuel Cross of Rogue Perfumery we have a draw for a full sample set of all the Rogue fragrances, plus a 50% discount on any bottle from the Rogue line.

To be eligible you must be a registered reader (register here) in the USA and EU, you must be registered or your comment will not count. Tell us what you found fascinating about Manuel Cross of Rogue Perfumery and which Rogue perfume you would most like to try. Draw closes  8/20/21

 

Use CODE CFBROGUE for 25% discount for all readers in USA and the winner gets the sample set with a coupon code for 50% off 

www.etsy.com/shop/rogueperfumery

Code expires 8/30/2021

All photos belong to Manuel Cross unless otherwise noted

Please read  Sr. Editor Lauryn’ Beer’s reviews of Rogue Perfumery Tuberose and Moss, Jasmin Antique and Chypre-Siam

Deputy Editor Ida Meister reviewed Vetifleur here

Please like CaFleureBon Profiles in American Perfumery on Facebook and your entry will count twice. Please leave that in your comment.

Manuel Cross of Rogue Perfumery is our 161st in our American Perfumer Series, which officially began with Dawn Spencer Hurwitz of DSH Perfumes on July 11, 2011

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