Chiaki Nomura grew up in Japan, the kind of child who pressed her head into a fabric bag to smell her favourite fabric softener. She went to a pharmaceutical university in Tokyo to become a pharmacist, and came across a fragrance company by chance while looking for work. She then took a master's degree in cosmetics and fragrances at ISIPCA in Versailles and the University of Plymouth in England, and began her career as a perfumer at IFF New York in 2008.
Today she is a perfumer at IFF New York, working across fine fragrance, body care, hair care and candles. Her formulas are short: every material has a place and nothing is extraneous. She favours woods, vetiver and cedarwood above all, for their kinship with hinoki. With Laurent Le Guernec she composed Vince Camuto Fiori (2013), a Fragrance Foundation Award nominee. Her Bath & Body Works scents include Flannel and Sea Salt & Palms, and for Scents of Wood she made Hinoki in Hinoki, a tribute to the Japanese cypress.
Zoologist Penguin, launched in January 2024, follows a male emperor penguin guarding his egg through an Antarctic storm while the female travels to the sea for food. Nomura worked two IFF materials into it: Arctical, icy, airy, clean and slightly aldehydic, and Oceanol, which speaks of sea, seaweed and seamoss. Antarctic Air, Ice Accord and juniper berry open over pink pepper, saffron and ciste absolute, then settle on sandalwood, musks, seamoss and suede. The musks are synthetic, and the perfume uses no animal products.
