I don’t know of anyone else in the perfume industry with a haunting gaze like Jeroen Oude Sogtoen.  A creative mind, with a passion for life, art and beauty; no doubt adds to this intensity.

What you may not know about Jeroen is that the fragrance industry wasn’t  his original chosen profession.  Instead, he started his career in fashion design after graduating from the Amsterdam Fashion Institute and worked for ten years as a fashion designer, which then led to a transition in interior design leading to work in the hospitality industry.    It’s while working in hotel development that  he founded ZENOLOGY a lifestyle company committed to bringing hotel luxury to the home with environmentally friendly products.  In his search for a perfumer to help in this endeavor, he met Mona di Orio. In Mona, Jeroen saw an exceptional and talented artist that needed a brand to call her own.  Together they founded Maison Mona di Orio wherein Mona  became the brand’s nose and Jeroen the brand’s  eyes.  In 2004, the company launched their first fragrances, Lux, Carnation and Nuit Noire and a successful brand was born.  Tragically, in December 2011, Mona passed away leaving a legacy of launched and un-launched fragrances. After her death, Jeroen kept Mona’s legacy alive by continuing to develop and create perfumes under the Mona di Orio brand name which remain truly Monaesque; perfumes that are harmoniously balanced between the light and the dark.

In the spirit of rebirth, in 2015, Mona di Orio launched a new look in keeping with the brand’s philosophy and aesthetic by debuting a bold, yet soft, sleek and sensual, new bottle design. And just recently, Mona di Orio launched their newest creation, Bohea Bohème, created by perfumer Fredrick Dalman, a perfume designed to capture the smoldering delicacy of the distinctive and precious Bohea Tea cultivated in the Wuyi Mountains of China. Thanks to Jeroen, Mona di Orio lives on through the brand’s original iconic perfumes and new ones designed in elegance and uncompromising luxury.

So let’s see what Jeroen’s words reveal behind that haunting gaze:

1. My favorite way to relax is …biking through big cities, having a drink at my local bar with my friends and talk about “life” (read: nothing)
2. What drives me most crazy is…people who are not curious to learn and discover and people who lack passion.
3. The greatest piece of advice I ever received has been …SEE what is around you and find inspiration in literally everything.
4. What makes me smile is…young talent, like our new in-house perfume Fredrik Dalman (and of course: new shoes!)
5. A guilty pleasure of mine is …when it’s a pleasure I don’t feel guilty, but I understand what you mean. Disco music, and since I am a very romantic guy, Romantic music of the sticky kind.
6. My favorite food is…Asian, Chinese, Korean, Thai, and of course Japanese.
7. When it comes to my organization skills, I…have the ability to make people enthusiastic and curious and push them the excel.
8. My one recommendation for the fragrance industry is…make less but more relevant creations.
9. I am hopelessly challenged by…having my own two companies – ZENOLOGY and Maison MONA DI ORIO – and to make sure that we keep on making it work.
10. I get my fragrance industry news from…I try to stay away from getting too much information, because it can be confusing when you see so many new launches. I try to follow my own rhythm and get inspired by fashion, art, people, and traveling.

Who would have guessed that those eyes were hiding a love of disco and sappy romantic music?!  Thanks to Jeroen for revealing a little more of himself to our readers.

For more information on ZENOLOGY products and the Mona di Orio perfumes, including the newest release, Bohea Bohème, go to the websites below:

www.monadiorio.com

www.zenology.com

For more information on The Scented Hound’s Random 10, click here.