Name: Elisabeth Modin
Company: Friede Modin
Finalist Perfume: Feu Follet, Jardin Mystique
Category: Independent

1. Where are you, right now?
I am outside in a lovely London cafe close to my house enjoying the warm sunny weather and the coming of spring time.

2. What was the last thing you searched for, in Google?
The last thing I searched for on Google was 'Oriental spices'. Researching ideas for our next perfume...

3. What's a song you are listening to, these days?
I am listening to a lovely composition created by my partner Sharma for one of his documentary film projects. It is playful, mystical and bit melancholic, it brings the thoughts to an old French circus with mysterious and magical acts. It puts me in a creative spirit. Listen here.

4. What led you to perfumery?
Me and my partner Nina met several years ago in London and quickly became good friends. With our background and passion in perfumery we wanted to create something exceptional together. We would often sit in our local cafe and smell new perfumes and discuss the stories and inspiration behind. That gave us the inspiration to create our own line as we want to tell stories with our perfumes in a different way, to allow people to experience the fragrances in more dimensions than just through the composition and ingredients. We enjoy creating perfumes that play with the imagination.

5. What excites you about your finalist perfumes?
[Ed. note: Friede Modin has two perfumes that are finalists]
Jardin Mystique was the first perfume we created with Francois Robert. Therefore it is very special to us, as it inspired not just the creation of the perfume itself but also our brand Friedemodin. With this fragrance we imagined opening the heavy oak door to the wild garden, the 'Jardin Mystique', and on the other side you discover the complex and elegant green and floral notes of the garden. This inspired our first collection of perfumes.

Feu Follet is the most recent fragrance in the collection and we love it because it shows a very different part of the garden, one that is unexpected as it portrays the dark night, a fire is burning and the embers release trails of smoke that mix with the wood. It is a smoky, woody blend, a signature fragrance, yet wearable.

6. Name three scents (other than your own) that you are a big fan of.
Several of Tom Ford fragrances are favourites, especially Tobacco Vanille, the tobacco is offset and softened by the combination of Vanilla. In a similar style there is also Miller Harris La Fumée series which is lovely.

7. If you could give a few words of advice to a young person trying to do something in the world, what would you say?
Find out what you want in life and don't be afraid to pursue it, you are more likely to have success doing something you love and that you are passionate about than following the safe and sensible road.