The Role of the Evaluator with MANE Fragrance Development Managers Ashna Roy and Julie Fwok
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What does a Fragrance Development Manager (Evaluator) actually do?
Smellow fragrance nerds! Welcome back to another episode of Making Scents Make Sense, the podcast that's all about demystifying the wonderful world of fragrance. Here we explore the realm of scent, carefully navigating the fragrant waters to avoid any gatekeeping, snobbery, or BS. Searching for the promised land where fragrance is fun, accessible, and for everybody. That is the mission. I'm Thomas Dunkley, and I'm your host or to keep up the sailing metaphor, your skipper. It is my job to read the map and get us to our destination. You're all just very lucky that this is all about perfume and I'm much better at talking about fragrance than I am directing anybody anywhere with a map. Consider yourself lucky.
For today's episode I've got not one, but two guests. I'm joined by Ashna Roy and Julie Folk, who are fragrance development managers at the Fragrance House Mann. Mann has been in business for over 150 years and is an independent, family-run fragrance house, creating fragrances for a wide range of products and brands. They're the home of perfumers like Mathieu Nardin, Ralph Schweiger, Mathilde Bijaoui, Julie Massey, and many, many more. But we're not here to talk about perfumers. We talk a lot about perfumers, quite rightly, because we love perfumers and we wouldn't have perfumes without perfumers. But we also wouldn't have perfumes if we didn't have fragrance development managers. And today It's the role of the fragrance development manager that we shine a spotlight on.
The fragrance development manager, often known as the evaluator, is a crucial part of the fragrance creation process. They're the person working between the perfumer and the brand, translating the brief each end and reviewing the submissions, ensuring that ultimately the client gets the fragrance they want. It's an essential role and one that we should talk about more. And that's what we're going to do today. We're going to talk about it. Ashna and Julia are going to talk us through the role as well as touching on upcoming fragrance trends and how culture can shape our relationship with scent. It's a truly fascinating conversation with a really unique insight into a crucial part of the fragrance development process.
So let's just dive straight in. Let's go overboard after a very brief word from our sponsors.
This episode of Making Sense Make Sense is sponsored by Carrium. Walking into a perfume store can sometimes be an overwhelming and intimidating experience, with enthusiastic sales staff and a huge amount of choice. Or at least it used to be, because Carrium are looking to disrupt and change how we explore fragrances in store. Carrium represents the future of fragrance discovery, blending technology, creativity, and emotion. It makes finding a fragrance feel like a personal journey, not a sales pitch, which is why I'm pleased to have joined them as a brand ambassador. Carrium have partnered with two iconic London stores to make discovering fragrance an easy and interactive experience. The technology made its UK debut in June 2025 with an exclusive partnership with Thamin London, showcased in a Selfridge's London pop-up.
It's now a permanent feature at the Thimene Counter and customers can explore key fragrances in the range using Carium, the scent simelier. But the Carrium technology has been developed to work in all fragrance settings and launched last year at Path and La Dance in Richmond, a boutique founded by acclaimed perfume critic Deria Turkan. Here, customers can explore a finely curated selection of fragrances across multiple niche brands, with Carrium's innovative AI tech, powered by a large language model, guiding them in their discovery. You can find Carrium's The Sensi Melite in both stores, so why not pay a visit and let Carrium help you discover your next favourite fragrance? Ashna Julie, this is such a treat to be joined not by one, but two of Mann's uh fragrance development managers.
It's a r a real thrill. How are you both doing today?
Very good, yeah. Yeah, really happy to be here.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What does a Fragrance Development Manager (Evaluator) actually do?
0:09–8:09
2
How did Ashna and Julie first become interested in fragrance?
8:09–15:59
3
How does culture and geography influence scent perception and development?
15:59–22:37
4
What skills and personal traits are essential for a successful evaluator?
22:37–29:36
5
How do evaluators translate client briefs into concrete olfactory directions?
29:36–35:44
6
What is the typical workflow from brief to final fragrance submission?
35:44–43:14
7
Which emerging fragrance trends and ingredients are shaping the market?
43:14–50:21
8
What advice do Ashna and Julie give to listeners who want to become fragrance developers?
50:21–58:37