Libre Yves Saint Laurent 2019 Eau de Parfum

Two people dressed in white lab coats are having a conversation:

Karl: Hi Master, what are we doing today?
Anna: We're creating a new perfume, commissioned by some French designer, Öwwes Irgendwie. It wasn't Roscher... Doesn't matter...
Karl: Oh cool, we discussed this in our first year, the perfume organ, right?
Anna: Almost, the school is not up-to-date, we don't have anything as dusty as that organ anymore, we use the Parfum-O-Mat 2000.

Karl's eyes widen. Anna gestures for him to go to the back corner of the lab, where an unassuming black box with a connected laptop stands, similar to the devices used in CSI series to analyze DNA samples and catch the murderer.

Anna: Here is our little gem, I've already booted it up and calibrated it with mainstream scents.
Karl: What exactly is it calibrated with?
Anna: With 1mL each of La Vie est Belle, Cool Water, Coco Mademoiselle, and 4711 Echt kölnisch Wasser, those are our four cornerstones within which we want to operate, scent-wise.
Karl: Why these and not mono-scents or more elaborate creations?
Anna: We would calibrate with niche scents if we wanted to create a niche fragrance, with mono-scents if we want to be really creative; for a standard designer scent, this calibration is sufficient. We conducted surveys, and these calibration scents are among the top 10 in the category. If one of them is not available, we take something comparable or skip that point; no one will notice anyway...
Karl: I see…
Anna: Ready to make your first big hit?
Karl (hesitantly): Hm………..yes?
Anna: Don't worry, you can hardly go wrong, the system is foolproof. Here, just select 2-3 popular perfumes from the list of designer scents that you want to combine. They will be displayed in the upper window, and right below, the scent notes will appear. If you click on them, you can adjust them stronger or weaker or remove them entirely. If you like it, click on "Brew," and the first liter will be mixed and filled into the brown glass bottle over there. At the same time, a file with the exact recipe will be created, and both will be sent to the client. All clear?
Karl: Yes, sounds totally easy. But how do I know that the first attempt will work? Can you mix less than 1L so you can test if you like it and not waste so many raw materials right away?
Anna: Ah, you must have had some good training in efficiency? I like your way of thinking. I left out an important detail. Here, the 2 tubes hanging out of the machine, you stick them in your nose. If you want to smell your creation, press "Sniff" above the Brew button, and the scent will be directed into your nose through the tubes, but don't press it more than once, or you'll never get the scent out of your nose. That happened to me once; the touchpad had a glitch and triggered the button five times in a row, I couldn't pull the tubes out fast enough, the system is very reactive. I couldn't mix for a whole week because I had the smell of cloying flowers in my nose. But enough chit-chat, let's get started!
Karl: Okay, let's see, I'll just take this one and that one.
Anna: Ah Mon Guerlain EdP, good choice, and Calvin Klein Women EdP, I'm curious. Here behind the scent names, you can enter the percentage distribution of the components.
Karl: Good, then I'll just take 10, no wait, 15% from the first and 85% from the second.
Anna: Very good, now the scent notes: turn up what you like, click away what you don't like.
Karl: Okay, this is easy, orange blossom at full volume, lavender very quietly, and eucalyptus has to go. Done.
Anna: Great, let's take a sniff of that before we brew it. Everyone gets a tube; that should be enough.

They eagerly stick the tubes in their noses. Anna nods at Karl, who returns the gesture, then she presses "Sniff." A quick little rumble, a soft hissing, something rattles, and the scent rushes into their noses.

Anna: Not bad at all for your first creation! Bravo, it's practically sold already. I can see it now, some beautiful bottle, a young thing, maybe a top model or singer, doing the advertising, a catchy name… And they'll give us some more cosmopolitan pseudonyms, that's always the case.
Karl: Already finished? Wasn't that just the top note? Aren't we going to work on it further?
Anna: Nonsense, creation successful. The scent has to convince in the first 3 minutes in the perfumery, that's what they call a top note catcher when they're being harsh. And time is money, the budget is tight, we need to create 5 more perfumes today. It's turned out to be a pleasing designer scent.
Karl: Okay, so I press Brew now?
Anna: Here we go, the file has been assigned the code L-1br€, please write that in your protocol book later.

Somewhat disillusioned that it went so quickly to create a new scent, Karl feels like the magic was missing. On the other hand, which trainee already has a self-created scent on the perfumery shelves?!