creation

WHAT DOES A UNICORN SMELL LIKE?

published on 2026-04-19

WHAT DOES A GIRAFFE SMELL LIKE?

When I worked at Asquali, Culture Olfactive, we created scents for live performances.

Here are a few stories of olfactory scenographies.

In 2000, with Michael Moisseeff, aroma sculptors, we imagined the smell of giraffes for the show “The Giraffe Hunters” by the Royal de Luxe company.

Whenever we talked about this creation, you could be sure we’d be asked: “What does a giraffe smell like?”

We would answer with heart and humor: “A giraffe smells like a horse… but with a long neck!”

WHAT DOES A ZEBRA SMELL LIKE?

In 2019, Osmoart designed the olfactory world of the show “The Ordinary Circus Girl”, created by Corinne Linder, artistic director of the Pheel Concepts company.

For a character wearing a zebra mask and evolving in a surreal — even Lynchian — way in an immersive video, we imagined a scent.

Again, with humor — because yes, smells can be funny — if a giraffe smells like a long-necked horse, then:

A zebra would smell like a horse… with black and white stripes.

More concretely, it’s a subtle blend of molecules evoking horse sweat, combined with other untamed animal notes in a wild environment: an olfactory savanna with hints of dry grass, earth, and warm hay.

Senteur de zèbre & parfum d’une dame blanche

SO… WHAT DOES A UNICORN SMELL LIKE?

Today, we reveal the composition of the unicorn fragrance.

This composition was created as part of an art project by Bertille, our neighbor when she was in middle school in Lavaur.

For the assignment, she made a rainbow-colored unicorn horn placed inside a shoebox.

As a side note, Bertille is the inventor of the famous “blotter tree,” which allows you to take home different scented strips without mixing them (and avoid a scent disaster in your bag!).

We had scented this box with the composition we created.

So, what does a unicorn smell like?

Well, a unicorn smells like “My Little Pony” with a rainbow horn on its forehead.

It smells like a horse on a pink cotton candy cloud.