Chris Bull
Chris Bull is a Toronto-based entrepreneur and the perfumer behind CBCB Fragrances, an independent fragrance house he founded. His path into perfumery began with DIY fragrance making, following a long career in music as a songwriter and producer. That musical background gives his work a distinctly personal, rhythm-driven character: scent becomes another means of composing, arranging, and expressing emotion. Bull has created more than 400 fragrances, became the International Flavors & Fragrances company’s first Master Perfumer, and received the Fragrance Foundation’s Perfumer of the Year recognition. At CBCB, every composition begins as an intimate record of friendship, relationship, or meaningful experience, translated into fragrance rather than described literally.
The hits
Notable creations
The signature
How Chris composes
Bull’s style is expressive, narrative, and open to experimentation, with more than 400 creations demonstrating a broad range of ideas. His work draws on the sensory vocabulary of music: contrast, rhythm, layering, and the movement between distinct impressions. That background is especially relevant to CBCB compositions, which pair emotional storytelling with materials chosen for their emotional resonance. Bull’s recognition as IFF’s first Master Perfumer suggests both technical command and a sustained contribution to fragrance craft. The exact ingredient preferences of every CBCB composition vary, but the consistent signature lies in translating intimate human stories into vivid, wearable olfactory documents.
Philosophy
What drives Chris
Bull treats perfume as a form of personal documentation. His compositions begin with human connection, especially the emotional texture of friendships and relationships, and then translate those feelings into scent. The approach favors immediacy over abstraction: a fragrance should feel like a preserved memory, complete with its atmosphere and emotional charge. His DIY beginnings also shaped a practice built on experimentation, curiosity, and the pleasure of making something from raw materials. For Bull, perfumery is less about chasing a prescribed style than about listening closely to a story and finding its olfactory equivalent.
The houses