Olivia da Costa
Olivia da Costa did not arrive at perfumery through the expected route. Her training at Chelsea College of Art led her toward literature, specifically turn-of-the-century novels where scent functioned as character, memory, and metaphor. The fascination stayed with her. She began studying fragrance as a language before she ever attempted to speak it herself. What followed was a self-directed education in raw materials and composition, built through years of reading, experimenting, and listening. She founded Olfactive O as a platform for that accumulated vision, with each fragrance taking a single fragrance family as its creative territory. During a difficult period, Da Costa found that crafting scents helped her process complex emotions, lending her work a personal depth that continues to define it. The decade-long development of her launch fragrance, New Earth, reflects her belief that meaningful work resists acceleration. She also consults for other fragrance houses, bringing her distinctive perspective to broader creative projects in the industry.
The signature
How Olivia composes
The Olfactive O collection demonstrates her commitment to complete expression within each fragrance family. She creates distinct compositions rather than variations on a signature, with each scent standing as a full statement within its category. Her approach treats floral, woody, fruity, and gourmand families as creative territories worthy of dedicated exploration. Materials in her work tend toward layered complexity, with accords that reveal new dimensions over time. The decade-long refinement of New Earth suggests she resists compromise in her compositions, willing to extend development until a work feels complete rather than simply ready.
Philosophy
What drives Olivia
Da Costa treats fragrance as narrative rather than simple aesthetics. Each Olfactive O scent takes a fragrance family as its organizing principle, exploring that territory with the depth a novelist brings to character. She avoids the pressure to follow trends, preferring to build bodies of work that reward sustained attention. Her own experience using perfume as a tool for emotional processing informs her belief that fragrance can carry genuine personal significance. She has spoken about finding her love for scent early in life, a foundation that shapes how she approaches every composition.