Maria Host-Ivessich

Maria Host is a young perfume addict and filmmaker with 24K followers on Instagram. We at TheCorner.com had the lovely chance to meet her and find out more about her passions.

As a filmmaker and fragrance expert, which of the five senses do you feel most connected to?

I’d say a bit of all of them, I like the idea of drawing inspiration and mixing a little of the things I see, the things I taste, and the things I smell because they have something in common that always stimulates me and so something I smell then becomes a story, and the same as something I see, something I listen to, music, cinema, perfumes.

On the podium of my infinite passions, I’d definitely put cinema.

Your social networks reveal an infinite list of passions, which would you put on the podium?

On the podium of my infinite passions, I’d definitely put cinema.

You have a veritable collection of perfumes at home. How did this curiosity towards the olfactory world come about?

Well, this curiosity towards the olfactory world was handed down to me by my mother, because she has always been very passionate about it. She made the mistake, as a teenager, of making me choose one perfume for going out with friends and one for going to school.

If perfumes were a look, what would you choose to wear in these three situations: A romantic date, dinner with friends, and going to work?

If perfumes were a look, for a romantic date, I’d choose something intoxicating, that gets you a little drunk, so a rose. There's this perfume called ‘Dom Rosa’ perfume by Liquides Imaginaires, which is a rose combined with champagne. For a perfume to go to work, on the other hand, because my job is predominantly male, I would choose an amber. However, I like strong ambers or incense, something to keep my back straight. Lastly, having dinner with friends, I’d go for a gourmand scent.

Your social networks reveal an infinite list of passions, which would you put on the podium?

On the podium of my infinite passions, I’d definitely put cinema.

You have a veritable collection of perfumes at home. How did this curiosity towards the olfactory world come about?

Well, this curiosity towards the olfactory world was handed down to me by my mother, because she has always been very passionate about it. She made the mistake, as a teenager, of making me choose one perfume for going out with friends and one for going to school.

If perfumes were a look, what would you choose to wear in these three situations: A romantic date, dinner with friends, and going to work?

If perfumes were a look, for a romantic date, I’d choose something intoxicating, that gets you a little drunk, so a rose. There's this perfume called ‘Dom Rosa’ perfume by Liquides Imaginaires, which is a rose combined with champagne. For a perfume to go to work, on the other hand, because my job is predominantly male, I would choose an amber. However, I like strong ambers or incense, something to keep my back straight. Lastly, having dinner with friends, I’d go for a gourmand scent.

In addition to your modeling past, as a director in the creative duo Marco Maria, you have directed campaigns for major fashion brands. What is your relationship with fashion and what do you like to say about it?

I’ve always had rules: for example, to visit my grandmother I always had to go in a man's shirt. So I rebelled a little bit, slowly, and now I'm coming back into the fold, but I like to take different cues without following too many rules.

If you had to be reborn in one of your favourite films, which character would you choose and what look would you wear?

So if I had to imagine being a character, I'd choose either Monica Vitti in 'The Girl with the Gun', because she's tough but she's also kind of light, and I'm usually kind of an anvil so I'd balance things out and I'd be all dressed up in black vinyl, which is something I might not do on my own. Otherwise, in some Miyazaki films, it would be fun to do something dreamy.

In addition to your modeling past, as a director in the creative duo Marco Maria, you have directed campaigns for major fashion brands. What is your relationship with fashion and what do you like to say about it?

I’ve always had rules: for example, to visit my grandmother I always had to go in a man's shirt. So I rebelled a little bit, slowly, and now I'm coming back into the fold, but I like to take different cues without following too many rules.

If you had to be reborn in one of your favourite films, which character would you choose and what look would you wear?

So if I had to imagine being a character, I'd choose either Monica Vitti in 'The Girl with the Gun', because she's tough but she's also kind of light, and I'm usually kind of an anvil so I'd balance things out and I'd be all dressed up in black vinyl, which is something I might not do on my own. Otherwise, in some Miyazaki films, it would be fun to do something dreamy.