[2] Her earliest scent memory is of the Italian talc powder her mother bought to care for Nagel's baby brother.

)[3] Her grandmother was a seamstress, sewing men's trousers, and the smell of freshly pressed pants formed another important early scent memory.

[5][7] Nagel began her career in the research department of Swiss fragrance firm Firmenich, where she became enchanted with the strong emotional reactions a male perfumer colleague's work elicited from the women smelling it.

[8] Nagel asked to transfer to the perfumery section, but lacking the traditional background was told no and switched to chromatography instead, examining fragrances and their ingredient recipes on a molecular level.

These include major hits like her 2003 collaboration with Francis Kurkdjian, Narciso Rodriguez for Her,[2] the 2005 strawberry-and-popcorn confection Miss Dior Chérie,[9] and fruity gourmand Armani Sì (2013); luxury lines like Guerlain's Les Élixirs Charnels;[10] as well as niche perfume creations like 2011's "bizarre yet fascinating" Archive 69 for Etat Libre d'Orange, a camphorous rose and incense scent, and Wood Sage & Sea Salt (2014) for Jo Malone, a skin scent of salt lingering on the body after a day at the beach.

[16] Nagal also won the 2007 Prix François Coty (then briefly retitled the Cosmetic Valley's International Fragrance Prize, but since returned to its original name).

[10] Nagel said: "I would have liked to have had the audacity of Germaine Cellier … when she presented Vent Vert [fr] in 1945 [...] It's an incredible fragrance that, if it came out today in its original formula, would be extraordinarily modern.