Niche by Nez #01 (EN)

The voice of creation

Still developing in the early 2000s, so-called niche perfumery has managed to create a position in the last 20 years whose vibrancy is unmatched: over 2,000 product launches a year, exponential growth, a market reaching more than a billion annually across the globe, and products seeking excellence, innovation and creativity in all its forms. The “niche,” whose name and definition seem as indomitable as its amazing development, continues to write new pages in the history of perfumery, here and now. Freed from mainstream market constraints, niche perfumery acts as an experimental laboratory, paving the way for the explorations and tests that will help guide the perfumery of tomorrow. Since its launch, our website Auparfum has been carefully observing this market, its players, brands and creations, while highlighting

the best of the selective circuit. Following the 2016 launch and immediate success of Nez, the olfactory magazine, the years of experience gained from producing 15 issues, dozens of books, podcasts, exhibitions and events prompted the Nez team to think of a new international magazine entirely dedicated to niche perfumery.

Nez is delighted to present the first issue of the free annual magazine Niche by Nez that will be available to the public worldwide, thanks to the international network of places dedicated to olfactory culture that we have been federating around our publications: perfume shops, cultural venues, professional events and the general public. Through this new magazine we promise to amplify the voice of the actors of the “niche.”

By Dominique Brunel, Mathieu Chévara and Jeanne Doré, co-founders of Nez

INTRODUCTION

Niche perfumery moves center stage

by Jessica Mignot P.6

Raw materials

P.9

Natural materials by Delphine de Swardt

P.11

MAISON LAUTIER 1795

A sleeping beauty awakens

by Will Inrig and Béatrice Boisserie

P.12

SANTANOL

At the heart of Indian sandalwood

by Anne-Sophie Hojlo

P.19

PORTRAITS OF BRANDS

P.23

by Sarah Bouasse, Anne-Sophie Hojlo

and

Guillaume Tesson

OBVIOUS

In search of authentic olfactory pleasure

P.27

IN ASTRA

Reaching for the stars

P.29

Behind the brand by Juliette Faliu

P.31

MARC-ANTOINE BARROIS

An imaginary world

P.32

MAISON GODET

A family affair

P.33

AFFINESSENCE

From bottom to top

P.35

D’ORSAY

The map of love

P.36

LA CLOSERIE DES PARFUMS

A dream of elsewhere

P.37

JORUM

Niche from the north

P.39

HERMETICA PARIS

The beauty of a new reflex

P.40

AROUND FRAGRANCE

P.53

IFRA A player with good intentions by Jessica Mignot

P.54

SCENTIS

“We prefer doing things by hand” by Béatrice

Boisserie

P.55

Middle East

P.57

Sillage as adornment by Pascale

Caussat

P.59

AMOUAGE

“The frankincense industry deserves more transparency.”

by Guillaume Tesson

P.62

IBERCHEM

by Anne-Sophie Hojlo

P.65

Launch your brand by Juliette

P.25

Faliu

FABBRICA DELLA MUSA

The Italian art of good living

UNIKA

Honoring beautiful natural materials

PIGMENTARIUM

The scents of Prague

P.26

NEW SCENTSATIONS

by Jessica Mignot

P.43

Salty notes, sea spray and taste buds

P.44

Anise notes, aromatic intoxication

P.48

Secrets of a connoisseur’s market

P.66

From brief to bottle:

Creation of a niche perfume

P.69

Luz Vaquero

“For a perfumer, niche is more exciting”

P.70

INTERNATIONAL GUIDE OF NICHE PERFUMERY

P.73

Introduction NICHE PERFUMERY MOVES CENTER STAGE

Niche perfumery, born 50 years ago, has become a staple of the industry, shaping future tastes and making room for another way of writing fragrances. How has this very distinctive category gone from being confidential to a core segment of the market?

The origins of the term “niche” are a little unclear. While it lacks any negative connotations in English, in French it is often viewed by the sector as far from positive, an insult even, due to another meaning as a dog’s kennel. The word’s significance was initially architectural rather than canine though, referring to a recess hollowed out of the wall, and it wasn’t until the 17th century that it began to be used to refer to where a pet sleeps. However, in business terms it refers to a “market segment where little competition exists, allowing companies to develop new commercial opportunities,” according to the Larousse dictionary; in the Cambridge one, it is described as “an opportunity for a business to offer a product or service that is not offered by other businesses.”

Also known as high, exceptional, alternative or independent perfumery, the niche category emerged in the 1970s in response to the sector’s growing industrialization. According to historian Élisabeth de Feydeau’s Dictionnaire amoureux du parfum , it essentially aspires to “wake the emotions, flatter

the personality and meet a strong need for singularity” and is spearheaded by a handful of figures who demand greater creative freedom, a vision less influenced by market diktats, and limited distribution. In her book La Grande Histoire du parfum, she also suggests that the term “niche” can refer to “the habitat of birds that nest in secret, protected places,” similar to the cozy little boutiques that these new fragrance houses favor.

Maïté Turonnet, a specialist journalist who witnessed the sector’s emergence, cites three key pioneers: “With Serge Lutens, Annick Goutal and JeanFrançois Laporte, perfumery was shining the spotlight on people for the first time, using very powerful storytelling. However, at that point it was about creative directors rather than perfumers,” she stresses. It wasn’t until Frédéric Malle’s initiative in 2000 that perfumers took center stage. But in those days, the niche branch of the industry stood out in olfactory terms for its innovative style: “It wasn’t about rich florals anymore, with their multiple components; ingredients

were worked on in radically different ways. And the authors, their distinctive styles, began to be recognized,” explains Maïté Turonnet. As the niche sector took shape, it sparked a lot of interest and a number of specialist journalists with olfactory training adopted the subject: “Perfume writing and niche perfumery arrived almost simultaneously, which played a huge part in the new category’s growth. The cultural influence was significant, serving to cultivate people’s tastes and change how the industry was seen overall. In short, thanks to niche perfumery and the media that promoted it, the public as a whole became aware of olfactory creation,” she concludes. The large traditional fragrance houses soon took an interest and started to develop their own exclusive ranges, travel lines and other private collections. Some brands were also acquired by powerful multinationals.

A number of trade fairs, particularly Esxence (Milan) and Pitti Fragranze (Florence), point to niche perfumery’s strong presence in Italy, where there

are now special prizes dedicated to it. So, although Larousse claims that “the niche sector is often abandoned by large businesses for reasons of profitability, since it is a micro market with a limited potential customer base,” our industry refuses to embrace this passive approach. As Marc Dubrule, director of strategic development for L’Oréal’s Selective Divisions, said during a 2016 press conference, the sector has even “saved the market by bringing enchantment back into perfumery stores, and by educating consumers.”

While it is difficult to find reliable figures on the annual number of launches – there is talk here and there of several hundred creations (perhaps close to two thousand) – this is a market segment that is constantly progressing.

As an independent perfumer, launching a niche brand is not usually about opportunistic marketing – quite the opposite. It is a risky gamble and plenty of brands fail every year. And those who are deluded about the success of iconic brands bought by large groups often find themselves brutally confronted with the

mysteries of a fragile economic model. Knowing how to source quality raw materials, find partners and perfumers that correspond to the specific identity of the company, and also ensure the proper distribution of its products are all milestones in a real obstacle course. We wanted to hear from these different voices and paint a broad-brush portrait of a sector that has become a force to be reckoned with.

“Thanks to niche perfumery and the media that promoted it, the public as a whole became aware of olfactory creation.”

Maïté Turonnet

RAW mat eri als

MAISON

DE LA TERRE AUX ESSENCES

L'histoire continue*

MAISON LAUTIER 1795 , LA NOUVELLE MARQUE D R É INTERPR È TE LA PARFUMERIE NATURELLE EN RELIANT L ' ARTISANAT ET LES M É TIERS DU PASS É AUX INNOVATIONS DU FUTUR

MAISON LAUTIER 1795 , IS SYMRISE NEW NATURAL INGREDIENTS BRAND

CONNECTING THE CRAFT OF THE PAST WITH THE INNOVATION OF THE FUTURE .

NATURAL MATERIALS

By Delphine de Swardt

Perfumes are composed of many types of ingredients. The main category, because they have a long and wellestablished tradition, is natural ingredients, mostly obtained from plants which produce fragrant substances.

Each plant may contain an array of several hundred aromatic constituents that make up its olfactory “essence,” its signature, its aromatic soul. The French expression nature parfumeur (nature, the

perfumer) is used to refer to the origin of these raw ingredients. Although historically, perfume plants were those found in the Mediterranean Basin (the Grasse region, situated where the land meets the sea, is incidentally the ideal place to grow these plants because the summers are dry, the winters are cold and water is plentiful), nowadays the plants used in perfumery grow all over the world. Expanding the palette of raw materials truly means traveling the entire globe. Firstly, there is the plant, made up of roots, stems, leaves, bark, flowers, fruit and seeds. Depending on the species, some or all of these constituents will be

used. To be precise, apart from citrus plants – the leaves, flowers and fruit of which are all used separately – in general, a crop is grown for just one of these elements.

For many natural ingredients, harvesting is done by hand, and the extraction process usually happens in the same place (or nearby) because the plant material deteriorates rapidly and sometimes follows procedures that are several thousands years old. However, in the last two decades, that hasn’t stopped a surge in research around improving the yield and the quality of the ingredients.

Maison Lautier 1795 A sleeping beauty awakens

By Will Inrig

The house of Maison Lautier 1795 is currently undergoing a renaissance by Symrise and is responsible for their full natural ingredients portfolio (Madagascar, Artisan and Supernature ranges). This invites us to look at an innovative approach to the potential treasures that make up fragrances.

Among natural ingredient firms in Grasse, there were two giants: Chiris and Lautier. The companies battled for global supremacy in their trade throughout the early and mid-20th century, offering more and better materials to an ever-growing clientele. Eventually, they sought outside investment; Chiris was acquired by Universal Oil Products and Lautier, by Symrise.

A heritage rooted over two centuries ago

Lautier’s origins date back to the mid-18th century, when François Rancé began as a glover-perfumer in Grasse.

Ricardo Omori is senior vice president of the Fine Fragrance division at Symrise and marvels at Lautier’s heritage. “When I arrived at Symrise, Lautier was a sleeping beauty.” The more he learned about

the company, the more fascinated he was by its archives. “They’ve remained intact despite all odds and are some of the largest on any old Grasse house. They’re practically an encyclopedia on naturals.” Omori and his team proposed reviving Lautier as a supplier of premium natural ingredients for perfumery and flavors. “Lautier is a legend, a pioneer in so many domains. We realized we had to begin where they left off.”

Giving new life to Lautier’s expertise

Lautier was among the first to invest in perfumery materials from Madagascar. “The Morel family – owners of the house since 1877 – recognized very early on the country’s potential for ingredients,” Ricardo Omori states. “Lautier’s first purchases there date from 1928, for clove bud and ylang-ylang.” The latter product was distilled on Nosy Be by Father Clément Raimbault, who established ylang-ylang and vanilla plantations to help Malagasy leprosy clinics. “Today, Lautier is one of only a few perfume companies in Madagascar with control of the entire local supply chain. We have our own factory, team and artisans on-site,” remarks Omori. “Already in the

1950s, Lautier was pursuing business in emerging markets such as Mexico, Brazil and China, countries that are now key for us,” continues Omori, who is Brazilian himself. To satisfy demand, Lautier maintained a product offering of over 1,000 natural ingredients sourced from 60 different countries, a trade network worthy of an empire.

The enterprise is remembered both for its raw materials and the many luminaries nurtured within its walls. From the 1960s to 1980s, young perfumers such as Carlos Benaïm, Jean Martel and Christopher Sheldrake worked there; Jean-Claude Ellena served as a perfumer from 1976 to 1986. During that period, Christian Rémy managed raw materials purchasing for the company before helping his wife Monique found the Laboratoire Monique Rémy (LMR, later acquired by International Flavors & Fragrances).

In the mid-1990s, Lautier merged with the storied German firm Haarmann & Reimer, which became Symrise in 2003. Renamed Maison Lautier 1795, the house now embodies Symrise’s focus on natural ingredients, furthering its commitment to sustainable development.

MAISON LAUTIER 1795 AT A GLANCE

3 PILLARS Madagascar

Known as the “new Grasse,” the island is the nerve center of Maison Lautier 1795. The brand began by cultivating vanilla there before diversifying and consolidating its activities with the establishment of supply chains for other perfume plants, such as pink pepper, cocoa, cinnamon, geranium, ginger, lemongrass, longoza, mandarin, patchouli and vetiver.

Artisan

Maison Lautier 1795 has identified carefully selected craftspeople to produce perfume plants using transformation processes that guarantee exclusive qualities of jasmine, iris, boya and sandalwood, among other plants.

Supernature

Maison Lautier 1795 uses the exclusive technologies patented by Symrise to extract fruits and vegetables obtained without chemical treatments and consuming very little energy. Giving perfumers access to 100% natural extracts of asparagus, artichoke, onion, cauliflower, leek, banana, blackcurrant, cranberry, strawberry and apple is a first for the perfume industry.

MAISON LAUTIER 1795 IN 3 PERFUMES

VELVET TONKA

Brand BDK

Perfumer Alexandra Carlin

Launch 2021

The almondy facets of tonka bean melt into orange blossom and rose for a fresh take on an exotic treat. Hints of tobacco emerge, underpinned by the spicy warmth of cinnamon essence and Bourbon vanilla absolute from Madagascar.

LAVALLIÈRE

Brand Yves Saint Laurent

Perfumer Annick Menardo

Launch 2022

A vegetal and sensual rose, plumped up by fig and juicy blackcurrant, is refreshed by mandarin zest and the lychee facet of geranium, both from Madagascar.

TONKA BLANC

THREE PRODUCTION SITES

MADAGASCAR: KEY FACTS 1ST

Madagascar’s world ranking in vanilla production

1,000 TO 2,000 T pods exported every year

80 – 90 % global share of vanilla produced in Madagascar 80 % percentage of the country’s labor force working for the global economy

12,000 species of plants on the island

3,000 species of orchids, one of which is vanilla

SYMRISE: KEY FACTS

7,000 FARMERS

in the Sava region, to the northeast of the island

150 HA owned by Symrise in Sava and elsewhere in Madagascar where it grows its crops

40,000 people covered by the sustainable Synergy program

Holzminden, Germany

Brand L’Artisan parfumeur

Perfumer Alexandra Carlin

Launch 2022

This citrusy amber, inspired by a cauliflower cheesecake, reinvents the genre with a natural extract of the vegetable produced by the SymTrap® process. Mandarin and vetiver, grown in Madagascar, add their zesty and woody facets alongside enveloping vanilla and tonka bean.

9,300 farmers trained in regenerative agriculture

5,883 certified farms

84 villages

Grasse, France

Benavony, Madagascar

From Grasse to Madagascar

By Béatrice Boisserie

The first botanical experiments in Madagascar started a hundred years ago. Today, the island is still an extraordinary open-air testing ground for all sorts of materials and one of the pillars of Maison Lautier 1795. With vanilla playing such a key role in the island’s economy, Maison Lautier 1795 has encouraged crop diversification and built up other perfume plant supply chains, including for ginger, geranium, vetiver, cinnamon and lemongrass. An opportunity to provide farmers with an additional and significant source of income so they can survive outside the vanilla season. It also creates the possibility to devise

new perfume ingredients of exceptional quality. Teams of growers, horticulturists, agronomists and botanists see Sava –a region in the northeast of the island named after the main cities that populate it: Sambava, Andapa, Vohémar and Antalaha – as fabulously fertile ground for running a growing number of pilot projects and small-scale tests, including with vetiver and pink pepper on red soil, tomorrow’s mandarin trees and Bay Saint Thomas, which has been in short supply in Dominica for the last few years. Another innovation is tsiperifery, now grown for the first time in Sava. It is currently being registered as a new perfumery ingredient. Even before acquiring its scientific name, this wild pepper, native to Madagascar and used to spice up local cuisine, was already a favorite with chef Anne-Sophie Pic and

chocolatier François Pralus. Maison Lautier 1795 also plans to create a new patchouli product for fine fragrance. The little shrub grows happily under cocoa, vanilla and coffee. It is harvested three or four times a year and generates a good yield when distilled. Produced with increasing skill and 100% organic, it could soon compete with Indonesian patchouli.

Forgotten processes

Teams are constantly seeking new outlets for raw materials as well as exploring new ways of producing essences. We use sophisticated tools to bring out the plants’ character, such as a truck equipped with CO2 extraction technology, a process from the oil industry which works very effectively with dried products like longoza roots, white flowers and ginger. Fresh ingre-

dients are more complicated, but the problem is not insoluble: The development of a super-drier that could dehumidify an aromatic water, such as that of lychee, is a work in progress. Numerous forgotten processes are being revived, with enfleurage as one example. Since 2020, the first concretes of coffee, niaouli and butterfly ginger flowers have been made using jojoba oil. Jackfruit, ylang-ylang and white pepper have also been a big success! Looking to the future while remaining rooted in perfumery tradition, research has shifted toward developing a locally sourced fat for use in enfleurage, like cocoa butter or calophyllum. The problem is that these materials have a very strong smell.

Olfactory explorations

Experiments with deodorization using ultrasound, red clay and acti-

vated charcoal have been conducted. Nothing has worked so far. But teams of local researchers are actively looking for solutions and further tests are underway, based on a pilot machine and a new process for soaking and cleaning flowers. Continuing to work in ways that respect this magical land alongside its farmers, who know it so well, the company is sure to find the answers. As new methods for extracting fragrance from the 12,000 or so plant species that inhabit Madagascar are invented, the company is venturing down paths that could unearth real treasures: Some of these olfactory explorations will be successfully developed by working with local producers and in close collaboration with perfumers in Paris, New York, Dubai, São Paulo, Singapore and Shanghai.

Ricardo Omori confesses that Maison Lautier 1795’s legacy is humbling. “It’s an enormous technical and cultural inheritance, all in our hands.” He is determined that the company achieves a bright future based on its history of tradition, innovation and respect. “We’ve assembled a great team and are hard at work on the next big thing. I really believe, if you know who you are, you’ll know where to go.”

For Symrise and Maison Lautier 1795, which have been in Madagascar since 2004, that place is Grasse.

Maison Lautier 1795 @symrise_finefragrancestories

Santanol At the heart of Indian sandalwood

By Anne-Sophie Hojlo

s : Santanol

Sandalwood, with a history dating back to ancient Egypt, is one of the most precious woods in the perfumer’s palette. While the Santalum spicatum variety is endemic to Australia, in the 1990s the country also began sustainably growing Santalum album, or white sandalwood, the most prized in perfumery and nicknamed the “king of woods.” Santalum album was classified as endangered in the wild in its country of origin, India, in the early 2000s. High demand coupled with years of unscrupulous local

management of the resource led to massive deforestation in India, encouraging illegal trade. Several pioneering companies, including Santanol, decided to introduce this variety of sandalwood to Australia to conserve the species. Using a responsible and sustainable approach, Santalum album acclimatized perfectly in the north of the country, which shares the same tropical climate as southern India, covering vast areas where both water and land were widely available.

More than 500,000 trees of all ages grow on Santanol’s 2,000-hectare plantation in the far north of Western Australia, near Kununurra. It takes a great deal of patience to obtain the golden-hued essential oil. “Growing sandalwood is a long-term investment and commitment, as it takes at least 15 years for the trees to mature and develop the heartwood

used to produce the essence,” explains Dominique Sergi, global account sales manager for the company. Once the trees have been cut, the harvested wood has to undergo a drying process lasting three to six months before being chipped and distilled. Spent charges are upcycled into new raw materials used by our industry for renewable ingredients’ production. Santanol is in charge of the entire production chain, from seedling to essence, giving it total control over the quality of its products and guaranteed traceability throughout the process. Virtuous and environmentally friendly practices have been implemented at every single stage, including waste recovery.

Creating the sandalwood plantations has strengthened and added to the local biodiversity. The tree is semiparasitic and needs several host plants

Photo

The “king of woods” has ruled over Northern Australia for the last 30 years. Santanol produces an essential oil there using a sustainable and balanced approach.

IDENTITY SHEET

Botanical name

Santalum album

Common names

White sandalwood, Mysore sandalwood

Family

Santalaceae

ETYMOLOGY

The word sandal is derived from the Sanskrit name for the tree, chandana. The Medieval Latin variant santalum survives in the modern French santal Album comes from the Latin word for “white,” a reference to the tree’s pale-green or white heartwood.

EXTRACTION

Hydrodistillation

YIELD

1 kg 35 kg

essential oil sandalwood

SANDALWOOD

PRODUCTION

JUSTE UN RÊVE

Brand Nicolaï

Perfumer Patricia de Nicolaï

Launch 1996

The radiance of lush white flowers blooming on a soft bed of vanilla and sandalwood.

PRINCIPAUX COMPOSANTS

SEDLEY

Brand Parfums de Marly

Perfumers Olivier Cresp et Hamid

Merati-Kashani

Alpha-santalol

Launch 2019

Beta-santalol

Trans-alpha-bergamotol

ESSENTIAL OIL NOTES

Woody, creamy, milky, velvety, soft and warm, slightly woody and animalic, it evokes a side that is mystical and refined. It is not very strong but offers great tenacity.

Épi-bêta-santalol

An aromatic and remarkably fresh opening contrasts with a warm woody accord, where sandalwood intermingles with cedar.

VIA VELLUTO

Brand Fabbrica

Della Musa

Perfumer Hamid

Merati-Kashani

Launch 2022

An evocation of the Silk Road marked by the sensual, velvety character of sandalwood.

Alpha-santalal

Cis-lanceol

3 PERFUMES WITH INDIAN SANDALWOOD FACETS

during its different growth phases. Their selection, the result of in-house expertise, has led to the development of a diverse ecosystem that attracts an abundance of wildlife, including wallabies, reptiles, and many species of birds and insects that now live on what was once semi-desert land. Santanol takes a natural approach to promoting the healthy growth of its trees, limiting the use of fertilizers and pesticides. A herd of goats is responsible for daily weed control while also enriching the soil with organic fertilizer. Nitrogen, an essential nutrient for plant growth and usually supplied in the form of fertilizer, is also produced naturally by this virtuous ecosystem. The host plants needed for sandalwood were chosen from among leguminous plants, which can extract nitrogen from the air and make it available in the soil via their root system. Water management is also a major agronomic

parameter that Santanol focuses on. “We use irrigation systems that run on gravity, so we don’t need heat or electric pumps. We have also developed different soil probing techniques to ensure that the water is used in the most efficient way,” says Dominique Sergi.

To control supply as much as possible and improve the yield and quality of the essential oil from its trees, Santanol has been investing in research and development for several years. It has an R&D center based in Kununurra where it runs programs to optimize all agronomic practices for the crop. The company manages its own nurseries, where the best seeds are harvested and planted, resulting in continuous improvement of the plants. The company operates two sites to produce its sandalwood oil: a primary processing center in Kununurra, where the harvested wood is dried,

In presiding over the entire production chain, Santanol has complete control over the quality and traceability of its products.

sorted and chipped, and a state-of-theart distillery in Perth, where the essence is extracted from the wood chips and refined. All the energy required at the plantation is hydroelectric and therefore renewable, thanks to the proximity of the Ord River. Santanol purchases green energy from solar and wind farms for use at the distillery. The water used in the distillation process is recycled, and the wood is reused in other ways, ensuring minimal waste in the production process.

The result is an essential oil of superior quality , produced ethically and sustainably,* with guaranteed traceability throughout the value chain and certified Ecocert/COSMOS (COSMetic Organic Standard). “What distinguishes Santalum album from other varieties is its unusually high concentration of santalols,” says Dominique Sergi.

“Beta-santalol gives it its unmistakable olfactory profile, its soft and creamy woody signature, while alpha-santalol is responsible for the essential oil’s therapeutic benefits.” Beyond its status as a star ingredient in the history of perfumery, sandalwood has been known for its medicinal and cosmetic properties for centuries. Used by the Egyptians to embalm their mummies, it is also employed in India during funeral ceremonies to help the soul to rise, as well as in Ayurvedic and traditional Chinese medicine. “The progress of today’s scientific research shows that it has properties likely to be effective in the treatment of skin and hair disorders,” emphasizes Dominique Sergi.

“The latest clinical study conducted by Santanol has demonstrated the in vivo efficacy of the essential oil in preventing hair loss and constitutes a major element for its use in cosmetics.” It is

quite possible that sandalwood has not yet revealed all its secrets.

* Santanol is member of the Union for Ethical BioTrade (UEBT), a non-profit association whose members work to regenerate nature through ethical sourcing of ingredients from biodiversity.

AMBERY VANILLA FLORAL SPICY

SANDALWOOD IN NICHE PERFUMERY

Dries Van Noten Éditions de parfums Frédéric Malle 2013

MILKY

Santal de Mysore Serge Lutens 1991

Santal blanc Serge Lutens 2001

Santal majuscule Serge Lutens 2012

Santal 33 Le Labo 2011

WOODY BASAMIC

Sandalo Lorenzo Villoresi 1995

Tam Dao Diptyque 2003

Blue Santal Comme des garçons 2013

Santal carmin Atelier Cologne 2014 Concrete Comme des garçons 2017

Sandalwood Temple Sana Jardin 2017

Santal du Pacifique Perris Monte Carlo 2016

Santal noble Maître parfumeur et gantier 2017

Santal volcanique Maison Crivelli 2018

Sandalo Acqua di Parma 2019

Sandalwood in Oak Scents of Wood 2020

Santal Dan Sha Armani 2023

Lumière blanche Olfactive Studio 2012

Sacred Wood Kilian 2014 Cadjméré Pierre Guillaume 2007

Quartier latin Memo Paris 2012

Radio Bombay D.S. & Durga 2016

Milky Musk Parle-moi de parfums 2016

Sandalo Nobile Nobile 1942 2016

Santalum Chloé 2022

Eidesis Aesop 2022

L’Arbre Iunx 2013

port raits of bra �ds

Texts: Sarah Bouasse, Anne-Sophie Hojlo and Guillaume Tesson

LAUNCH YOUR BRAND

By Juliette Faliu

There are many motivations for embarking on this particular adventure: to develop a creator brand, to offer an aesthetic vision, to live out your passion, or to engage in a business sector experiencing strong growth and propose an original concept.

These goals are not mutually incompatible and are often combined to boost the chance of creating a viable brand. After all, the objective is to sell – especially if you want to make a living from your brand! A brand’s overall concept is what wins over future consumers. It encompasses a universe of inspiration: travel, literature, a region, an era, music, movies, etc. This is the fertile ground that creators build upon when authoring their perfumes. But above all, this universe is the springboard for the storytelling

that the brand will use and promote. This is the creator’s artistic vision – in other words, a personal and unique way to translate their world of inspiration into all the tangible elements of the brand. Perfumes are a reflection of this aesthetic, as are the logo, design guidelines, bottle, packaging, images, names and so on. Although it can be difficult to define a target audience at the launch phase, knowing the type of audience you want to prioritize can improve your chances of reaching the right people. The price positioning stems directly from the target audience. It impacts the business plan and the potential resources used to manufacture the product (materials, packaging, concentrate, etc.). It must therefore be consistent with everything else!

Historically, niche brands have presented themselves as the opposite of mainstream brands: limited distribution, no muses, next to no media campaigns, unisex products and formulas that center

on raw materials. Since the rise of niche perfumery in the 2000s, the sector has become progressively more competitive. To improve the likelihood of success, a distinctive and coherent concept has become fundamental to convincing customers and retailers alike.

Today, it is rare for a perfume brand to debut with just one product. From the time of its inception, a new brand will offer a range of between three and five perfumes in order to cover several of the major olfactory families and reach a larger audience. That being said, starting out with too many perfumes can have a negative effect. Although having a greater number of products opens up more olfactory possibilities, the cost of development increases proportionally, along with the risk of failure. In addition, launching a lot of perfumes at once does not leave time for the brand to build its reputation, image and message. And customers do not tend to be won over quickly.

Fabbrica della Musa

The Italian art of good living

Inspired by the legend of a Tuscan princess who loved to travel and created her own perfumes, brand founder Barbara Adelmann offers us a library of olfactory memories. With the help of principal perfumer Hamid Merati-Kashani, she celebrates

UNIKA

Honoring beautiful natural materials

Independent perfume creator Véronique Stambouli launched her brand in 2021. It pays tribute to the raw materials dear to her heart in unostentatious creations that give pride of place to natural ingredients. With 3 Poivres, she has tamed the impetuous nature of Sichuan pepper with the help of pink pepper and its fruity facets as

the Italian way of life that cultivates beauty and conviviality, steeped in raw materials from all around the world. Their collaboration has resulted in six compositions that invite us on a journey to discover Italy’s most gorgeous landscapes at different hours of the day. Mia Alba Mistica recreates the dawn glow as the sun rises over the Tuscan hills, promising glories to come. 7 Miglia then takes us on a morning jaunt from Brescia to Rome. Next comes Cristallo Bianco, evoking the sun at its zenith beating down on the peaks of South Tyrol. It is followed by Magia Maestrale, which whisks us off to Sardinia for a magical afternoon at the beach. Afterwards it’s time to relax over a drink in Piedmont with Dolcetto Romano. The journey finally ends with Via Velluto, the perfect expression of that precise moment, at 11:59 p.m., when everything seems possible – wherever you are in the world.

well as the spiciness of Madagascan pepper, underpinned by woody cedar and patchouli notes. Inspired by an irresistible crème brûlée she tasted in a restaurant, Vanille Réglisse enhances the pod and the root with its fruity, balsamic, woody and leathery nuances that unfurl over the skin. Fève Tonka Sésame is a nod to her father: Véronique has given the fragrance she created for him 20 years ago a new twist with a sesame absolute, rarely used in perfumery, whose lightly toasted facets awaken the roundness of tonka bean. Then we head to Tunisia, her husband’s country of origin, with Oud Osmanthus, where the precious wood is placed center stage in a whole new fashion, bathed in sweet and candied notes of apricot, plum and osmanthus. The last step of the journey takes us to Corsica and Cédrat Myrte Immortelle, which brings back childhood memories with its luminous citrus fruits, rustic maquis notes and sun-kissed immortelle. a.-s.h.

Pigmentarium The scents of Prague

“A brand? Not exactly. I see Pigmentarium as more of an artistic platform,” says Czech innovator Tomáš Ric. Since 2018, the former economics student – who could easily have followed the path of photography rather than perfumery – has put together a select range of six fragrances with powerful sillages, including Ad Libitum and Erotikon, “sculpted like the facade of a Central European building.” Pigmentarium is inspired by the city of Prague and its architecture but also by dance, cinema and design. Perfumer Jakub Hiermann composed its six fragrances. Alongside perfumes, the house has produced a stand-out collection of six incenses, from the freshest (Moroccan Mint) to the most baroque (Prague Olibanum, with its church-like aroma). Tomáš Ric was captivated by this particular olfactory form on a trip to Sri Lanka. The latest creation, Saffron Absheron, is based on saffron from the Absheron Peninsula in Azerbaijan, “a raw material more expensive than gold.” We won’t be seeing the designer at the major international perfume events this year. “I’ll be concentrating on our network of distributors, mainly located in Europe, but also in Japan, Armenia and Uzbekistan. And finalizing our next fragrance.” A new tribute to Prague, to be unveiled next autumn. g.t.

© Unika parfums

© FDM © DR

SEARCH OF AUTHENTIC OLFACTORY PLEASURE

yourself, and that it can produce a feeling of joy, and why not of fulfillment?” he explains. A credo that goes hand in hand with a search for simplicity, authenticity and purity, in terms of the olfactory profile of the compositions, which offer direct interpretations of iconic ingredients, as well as the brand’s responsible practices. “Keeping it simple doesn’t mean being satisfied with less elaborate products; it’s about avoiding artificial complications and overkill in order to offer the most gorgeous and healthy fragrances possible,” says David Frossard.

The brand champions a personal and pared-down approach to perfume, opting for simple compositions and responsible practices.

David Frossard knows niche perfumery inside out. After founding Différentes latitudes, which distributes and supports independent brands, he became creative director of Parfums Frapin & Cie, then co-founded the Liquides imaginaires house and the Liquides bar à parfums store in Paris. In 2020, he decided to take the next step and launch Obvious under his own name. “Niche perfumery is becoming increasingly uniform by going further and further down the path of power, opulence and ostentation,” he analyzes.

“I wanted to show that another way is possible.” He has chosen to respond to the overpowering scents that often equate to bad taste with a more personal vision of a perfume for the wearer alone. “Most brands sell their creations as weapons in the game of seduction, that you wear for others, but my instinct told me that you buy a fragrance above all to please

Green chemistry and recycled ingredients

The creations thus give pride of place to natural raw materials, without excluding synthesis but favoring green chemistry and recycled ingredients, while the alcohol used is organic and comes from French wheat. This quest for sustainability also applies to the packaging: The bottles, made from 30% recycled glass, are refillable and infinitely recyclable; the caps use cork from recycled wine corks; the cases, which are not encased in cellophane, are made from biodegradable cellulose and organic cotton fibers. Obvious also donates a percentage of its sales to the Surfrider Foundation, which works to protect the oceans. Two-and-a-half years after its launch, the brand is distributed extensively worldwide and continues to expand its range. The bestseller, Un musc, now has a liquid soap version, while its eleventh fragrance, Un été, was released in March, offering a more abstract translation of the sweetness of the summer season than previous creations. A.-S.H.

OBVIOUS IN 3 PERFU M ES

UN MUSC

Perfumer Anne-Sophie Behaghel

Launch 2020

A fragrance as soft and comfortable as a second skin that perfectly represents the brand’s philosophy with its simple and direct approach.

UN PATCHOULI

Perfumer Amélie Bourgeois

Launch 2020

A warm, balsamic, tobacco-like interpretation of the Indonesian leaf, given more roundness with tonka bean and underpinned by woody notes of cedar and sandalwood.

UN ÉTÉ

Perfumer Meabh McCurtin

Launch 2023

A green and fresh opening of matcha tea and ginger gradually reveals a sensual and sunny vanilla base.

Obvious www.obviousparfums.com

contact@obviousparfums.com

@obviousparfums

In Astra

REACHING FOR THE STARS

Fabiola and Sofia Bardelli offer an olfactory translation of the heavens infused with poetic beauty.

“Thence we came forth to rebehold the stars”: The young Italian house In Astra has chosen as its motto the closing line of the Inferno in Dante’s Divine Comedy. The brand was born in Milan in the spring of 2020, the brainchild of two sisters. Passionate about astronomy since childhood, Fabiola and Sofia Bardelli had long nurtured the idea of paying tribute to the poetic beauty of the heavens. Dante’s phrase has the ring of an invitation to escape from everyday life to admire the stars glittering millions of lightyears away. Why not translate the essence of the stars into the realm of artistic perfumery?

“Just as a fragrance evolves from top notes to base notes, a star continues its life cycle until it explodes and is reborn from dust: Both are ephemeral and eternal,” says Fabiola, who is in charge of creative direction. Sofia, who trained at the Grasse Institute of Perfumery, creates the compositions, each inspired by a specific star and its characteristics. “To capture the essence of each one, we start with scientific data then give them an olfactory interpretation with our choice of raw materials and the work on the sillage and tenacity,” continues Fabiola Bardelli.

Supergiants and white flowers

As a result, Antares, a red supergiant whose Arabic name means “heart of the scorpion,” takes the form of a flamboyant and opulent bouquet of white flowers, underpinned by powerful woody amber notes. Betelgeuse, on course to explode into a supernova in a few thousand years, conjures up stardust with an airy, slightly fruity powdery accord. Inspired by the North Star, Mismar has a highly distinctive, almost icy opening, which then reveals a warmer, more ambery base. And Tistar reflects the radiance of Sirius, the brightest star in the sky after the Sun, as it sparkles with aldehydes and peony. The attention to detail that characterizes the brand’s compositions can also be found in the bottles and packaging:

“As an Italian company, we feel it is important to highlight the craft skills of our country, particularly through family-run businesses,”says Fabiola Bardelli. The made-to measure gold zamak cap is modeled on Betelgeuse’s pitted surface, taking us closer to the heavenly dream the brand invites us to share. A.-S.H.

IN ASTRA IN 3 PERFU M ES

MISMAR

Perfumer Sofia Bardelli

Launch 2020

A fresh and metallic opening, where ginger and juniper rub shoulders, contrasts with a warmer feel as cedar fuses with incense and ambergris.

BETELGEUSE

Perfumer Sofia Bardelli

Launch 2020

A bright, powdery marriage of iris and osmanthus that gradually darkens into a night awash in patchouli, coffee and oakmoss.

TISTAR

Perfumer Sofia Bardelli

Launch 2022

An ode to light itself, with aromatic and aldehydic top notes revealing a floral heart of peony and lavender resting on a balsamic and musky base.

In Astra

©

Sofia Bardelli

BEHIND THE BRAND

By Juliette Faliu

The creator of an independent brand, whether a perfumer or not, is involved differently behind the scenes when designing a perfume.

While the goal of creating a successful product is omnipresent, the approach is more rooted in offering a personal, distinctive and original vision by way of the format or ingredients of the fragrances, the universe in which it operates or the history of the house. The perfumer working with an independent brand generally has greater freedom in composing fragrances and is not tied down by external approval constraints, as is the case in mainstream perfumery.

In the shoes of the creative director

The brand creator, not being a perfumer, will play the role of creative director. In charge of their own brand, he or she chooses their intermediaries, partners and suppliers. But it is difficult to improvise when it comes to creating a perfume: You need… a perfumer! It may be that the creative director will avoid revealing too much about the perfumer’s role in the composition and might not even mention their name, but the process is usually very much a co-creation. This individual has the choice of calling upon one or several independent perfumers and/or one or several composition houses. The caliber of the houses will depend on the available budget and production volume as

well as the creative director’s personal and professional network. During the development phase, the brand creator performs their role of creative director: He or she knows where they want to go and relays their vision to the collaborating perfumer. They inform the perfumer of adjustments they would like to make, ensuring that the perfume reflects their approach and brand.

In the shoes of the independent perfumer

When developing their own brand, a perfumer can test on their own but can also call upon a person or team with the perfumery skills needed to facilitate productive dialogue so they can make progress with the trials until the final version has been achieved.

GANYMEDE

Perfumer Quentin Bisch

Launch 2019

Starting out fresh and mineral (mandarin, Safraleine and osmanthus), this composition then evokes the softness of suede before ending with notes of immortelle.

ENCELADE

Perfumer Quentin Bisch

Launch 2022

An interplay of light and shade, shifting between the fresh green notes of rhubarb and the leathery, smoky facets of vetiver, sandalwood and tonka bean.

GANYMEDE EXTRAIT

Perfumer Quentin Bisch

Launch 2023

It opens with an overdose of immortelle (the Ganymede base note), before unfurling to embrace the freshness and minerality of Akigalawood and mandarin.

Marc-Antoine Barrois

13, galerie Véro-Dodat

75001 Paris

France

www.marcantoinebarrois.com

@marcantoinebarrois

Marc-Antoine Barrois

AN IMAGINARY WORLD

An enigmatic combination of a letter and three numbers. In 2016, ten years after the launch of the fashion house that bears his name, Marc-Antoine Barrois unveiled his first fragrance, the leathery, spicy B683. A nod to Saint-Exupéry’s Little Prince and his asteroid B612 by the designer, born on October 6, 1983.

Describing his artistic partnership with perfumer Quentin Bisch (Givaudan), whom he met in 2015, Marc-Antoine Barrois mentions a “shared taste for refinement, built on a very similar olfactory reference system.” While the designer explores shapes with his couture, the perfumer devises scents as textures. Together they have composed a range of five fragrances. Encelade, launched in 2022, is named after the giant of Greek mythology buried under Mount Etna. “Both powerful and sensual, I like to describe it as an explosion of joy, a post-COVID cuddle.” The latest, Ganymede extrait, went on sale on March 1, 2023, the fruit of a year’s work. “Quentin Bisch and I wanted to offer something other than a higher concentration of Ganymede, which has been in our range since 2019. So, we went back to the drawing board, imagining the eau de parfum and the extract as twin brothers with very different characters. While the first is candid, smiling and fresh, the second plays the seductive, flamboyant card,” summarizes Marc-Antoine Barrois. For the designer, aesthetic concerns go hand in hand with ethical and ecological issues.

A child at heart

The perfumes, clothes and jewelry made by the company, which has around 15 employees, are designed to be “incomparable, sincere and respectful.”

“Consuming less but better, in tune with a suffering planet, is a requirement that mirrors our DNA. For example, we have removed UV filters and preservatives from our perfumes as well as cellophane from our packaging,” explains Marc-Antoine Barrois. The designer, who says he is still “a child at heart,” cites the olfactory evocation of wooden toys and snacks as sources of inspiration for creating his next candle, named N°IV in reference to the brand’s new flagship store which opened in autumn 2022 at 4 Piccadilly Arcade in London. In Paris, the Marc-Antoine Barrois flagship store is located a stone’s throw from the Louvre and Palais-Royal, at galerie Véro-Dodat, and the brand also has an in-store boutique at the city’s Printemps Haussmann department store. G.T.

MARC-ANTOINE BARROIS IN 3 PERFU M ES

Maison Godet A FAMILY AFFAIR

Since 2016, Sonia Godet has been busy reviving the legacy of her ancestors, promoting an artistic approach to perfumery and demonstrating her attachment to the know-how to be found in the Saint-Paul de Vence area, where the brand’s only store is located.

“Love at first sight” is how Sonia Godet describes her feelings when she discovered bottles of her great-grandfather’s creations in the attic of the family home. She was then working in New York for Cartier’s perfume division. She decided to leave her life there behind her and relaunch the brand created by Julien-Joseph in 1901. Trained in Grasse, the young man rubbed shoulders with the artists of the time and his compositions quickly met with success. A friend of Pierre Bonnard and Henri Matisse, he created Fleurs de reine for the wife of the former in 1908, then Folie bleue in 1925, worn by the latter’s muse, Henriette Darricarrère.

The bottle containing the powdery, sophisticated fragrance, its innovative shape making it easy to slip into a pocket so the perfume could be reapplied at will, won the Prix des Arts décoratifs in Paris. Julien-Joseph’s son then succeeded him, before the company ceased trading in the 1970s.

The sleeping beauty was revived almost 40 years later, in 2016. “I started by re-releasing my great-grandfather’s and grandfather’s compositions. It was a mammoth task because the formulas had to be adapted to current standards and ingredients,” says Sonia Godet. To achieve this, she turned to flower producers on the Côte d’Azur: violets from Tourrettes-surLoup, tuberoses from Saint-Paul de Vence and orange blossoms from Bar-sur-Loup.

A contemporary signature

Most of the range, however, is made up of new compositions that stay faithful to the spirit of the house while offering a more modern take. “Art has always inspired our fragrances and it’s still the basis for my creations today. I don’t set myself any deadlines or budget limitations so I have the freedom to seek out the singular, the exceptional,” explains Sonia Godet. Éternité, for example, is conceived as a metaphor for the passage of time, centering on a note of cognac with touches of fruit and wood. Mondanité, on the other hand, was inspired by Julien-Joseph Godet’s trip to Cuba in 1913 and features blonde tobacco and centifolia rose.

A distinctive feature of the house is its determination to keep distribution highly exclusive, with only one physical sales outlet located in Saint-Paul de Vence. “We have opted for artisanal production, with perfumes almost entirely made by hand and bottles blown by a master glassmaker,” stresses Sonia Godet. “It means distribution is limited to our store, which is also our showcase.” a.-s.h.

MAISON GODET IN 3 PERFU M ES

FOLIE BLEUE

Perfumers Julien-Joseph Godet, Sonia Godet

Launch 1925/2016

Iris and violet mingle their delicate, talc-like scents in a cloud of rice powder with retro charm.

ÉTERNITÉ

Perfumer Sonia Godet

Launch 2018

A woody, liquor-like composition combining cognac, red fruits and oak wood evoking an old leather armchair by the fireside.

PHILTRE D’AMOUR

Perfumer Sonia Godet

Launch 2023

A fragrance that is both full-bodied and sophisticated, swathing an aged rum with woody, honeyed, spicy and ambery facets.

© Maison Godet

Affinessence FROM BOTTOM TO TOP

Working hand in hand with perfumers, Sophie Bruneau devises intense and warm fragrances as she takes the bold step of shaking up the very notion of the olfactory pyramid.

When Sophie Bruneau decided to launch her brand in 2015, she had 30 years of experience in the perfume and cosmetics industry to draw on. “Of course I wanted to enjoy myself, but my main goal was to innovate and bring something more in terms of quality to consumers to build loyalty. I was always frustrated by the budget limitations imposed on perfumers by the brands I worked for,” confides the former marketing director. She, on the contrary, gives them complete freedom to select the most beautiful raw materials. The brand’s founder also wants to offer powerful, memorable compositions that

combine staying power and a sillage, the sort of signature scents you adopt for life and that become your olfactory hallmark. She knows that these qualities essentially depend on ingredients such as the woods and balsams featured as base notes. “They really touch us because they resonate with our inner selves,” she says.

High-end positioning

Why not break with the traditional conventions of perfumery to create creations composed solely of base notes?

Sophie Bruneau worked closely with perfumers to create six rich, enveloping fragrances, each built around a duo of precious ingredients: Indian white sandalwood, Indonesian oud, Tahitian and Madagascan vanilla, and an infusion of 10- to 20-year-old ambergris lumps. Presented in a luxurious black lacquered wooden box that comes with a pure cashmere bag, the “Base Notes Collection,” with its high-end positioning, is quickly proving successful. Now available in over 200 outlets of sale in 40 countries, the Affinessence range has grown over the years with the arrival of 50 ml and 100 ml bottles presented in simpler and more affordable packaging, appealing to an increasingly broad audience.

A new collection

Last October the brand launched a new collection, this time dedicated to top notes. “Creating compositions that are fresh but tenacious is something of a holy grail in perfumery,” explains Sophie Bruneau. “We’ve managed to solve the equation thanks to ingredients such as musks and woods that play a technical role in ensuring intensity and staying power with no olfactory impact. This kind of tenacity in fresh fragrances is a minor revolution!” Gingembre-Latte, Combava-Cédrat and Bergamote-Racines pay further tribute to exceptional and original raw materials. Paving the way for a next collection centering on heart notes?

A.S.-H.

GINGEMBRELATTE

Perfumer Alexandra Carlin

Launch 2022

Iced milk with Madagascan ginger, made even more refreshing by the sparkle of lemongrass-verbena and a frosted green teamaté accord.

COMBAVACÉDRAT

Perfumer Nicolas Bonneville

Launch 2022

Calabrian citron is combined with kaffir lime, a small green citrus fruit from Indonesia, to create a sparkling and stimulating cocktail.

BERGAMOTERACINES

Perfumer Fabrice Pellegrin

Launch 2022

A delicious sorbet that brings out the brightness of citruses while showing off the strong character of ginger, raw carrot and vetiver.

D’Orsay THE MAP OF LOVE

Inspired by the 19th-century romance between Alfred d’Orsay and Lady Blessington, the house offers fragrances “born from a heartbeat” that delve into the emotions of love.

In 1830, the patron of the arts and dandy Alfred d’Orsay created a fragrance for his great love, the Irish poetess Marguerite, Countess of Blessington. Almost 200 years later, the brand bearing his name was revived under the impetus of Amélie Huynh, who has a background in jewelry and luxury goods. “The house enjoyed incredible success in the early 20th century, before dropping out of sight more and more over the years. We had to give it a complete overhaul,” she explains. After the takeover in 2015, it took four years for the new D’Orsay creations to see the light of day. What they express is a real return

to the roots: “The brand was born from a love story, from a heartbeat. So we decided to rediscover its essence, in its most contemporary form, and to explore facets of the feeling of being in love,” says Amélie Huynh.

The collection now includes 15 fragrances, their names accompanied by mysterious initials that give them the air of love letters. Some of them come from the house’s archives. Vouloir être ailleurs C. G. uses the same formula as the tender and luminous Tilleul that Olivia Giacobetti created in 2008, following on from a first composition with the same name dating back to 1915. The woody leathery Dandy or not G. A is Sidonie Lancesseur’s new take on the house classic, Dandy. The other creations are brand-new, sometimes inspired by the brand’s heritage. For À cœur perdu L. B., centering on iris and orange blossom, Fanny Bal drew on the texts describing Lady Blessington’s perfume. “These are quite complex fragrances, despite the rather short formulas: As Alfred and Marguerite’s relationship was secret, we avoid notes that are too obvious. Of course, they have to evoke love, be gender-neutral and exude a certain elegance,” Amélie Huynh explains.

The brand’s shop at 44, Rue du Bac in Paris also features home fragrances that evoke a lovers’ rendezvous, arranged at a specific time and place. Almost all created by Vincent Ricord, with two of them the work of Olivia Giacobetti (reformulations of Tilleul pour la maison and Bois de coton), they are available as sprays, candles and, by the end of the year, stick diffusers. Indeed, 2023 looks to be a very promising year for new adventures, including a collaboration with architect Sophie Dries based on an olfactory object, and the launch in April of Sur tes lèvres E. Q., a white floral bouquet created by Dominique Ropion as the continuation of a kiss to celebrate “infinite love.”

a.-s.h.

JE SUIS LE PLUS GRAND M. A.

Perfumer Anne-Sophie Behaghel

Launch 2020

The clean, powdery, iridescent opening reveals modern woody notes bounded by cedar and Ambroxan.

JUSQU’À TOI P. S.

Perfumer Nicolas Beaulieu

Launch 2022

Refreshed with pink pepper and grapefruit, a characterful rose teams up with magnolia and geranium against a backdrop of patchouli and vetiver.

SUR TES LÈVRES E. Q.

Perfumer Dominique Ropion

Launch 2023

An armful of jasmine, velvety iris and ambrette underpinned by a chypre structure combining patchouli, amber and Cashmeran.

D’Orsay 44, rue du Bac 75007 Paris France www.dorsay.com @dorsayparis

La Closerie des parfums

A DREAM OF ELSEWHERE

The young Bordeaux brand, founded in 2018, invites us on a journey where the iconic ingredients of perfumery are steeped in spices.

When the Madrid family created La Closerie des parfums, their mission was clear: to combine a focus on tradition with a taste for the exotic. Founders of the Panther Group, the brothers Hervé and Antoine have been working in the perfume and cosmetics industry for nearly 50 years. Their daughter and niece Valérie, who has been collaborating with them for over 30 years, founded La Closerie des parfums in 2018.

Sculpting the raw materials

All the creations of the young Bordeauxbased house are guided by the same principle: sculpting the raw materials emblematic of the perfumer’s palette by combining them with spices. “Each of the spices has its own character and brings a different hue to the flagship ingredient –iris, rose, oud or patchouli – which we can therefore explore in depth,” says Valérie Madrid. An approach that draws out unexpected facets from these materials as well as lending them the charm of faraway lands, in a tribute to the city of Bordeaux’s past as a major trading port. In her role as brand creative director, Valérie Madrid makes a point of selecting a perfumer for each project who shows a particular affinity with the designated spice. “I choose them for their artistic flair, so that they take me into their universe, but also to encourage them to push the boundaries,” she says.

A luminous and deep rose

The brand’s first collection, where the rose, the emblem of French perfumery, “logically took pride of place,” features Rose Cardamome, containing an unusual dosage of the spice: “The idea was to have a luminous and deep rose, and I kept wanting more cardamom. We reworked the formula seven times until we reached a quantity that surprised its creator, Vincent Ricord.” Other bestsellers from the brand, sold in more than 70 outlets worldwide, include Oud Cinnamon, an opulent oriental swathed in the precious wood, Patchouli Baie Rose, which delves into a side of the ingredient that is brighter and more citrusy than usual thanks to the brilliance of the cold spices, and Iris Coriandre, a sensual yet sophisticated interpretation of the rhizome, teamed up with the apricot and leathery facets of osmanthus. The range of 12 fragrances has been expanded with two body and hair mists, Rose and Oud, adding to the distinctive sillage – and taking us a little further on the journey. A.-S.H.

ROSE CARDAMOME

Perfumer Vincent Ricord

Launch 2019

A celebration of the centifolia rose adorning the garden, its velvety petals studded with blackcurrant bud, violet leaf and cardamom.

OUD CANNELLE

Perfumer Philippe Romano

Launch 2019

Cinnamon blows hot and cold, suffusing the precious wood now with the sweet facets of exotic pastries, now with darker tones bathed in incense.

PATCHOULI BAIE ROSE

Perfumer Corinne Cachen

Launch 2021

A clear and limpid patchouli infusion, immersed in citrus notes and enhanced with fresh hints of ginger, cardamom and pink pepper.

La Closerie des parfums

www.lacloseriedesparfums.com @lacloseriedesparfums

© Lionel Tinchant

Jorum Studio NICHE FROM THE NORTH

Euan McCall and Chloe Mullen offer a unique take on independent perfumery as they explore Scottish culture and reinterpret iconic raw materials.

Euan McCall joined Jorum Laboratories in 2010 as an independent perfumer and consultant for an array of international brands. Nine years later, he decided to create his own brand, Jorum Studio, with his partner Chloe Mullen. “After years of working behind the scenes, I wanted to speak in my own voice,” he explains.

A terrain with character

A Scot who trained with Highlands-based Irish perfumer and biochemist George Dodd, he is keen to highlight the unique characteristics of this characterful land. “We’re the only independent fragrance

brand based in Scotland, and we felt it was worthwhile to express our sensibilities through creations that are poetic and accessible, surprising and balanced,” says Euan. The first collection launched by Jorum Studio, “2019 Progressive Botany Vol. I,” explores endemic Scottish botanical species. “Our bestseller, Trimerous, is a study of the iris, as though it were under a microscope. We decided to highlight three often overlooked facets of the rhizome: its sparkle, its buttery tones and its ability to enhance other ingredients,” says the perfumer.

Scottish legends

The “Scottish Odyssey” line is an exploration of Scottish roots and legends, starring misty lochs, bonfires and wild berries. “For Spiritcask, our latest launch, I learned about the whisky-making process, particularly the maturation that takes place in casks. The resulting intense aromas inspired me to create a scent that is very vanilla-like, but not like traditional vanillas: It’s woody, liqueur-like and very leathery,” says Euan. The “Selective Memory” collection features his own memories, which he seeks to make universal so everyone can relate them to their own story. Finally, the main line focuses on raw materials used in innovative and unexpected ways. “What’s distinctive about Paradisi is that it’s a citrusy composition that manages to combine the transparency of citrus with a very long-lasting effect. I achieved it by using oakmoss and woody notes, such as Clearwood, which bolster the freshness,” explains the perfumer. All these creations can be found in the brand’s store in Edinburgh, online and in 75 sales outlets around the world. a.-s.h.

TRIMEROUS

Perfumer Euan McCall

Launch 2019

The majestic iris, buttery and waxy, is illuminated by a carrot-nectarine cocktail, a sprig of thyme and a few angelica seeds, all on a bed of leather darkened by oud and styrax.

PARADISI

Perfumer Euan McCall

Launch 2022

Centering on juicy grapefruit and abrasive rhubarb, a green and earthy accord unfolds in a mingling of patchouli and moss, like undergrowth full of eccentric plants.

SPIRITCASK

Perfumer Euan McCall

Launch 2023

A caramelized and cocoa-flavored liqueur, faceted with maple syrup and pear, warms up as it comes into contact with oak barrels and their leathery vanilla overtones.

Edinburgh

EH3 5AL

Scotland

hello@jorumstudio.com

www.jorumstudio.com

@jorumstudio

JORUM STUDIO IN 3 PERFU

SOURCE 1

Perfumer Aliénor Massenet

Launch 2018

Worn alone or under another fragrance, the brand’s original elixir combines the radiance of bergamot with the vibrancy of woody amber and musk.

VERTICALOUD

Perfumer Philippe Paparella-Paris

Launch 2018

Offering both strength and delicacy, this perfume wraps rose and oud in a warm spicy sillage rounded off by sandalwood and tonka bean.

MACOMBA

Perfumer Aliénor Massenet

Launch 2022

The acidic freshness of kombava blends with the aromatic woody accents of maté in a sparkling and energizing sillage softened by neroli and white musks.

Hermetica Paris

www.hermetica.com

@hermeticaofficial

Hermetica

Paris THE BEAUTY OF A NEW REFLEX

environment.” Composed mostly of water, the pioneering base does not interact with the ingredients in the same way as alcohol: It forces perfumers to formulate differently, “a bit like going from the piano to the organ.” But Aliénor Massenet, who created the first fragrances, was not afraid of the challenge. Having worked with Memo Paris right from the start, the perfumer “is almost part of the family,” as Clara Molloy describes it. “We find it very easy to talk to each other: Sometimes she knows what I’m getting at before I know it myself!”

Clara and John Molloy, founders of Memo Paris, made the bold choice of an alcohol-free perfume for their third brand.

When they founded Hermetica Paris in 2018, the Franco-Irish couple already had experience in launching a brand. In 2007 the two perfume enthusiasts created Memo Paris, which went on to become a leading brand in the niche world within a few short years. The spark for this new initiative was the discovery of an alcohol-free base, enriched with a molecule produced using a patented process from bagasse (a material that remains after crushing sugar cane) that makes it possible to offer products that moisturize the skin while giving it a lasting scent. “When it comes to perfume, John and I are endlessly inquisitive, always on the lookout for new things,” says Clara Molloy. “When Symrise came to us with this base, which didn’t exist anywhere else, we were won over. We saw it as a new way of wearing perfume, a new reflex that is both sensual and clean, in tune with the

Olfactory dance

Together, the couple and the perfumer have tamed these latest technical constraints by drawing on their shared passion for dance to create a new vocabulary for their discussions. “With this base, we don’t get the linear development of an alcohol-based fragrance, which generally goes from top to heart to base notes. Here, the perfume immediately imposes itself in its entirety before radiating outwards, as if in successive waves. We started talking about ’olfactory dance’ to translate this very unusual movement,” says Clara Molloy. Innovative and committed to a more ethical perfumery, the brand, already present in some 20 countries, is currently enjoying growing success in the United States and China, while its collection continues to diversify. The latest composition, Pomeloflow, is the fruit – pardon the pun – of a lengthy process working on citrusy notes. “We couldn’t get the fresh facets to stick, but in the end we succeeded, making them elegant and sparkling.” Or the art of turning a constraint into an asset. S.B.

HERMETICA PARIS IN 3 PERFU M ES

© DR

At the heart of the IFF Atelier du Parfumeur, dedicated to creation, in Grasse, stands a manufacture imagined by a master perfumer. Each perfume is compounded by hand with the utmost respect for the rules of the art in the pure tradition of haute-perfumery.

 @artofperfumeryatIFF

L’Atelier du Parfumeur IFF – la manufacture de la haute-parfumerie à Grasse

ANISE NOTES

AROMATIC INTOXICATION

P. 48

�EW SCE �T sat io�s

Salty notes SEA SPRAY AND TASTE BUDS

By Jessica Mignot

Often employed to conjure up an ocean atmosphere, salty notes have the distinctive characteristic of being primarily rooted in the sense of taste and thus differ according to our culinary culture: While coconut is classified as “sweet” in the West and associated with the beach or desserts, it has entirely different connotations in the Asian market, for example, where it is used in savory dishes. To get a better grasp of what we’re talking about, it is helpful to examine the physiological and chemical attributes of these crystals.

Physiological profile

Known since time immemorial for its preservative properties and its power

to enhance taste – “as colors need light, so foods need salt to excite the sense of taste,” wrote Plutarch in his short treatise on the practices to adopt at banquets, titled Table-Talk – it constituted a veritable form of currency, giving us the word “salary” (salarium meant salt distributed as an allowance to the centurions) and was the object of a tax – the gabelle – in the Middle Ages and the modern era: In short, salt is part and parcel of the history of humanity.

Even though what we call “salt” in everyday language and which we use in cooking is sodium chloride (NaCl), there are many different salts, as it is by definition a crystal formed by the combination of an element with a positive charge (cation) and another with a negative charge (anion). A distinction can be made between sea salt, which comes from salt marshes (such as Guérande salt), and rock salt, which comes from mines resulting from the presence of oceans hundreds of millions of years ago (like the pink salt of the Himalayas, which owes its color to the iron it contains).

Regardless of its origin, salt is impercep -

tible to the nose while still being defined as a flavor enhancer, because thanks to its electrical charges, it causes volatile odor molecules to leak into the back of our throats, sending them through the retronasal pathway to our olfactory receptors, giving us a better perception of the aroma of the food, which is not very soluble in aqueous media like our saliva. Our sense of smell, which enables us to capture these aromas retronasally, accounts for 80% of our perception of food thanks to its 400 different types of olfactory receptors. However, salt does not just amplify our perception of taste: It can also reduce the sensation of bitterness and, in high doses, of sweetness. It is worth noting that our sense of taste allows us to perceive mainly (but not exclusively) five so-called primary flavor profiles: salty, sweet, sour, bitter and umami. Umami can equally be perceived as salty, albeit with an organic rather than a mineral saltiness, mainly expressed by sodium glutamate.

A salty taste is perceived due to a dedicated ion channel – the epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) – present in the membrane of taste cells. It is, however, possible that other types of specific detectors exist but have not yet been discovered; saltiness is far from having revealed all its secrets to researchers. Still poorly understood, the mechanisms of taste have been the subject of wild rumors in the past: Thus, the idea that the receptors for specific tastes are located in specific parts of the tongue is completely false, the result of an error in the translation of a scientific article!

Iodized sea spray

Although it seems obvious to us today, the idea of odorless salt has not always held sway. In the 18th century, for example, people visiting the salt marshes attributed a very specific scent to it, as anthropologist Laurence Hérault writes in the article “The Smell of Salt” from the book Odeurs et parfums: “The various authors

Aliénor Massenet, Symrise

How do you use salty notes?

I think that salty notes are more “intellectual” than sugary ones, less immediately obvious. But if you

agree on the description of the odor: freshly harvested salt supposedly smelled of violets, or at least of a floral perfume, as some writers also evoked the scent of the Florence iris.” This smell may be due to the magnesium compounds that accompany the salt before it is purified. But the olfactory characterization of the crystal disappeared in the 19th century with the development of technological devices that replaced the sense of smell as a means of measuring product quality. Salt and violet have a shared destiny, however, because the term iodine, generally associated with the idea of saltiness, comes from the Greek ioeides, meaning “violet”: After the trace element belonging to the halogen group was discovered by Bernard Courtois in 1811 in seaweed ash, Gay-Lussac gave it that particular name because of the color of the vapors it emits when heated. But the fragrance of sea spray is mainly due to dimethyl sulfide, which is produced by the decomposition of phytoplankton, as well as to a group of molecules, the dictyopterenes, which are used by algae as a means of commu-

use this facet in the same way as adding a pinch of salt to a chocolate cake, you create contrast and a new form of addiction, as I did in Couleur Vanille from L’Artisan parfumeur, launched in 2020: I counterbalanced my vanilla with Calone as well as immortelle and used salicylate – a salty, solar molecule that is very abstract –to soften the note.

The Symrise palette was enriched at the end of 2020 with a collection called “Garden Lab.” Can you tell us about it?

We’re like children opening presents at Christmas! They are gorgeous ingredients, created from vegetable

nication, along with bromophenol and giffordene, because “aldehydes related to the latter – which are responsible for the aquatic notes of cucumber, watermelon and melon – are also present in algae,” as Guillaume Tesson’s article on the scents of the seashore explains in Nez #9.

A pinch of materials

So, how do perfumers go about recreating this salty sensation, which in principle resides in the realm of taste? In terms of naturals, seaweed extract is unsurprisingly one of the materials chosen. Once considered the white gold of perfumery, ambergris owes its smell to a long journey through the seas, without which it cannot be used for olfactory purposes. It has dropped out of fashion, however, because of its scarcity, its price and the vegan trend and is replaced by molecules such as Ambrox (contained in natural ambergris).

Of the artificial molecules evoking the smell of sea spray, the most famous is certainly Calone, synthesized for the first time in 1966 by three Pfizer chemists – John J. Beereboom, Donald P.

cooking water. Asparagus can offer a new way of working on a slightly salty green note; artichokes have pinker, more floral facets; cauliflower in a gourmet composition will break up the sweetness; and onions can replace slightly animalic notes. These are ingredients that I use sparingly, to give contrast to the fragrance.

What if we gave you carte blanche?

I would love to come up with a new Jicky, by replacing the civet with onion, which has fascinating animalic facets that pave the way to a new oriental.

Cameron and Charles R. Stephens – who discovered a compound (methylbenzodioxepinone) with the smell of “fresh, green leaves reminiscent of melon.” The company outsourced production to one of its subsidiaries specializing in aromatic ingredients, Camilli, Albert & Laloue (C. A. L.), hence the name “CALone.”

The perfumers’ grain of salt

Salty notes first burst onto the scene in the 1990s with two feminine Mane creations: New West for Her by Yves Tanguy for Aramis in 1990, then Escape for women for Calvin Klein in 1991. But the note shaped the masculine market in the long term with Kenzo pour homme, created by Christian Mathieu in 1991; L’Eau d’Issey by Jacques Cavallier in 1992; and Acqua di Giò in 1996 by Alberto Morillas, Annick Menardo and Annie Buzantian for Giorgio Armani, with an added marine focus that was very clean and civilized. The same year, Reminiscence released Rem , with its unmistakable salty-amber signature, while Profumum Roma launched Acqua di sale. In 2004, Nathalie Feisthauer and Ralf Schwieger

© Mat Jacob

created Eau des merveilles for Hermès, a composition based on an ambergris accord that has become a perfumery classic.

The note gradually conquered the independent brands, with an appearance in Do Son by Diptyque in 2005: a green tuberose swaying in the sea spray. Also worth mentioning are the 2008 fragrances Sel marin by James Heeley, bringing to mind a saunter on the dunes, between crumpled leaves and driftwood, and Aod by the Breton house Lostmarc’h, with its floral, aquatic and poetic coconut feel.

In 2010, Womanity by Mugler made a big splash in the mainstream perfumery market with its sweet and savory contrast, co-created by a team at Mane that included Cécile Matton. On the same theme, Paco Rabanne’s Olympéa followed in 2015, composed by Loc Dong,

Anne Flipo and Dominique Ropion of IFF. Perhaps more rarely, the note summons up skin’s animalistic aspect, since the sweat produced by the eccrine sweat glands tastes salty. Musc Tonkin, composed by Marc-Antoine Corticchiato for his brand Parfum d’empire in 2012, plays on this animalic minerality with remarkable mastery. While they have often discreetly infiltrated creations by being added in pinches to enhance certain scents, salty notes have nevertheless moved center stage in niche perfumery in recent years. A contrast with sweetness, facets of white flowers, evocations of sea spray and vegetable compositions resonate as a call to move away from sugary trends while persisting in the realm of taste but are also an echo of the well-known marine fragrances which have shaped the industry.

What materials do you use to build these savory notes?

OCEAN LEATHER

Brand Memo Paris

Perfumer Aliénor Massenet

Launch 2020

Leathery notes and sea spray invite us to leave the boats exhaling wood and spices to dive into an encounter with an animalic humidity.

ÇA BOUM

Brand Teo Cabanel

Perfumer Patrice Revillard

Launch 2021

Amid the salty air of the light-soaked dunes, immortelle flowers and sand lilies bloom, suggested by a floral, vanilla and spicy accord.

THE GHOST IN THE SHELL

Brand État libre d’Orange

Perfumer Julie Massé

Launch 2021

Cécile Matton, Mane

What was your first project with salty notes?

Womanity, co-created as a team at Mane in 2010, one of the first sweetand-sours in mainstream perfumery – as a nod to the history of the company, which pioneered the note in feminine fragrances in 1990. The brief was a memory of a moment spent by Thierry Mugler under a fig tree, lulled by the sea breeze. Finding the right balance was complicated; we spent a lot of time on it, and it was an audacious gamble.

Calone, as a facet; when you add too much of it to a formula, it can create a nauseating metallic effect. We can also use Floralozone, and Melonal for its watery melon facets. Mane has additionally developed various captives, like Aqual, an aquatic floral, and Marinal, a marine aldehyde, which has expanded our palette of salty notes. As for the ambergris facet, Orcanox, a Mane upcycled molecule, is interesting because of its complexity. And there’s a superb iodine, salty Jungle Essence red seaweed extract with a woody moss facet.

What if we gave you carte blanche? I would like to work on the velvety taste of balsamic vinegar; I adore its texture, acidity, and the sweet-andsavory feel. Or on a sparkling pepper aldehyde with blackcurrant notes to create a whole new green citrusy floral.

ABYSSIS

A complex composition, between sweet and salty, building a futuristic atmosphere with milky, metallic, fruity and spicy inflections.

Brand Liquides imaginaires

Perfumer Shyamala Maisondieu

Launch 2022

Here we are, 20,000 leagues under the sea, in an explosion of ambery iodine, in the company of the Kraken carrying shipwrecks and mineral sediments.

DANCE OF THE DAWN

Brand The Different Company

Perfumer Emilie Coppermann

Launch 2022

A patchouli that is both familiar and innovative, transporting us to an island with its spices, its juicy citrus fruits, its driftwood accord and an addictive salty vanilla.

© Matthieu Dortomb

Anise notes AROMATIC INTOXICATION

By Jessica Mignot

When your nose tingles with the scent of anise notes, your ears almost seem to hum with the sound of the cicadas and the singsong accent of the South of France. As evocative as they are divisive, anise notes encompass a variety of ingredients, often used as accents but able to sign a composition in an incomparable way. To better understand them, let’s go pick their seeds, leaves and roots.

Green anise and a glass of pastis Anise, or aniseed, whose scientific name is Pimpinella anisum, is an herbaceous plant in the Apiaceae family, along with carrot, galbanum, dill, lovage, parsley, cumin, caraway, celery, fennel, coriander and angelica. Reaching a height of about 60 cm when fully grown, it is known for

its striped, green seeds, produced by yellow flowers grouped in umbels. It likes sunshine and warmth. Probably originating in the eastern Mediterranean Basin and Asia Minor, it has been used for its medicinal properties and in religious rituals since antiquity and is one of the only spices produced in the West. It is also highly prized in food, as Pliny the Elder reports in his Natural History: “Both green and dried, it is held in high repute, as an ingredient in all seasonings and sauces, and we find it placed beneath the under-crust of bread. Pat with bitteralmonds into the cloth strainers for filtering wine, it imparts an agreeable flavor to the wine.”

And alcohol is the sphere where it has been most widely used, with each country having its specialty, from ouzo in Greece to Armenian ori. This popularity can be explained by its sweetness: One of its main constituents, along with estragole and anisaldehyde, is anethole, which has 13 times the sweetening power of sucrose. Flavigny anise, which coats the seed with a layer of sugar, was one of the first French sweets, invented by

Benedictine monks in 719. The anethole is also responsible for the appearance of diluted pastis: Insoluble in water, it forms, once mixed with it, an opaque and whitish emulsion.

Botanical varieties and molecular convergences

In spirits, however, there is now a tendency to replace aniseed with star anise, Illicium verum, whose essential oil has a very similar chemical composition. Botanically and historically, however, the two are very different: The Illicium verum tree, which belongs to the Schisandraceae family, is an evergreen tree with smooth green leaves and large, solitary yellowish flowers. The fruit, which is star-shaped with an average of eight branches, is dried before being used. The tree originated in southern China and thrives in mild climates. It was not introduced into Europe until the 17th century and long remained very expensive, a trend that has only recently been reversed. Anise is more closely related to fennel, which is also a member of the Apiaceae family. A native of the Mediterranean,

L’HEURE VERTE

Brand Kilian Paris

Perfumer Mathieu Nardin

Launch 2021

To awaken the image of alcohol poured over sugar, all facets of licorice are explored: green, woody, bitter and, above all, liquorous.

CÉDRAT CÉRUSE

Brand L’Artisan parfumeur

Perfumer Quentin Bisch

Launch 2022

The aromatic greenness of fennel is honored here, sunny with citrus and adorned with white musks, which give the composition comfort and softness.

BEL ABSINTHE

Brand Roos & Roos

Perfumer Fabrice Pellegrin

Launch 2022

While its minerality and the idea of greenness evoke a certain freshness, it is to better draw the contrast with the warmth of resins and vaporous sandalwood.

ABSINTHE

Brand Headspace

Perfumer Nicolas Beaulieu

Launch 2022

A nocturnal and sensual interpretation of the green fairy, where an aromatic leather whip cracks, revealing the bite of an animalic sap.

OPUS XIV

ROYAL TOBACCO

Brand Amouage

Perfumer Cécile Zarokian

Launch 2022

Terpenic anise and lavender introduce a licorice note that reveals itself in turns as resinous, burnt and amber, in an exciting reinterpretation of the tobacco note.

Ilias Ermenidis, Firmenich

What do anise notes mean to you?

A personal memory first: As a Greek born in Istanbul, I enjoyed sharing a glass of an anise drink with my father during our sailing trips on the Bosphorus. But it’s also an important facet of perfumery, although it’s discreet, and has beautiful precursors like Brut, Eau sauvage and Azzaro for men

And how do you distinguish them?

I divide them into three categories: aromatic anise notes, including aniseed, star anise, fennel, tarragon and basil; floral anise notes, such as mimosa and heliotrope; and the more licorice notes, with Lolita Lempicka as an archetype – a masterpiece!

How do you prefer to shape this note?

In Ege, which I composed for the brand Nishane, I proposed an unconventional interpretation of a tribute to the Aegean Sea that lies between Greece and Turkey. I paired an ozone accord with green mentholated notes and also anise –a reminder of the importance of an ingredient that further links the two countries – combined with a violet leaf on a woody base. It went on to become a bestseller for them. In the future, I would love to combine anise notes with oud and create a Middle Eastern feel.

Caroline Dumur, IFF

What materials do you have at your disposition to build the anise notes? For example, LMR Genovese basil has a definite floral aspect, which can be found in heliotrope and hawthorn. Caraway, which is more minty and cumin-like, has a real velvety dimension that softens the anise notes; fenugreek, immortelle and celery warm them up. Absinthe and armoise, which are harder and darker, evoke a very dark green. We also have synthetic molecules like anethole and lily of the valley notes.

How do you use them? In Rayon vert from the French brand Bastille, I used anise notes to shape the composition, make it shine, with traces of blackcurrant and citrus which add a sparkling facet; aldehydes and pear notes soften the whole composition. The heart, more floral, is underpinned by a gorgeous LMR immortelle essence, an ingredient I really appreciate for its suggestion of warm sand, saltiness and almost curry-like dimension.

Is it a register that you appreciate?

I feel there’s something worth exploring. These notes immediately make the mouth water and that have quite a wide sweep, between the colder notes – pastis – and the warmer ones of fennel, immortelle absolute and licorice. This makes it possible to compose complex, legible greens, appreciated in niche perfumery, but which you need to know how to envelop.

© Michael Avedon

© Franck Juery

Foeniculum officinale or vulgare has been appreciated since ancient times, with all its parts being used for their medicinal and flavor properties. An essential oil is extracted from its seeds. The oil is rich in anethole and estragole and, in lesser quantities, limonene and fenchone, one of the components of absinthe, which explains why it is associated with anise notes.

Related to fennel, anise is also linked to tarragon, which belongs to the Asteraceae family, by its molecular components – and to the famous basil, which also contains estragole, the signature component of tarragon. Licorice, an herbaceous plant of the Fabaceae family, more woody and resinous, also contains anethole. And some flowers, such as mimosa, have anise floral facets. This explains why, when we talk about these notes, they do not refer to a specific ingredient, but to a myriad of materials that perfumers can use, often as accents. Indeed, briefs that place anise at the core of the composition

remain rare, which is explained by its rather divisive character – it is sometimes compared to cilantro, suggesting that our perception of its taste is determined, like that of this aromatic plant, by genetic disparities – but also because it evokes an immediately food-related, or even alcoholic, register. Who would want to smell the same scent as a slightly tipsy uncle after a game of pétanque in the sun? Clichés aside, however, we have to admit that the rare compositions to put it center stage have not often lasted long on the market, and that drawing up the list (non-exhaustive, of course) of their names is pretty depressing. But maybe they were born too early for us to understand them?

Perfume sampling

Some exceptions, however, reveal the full creative and marketing potential of the note. Above all, Lolita Lempicka’s first perfume in 1997, created by Annick Menardo, was able to conquer its public and make its place on perfume shelves despite (or thanks to?) its divisive nature. Its licorice notes paired with violet, caramel and musk intelligently play with the gourmand trend of Angel. Its masculine counterpart, launched three years later, puts even more emphasis on the black root and star anise. We can also cite Kenzo Air created by Maurice Roucel in 2003, which was unfortunately quickly discontinued. Another release the same year that fell by the wayside was Olivia Giacobetti’s L’ E au ivre for her brand Iunx, described as an “icy, guilty elixir.” Also no longer in existence, Anice by the Italian brand Etro offered us a floral anise in 2004, underpinned by notes of “fennel and caraway and touches of jasmine and iris.” Launched at the same time, Eau noire by Dior, composed by Francis Kurkdjian, played on the gourmand and more aromatic aspects of licorice. Difficult to find for a few years, it was re-released in 2022 as part of the brand’s exclusive collection, now under

the creative direction of the perfumer. In 2006, Olivia Giacobetti returned to the accord with Fou d’absinthe for L’Artisan parfumeur, an interpretation of the green fairy “composed like an encounter between spicy freshness and woody warmth,” with star anise making an only natural guest appearance. A series of licorice-based fragrances then appeared: In 2006, Richard Fraysse used a licorice absolute in Eau de réglisse from Caron to create a “fresh and tender eau de toilette, born of the surprising marriage between strawberry and woody notes,” but it is no longer available. The following year it was Jean-Claude Ellena’s turn, offering us “a lively, sleek lavender enveloped in matte-black licorice” with Brin de réglisse from Hermès, a perfume that is still in the house’s catalogue. In 2008, Guerlain came up with its own take on the root, an ephemeral and more sugary interpretation: Aqua Allegoria Laurier Réglisse, created by Jean-Paul Guerlain, Marie Salamagne and Sylvaine Delacourte. A change of direction for changing times… Eight years later, Jo Malone’s limited-edition collection “The Herb Garden” featured one of the first compositions to incorporate fennel: Carrot Blossom & Fennel, composed by Anne Flipo, partnered the two notes in a more floral bouquet of orange blossom, rose and iris.

The releases started coming thick and fast beginning in the 2020s. It even makes some breakthroughs in the mainstream, at least in press releases. Although it often remains discreet or even nonexistent to the nose, this nonetheless indicates an undeniable marketing interest. Does it reflect a need to gradually move away from simple greediness to other, more “natural” notes? In this regard, anise seems like an almost perfect option, combining gustatory memories with more aromatic facets. Responding to the trend of signed green notes, it certainly becomes a strong candidate for niche perfumery.

Briefs that place anise at the core of the composition remain rare, which is explained by its rather divisive character.

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IFRA, A PLAYER WITH GOOD INTENTIONS

P. 54

“AT SCENTIS, WE PREFER DOING THINGS BY HAND”

P. 55

arO U�D fra gra �ce

IFRA, A PLAYER WITH GOOD INTENTIONS

By Jessica Mignot

Despite the fact that it is often perceived as the perfume police, the International Fragrance Association (IFRA) was founded by, and is still composed of, the major composition houses – which employ perfumers – to guarantee the safety of fragrances for consumers and the environment.

Necessary self-regulation

While perfumery gradually became a streamlined industry in the early 20th century, its low production volumes – compared to the food industry, for example – kept it on the margins of state control. It had no choice other than to self-regulate, which is why Guy Waldvogel, then head of Givaudan, founded IFRA in 1973. The concept? To gather and systematize scientific studies on odor molecules (whether synthetic or naturally present in plants). The studies were carried out by composition companies and the Research Institute for Fragrance Material, created in 1966 under the impetus of A. L. van Ameringen, then president of American composition company IFF.

Advocating for a reasonable palette

Self-regulation also allowed the perfumery industry to take the initiative

and avoid any drastic control measures from external organizations with no grasp of the issues at stake. Perfumery is in fact now subject to state and European Commission regulations, which originate in other sectors covered by the chemical industry category where it is classified, and are very often purely and simply ingredient bans without regard to use, quantity or societal consequences. When the application of these regulations to perfumery seem unfounded, IFRA plays a lobbying role in order to advocate for a reasonable palette, raising awareness among decision-makers – members of parliament and ministers – and using scientific results to remind them that it is all a question of dosage. Banning a molecule present in thousands of products can have dramatic consequences, not only for the industry and producers but also for consumers, as it leads to the disappearance of fragrances that form an intangible heritage that is still too often underestimated.

Complying with the IFRA Standards

IFRA therefore formulated a code of good practice that all members (who produce about 80% of the world’s perfume) are obliged to adhere to. One of the central requirements is

to comply with the IFRA Standards. These comprehensive, universally applicable and systematic recommendations are designed to ensure product safety. Each ingredient is thus either authorized for use without limit, subject to a maximum dosage or, more rarely, totally prohibited, always depending on how the product under consideration is used (rinsed off or not, in contact or not with the skin, face, mouth, etc.). IFRA regulations are now legally binding in some countries and in the European Union. When a brand wants to market a perfume on these markets, it therefore has to compile a cosmetics file, for which a fee is charged, to ensure that the formula, at the given dosage, complies with recommendations, thus covering its civil liability.

Every year, IFRA publishes an amendment that takes into account the most recent scientific data. Some materials may be subject to new restrictions: The brand must ensure that all its products on sale remain in compliance. If not, the brand has around two years to have the formula reworked by the perfumer.

“AT SCENTIS, WE PREFER DOING THINGS BY HAND”

Interview by Béatrice Boisserie

Founded in 2006 near Grasse, Scentis is a company specializing in olfactory marketing materials and has become the blotter market leader in niche perfumery. Among other products, it manufactures the scented card that appears in each issue of Nez, the olfactory magazine We spoke with Jean-Paul Malerba, its founder.

How did you become the printer of choice for niche brands?

We work with big names like Hermès and Dior just as much as the niche perfume market, with brands such as Les Parfums de Marly, Juliette Has a Gun and Roja Parfums. But it’s true that 80% of the brands showing in Florence at Pitti Fragranze, the leading trade fair for the niche market, are our clients. We are a human-sized company, with only 11 employees, which means we are responsive and can produce both small and large quantities.

Opting for techniques like embossing, gilding and special cuts, why is niche perfumery always at the leading edge?

Because the marketing departments of large businesses don’t spend enough time with their printers to discover the technologies that are around right now! Like Wet & See, which consists of depositing a special ink on paper that reveals an image when perfume is sprayed on it. We listen to our customers, we prefer doing things by hand, in as close contact with the customer as possible, the old-fashioned way; that’s what my boss did in the company where I worked as technical director for 20 years, the Carestia printing company – it will always be a model for me.

What qualities should paper have when it’s going to be scented? It must have a neutral pH and a weight of 300 g/m2, and never contain glue. Like blotting paper, it has to absorb the perfume while transmitting to the nose not only the top notes but also the heart and base notes. Previously, paper was made from cotton; it was softer, rougher, the four-color printing was not as good to look at, the gilding didn’t adhere well. Today’s paper is smoother, more surfaced and made with long fibers.

Are special sorts of inks used? Yes, they’re plant-based and do not run. They have to be alcohol resistant and not smell strongly. But I can’t say more than that because their manufacture has to remain a secret!

Wouldn’t using recycled paper be more environmentally responsible? The paper currently produced by our Italian suppliers is as environmentally friendly as possible. It does not contain any chemicals, and it comes from trees that have been planted specifically for this purpose. Recycled paper, on the other hand, is made from printed paper scraps. To de-ink it, you have to use solvents or chlorine, which is an ecological aberration.

How do you scent a card like the Nez card that has a long-lasting fragrance? There are two techniques for perfuming paper: spraying or soaking. I favor the second solution, because the paper fiber is more effectively scented. We use a special machine to do it, which allows us to reach industrial speeds.

You also create traditional perfumers’ tools used to evaluate the olfactory notes.

Yes. When the manufacture of these tools is based on traditional processes, very familiar in Grasse, we like to bring them up to date; with our blotter holders, for example, by using new materials such as zamac, an ultra-resistant alloy of four metals, or by rethinking the shape and design and adding options for personalizing these products.

© Scentis

MID DLE EA ST

“

PUB ATTAR AL HAS

Sillage as adornment

Oud, bakhoor, makhmariya...

Whether in the form of smoke, oil or a spray, layering fragrant compositions is part of everyday life for people of the Arabian Peninsula.

“For a perfumer, working here [in the United Arab Emirates] is paradise,” emphasizes Stéphane Bengana, an independant perfumer who has been based in Dubai for the past ten years. “For someone like me who loves niche perfumery, it’s the ideal country,” adds Mirvat Mijahed, an evaluator.

It’s hard to imagine a part of the world where perfume is more deeply ingrained in the culture than the Middle East, particularly in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, which are located on the Arabian Peninsula. There, absolutely everything is perfumed: bodies, clothing, houses, stores, hotels – each with its unique olfactory signature. It isn’t uncommon to receive 100 bottles for your birthday, and perfume is often discussed over dinner. The sense of smell is stimulated in different ways,

through smoke, oils or alcohol-based fragrances, as in the West.

The bakhoor , a symbol of this art of living, has a place in every home. The term designates both a decorative burner made of ceramic, tin, copper or even Baccarat crystal, and the fragrant preparations that are placed within it, as in a shisha (a waterpipe), on incandescent pieces of coal. The Emiratis burn wood chips imbibed with fragrant essences and pieces of oud, harvested in Southeast Asia, which give off a potent animalic scent.

Sustaining scent throughout the day

The bakhoor is generally presented to guests on a richly laden table in a reception room. “It is both an everyday object and a status symbol,” explains PierreConstantin Guéros, a senior perfumer for Symrise who spent three years in Dubai. “Depending on the rank of the

Text: Pascale Caussat Photos : Gilles Coulon

guest, the essences that are burned are either more or less precious, following an unwritten code.” Local perfume brands often market their most successful offerings in coffret sets that include the composition in its alcohol-based form, as an oil on an oud base and as bakhoor.

In a specially dedicated room, women use its smoke to suffuse the long abaya that covers their body before spraying on perfume (from a local or niche brand) to perfect their sillage. “In Dubai, women reapply fragrance throughout the day, not only in the morning, just like they refresh their make-up several times a day,” notes Stéphane Bengana. “As the climate is very humid and hot (45°C from June to September), perfumes evaporate quickly; that’s why they’re constantly reapplied,” explains Mirvat Mijahed, who was born in Jordan but has adopted the local custom. “The

last time I visited Paris, the bus driver made a remark because my scent was overpowering!”

The people of the Middle East are also masters in the art of layering several fragrances. Their daily routine begins with a scented shower gel and cream, then oil, and finally, the application of one or two fragrances to create a unique sillage. A local specialty, makhmariya is an oil infused with many essences, to be dabbed on wrists, the neck and behind your ears. Traditionally, it is tinted red. Women compose the blends by hand, following recipes passed down from generation to generation and then left to age for five, ten or even twenty years. They include the four pillars of Arab perfumery: oud wood, naturally; Taif rose (a variety grown in the Hejaz region of Saudi Arabia); Tonkin musk (now replaced by musky compositions, since the use of the natural raw material

The people of the Middle East are masters in the art of layering several fragrances.

is illegal); and amber notes. “These are the richest, most luxurious raw materials, both subtle and long-lasting, and they’ve been used for bartering for centuries,” explains Pierre-Constantin Guéros. “ They are among the many perfume ingredients referenced in the Qur’an, along with saffron, sandalwood, incense, myrrh...”

The tradition of ritual washing

Religion plays an important role in the olfactory traditions of the region. Many of the Prophet Muhammad’s hadith, or sayings, “value the use of good scents for the faithful,” explains the anthropologist Aïda Kanafani-Zahar in the collective work Une histoire mondiale du parfum (Somogy éditions d’art, 2007).

To please God, followers must observe certain rules for Friday prayer: washing, putting on their best clothes, perfuming themselves with aloeswood (another

name for oud) and musk to go to the mosque, refraining from eating garlic… In no way must they offend their coreligionists because of their appearance or odor. “The tradition of perfumes arose from the tradition of ritual washing,” says Pierre-Constantin Guéros. “Perfumes are among the most valued gifts when pilgrims return from Mecca, along with water and dates.”

On the other hand, green and citrusy notes are not appreciated in the region. “Citruses remind them of the eau de cologne with which they rinse their hands after a meal. They are identified with hygiene,” Stéphane Bengana explains. Spicy notes, such as cumin and cardamom, are, like rose water and orange blossom water, only used in food. Historically, the inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula were nomads and camel breeders who scented the tassels of their dishdasha (the long

white tunic worn by men) to mask the smell of their beasts. Once they settled, they kept the habit of distinguishing themselves through fragrance. Like accessories – watches, jewelry, shoes, handbags – fragrance is an adornment that allows its wearer to be different when traditional garments (the dishdasha and the abaya) are the common uniform. As Aïda Kanafani-Zahar writes, “The act of scenting oneself completes and ends the daily quest for beauty.”

The frankincense industry deserves more transparency”

Interview by Guillaume Tesson Photos: Amouage

In Oman, the creative director of Amouage, a company founded in the sultanate in 1983, is overseeing a vast project that will combine responsible production of the precious resin with tourism and cultural activities.

Amouage signed a partnership with Oman’s Ministry of Heritage and Tourism in 2022 to run a historic frankincense production site. What does this agreement involve?

In Oman, four UNESCO World Heritage Sites make up what is known as the Land of Frankincense: the ports of Khor Rori and Al-Baleed, the archaeological site of Shisr (also known as Ubar) and Wadi Dawkah – a wadi is generally a canyon carved out by a former riverbed. The partnership concerns the management of the wadi site. It covers a large area (5 square kilometers) and is dedicated to the cultivation of Boswellia sacra , a variety of frankincense tree. Amouage has been given a two-pronged mission for the coming decades: to produce the raw material and to develop tourism at the site. The creation of a nursery where 5,000 to 6,000 trees are currently growing will make denser cultivation possible. For the moment, there is only

a road, a car park and some buildings to provide shade for visitors. The specifications require us to protect the biotope as well as the site’s historical heritage.

Who is your target audience?

The site will be open to everyone. The aim is not to make it a destination with an entry fee. Initially, we’ll be targeting perfume lovers. The idea is that they can say to themselves, “Well, one day I’ll go there!” – like people who dream of going to Grasse. In terms of perfume tourism, Oman already has the city of Muscat, where the Amouage factory is open to visits. There is also Jebel Akhdar, known as the Green Mountain, renowned for rose growing. We’re planning to make improvements there to further optimize visitor facilities. We want to make Wadi Dawkah the country’s third perfume destination. To start with, people will go there to discover the birthplace of frankincense, with the cultivation of trees. Then, in a few years’ time, the public will be able to observe resin being harvested, extracted and packaged before being exported to Muscat and throughout the world. The first target audience will therefore be connoisseurs.

And other than perfume lovers?

We won’t forget visitors who have less of a connection to this industry. People looking for an additional tourist activity will be able to enjoy an educational approach and the sale of local frankincense products onsite – and not only

Amouage products, I should add. Then, more broadly, we will target the inhabitants of Oman and the Middle East. The wadi is close to Salalah Airport and is a popular tourist destination in July and August, when the climate is more temperate. Local visitors will get the chance to rediscover an ingredient they use at home as a perfume as well as part of their daily rituals.

What activities will you organize at the site?

The site is crisscrossed by a 10-kilometer trail that can be used by local guides whom we will involve in the project and train. The route will have around ten stops. I’m working on installing works of art centering on the theme of frankincense. I’m currently in discussions with local and international artists. The different spots are very picturesque and readily lend themselves to concerts and shows: I’ve even found a space that has a natural arch shape, like an amphitheater. I’d like to add an olfactory dimension that resonates with the site.

How do you intend to find a balance between tourism and sustainable development, a theme that is unavoidable nowadays when it comes to raw materials?

It’s up to us to find the right balance. There’ll be the nursery at the entrance to the wadi , but 98% of the site will remain wild. We’re still wondering, for example, about the water supply for the shrubs that are going to be replanted. Are they overprotected? Could they regulate themselves? As for the incisions made in the bark – tapping – how can we ensure that they are carried out without weakening the trees? We are defining these practices with local people, who are very knowledgeable about the subject. And we’re comparing them with the practices in other producer regions: Somaliland, Puntland (an autonomous region in northwest-

ern Somalia) and even Yemen. I think that by developing this high-end frankincense we will be able to meet the demand for an outstanding product and do it at an affordable price. We have the support of experts in raw materials and fragrance. Some of them have already paid us a visit.

Who, for example?

The raw material sourcers Dominique Roques, Stéphane Piquart and Guillaume Delaunay, as well as experts from LMR (IFF subsidiary) and Maison Lautier (recently relaunched by Symrise). A dozen perfumers went to Oman to evaluate the frankincense with us, including Alexandra Carlin, Cécile Zarokian, Karine Vinchon-Spehner, Domitille Michalon-Bertier, Bruno Jovanovic, Quentin Bisch, Julien Rasquinet, Alexis Grugeon, Pierre Négrin and Dominique Ropion. A consensus emerged. It’s an incomparable product with incredible facets. Its high alpha-pinene content (between 55% and 75%) gives it a particularly powerful terpenic aspect, but one that can easily be fractioned. This is a signature product, a really striking ingredient. It’s almost a perfume in itself. It has an aroma of citrus, grapefruit and pepper with a persistent and very colorful mineral freshness. All the perfumers and ingredient experts are blown away by it.

Will it be used exclusively for Amouage, or will you share this treasure?

The aim is not for Amouage to have sole use of the wadi’s production: We want to export the frankincense under the name of “Oman Frankincense.” We have a three-year development plan. During the first year, which has already begun and which will end in October 2023, we will carry out an initial trial harvest on trees already present on the vast site, to characterize the frankincense and its olfactory profile and try to determine

whether there are different qualities. The next two years will be devoted to developing the tourist infrastructure as well as to setting up the extraction facility – we’re currently considering the best solutions for this project.

What role do you intend to play in this frankincense trade in the future?

Frankincense is a key ingredient in perfumery. It fosters a lot of creativity without being too expensive: Its essence costs between 100 and 300 euros per liter. So, it’s not just for an elite. But frankincense represents one of the opaque and controversial sectors. The houses deal with traders and there are many intermediaries. When you buy frankincense today, you are probably the tenth person to touch the resin. This is also linked to its history, its use as a currency: People pay with it; the product passes from hand to hand and the added value is often created to the detriment of the grower. Today, brands are communicating more and more about natural

products. They would like to be associated with a more transparent supply chain. This is what we can provide. We also want to put the focus on the growers. The wadi is their work tool. So, they will be in charge of the visits. There really is plenty that can be done to move in the right direction, in the sense of a virtuous circle, by raising the profile of an ingredient inextricably linked to the history of perfumery but also to mythology and religion.

ib eR ch em

LUZ VAQUERO “FOR A PERFUMER, NICHE IS MORE EXCITING”

P. 70

FROM BRIEF TO BOTTLE CREATION OF A NICHE PERFUME P. 69

SECRETS OF A CONNOISSEUR’S MARKET P. 66

Secrets of a connoisseur’s market

Middle Eastern perfumery skillfully fuses ancestral traditions with the latest trends. Spanish composition company Iberchem, which has been established in the region for more than 30 years, takes us on a tour of this captivating world.

Text: Anne-Sophie Hojlo

Photos: Iberchem

Every month, Ana Gómez spends a week in Dubai. A perfumer at Iberchem since 2017, she confides that she “fell in love with oriental fragrances.” She regularly works for the Middle Eastern market, where perfume arouses a passion that continues to flourish, permeating local culture and history. Dubai, long the region’s largest market, has been dethroned in recent years by Saudi Arabia, with the United Arab Emirates in

third place. “Our local customers are real connoisseurs with a hands-on approach,” says Sylvain Massé, global marketing manager at Iberchem. “They’re used to smelling, recognize good-quality raw materials and know exactly what they want.”

Opulence, first and foremost. “The notions of intensity, sillage, staying power and blooming are fundamental,” explains Sylvain Massé. “Perfume is considered a signature that other people must be able to smell from several meters away, if not even before they see you.” Habits that are diametrically opposed to those observed in Asia, for example, where discretion is the rule. This search for performance often goes hand in hand with a demand for higher concentrations than in other markets. While eaux de parfum are generally dosed at around 15% or 20% in Europe or the United States, Middle Eastern consumers like to opt for extracts with

a concentration of 30% or even 35% or 40%. Layering is also used to reinforce a fragrance’s power. This superimposition of fragrances on the skin and clothing produces a personalized and unique sillage, a guarantee of exclusivity.

The taste for opulence is of course reflected in the olfactory profile of the perfumes. “I like to work with warm, woody, dark, intense notes,” explains Ana Gómez. Key ingredients include woody notes such as sandalwood, patchouli and cedar, the smoky facets of incense and tobacco, and woody ambers and musks, which ensure unfailing tenacity. More surprisingly, they also feature flowers such as rose, jasmine, iris and violet, appreciated by women and men alike as gender-neutral fragrances are the norm here. The undisputed star, however, is the rare and precious oud, or agarwood, a resin secreted by Aquilaria trees when they are under attack by ants or fungi. “When we discover it, the first thing

we say is, ’Oh my god,’” recounts the perfumer. “Its scent is woody, animalic, with softer facets reminiscent of labdanum, sensual, sometimes dry, sometimes more humid depending on the variety – but always magical.”

Beyond these traditionally prized raw materials, the perfumer’s palette can also open up to other ingredients. “In a highly expert and increasingly saturated market, there’s a desire to get off the beaten track, which can lead to the use of more unusual notes, such as papyrus for example,” says Sylvain Massé. Even freshness, which has not been very popular until now, is beginning to make headway. “Neroli Portofino by Tom Ford has changed the game. The brand was doing very well in the Middle East, which helped to introduce the citrus notes. Aventus by Creed is also very popular: It’s fresh and clean but still has incredibly very powerful sillage,” notes

María Ángeles López, fragrance development manager at Iberchem. Proof that, while oud has made its way into Western perfumery, the influence is reciprocal.

Far from being static, the Middle Eastern market embraces the latest trends. “The storytelling has evolved,” says Sylvain Massé. “While narratives were based on seduction for a very long time, we now prefer to talk about self-empowerment or to emphasize the raw materials, their history and their sourcing.” The notion of sustainable development is also attracting growing interest. “It is not yet an absolute priority, but it has undeniably become an important aspect to take into account in the creative process,” concludes our interviewee.

“In a highly expert and increasingly saturated market, there’s a desire to get off the beaten track, which can lead to the use of more unusual notes, such as papyrus for example.”

Sylvain Massé

From brief to bottle Creation of a niche perfume

How does the development of a niche perfume proceed, from first contact to market launch? María Ángeles López, fragrance development manager at Iberchem, describes the lengthy process.

It all starts with the brief: The document that the brand wishing to launch a new creation sends to a composition company, where the perfumers work, explaining its needs and desires. While the brief is extremely precise in the case of a mass-market perfume, particularly concerning the target and the maximum price of the formula, it is generally less prescriptive when it comes from a niche brand. “It can take the form of a text, a photo, a drawing or even a song, and gives the composition house more creative freedom. It’s really about sharing a story with our client,” explains María Ángeles López. When the salespeople in charge of a brand receive a brief, a meeting is organized with the perfumers, evaluators, regulatory department and marketing team. The marketing team can provide olfactory avenues to explore based on the brand’s DNA and market trends. The regulatory aspect is addressed at the beginning of the project because the formula, even if produced in smaller quantities than for a mainstream perfume, must meet the standards in force. Then comes the actual olfactory development, managed by the evaluator, such as María Ángeles at Iberchem, who acts as an intermediary between client and perfumer. She has in-depth knowledge of the universe and expectations of the brands she works with as well as the collections of all the perfumers, made up of the formulas already created by them, all projects included: She therefore works hand in hand with them, helps them come up with an olfactory translation of the brief and find creative avenues, smells the new trials with them and decides which ones will be submitted to the brand.

“For a niche perfume, you have to be daring. Some clients even tell us: ’I want

something unpleasant that’s challenging and makes a difference!’ It’s an incredible playground for perfumers, especially since there are often no price restrictions on ingredients,” María Ángeles López points out. Unlike mainstream creations, niche projects are not subject to consumer testing: Even though they have to keep in mind the market they are working for, perfumers have more freedom to deliver their vision of the brief. Regular meetings are organized to give the brand teams a feel for the trials in progress, with the perfumer then reworking the formula based on the feedback. These back-and-forth meetings can last a few months, a year, sometimes more. “It all depends on the size of the brand: The more people involved, the longer the process can take,” says the evaluator. In parallel with this development work, various laboratories are busy on a daily basis. First, there is the laboratory where the perfumers’ assistants weigh the formulas that will then be evaluated by the teams: an exceedingly painstaking task that requires great rigor in order to avoid any errors that could be detrimental to the smooth running of the project. Then the sampling laboratory prepares a sometimes-astronomical quantity of small bottles that will be sent for testing or to the client. Finally, a technical laboratory carries out stability tests on the different “mods” (or different trials). When the formula is validated and has passed the regulatory tests, the concentrate is manufactured in the composition house’s factory, which then delivers it to the brand. The brand takes care of putting it in alcohol and bottling it. The new creation is now ready to hit the shelves of perfumeries.

Luz Vaquero, head perfumer at Iberchem, shares with us her vision of niche perfumery: what distinguishes it from the mainstream market, the trends that have marked it in recent years and the idea of balance that the perfumer must always keep in mind.

You are head perfumer at Iberchem. What does that entail?

I am responsible for our perfumer teams, made up of eighteen people in Spain, six in France, four in China and one in India. I have an overview of all the projects, which I assign to a perfumer after discussions with the evaluators; I supervise the work of the juniors and provide support for the seniors. I also manage quality control and I have to make sure the raw materials we use comply with norms. Finally, I am a perfume composer myself: I joined Iberchem 23 years ago with a degree in chemistry before being trained as a perfumer in-house.

How does the creative process differ for a niche perfume and a mainstream composition?

For a perfumer, niche is more exciting, as it allows more creative freedom. We have a bigger budget for the formula, which allows us to use more expensive ingredients. We can have fun with them, try combinations, even overdoses. Each time, the challenge lies in finding the right balance between the top, heart and base notes, as well as between the materials, because they’re not always easy to work with. I particularly like amber notes, which are very powerful and can sometimes be aggressive, but which I find magnificent, and coffee absolute, which is very sophisticated when combined with leathery facets. When it comes to flowers, iris is one of my favorites, especially in leathery or tobacco accords, and I find osmanthus unique with its animalic nuances. You also have to find a balance in creativity: You have to imagine something different, something you’ve never smelled before, but that you can wear. Perfume should remain a pleasure!

How does the creative process work?

First I need a brief – it would be great to create a perfume without a brief, but we have to sell, so we have to meet the expectations of an order! The most important thing is to understand what our client is looking for, and it’s not always easy to agree when it comes to smell: I have to understand what exactly they want when they mention freshness or citrus. I then make several suggestions which we smell together. Sometimes customers tell me that they were expecting something else. When that happens, I explain to them what I wanted to convey. Most of the time, they get a better understanding of the path I have chosen and I manage to convince them. If not, of course I suggest new paths.

How would you define your style?

I have strong Mediterranean roots which are certainly reflected in my creations: I like to introduce a touch of the sun, beach or seaside to them.

What are the trends that have marked niche perfumery in recent years?

Niche is very fashionable, so lots of mainstream brands have launched exclusive collections. Today, there are two niches that coexist: the one that can be found everywhere, and the real one, which is creative and select. And its greatest quality is precisely that it operates outside of trends. Everything is possible.

And how do you see its future?

I see it flourishing! Mainstream fragrances have become consumer items that you change every season or even according to your mood, whereas a niche fragrance expresses your personality and becomes a part of you.

Luz Vaquero

“For a perfumer, niche is more exciting”

Iberchem

www.iberchem.com

@iberchem

IBERCHEM IN 3 PERFUMES

AZALEA

Brand Attar Collection

Perfumer Luz Vaquero

Launch 2020

A tribute to exotic sweets combining velvety rose and smooth vanilla on a creamy bed of heliotrope and sandalwood.

PEARL

Brand Arabesque

Perfumes

Perfumer Luz Vaquero

Launch 2020

The fruity vivacity of green apple and guava segues into a warmer feel, combining amber notes, white flowers and comfortable musks.

MAGIC INTENSE

Brand Oud Elite

Perfumer Ana Gómez

Launch 2022

An aromatic opening of pink pepper and lavender refreshes a smoky woody base of patchouli, vetiver and robust leather.

Photo © Carole Charbonnier

THE INTERNATIONAL GUIDE OF NICHE PERFUMERY

Where would niche perfumery be without the network of independent perfumeries showcasing all the latest creations for perfumer lovers to discover? How do these fragrances, born in the intimate surroundings of the independent perfumer’s lab or the bigger world of the leading composition houses, find

To find out more, visit: https ://mag.bynez.com/ niche-by-nez

their way to consumers? What are the places that serve as temples to olfactory culture? From France to the United States, Hong Kong to Mexico and Bali, we have selected for you a handful of these special places that keep niche perfumery alive every day and help to spread a universally shared olfactory culture.

Full list of our stockists: https ://mag.bynez.com/stores

To become a stockist, contact us at: shop@bynez.com

Niche by Nez is also available online: North America: nez-editions.us

Europe: https ://shop.bynez.com

NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA

BRAZIL

Paralela Escola Olfativa

R. Cláudio Soares, 72 - cj 504 - Pinheiros

São Paulo - SP, 05422-030 paralelaescolaolfativa.com.br

CANADA

Etiket

rue Sherbrooke O 1826

QC H3H 1E4 Montréal etiket.ca

Scentrique

Granville St 466

BC V6C 1V4 Vancouver scentrique.com

MEXICO

Ars Aromatica Studio

Av. Hércules Ote. 10 76069 Santiago de Querétaro arsaromaticastudio.com

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

LAKEWOOD

Indigo Perfumery 12011 Detroit Ave Lakewood, OH 44107 indigoperfumery.com

LOS ANGELES

Scent Bar DTLA 777 S Alameda St Los Angeles, CA 90021 luckyscent.com/scentbar

Scent Bar Hollywood 7405 Beverly Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90036 luckyscent.com/scentbar

NEW YORK

Scent Bar New York 244 Elizabeth St New York, NY 10012 luckyscent.com/scentbar

PHILADELPHIA

Perfumology 25 N 3rd St Philadelphia, PA 19106 perfumology.com

PLANO

Perfume Express 6121 W Park Blvd Plano, TX 75093 perfumexp.com

PORTLAND

Fumerie Parfumerie 3584 SE Division St, Portland, OR 97202, fumerie.com

SAN FRANCISCO

Ministry of Scent (Tigerlily Perfumery) 973 Valencia St San Francisco, CA 94110 ministryofscent.com

ZGO 600 Castro St San Francisco, CA 94114 zgoperfumery.com

Luckyscent Online shop luckyscent.com

ASIA CHINA

Scented Niche Gough St Central 32 Hong Kong scentedniche.com

Scented Niche Shop 210A

Musea Tsim Sha Tsui Hong Kong scentedniche.com

INDONESIA

L’Atelier Parfums et Création

Jl. Nakula No.18, Seminyak, Kec. Kuta, Kabupaten Badung

80361 Bali perfumeworkshops.com

UAE

Villa 515

Jumeirah 3, Jumeirah Beach Road

Dubai villa515.com

VIETNAM

Scents Vortex

52 Dong Du, Ben Nghe Ward, District 1 Ho Chi Minh City lapogee.vn/

EUROPE

AUSTRIA

Osmotheca GmbH Gumpendorfer Str. 31-33 1060 Wien osmotheca.com

BELGIUM

Beauty by Kroonen & Brown rue Lebeau 67 1000 Brussels beautybykroonen.com

Smell Stories rue des Teinturiers 15 1000 Brussels smellstories.be

CZECH REPUBLIC

Vavavoom

Radnická 9 602 00 Brno-střed vava-voom.cz

FRANCE

ANGERS

Passage 31

11 rue des Lices

49100 Angers passage31.com

BORDEAUX

La Parfumerie de l’Opéra

10 allées de Tourny

33000 Bordeaux parfumerie-opera-bordeaux.fr

Le Nez insurgé

32 rue du Pas-SaintGeorges

33000 Bordeaux

lenezinsurge.com

GRASSE

1 000 flowers perfumer

4 Place aux Aires

06130 Grasse fr.1000flowers.ca

LAGNY-SUR-MARNE

Fragrances & cie

6 rue des Marchés

77400 Lagny-sur-Marne fragrancesetcie.com/

MARSEILLE

Maison des Nines

9 rue d’Aubagne

13001 Marseille instagram.com/ maisondesnines

MONTPELLIER

Serendipity

2 bis rue Four des Flammes

34000 Montpellier instagram.com/serendipity_ montpellier

NANTES

Fragrance Passion

10 rue des trois croissants

44000 Nantes fragrancepassion.fr

Passage 31

13 passage Pommeraye

44000 Nantes passage31.com

Passage 31

9 rue du Couëdic

44000 Nantes passage31.com

PARIS

Cinquième Sens (training center)

18 rue de Monttessuy

75007 Paris cinquiemesens.com

Conscience Parfums

371 rue des Pyrénées

75020 Paris instagram.com/conscience. parfums

Jovoy

4 rue de Castiglione

75001 Paris

jovoyparis.com/fr

Liquides

9 rue de Normandie

75003 Paris liquides-parfums.com

Marie Jeanne

49 rue Vaneau

75007 Paris

marie-jeanne.net

Sens unique Paris

13 rue du Roi de Sicile

75004 Paris

sensuniqueparis.com

REIMS

B.A.S.I.C. – La crème de la crème

3 rue du Clou-dans-le-Fer

51100 Reims parfumerie-basic.fr

TOULON

Paris Parfums

438 rue Jean Jaurès 83000 Toulon parisparfums.com.fr

TOULOUSE

Santa Rosa

11 rue Antonin Mercié

31000 Toulouse santarosa-parfumerie.com

VERSAILLES

Osmothèque

(The world’s perfume archive) 36 rue du Parc de Clagny 78000 Versailles osmotheque.fr

GERMANY

Urban Scents

32 Bleibtreustraße 10707 Berlin urbanscents.de

Parfums Lübner

Große Bleichen 23

20354 Hamburg parfumslubner.com

Parfümerie Brückner-Bublitz

Marienplatz 8

80331 Munich parfuemerie-brueckner.com

Parfums uniques

Klenzestraße 22

80469 Munich parfums-uniques.de

ITALY

ARONA

Profumeria Gambarini

Via Camillo Benso di Cavour, 3 28041 Arona profumeriagambarini.it

BERGAMO

Neroli32

Largo Bortolo Belotti, 32

24121 Bergamo

neroli32.it

BOLOGNA

Antica Profumeria Al Sacro Cuore

Via de’ Fusari, 6c 40123 Bologna sacrocuoreprofumi.it

CITADELLA

Centre Estetico Eri

Via Garibaldi, 65 35013 Cittadella erieinaudi.com

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO

Campomarzio70

Piazza Fratelli Ghedina Pittori, 9 32043 Cortina d’Ampezzo shop.campomarzio70.it

FIRENZE

Campomarzio70

Via della Condotta, 65/r 50122 Firenze shop.campomarzio70.it

FORTE DEI MARMI

Campomarzio70

Via Risorgimento, 8 55042 Forte dei Marmi shop.campomarzio70.it

MACERATA

Lotum Boutique

Corso della Repubblica, 34 62100 Macerata lotumboutique.com

MILANO 50ML

Viale Monte Nero, 16

20135 Milano 50-ml.it

Campomarzio70

Via Brera, 2/a

20121 Milano shop.campomarzio70.it

Fragrans in Fabula

Via Madonnina, 17 20121 Milano fragransinfabula.com

Laboratorio Olfattivo Store

Via Fiori Chiari, 7 20121 Milano laboratorioolfattivo.com

PORTO CERVO

Campomarzio70

c/o Promenade Du Port

Via Aga Khan, 1 07021 Porto Cervo shop.campomarzio70.it

PRATO

Profumeria Cafissi

Via Giuseppe Garibaldi, 130 59100 Prato facebook.com/ ProfumeriaCafissi

ROMA Campomarzio70

Piazza della Rotonda, 70 00186 Roma shop.campomarzio70.it

Campomarzio70

Via di Campo Marzio, 70, 00186 Roma shop.campomarzio70.it

Campomarzio70

Via Vittoria, 52 00187 Roma shop.campomarzio70.it

Laboratorio Olfattivo Store

Via delle Carrozze, 18 00187 Roma laboratorioolfattivo.com

Profumeria VII Senso

Via Ludovisi, 42 00187 Roma

SANTA MARIA CAPUA VETERE

Studio Olfattivo

Luxury Perfumery

Corso Giuseppe Garibaldi, 45 81055 Santa Maria Capua Vetere studiolfattivo.it

TORINO

Laboratorio Olfattivo Store

Via Giovanni Giolitti, 5 10123 Torino laboratorioolfattivo.com

Laboratorio Olfattivo Store

Via Giuseppe Mazzini, 6 10123 Torino laboratorioolfattivo.com

Perfumology

Via Cavour, 12 10123 Torino perfumology.it

VICENZA

Carla Chemello Pofumeria

Contra’ Do Rode, 25 36100 Vicenza carlachemelloprofumeria. wordpress.com

VERONA

Lebeau Enchanted Perfumery

Corso Cavour, 9 37121 Verona lebeauperfumery.com

POLAND

GaliLu neoperfumeria

Szeroka 15/17

80-835 Gdańsk galilu.pl

GaliLu neoperfumeria

Sienna 1

Rynek Główny 6

31-042 Kraków galilu.pl

GaliLu olfactory

Mokotowska 26

00-561 - Warsaw galilu.pl

GaliLu neoperfumeria

Mokotowska 63

00-533 - Warsaw galilu.pl

GaliLu neoperfumeria

Elektrownia Powiśle

Dobra 42

00-312 Warsaw

SPAIN

Les Topettes

C/ de Joaquín Costa, 33 08001 Barcelona lestopettes.com

Regia

Passeig de Gràcia, 39 08007 Barcelona regia.es

The Perfumery

Barcelona

Carrer de Sant Pere Més

Alt 58

08003 Barcelona theperfumerybarcelona.com

Le Secret du Marais

C/ de Hortaleza, 75 28004 Madrid lesecretdumarais.com

SWEDEN

Cow Parfymeri

Norrlandsgatan 18, 111 43 Stockholm cowparfymeri.se

SWITZERLAND

Theodora HauteParfumerie

Grand-Rue 38 1204 Geneva parfumerietheodora.com

THE NETHERLANDS

Perfume Lounge

Cornelis Krusemanstraat 25 1075 NC Amsterdam perfumelounge.nl

UNITED KINGDOM

Shy Mimosa

42B The Mall, Clifton, BS8 4JG Bristol shymimosa.co.uk

A Library of Olfactive Material

28 St. Andrews St

G1 5PD Glasgow a-library-of.com

Bel Rebel

32 Seymour Pl

W1H 7NR London belrebel.com

Jovoy 21 Conduit St

W1S 2XP London jovoyparis.uk

OCEANIA

AUSTRALIA

Kleins Perfumery kleinsperfumery.com.au

OuR NETWORK

Nez has created a network of partners to promote olfactory culture. You can find us throughout the world, year-round.

Esxence Milan

Pitti Fragranze

Florence, 15 – 17

septembre 2023

CREDITS

Publishing directors

Dominique Brunel, Mathieu Chévara, Jeanne Doré

Art direction

Atelier Marge Design

Editor in Chief

Jeanne Doré

Assistant editor Arielle Lauze

Sub-editor Jessica A. Volz

Translator Philippa Bowe

Production manager

Marianne Ménager

Graphic design

Barcelona

Olfaction

Congress

Barcelone, novembre 2023

Beautyworld

Middle East

Dubaï, 30 octobre –1er novembre 2023

Fragrance Innovation Summit

Paris, 30 novembre

2023

IFEAT

Berlin, 8 – 12 octobre 2023

Rives de la beauté

Paris, octobre 2023

ScentXplore

New York, 1 – 2 décembre 2023

Simppar

Paris, 31 mai –1er juin 2023

Congrès

olfaction & perspectives

Clichy-la-Garenne, 21 mars 2024

Cosmétic 360

Paris, 18 – 19

octobre 2023

IFRA – Global Fragrance Summit

Genève, 10 – 12 novembre 2023

Atelier Marge Design

Illustration

Erwann Terrier

Advertising, international distribution

Dominique Brunel dbrunel@bynez.com

33 6 43 75 73 48

Océane Grall ograll@bynez.com

33 1 48 06 20 68

Press relations Lucile Rives lrives@bynez.com

33 6 18 62 61 03

Distribution in North America

Maison Duquesne info@maisonduquesne.com

World Perfumery Congress

Genève, 24 – 27 juin 2024

Institute for Art and Olfaction

Los Angeles, cérémonie des awards, 11 mai 2023

With thanks to… Jérôme Algieri-Liguori, Giuditta Amisano, Guillaume Audy, Ersin Bas, Éléonore de Bonneval, Valentina Cagnola, Alice Charrier, Eloïse Desroches, Catherine Dolisi, Audrey Donato, Spyros Drosopoulos, Aurélien Escala, Clara Feder, Camilla Ferrando, Virginie Gervason, Michel Gutsatz, Alix d’Hautefeuille, Giuseppe Imprezzabile, Moe Khalaf, Andras Komar, Hakan Konakli, Camille Langrand, Marie Lapenu, Travis McIntosh, Georgiana Mocanu, Chloe Mullen, Ema Muller, Cécile Poulin, Chloé Prigent, Thibaut Vandemoortele, Neela Vermeire, Aurore Zompicchiatti

Publisher imprint

Printed in Lyon (Commercial Type), Nez (Longtype), Aperçu (Colophon) & Trade Gothic (Linotype). Printed by Pollina on Amber Volume 70 g/m2 and Materica Kraft 180 g/m2 in March 2023.

Niche by Nez

www.bynez.com

nezlarevue

NezTheOlfactoryMagazine nezlarevue

All rights reserved worldwide. Reproduction, translation and adaptation, in whole or in part, without prior written permission is strictly forbidden. Involuntary errors or omissions which may have occurred, despite the efforts of the editorial team, in the contents of this magazine will not engage the responsibility of the publisher.

With the support of our principal partners:

�iche by �e� 1 en is a magazine published by Nez.

It is free and comes out once a year in English and French, opening wide the door to the captivating world of niche perfumery.

NICHE PERFUMERY MOVES CENTER STAGE

MIDDLE EAST

From ancestral traditions to today’s trends.

AMOUAGE

“The frankincense industry deserves more transparency”

PORTRAITS OF BRANDS

Explore the fascinating universe of niche perfume houses as you encounter their founders and creations.

AROUND FRAGRANCE

A host of other actors work alongside the brands and creators to ensure niche perfumery can flourish.

A player with good intentions

RAW MATERIALS

An olfactory journey to discover the loveliest perfumery ingredients.

MAISON LAUTIER 1795

A sleeping beauty awakens

SANTANOL

At the heart of Indian sandalwood

AND ALSO THE INTERNATIONAL GUIDE TO NICHE PERFUMERY

Launch your brand

Fabbrica Della Musa, Unika, Obvious, Pigmentarium, In Astra

SCENTIS “We prefer doing things by hand”

Discover the notes making a splash today, analyzed and enriched by perfumers’ perspectives.

SALTY NOTES ANISE NOTES

Behind the brand

Marc-Antoine Barrois, Maison Godet, Affinessence, D’Orsay, La Closerie des parfums, Jorum Studio, Hermetica Paris

IBERCHEM

The Spanish composition house invites us into its world.

Secrets of a connoisseur’s market

From brief to bottle

LUZ VAQUERO

“For a perfumer, niche is more exciting”