Niche by Nez 3 (English)

A GALAXY OF TALENTS

Two years ago, the Nez team set out on a bold venture: to publish a magazine dedicated to niche perfumery, an annual, free publication in English and French, distributed throughout the world. This third issue that you are holding in your hands suggests that while the decision was certainly a gamble at the time, it is now being crowned with success. Thanks to the enthusiasm of everyone who is so keen to share their adventures and their stories in the magazine’s pages. But also thanks to you, our invisible readers, who devour each issue as you immerse yourselves in the vibrant world of niche perfumery and flock to the ever-growing number of events dedicated to it.

Niche perfumery is not simply a matter of pretty bottles sold online. It forms a complex and varied ecosystem that continues to expand and become more diverse, and which is constantly evolving through a multitude of initiatives. Whether it’s by providing impactful support to raw materials producers – not just by mentioning a “precious flower” in the press

kit, but by guaranteeing that growers receive reliable, regular orders – or innovating, thanks to responsible supply chains or ancient ingredients that never cease to reveal their richness. In this perfumery landscape, the finest ingredients are often foregrounded in superb compositions, as illustrated by the editorial team’s selection featuring magnolia, iris, spices and burnt woods, blistering hot pepper and roasted cocoa. But enumerating a string of ingredients is not enough to create a fragrance that captivates over the long term. It also requires a host of ideas and all of the creative, emotional and technical expertise of perfumers, evaluators, creative directors and distributors.

Creating fragrances that take us on a journey – through space, memories, thoughts – that stir or move us, make us dream or whisk us away to distant horizons: This is the promise made to us every year by new talents who try their luck as they head into the vast ocean of a universe as perilous as it is fascinating.

Jeanne Doré Editor in Chief

DREAM-SOURCED FRAGRANCES

PARFUMS INSPIRÉS PAR DES RÊVES

RAW MATERIALS

P.5

STÉPHANE PIQUART

Oak barrel aging: Rejuvenating perfumery? by Guillaume Tesson P.6

ASTIER DEMAREST Cardamom, sowing the seeds of possibilities by Sarah Bouasse P.10

AMOUAGE Frankincense, a firm perfumer favorite by Béatrice Boisserie P.16

IN THE AIR

P.21

SELECTION

The best of niche by the Nez editorial team P.22

BRAND PORTRAITS

The never-ending journey by Gabrielle Fourcade P.27

L’ENTROPISTE Scenting chaos by Denyse Beaulieu P.28

MAP OF THE HEART Perfumery from the heart by Samuel Douillet P.30

STATE OF MIND

Fragrances of the soul by Samuel Douillet P.31

RÉMINISCENCE

The power of memory by Juliette Faliu P.33

SPACE FLUID

The smell of the real world by Anne-Sophie Hojlo P.35

THE CEREALS AND NUTS TREND Crazy for nuts by Jessica Mignot P.36

AROUND THE WORLD Sub-Saharan Africa by Anne-Sophie Hojlo and Gabrielle Fourcade P.40

AROUND FRAGRANCE

P.47

EVENTS

Olfactory Esperanto by Gabrielle Fourcade P.48

COMPTOIR NICHE BY NEZ Behind the scenes of the creative process by Gabrielle Fourcade P.51

NISSABA X DSM-FIRMENICH

A virtuous circle by Aurélie Dematons P.52

VELVETVELO X MANE

A dive into the French Riviera by Anne-Sophie Hojlo P.56

MIND GAMES X SYMRISE Top of the game by Clément Paradis P.60

EUROFRAGANCE

by Samuel Douillet P.65

Technical perfumery, a key expertise in the industry

P.66

DOLORS COSTA P.69

MAGDANELA REY P.70

The international guide to niche perfumery

P. 73

Nez, the olfactory cultural movement

P.79

Here we’re all about thinking the box inside out. We’re here for those who want to explore new dimensions of beauty, who choose to embrace the unconventional, and never stop seeking deeper. Welcome to Stereotype: where uniqueness reigns, and the usual resigns. Stereotype.world

STÉPHANE PIQUART

OAK BARREL

AGING: REJUVENATING PERFUMERY?

P. 6

RAW mat eri als

ASTIER DEMAREST CARDAMOM, SOWING THE SEEDS OF POSSIBILITIES

P. 10

AMOUAGE

FRANKINCENSE, A FIRM PERFUMER

FAVORITE P. 16

Stéphane Piquart OAK BARREL AGING: REJUVENATING PERFUMERY?

Natural ingredients sourcer Stéphane Piquart is always keen to explore new possibilities for perfumery.

The “Indiana Jones of raw materials,” as he describes himself, teamed up with Amouage to test a method for aging fragrances inspired directly by the world of wine and spirits.

By Guillaume Tesson

Photo s : Stéphane Piquart

He came up with the idea after an Australian friend who exports sandalwood, Steve Birkbeck, told him about an unusual practice consisting of macerating sandalwood shavings in wine to enrich their scent. In 2020, Stéphane Piquart, a raw materials sourcer for the fragrance industry who likes to play the

role of mad scientist in the safety of his offices at Behave, his Nantes-based company, decided to infuse raw materials with alcohol inside demijohns, imposing glass jars with a capacity of 30 to 50 liters. The result? An array of select iris, sandalwood, incense, ambergris, vetiver and vanilla nectars that have captivated several of his clients. “It seems like our profession sticks to unchanging codes and criteria. But I believe we can write a few new chapters by crossing our expertise with other fields, like wines and spirits, so we can find different resources,” explains Stéphane Piquart. “After these initial experiments, I wanted to go even further and try maturing ingredients in oak barrels to enhance the fragrance.” Jean-Philippe Clermont, founder of niche brand Atelier des ors and an avid cognac lover, was the first to show faith in the concept. He asked the sourcer to try out barrel aging for three of the brand’s flagship fragrances – Lune féline, Rose Omeyyade and Rouge Sarây – to

create new versions under the name Vintage. After a few months, the base notes become more marked and certain accords more textured.

But Stéphane Piquart, in his constant quest for innovation, wanted to take the experiment to a whole new level “to give perfumery a wake-up call with new ingredients and new narratives.” In a happy coincidence or moment of synchronicity, the creative director of Amouage, Renaud Salmon, was looking for a solution to add value to his creative arsenal at exactly the same time. He had already started maturing a number of raw materials in neutral environments, such as stainless steel containers. He had previously worked with Stéphane Piquart on experiments around frankincense, and in late 2022, he entrusted the sourcer with a new project: leaving several fragrances to rest in oak barrels with the addition of an extra ingredient. “We needed to avoid the risks of random

changes that fresh products like vanilla could have caused,” recalls Renaud Salmon. “Our intuition told us that the sandalwood variety Santalum spicatum, imported from Australia, would not disrupt the original formulas and would add a woody patina to complement the oak effect. It also had the advantage of being low-risk in terms of allergens.”

In 2023, the formulation of the three fragrances involved in the maturation process was halted (the concentrates were weighed in January and February). One composition was handed over to Bertrand Duchaufour, another to Julien Rasquinet and Paul Guerlain, and a third to Cécile Zarokian. Renaud Salmon was invited to the Allary cooperage in Archiac, in the Cognac region, to choose to what degree the wood would be toasted for the new barrels: The inner surface of the staves are heated to different degrees, providing a more or less pronounced aromatic intensity after prolonged

contact between the container, the fragrance and the sandalwood. He chose medium toasting, described by the cooper as “a guarantee of buttery and toasted notes.” The granularity of the sandalwood was another parameter that needed careful handling. There were two diametrically opposed possibilities: using the branches to limit interactions with the oak as much as possible, or choosing the powder to maximize them, a choice that ran the risk of liberating too many olfactory compounds and making the filtering phase more complicated. Renaud Salmon opted for sandalwood shavings with a 1-centimeter diameter, which he then reused to develop a recipe for bakhoor, the mix of ingredients that is immensely popular in the Middle East, where people burn it to scent their homes and clothes.

The first tests took place in Muscat, the capital of the Sultanate of Oman, where the fragrance brand has fitted out a cellar to house around a hundred

110-liter barrels in a space where the temperature never exceeds 20°C. The results were not exactly encouraging. By combining the concentrate diluted to 30% in ethanol and 5% of the total weight in sandalwood shavings in the same barrel, the fragrance took on a viscous consistency. The two men then adapted their approach and put in place a twofold infusion process: The ethanol was aged on its own in an oak barrel while the concentrate and sandalwood shavings were matured at the same time but in a stainless steel vat. Samples were taken every week, with peak aromatic

“We can write a few new chapters by crossing our expertise with other fields.”

potential appearing after four to six months of interactions between the alcohol, wood and air contained in the barrel. The time had come to filter the concentrate and stabilize it by means of icing. “It’s a darker fragrance because of the tannins. In terms of the smell, it is more structured, and it performs better on the skin,” confirms Stéphane Piquart. The final phase involved bringing together the potion from the barrel and the one from the stainless steel vat. On September 1, 2024, Bertrand Duchaufour, Julien Rasquinet, Paul Guerlain and Cécile Zarokian went to the site to observe the effects of the maturation process on previously formulated compositions. The perfumers could then choose to assemble all or part of the fragrance with the matured concentrate and ethanol – or not. They all opted for the formula that blended the concentrate and ethanol aged in the steel vat and oak barrel, respectively.

A little under two years after Stéphane Piquart and Renaud Salmon first discussed their idea, Reasons, Lustre and Outlands , three Amouage fragrances created using this new technique and part of “The Essences” range, were unveiled (see box). “We would love to work with clients like Amouage every day,” says Stéphane Piquart, visibly satisfied with the contribution of the brand’s expertise to the three newly launched creations. “It’s the size of company that really suits us. The big composition houses, which already have 3,000 to 4,000 ingredients, including captives which they have to use, are not the right target for this type of innovation. I prefer offering them directly to niche brands or independent perfumers.” The next stage? “Making barrels out of sandalwood,” is the sourcer’s immediate response. “Once an experimenter, always an experimenter!”

“It’s our responsibility to mature fragrances carefully”

Interview with Renaud Salmon, creative director of Amouage

The creative director of Amouage sees the maturation process not just as a beneficial stage in fragrance expression but also as a new source of inspiration.

What are the benefits of this type of aging?

The role of a company like Amouage – I’d even call it a responsibility – is to prepare and perfect its creations before distributing them. In perfumery, we give the raw materials time to develop and be transformed. But once the formula has been designed and produced, nothing else happens, despite the fact we can add another dimension, in the same way as winegrowers and cheesemakers. I hope this will encourage fragrance lovers to ask questions about what is a little-known or unknown stage.

Why did you turn to Stéphane Piquart to develop the technique? When this sort of idea comes up, you need to be able to rely on someone who can keep pace with it, someone who is an explorer, optimistic and flexible by nature.

Can this type of aging be applied to any fragrance?

I don’t think so. Instinctively, I’d be inclined to exclude transparent or floral notes and stick with woody, balsamic and resinous notes.

How did you intend to showcase the results of this aging process in the three compositions from “The Essences” range? I wanted a spectrum of textures and personalities. Bertrand Duchaufour composed Reasons, which has incense notes, a floral aspect and woody facets that surface delicately, illustrating the subtle effects of the aging process. With Lustre, Julien Rasquinet and Paul Guerlain delivered a creamy, woody fragrance by combining cardamom, vanilla, iris and sandalwood. And Cécile Zarokian devised an oriental composition with Outlands, which opens with a block of zesty, sparkling citrus that has a candied sheen, followed by patchouli and an ambery structure. It’s a fragrance that has been given incredible volume by the aging process.

FUTURING NATURALS

Astier Demarest CARDAMOM, SOWING THE SEEDS OF POSSIBILITIES

By Sarah Bouasse Photos: Bruno Destoumieux

Astier Demarest is a family business founded in Grasse in 1880 and a long-standing supplier of natural and synthetic ingredients to the fragrance and flavor industry. Over the years, it has successfully diversified its historical business activities by supporting the development of new supply chains, from vetiver in Haiti to, most recently, cardamom in Colombia.

Jacques Bernard founded Astier Demarest in Grasse in 1880. Its history since then as a successful raw materials sourcing company can be summed up by its transformation from broker to partner. “Our business originally consisted of connecting essential oil

producers with companies in Grasse,” says Antoine Destoumieux, Key Account Sales Manager for the family business and the sixth generation to be involved in running it; he is the son and nephew of current directors François and Bruno Destoumieux. The company built a solid reputation in the sector thanks to the quality of its naturals, and in the 1960s decided to make the most of its storage capacities and add synthetic ingredients to its range. This was when it took the form it still has today: “a sort of market for small and medium-sized companies in the perfumery sector” in the Mediterranean Basin and elsewhere, valued for its agility as a company with only 20 employees, capable of dispatching orders received first thing in the morning the same day. Keeping the company human-sized and choosing family-based governance played a key role in ensuring success for Astier Demarest’s daring bid in the 1950s, when it opted to add a new facet to the

business. This decision led to the creation of their first supply chain in Tunisia where the family business Shedan supplies a range of products including all the by-products of bitter orange as well as rosemary and myrtle. This development encouraged the creation of other lasting partnerships, such as in Haiti, a country marked by unpredictable weather conditions, political instability, and economic and social crises. “My father and my uncle wanted to go further by developing partnerships in their thriving supply chains. The goal was to guarantee our supplies, standardize quality, and make sure everyone benefited, every single link in the chain,” explains Antoine Destoumieux. The Haitian vetiver supply chain was built up patiently with local producers and was the first to obtain Fair for Life certification. It now produces the flagship essential oil in the Astier Demarest range of naturals. In Provence, the company teamed up with producer

CARDAMOM

IDENTITY SHEET

Botanical name

Elettaria cardamomum

Common name Green cardamom Family

Zingiberaceae

ETYMOLOGY

The word “cardamom” is derived from the Latin cardamomum, which in turn comes from the Greek kardámômon, a compound of kardamon, “cress” and amômon, “amomum” (a genus of plants in the Zingiberaceae family).

EXTRACTION

ESSENTIAL OIL AROMA

Spicy, woody, camphoraceous, green, aldehydic

CARDAMOM IN 4 FRAGRANCES

JUNIPER SLING

Brand Penhaligon’s

Perfumer Olivier Cresp

Launch 2011

A tribute to the gin cocktail served in English clubs in the Roaring Twenties: lemon zest, juniper berries and cardamom seeds, a splash of ambery woods. Shake and savor the fire that burns beneath the ice.

LUMIÈRE BLANCHE

Brand Olfactive Studio

Perfumer Sidonie Lancesseur

Launch 2012

A soft cocoon woven around the concept of a chai latte, whose infinite comfort made of sandalwood, almond and iris vibrates with spicy notes of cardamom and star anise.

INTOXICATED

Brand By Kilian

Perfumer Calice Becker

Launch 2014

The perfect illusion of a Turkish coffee scented with cardamom, strong and sugary. Cinnamon and nutmeg complete the dance of warm spices, rounded off with a vanilla-caramel note. PRODUCTION PRINCIPAL

MIMOSA & CARDAMOM

Brand Jo Malone

Perfumer Marie Salamagne

Launch 2015

The cardamom gradually carves out a place for itself alongside a honeyed, unctuous, delicately powdery mimosa, its spicy tones melting into a tonka bean and sandalwood accord.

Jérôme Liautaud for the supply of lavender, lavandin and sage. It is also helping to develop a patchouli supply chain with Rugofarm in Burundi. While these exclusive partnerships guarantee Astier Demarest stable quantities, they also have the advantage of addressing an issue that has become essential in today’s world: the need for transparency. An issue that lies at the heart of the company’s culture, as it has done right from the outset, long before transparency became a buzzword: “End consumers are increasingly keen to have a grasp of the product they’re buying; they want to know where it came from and its production conditions. We help our clients meet this need thanks to the various certifications awarded to our supply chains,” says Antoine Destoumieux. Astier Demarest helps its partners with the processes for obtaining the certification best suited to their challenges, whether social or environmental: Fair for Life, an organic certifi-

cation from Ecocert, recognition from the Union for Ethical BioTrade (UEBT), and so on. The journey is often long and challenging, requiring significant investment of time and money. “But it benefits everyone, from local communities to the end consumer,” points out Antoine Destoumieux.

Astier Demarest recently added a Colombian cardamom essential oil to its catalogue. The partnership – the company’s latest to date – began with an encounter. In 2018, Bruno Destoumieux met Agathe Duménil and Xavier Dubreuil, two agronomists who had just graduated and decided to start growing and distilling fragrant plants. And one plant in particular: cardamom, sourced mainly in Guatemala by the fragrance and flavor industry but plagued by major price fluctuations from one year to the next due to highly variable crops. Agathe and Xavier found that the altitude and humid tropical climate in Colombia’s

“End consumers are increasingly keen to have a grasp of the product they’re buying; they want to know where it came from and its production conditions.”

Antoine Destoumieux, Key Account Sales Manager at Astier Demarest

Valparaíso region offered the ideal conditions for developing a supply chain. “Their project was very well put together,” remembers Antoine Destoumieux. “We helped them organize and structure it; then we invested with them in developing a small distillation unit in the field.” Founded in 2019, their company Aceites del Alba also created its own nursery so they could supply local partner farmers growing the cardamom with goodquality plant material. Cardamom, an herbaceous plant with stalks that resemble reeds, is planted in July. Its fruits contain small seeds which are harvested by hand every six to eight weeks. Once the seeds are dried, ground and processed through hydrodistillation, they yield an essential oil with a woody, spicy aromatic profile that is slightly more camphoraceous than the Guatemalan equivalent. However, as far as Astier Demarest is concerned, its greatest added value lies in the reliability of its supply: While a dramatic

decline in global cardamom essential oil supply is expected in 2025, the Grassebased company’s production volume is increasing. And its Colombian supply chain is on the verge of obtaining Fair for Life certification. In 2021, Astier Demarest joined the Robertet Group, driven by its determination to meet the challenges of tomorrow’s perfumery. A new chapter for the company, which saw a revenue of 38 million euros in 2024: By expanding its range with the distribution of a selection of Robertet products and continuing to develop supply chains, Astier Demarest is strengthening its position as a leader in natural ingredients.

As far as Astier Demarest is concerned, its greatest added value lies in the reliability of its supply.

Astier

Demarest astierdemarest.com

Acqua Colonia Mandarine & Cardamom 4711 2012

CARDAMOM IN NICHE PERFUMERY

Juniper Sling Penhaligon’s 2011

I Am Coming Home Floraïku 2017

Mimosa & Cardamom Jo Malone 2015

Lumière blanche Olfactive Studio 2012

Marrakech intense Aesop 2014

African Leather Memo Paris 2015

Cardamusc Hermès 2018

Colônia Cardamomo & Gengibre Granado 2019

Rose Cardamome La Closerie des parfums 2019

Papilefiko Nishane 2022 Cardamome Olibanum 2022

Intoxicated By Kilian 2014

Awake Akro 2018

Gris charnel BDK Parfums 2019

Oud Cardamome La Closerie des parfums 2019

Kalahari Noème 2019

Eyes Closed Byredo 2022

Désert suave Liquides imaginaires 2018

Sweetly Known Kerosene 2020

Boundless Amouage 2021

Kredo Nishane 2022

Comme un gant Voyages imaginaires 2024

Cocoa Kimiya Atelier des ors 2024

Amouage FRANKINCENSE, A FIRM PERFUMER FAVORITE

By Béatrice Boisserie

Frankincense is one of the world’s oldest fragrances, straddling the mystical and the sacred. It was used to make kyphi, the olfactory preparation used in ancient Egypt to enter the divine realm, and was widely burned in ancient temples and places of prayer. Olibanum has also been present in Christian churches for many centuries and retains its important role in orthodox rites to this day.

Modern-day perfumery approaches it with great caution and equally great delight. For the fact is that olibanum’s rich diversity of olfactory facets makes it an inexhaustible source of inspiration for

creators. Fresh yet balsamic, green yet resinous, dark yet light: Everything about frankincense is an oxymoron. The direction it takes hinges on the choice of its essential oil, fresh, peppery, terpenic and camphoraceous, or its resinoid, voluptuous, profound and persistent. Olibanum can thus deliver an earthy minerality to woody formulas while simultaneously introducing a natural and sophisticated freshness.

Amouage has made frankincense one of its signature ingredients, along with rose and ambergris. The invigorating note plays many different roles: illuminating a forest with a ray of sunlight (Boundless by Karine Vinchon Spehner); accompanying mandarin in an ambery accord (Opus XV King Blue by Alexis Grugeon); and jostling with a Damask rose in the midst of a host of spices (Epic Woman by Cécile Zarokian). Frankincense is what provides texture and depth to Guidance: Quentin Bisch, its creator, first encountered it as a child at a Christmas

market and considers the perfumery ingredient to be “magic” and “mysterious.” To this day, a smoky waft of frankincense sends him into a meditative state filled with peace and inspiration. Pierre Négrin also finds himself projected back into childhood, in a church in his hometown of Grasse: “Olibanum is a noble material. Frankincense trees inspire respect because you sense the suffering of a plant that grows in a desert region to which it had to adapt. It’s said that the tree cries and we call the resin it produces frankincense tears.”

The DSM-Firmenich perfumer has created no less than 13 fragrances for Amouage bearing the mark of his passion for frankincense in all its forms. “It’s an ingredient that delivers a freshness that’s more mysterious than lemon, which is functional, and ginger, which is a food.” It can be teamed up with “transparent musks as well as a cedar or patchouli,” explains Pierre Négrin. One example is his Portrayal Man, a very green fragrance

Photo s: Amouage

centering on violet leaf, spices and woods. Pierre Négrin was chosen by the brand founded by the Omani royal family to oversee the quality of frankincense harvested in Wadi Dawkah, one of four UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the Sultanate, whose first trial harvest of frankincense for perfumery began in September 2023. “Whenever I smell an essence crafted from Omani resin, with its terpenic and slightly peppery notes of lemon, I have the sensation of plunging into a bottomless crater. This is a frankincense with a unique profile, and it can play every role in an olfactory composition,” he says.

The frankincense for Journey Man rubs shoulders with notes such as Sichuan pepper and cardamom: “From an olfactory point of view, it combines freshness and voluptuousness.” Olibanum makes a strong impression in Interlude Man, a fragrance designed to describe a profoundly chaotic world in transition. To boost the effect, Pierre Négrin envel-

oped it in powerful notes of oud, cistus and Ambrox, using the essence with its “pine needle” smell as well as the resinoid “closer to a labdanum or cistus absolute.”

Cécile Zarokian is another frankincense enthusiast. The independent perfumer is equally fond of olibanum essence, with its aromatic freshness, and the resinoid, with its “warm, smoky, resinous” facets. “There are no limits on how it is used,” she insists. “Frankincense can be paired with woods as well as flowers.” With rose and jasmine, naturally, “and why not with a tuberose?” she says, thinking out loud.

The perfumer is, however, well aware that the smell of frankincense can be divisive. That its character, so closely associated with the sacred, and all the memories of religious rites it sparks, can be off-putting. Her own first encounter with olibanum came in an Armenian Apostolic church in Marseille, the city where she grew up. “I discovered frankincense in the swirls of smoke

and a grandiose setting,” she recalls. “The priests’ vestments, the men singing, the swinging incense burner, the whole magnificent ritual of Armenian churches.” When she next smelled frankincense as a perfumery student, it was a rediscovery. “I had kept my childhood impressions, and it was a revelation. So that’s what was being burnt in the church!”

“It’s said that the tree cries and we call the resin it produces frankincense tears.”

Pierre Négrin, perfumer at DSM-Firmenich

IDENTITY SHEET

Botanical name

Boswellia sacra

Common names

Incense, frankincense

Family

Burseraceae

ETYMOLOGY

From the Latin incensum, “that which is burned,” which evolved into “incense,” meaning “material burned as an offering.” Olibanum originates via Latin from the Semitic root lbn (the origin of luban in Arabic and lebonah in Hebrew), meaning “white” in reference to the color of frankincense tears.

EXTRACTION

Essence: steam distillation of the resin

Resinoid: volatile solvent extraction

ESSENCE

THE SCENT OF FRANKINCENSE

Facets that are mineral, citrusy, aldehydic, camphoraceous, mentholated, woody (juniper, vetiver), spicy (pepper), aromatic, balsamic, resinous, terpenic, burnt and even smoky. It evokes the atmosphere of an old church: polished benches, cold stone or candle wax, depending on the perception of the person smelling it.

OLIBANUM

FRANKINCENSE IN 4 FRAGRANCES

PASSAGE D’ENFER

Brand L’Artisan parfumeur

Perfumer Olivia Giacobetti

Launch 1999

A fragrance named after the Parisian street where the brand’s historical store was located. The frankincense is ethereal alongside lily, leather and sandalwood notes.

AVIGNON

Brand Comme des garçons

Perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour

Launch 2002

Luminous as a stained glass window, solid as a polished wooden bench, this fragrance from the (papal) palace oscillates between transparency and depth. It owes its contrasting nature to an overdose of C-12 MNA aldehyde, which adds volume and power.

WAZAMBA

Brand Parfum d’empire

Perfumer Marc-Antoine Corticchiato

Launch 2009

Frankincense delves into mysticism in partnership with myrrh, opoponax, sandalwood and cypress. Then apple notes emerge, giving the fragrance a bubblegum feel.

LINEAGE

Brand Amouage

Perfumer Karine Vinchon Spehner

Launch 2023

A frankincense for summer, revealing its mineral, seaside, salty and invigorating effects alongside ginger, Sichuan pepper, fenugreek and myrrh. The olibanum is used in essential oil and resinoid forms.

“The resin is far more aromatic, zesty, even a little tangy, like a candy.”

Cécile Zarokian, independent perfumer

Cécile Zarokian also knows that the aldehydes in frankincense can bring to mind a functional, technical type of perfumery. She likes to use creamy, ambery notes to soften certain smoky or aldehydic facets. In Epic 56, a variation on Epic Woman (her first fragrance for Amouage, created in 2009 and one of the brand’s bestsellers), she replaced Turkish rose essence with centifolia rose absolute and chose new spices like cinnamon, pink pepper, saffron and cumin: “I had to rework the entire balance of the fragrance to really bring out the explosion of spices.”

Every so often the perfumer likes to play with contrasts: In Opus XIV Royal Tobacco, her goal was to use smoke as a motif to link together the Sultanate of Oman and Cuba, two countries situated on the same parallel. The frankincense, combined with licorice, underpins the tobacco note, with its woody, spicy facets, nothing like traditional “fruity, honeyed” tobaccos. “I wanted to trace

the path of a burning cigar, starting with the fresh tobacco leaf,” explains Cécile Zarokian. “With green notes for the opening followed by a spicy heart and smoky, resinous base.”

For Anchorage , a fragrance designed specially to perfume the palaces of the Middle East and which captures the essence of Amouage, Cécile Zarokian opted for essence of hojari, the highest grade of frankincense. The result reflects the “warmth and generosity” that characterize the Sultanate. The resin is “far more aromatic, zesty, even a little tangy, like a candy.” The luxury ingredient is encircled by floral notes evoking the rose that grows on the Jebel Akhdar plateau, while sandalwood accords create a comforting yet sophisticated mood. The choice of the very best elements echoes the important role that frankincense plays in Omani culture.

THE EXCEPTIONAL EXTRAITS

THE BEST OF NICHE BY THE NEZ EDITORIAL TEAM

P. 22

I� the ai r

BRAND PORTRAITS THE NEVER-ENDING JOURNEY

P. 27

AROUND THE WORLD

SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

P. 40

THE CEREALS AND NUTS TREND CRAZY FOR NUTS P. 36

THE BEST OF NICHE, BY THE NEZ EDITORIAL TEAM

Members of the Nez Review Committee meet four times a year to dip their noses into the latest perfumes to reach our offices. The fragrances are always blind-tested and their olfactory qualities carefully assessed. The process involves a lot of lively discussion: Opinions sometimes diverge, but our reviewers are often in agreement when it comes to the creations that really stand out. Because just like music, film and literature, perfume is more than a consumer product. It is also, for us, a creative work worthy of critical assessment.

Top 10 fragrances from last year.

UN BEL AMOUR D’ÉTÉ

Brand Parfum d’empire

Perfumer Marc-Antoine Corticchiato

Type Eau de parfum

Price €130/50 ml, €190/100 ml

Sun-kissed flowers

If your skin yearns for the sun, or if you’re just waxing nostalgic for a beach romance, put your nose on this new Parfum d’empire. Though it was inspired by a “sea, sex and sun” décor, the scent doesn’t surf on the wave of monoï perfumes. Instead, you will find, after a whiff of singular, even slightly animalic spices, a grand bouquet of creamy white flowers. Magnolia and its yellow fruit freshness, lush velvety gardenia and champaca with its reminiscence of hay are wrapped in naturalistic green foliage. The trio is bolstered by jasmine and ylang-ylang, accenting the bouquet’s spicy floral maximalism. In the drydown, as though to conjure the blinding light hitting grains of hot sand, ambrette adds its musky softness, reclining on a sunbed of sandalwood and vanilla. A generous and solar composition, Un bel amour d’été is not necessarily a summer scent, but rather a powerful surge of emotion yanked out of the meanders of our memories. s.d.

Olivier R.P. David Samuel Douillet

Clément Paradis

Alexis Toublanc

Jessica Mignot

Léa Walter

Smelled and critiqued by:

COULEUR VENDÔME

Brand Mellerio × Roos & Roos

Perfumer Dominique Ropion

Type Eau de parfum

Price €185/100 ml

Grand bouquet

You should’ve seen Nez’s team blind-smelling Couleur Vendôme. They immediately exclaimed: “We don’t know what it is, but it’s a Ropion.” Indeed, this is the virtuoso’s lesson in florality. In it, from Dominique Ropion’s corpus, we find Portrait of a Lady’s rosy density, the powerful orange blossom typical of Alien’s author, and the majestic bouquet of Une fleur de cassie. Here, flowers are decomposed then reassembled in a soft focus that conjures lily, mimosa, rose, jasmine, violet and iris. It’s an explosion of colors and textures, as floral, woody, spicy, animalic strata are arranged with mind-boggling precision. Couleur Vendôme offers a perfect shading, a fascinating floral abstraction, a master-painting. a.t.

SCOVILLE

Brand Obvious

Perfumer Patrice Revillard

Type Eau de parfum

Price €110/100 ml

Some like it hot

After the well-considered Une pistache and Un été’s matcha, Obvious clearly knows how to sniff out trends! That of pimiento, still discreet in bottles, is taking off in the media. But say, what does it smell of, exactly? The opening is explosive, as galbanum, petitgrain and pepper evoke a bite into the juicy green flesh of a bell pepper. A flight of powder stands for smoldering paprika, followed by the uplifting facets of clove like the burn of a slap, accented by cocoa, rounded off by a shot of vanilla like a nod to the Aztec beverage xocoatl. In the drydown, ambery woods extend the “spikiness” which, for once, is judiciously used. Patrice Revillard thus offers us a play on textures, colors and flavors like a kaleidoscopic view of the spice, offbeat and successful. j.m.

LA TERRE, LA NUIT

Brand Racyne

Perfumer Meabh Mc Curtin

Type Eau de parfum

Price €98/50 ml

Vesperal sigh

Racyne is a young independent house that pays tribute to the anchoring powers of perfume. An ode to the slow life which, in La Terre, la nuit, evokes the nocturnal awakening of the undergrowth, in the olfactory form of a neo-chypre. After a fleeting aromatic overture, we get straight to the point, with a multifaceted floral bouquet (rose, jasmine, tuberose), as smooth and round as a peach. Nothing sticks out: This is elegant, abstract and consistent with the brand’s discourse. Like an urge to refocus on yourself before starting over again, under the more obscure auspices of patchouli, oakmoss, woods and, most of all, powdery musks, like the mysterious murmur of a forest at night. A creation that borrows from illustrious elders a subtle balance between shadow and light. s.d.

VIOLET KEW

Brand Le Jardin retrouvé

Perfumer Maxence Moutte

Type Eau de parfum

Price €50/15 ml, €120/50 ml

Spice & love

Ah, violet, such a delicate flower with powdered effects of... cumin seed? When you smell Maxence Moutte’s composition, you might ask yourself if someone has mistakenly put their spice rack in the fragrance cabinet. But no. Refusing stereotypes, the perfumer has stylized the carnal facets of the mauve flower. The spices of the Levant join the dance, and they are no shrinking violets: The ardent breath of cumin blends with the leafy, camphoraceous green of cardamom, and dry notes of cereal join violet. Our tongue is also tickled, as the floral beauty fools around with the honeyed treats of other continents, especially a chunk of sandalwood as apricotflavored as a cake. Though the promise here is a visit to London’s Kew Gardens, the composition also mischievously digs up the flower’s meridional roots, in some Moorish plantation. c.p.

ARMONIA

Brand Anatole Lebreton

Perfumer Anatole Lebreton

Type Esprit de parfum

Price €130/30 ml

The golden ratio of iris

A palace to the glory of Florentine iris, a humanist courtier who invites you into his divinely proportioned Palladian villa. You enter it through a vast portico flooded with the root’s radiant light, with its soft violet hue. You then perceive the purple tones of its interior, draped in the fruity veils of a boozy plum, in harmony with the personality of the host, who now presents his powdered, silky face. The visit leads you to the heart of the villa, in the library, for learned discussions in the blonde atmosphere of patchouli, which chimes with the earthy notes of iris. A highly refined perfume lavishly offering all the facets of its noble roots. o.r.p.d.

POUR RÊVER

Brand Violet

Perfumer Nathalie Lorson

Type Parfum

Price €100/50 ml, €170/100 ml

Gourmet menu

The house of Violet has accustomed us to quality launches and this one doesn’t deceive, even though Nathalie Lorson has taken the risk of tackling the gourmand family. The opening offers a chocolate livened up with candied orange and toasted hazelnuts. The warm, familiar accord recalls mendiant, a typical French treat, and the end-of-year festivities. But the composition doesn’t give in to the facile attraction of sugar. Cocoa shoots its roasted roots into an iris that is all at once fatty, buttery and powdery, subtly leading the composition toward velvety leather inflections. The outlines of steamy black tea rise to warm up the atmosphere. Slowly, the confectionery fades out, making way for a soft animality, purring with musks. Evidence indeed that you can be both gourmet and elegant. j.m.

AMBRE LIQUIDE

Brand Astier de Villatte

Perfumer Dominique Ropion

Type Parfum

Price €155/30 ml, €265/100 ml

Spice bath

In this interpretation of the medieval pomander, camphor, clove and nutmeg roar, in a burning echo of Tiger Balm. Among these spices, cinnamon stands out, conjuring the specter of Serge Lutens’s Rousse. The heart softens and turns creamy with the rosy effect of geranium and the fattiness of violet. Natural sandalwood melds with cinnamic balsams and cistus to offer an unctuous base. What makes Ambre liquide such a success is its capacity to preserve the comforting warmth and pleasant sillage of the great classic ambers, while lightening up their sensuous excesses. With this new chapter of its historical reconstitutions, Astier de Villatte confirms once again the solidity and consistent quality of its collection. a.t.

SHAMAN

Brand Anomalia

Perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour

Type Eau de parfum

Price €195/70 ml

Up in smoke

Though the smoky plumes that give their etymology to the word “perfume” rise up here, incense is nowhere to be found. Shaman’s spirituality is close to nature: In it, woods, herbs, spices and oils are burned. Its opening notes are as opaque as gouache, spiked with notes of pepper and conifers. The pyrogenic effects of juniper and birch imitate leather turning into skin, subtly rounded off with a fatty rose and candied fruits dunked in peaty whisky. Shaman gives off a dark but shiny luster, in the lineage of Jacques Guerlain’s Cuir de Russie or the more recent Corpus Equus by Naomi Goodsir, echoing its animalic sillage mixed with accents of pine trees warmed by a heat wave. And the trees’ sap turns to resins, whose future vapors we will bless. a.t.

PHILTRE

Brand Hiram Green

Perfumer Hiram Green

Type Eau de parfum

Price €195/50 ml

An enchanter’s potion

Philtre is an elixir. Perhaps of love. Of nature, without any doubt. If Hiram Green’s credo is still to compose without any synthetic ingredients, his commitment can also be felt in the bucolic, narcotic evocations of this perfume. As if by magic, the bottle holds both a flowerbed of carnations with their peppery rosy accents of clove, and an opulent bush of jasmine with its petals, stems and pollen. And even the honey and wax of the bees that lovingly gather their nectar, enhancing the animalic facets of flowers that are clearly more fiery than sentimental. Spicy to the last drop, the potion turns languid in the warmth of enveloping, resinous notes. Perfectly blended, this rich fragrance is a masterful, sensual exercise in natural perfumery. l.w.

Brand portraits THE NEVER-ENDING JOURNEY

By Gabrielle Fourcade Illustration: Sandrine Martin

The deities of ancient Greece and Rome were honored with aromatic smoke, a practice that gives us the word “perfume,” from the Latin per fumum, meaning “through smoke.” The aromas of sacred resins were carried to the gods on wafts of smoke, creating a bond between humans and the heavenly realm. And although this spiritual dimension has dwindled, scent retains this ability to take us on a journey, stimulating our minds and our imaginations.

Odors are powerful channels for our innermost feelings, building bridges between past and present, forging ties between reality and dreams, unfurling threads between heaven and earth. The invisible, aromatic substances that dwell in our scent bottles offer us glimpses of a different world, mysterious and imagined, often idyllic, sometimes enigmatic. Simply inhale deeply and a new universe arises, similar to the head of hair celebrated so passionately by Charles Baudelaire in a poem inspired by the evocative power of its aroma.

Smells are a gateway to our mindscape, our deepest emotions, creating a happy illusion and carrying us away. In the thriving niche perfumery landscape, brands more than ever embody the capacity fragrance has to immerse us in memories and dreams. The creators we encountered each cultivate their own highly distinctive olfactory universe, while their creations captivate us with sensory explorations, inviting us on a voyage of discovery.

L’Entropiste

SCENTING CHAOS

Master Perfumer. Master of Incense. And now, Master of Disorder. With L’Entropiste, whose first boutique opens in Paris in 2025, Bertrand Duchaufour turns into a fragrant manifesto the approach that drives his life and work. An iconoclastic olfactory dynamic where fleeting, dazzling harmony emerges from chaos.

The logo: a D marked with a notch. D, as in disorder. D, as in Duchaufour (a coincidence, he swears). The bottle: Unbalanced, always already about to topple over, at least in appearance, because life needs instability to move forward –you’re always walking and falling at the same time… The fragrances: Ultra-contrasted, with potent but legible accords, they bear the olfactory signature of one the first rockstars of niche, the prolific author of Avignon (Comme des garçons, 2002), Timbuktu (L’Artisan parfumeur, 2004), Sartorial (Penhaligon’s, 2010) and Corpus Equus (Naomi Goodsir, 2021). It was via TechnicoFlor, the composition house where he works, that Bertrand Duchaufour was approached to become the creator of a new niche brand. He initially accepted for the pleasure of the experience, the coda to a 40-year career. But over the course of months of sessions with the team developing the concept, he embarked on a more ambitious project. More than a brand: a manifesto. A tribute to the mystery of life, its evolution, the beauty of its transformations, whose DNA would be drawn from his spiritual and sensorial vision of perfume, and of life. “An approach based on the great knowledge branches of Asia, the Yi King, Taoism, yin and yang… It was through my way of seeing the evolution of life, its balance and unbalance, that we came to the notion of entropy, a scientific concept that expresses chaos. Life is nothing but the repeated cycle of chaos and balance.” Hence the brand’s name, L’Entropiste (“the one who creates chaos”), the title designating its creator, “Master of Disorder,” and the chromatic code. Off-white for the spiritual world, black for the journey of life in our tangible world,

and red, the color of blood and of life, “used in all so-called ‘primitive’ cultures, including in African art, which I’ve been collecting for 35 years,” the perfumer specifies.

Completely unhinged and surprisingly acceptable

The olfactory expression of this philosophy of chaos? “I always seek a certain harmony through my accords,” Bertrand Duchaufour explains, “but for L’Entropiste, I’ve pushed contrasts until they reach a quasi-unlawful unbalance. I’m always at a breaking point, a tipping point, while remaining legible for the consumer, provided that I explain what I’m doing clearly, through the names and images as well as the accords I put forward.” Thus, for the delicate Semence douce, a tribute to Robert Mapplethorpe’s pictures of tulips, he plays on the contrasts between the fragrance of tulips, “saffrony, with spermatic, watery, ozonic, sap effects,” an almond milk accord whose texture recalls semen, and rice starch, again for its evocative consistency and because, as a cereal, rice is also a seed… A warped gourmand, Dorian’s Spleen indulges in the debauchery of pleasurable notes to be consumed in excess –chocolate, caramel, whisky, tobacco – shot through with the spiky mineral effects of chili pepper, since Oscar Wilde’s blasé anti-hero seeks to spice up his life, bolstered by a funereal effect of cold cigarette ashes.

A perfumer’s ultimate expression

Evidently, such a narrative/olfactory approach can only be authentically possible if the creator authors every aspect of his creations. Which is the case. “No one else weighed in on the notes I’d elaborated, and I was the one who imposed my ideas,” Bertrand Duchaufour confirms.

“This brand, as it will be presented to the public, is exactly what I believe in, what I absolutely wanted to express in perfumery, far beyond what I’ve been doing up to now, even for brands that gave me carte blanche. Because the stories are truly my stories.” Could he have achieved this at another stage of his career?

“I’d say that now, though I’m still fueled by enthusiasm, I avoid getting drawn into the pitfalls of uncontrolled artistic passion, which I couldn’t always have managed ten years ago.”Beyond the six fragrances and four candles presented at the inauguration of the new house, the future offerings of L’Entropiste will be partly conceived in the flagship store at 59 rue des Francs-Bourgeois, Paris. A small, fully operational lab has been set up in the boutique, alongside an office for Bertrand Duchaufour and his assistant Alexandra Mettetal. An art gallery adjoining the sales area will initially present a lesser-known aspect of the perfumer’s creation, his drawings and paintings, mostly portraits and self-portraits, with African masks on loan from his personal collection, before programming exhibitions by other artists. Where will this creative journey lead him? To quote Lao Tzu, the founder of Taoism: “The true traveler has no set plan and is not intent on arriving.” D.B.

L’ENTROPISTE IN 4 PERFUMES

BLANC SADA

Perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour

Launch 2025

“Sada is about the realm of the senses. A nude, very white body on a straw tatami, covered with rice powder blended with ground iris rhizome, with a lychee note like a blood-red stain.”

JODHPUR 6 AM

Perfumers Bertrand Duchaufour and Alexandra Mettetal

Launch 2025

“The memory of a cup of chai with cardamom, cinnamon and ginger, savored in India at dawn after a grueling bus trip, near a flower market wafting the scent of tuberose.”

DAWN WHISPERS

Perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour

Launch 2025

“An evocation of the parallel universes glimpsed between sleep and wakefulness, through an aldehydic, metallic/ozonic blood accord overlying white woods, musks, amber and incense.”

ALTAMURA

Perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour

Launch 2025

“A cosmic revelation, the Altamura man, the skeleton of a Neanderthal sealed into a grotto by cave popcorn like a shower of stars, is echoed by the contrast between burning alcohol and the mineral cold of incense.”

L’Entropiste lentropiste.com @lentropiste

Map of the Heart PERFUMERY FROM THE HEART

Australian brand Map of the Heart was founded in 2014 by Sarah Blair and the late Jeffrey Darling with the ambitious goal of charting the emotions of the human heart.

Coming from the world of filmmaking the couple saw the world of olfaction as a new creative frontier to explore. “Our world as filmmakers was everything else, but olfaction,” recalls Sarah Blair. “Fragrance can transport you in a nanosecond back to a person, place or moment in time, more immediately than image recall.” In 2013, the partners took their first steps on the perfumery path by intensive research which culminated in briefing Givaudan. “As we believe that everything comes from our heart – its aches, and desires – we briefed the first three fragrances to be the extremes and center of the range.”

Their brief traveled from Givaudan’s Australian office to the Paris office. Nine olfactory submissions were sent to them from the French capital.

After blind-testing the proposals, they discovered that the ones they chose were all the work of perfumer Jacques Huclier. The brand has continued to work with Huclier who later collaborated with Nisrine Bouazzaoui Grillié and Amélie Jacquin. “We wanted the bottle to be in the shape of a human heart as a tribute to the authenticity of the feelings we wanted to explore.” They tapped the legendary Pierre Dinand to create their iconic bottle. “It has a rare beauty: When you handle it, you are literally holding a heart in your hand, connecting you to what it is to live.”

During this development stage Jeffrey was introduced to Giovanna Aicardi, a former executive at L’Oréal who joined as fragrance developer and partner. Sarah and Jeff’s daughter, Imogen Darling-Blair, joined as communications creative director.

Each of the eight creations plumbs the depths of human emotions and their ramifications. V.1 Freedom evokes innocence and freedom with its aquatic, vegetal notes. V.2 Darkness is opposite: inspired by the deepest recesses of our souls and expressing them with an accord of burnt wood overlain by eucalyptus.

The brand always stays true to its artistic vision, incorporating various other disciplines to express the ideas it stands for, such as sculpture and dance. Those same ideas are conveyed by an array of unusual and innovative accords and ingredients such as sumac, shiso and ink. Huclier has used Australian sandalwood as an olfactory fil rouge to run through each fragrance.

In 2025, Map of the Heart continues to play its role as one of the pioneers of Australian-born fragrance houses. Brimming with the energy of what is now a women-only led team, the brand is ready to celebrate its tenth anniversary with the launch of two new creations, “with authenticity and emotion” concludes Blair. “Map of the Heart is more than ever the heartbeat of scent.” S.D.

MAP OF THE HEART IN 3 PERFUMES

V.4 PEACE

Perfumer Jacques Huclier

Launch 2015

“Inspired by the idea of nurturing goodness, Peace centers on a creamy milky accord enveloping a cloud of spices, with saffron, so-called ‘red gold,’ making a star appearance.”

V.6 ECSTASY

Perfumers Jacques Huclier and Nisrine Bouazzaoui Grillié

Launch 2017

“This magnificent and hypnotic white floral offers an interpretation of ecstasy and hallucination, opening with the greenness of narcissus, scattered with spicy sumac notes and underpinned by a tobacco and labdanum base.”

V.8 ABUNDANCE

Perfumers Jacques Huclier and Amélie Jacquin

Launch 2023

Abundance pays homage to the profusion and generosity of nature in Australia. Fruity, spicy and mineral notes clash in a woody, milky joyous chaos.”

Map of the Heart mapoftheheart.com @mapoftheheart

Map of the Heart

State of Mind FRAGRANCES OF THE SOUL

In 2017, Catherine Laskine-Balandina founded State of Mind in Versailles as a brand that nurtures the synesthetic connections between fragrances, teas and philosophy. Its mission? To recount the many shifts that shape the human mindscape.

“At State of Mind, narrativity is our religion,” states Catherine Laskine-Balandina. She feels that this approach is what distinguishes the creations of an artistic perfumery house from other scented products. The brand’s founder likes to explore the sorts of emotions, frames of mind and impulses we might experience or wish to express: “Our moods, whether they are natural or transient, form the complexity of our essence and lend themselves to being expressed as scents.”

In her view, the purpose of fragrance is to arouse a feeling, which means it has to convey a powerful idea. The names of her creations are inspired by literature, ballets and famous figures, and sound like some of the special gifts life has to offer: Sense of Humor and Spontaneous Generosity, to name just two. “A mood sometimes

becomes a frame of mind, forcing us to adopt a new attitude,” she continues. Modern Nomad, for example, is an ambery rose that captures the boldness of explorers ready to confront the unknown.

A fellow fragrance, Creative Inspiration, uses its soft and powdery notes to address those who feel they harbor the soul of a sensitive artist – just like the character Novecento in writer Alessandro Baricco’s theatrical monologue Novecento. With its focus firmly on narration, Catherine Laskine-Balandina’s approach aims to stand apart from the general tendency in traditional niche perfumery, where fragrances are often reduced to their ingredients. State of Mind sees raw materials as secondary, opting instead to step back from the literal in order to experiment with the depth of its compositions. In Versailles, home to the brand’s beautifully appointed Olfactory Tea Room and boutique, customers can enjoy a multisensory experience as they discover teas and fragrances that mirror each other with their shared notes. “It’s a haven of hospitality and happy encounters, an immersive space where teas and fragrances form two sides of the same coin – and that coin is the mood that inspired them.”

Expert tea taster Olivier Scala selects the teas for the collection while Karine Dubreuil creates the fragrances.“I only work with Karine: We have developed such an amazing level of trust and understanding that her trials are always extremely accurate!”

Helped by an illustrator and drawing on a list of olfactory notes that correspond to the inspiration, she captures the mood that serves as the leitmotif for the fragrance and tea, which then express it in sensory form.The Art Deco-style bottle is the receptacle for these olfactory tales, enfolding them in a triangular shape that evokes the body-mind-soul trio. A colored, generous object that embodies “exceptional luxury with disparate references, making it easier to embrace moods and feelings and practice the art of being happy,” concludes the State of Mind founder. S.D.

STATE OF MIND IN 3 PERFUMES

AESTHETIC TURBULENCE

Perfumer Karine Dubreuil

Launch 2017

“The splendid result of shaking up the serenity of green tea and oolong with a lively dash of pepper and immortelle against a woody, ambery background.”

FRENCH GALLANTRY

Perfumer Karine Dubreuil

Launch 2019

“A bouquet rich in herbs – sage, oregano, thyme and bay leaf –chivalrously escorts a black tea and its waft of woody fumes.”

FANFARONE ITALIANO

Perfumer Karine Dubreuil

Launch 2023

“The house special: a straight, strongly flavored ristretto scented with just a hint of blackcurrant and neroli, to be imbibed fearlessly before a swig of cognac. In the same cup, naturally.”

Olfactory Tea Room 5 rue du Bailliage 78000 Versailles

State of Mind stateofmind.fr @stateofmind.fr

PERFUMER OF CHARACTER SINCE 1970

PARFUMEUR DE CARACTÈRE DEPUIS 1970

Réminiscence THE POWER OF MEMORY

Created in 1970 in Juan-les-Pins, in the heart of the French Riviera, and acquired in 2022 by David Lozano and Gaëlle de Prunelé, the brand boasts a unique character grounded in its Mediterranean roots and memorable sillages.

If the act of remembering had an odor as part olfactory grammar, it could well be the smell of patchouli, an ingredient inextricably linked to the 1970s.

Réminiscence – a fine example of an aptly named brand – was one of the very first to design its fragrances like amulets containing a moment captured by the senses, imbued with deep-rooted emotions. Le Patchouli is the brand’s emblematic fragrance, created in 1970 by Francis Camail with a bold dose of the powerful ingredient, as totally unprecedented then as it still is today. Distributed via a discreet network, it became a symbol of the era and the brand while establishing the Réminiscence olfactory signature: an accord of patchouli, tonka bean, musk, amber and vanilla.

An approach centering on materials and memories fostered the emergence of a shared emotional experience between brand, clients and creations.

The Réminiscence teams and clientele all share the same attachment to the house fragrances thanks to the feeling of familiarity and oneness they procure.

“Everyone around us was delighted to take a fresh look at the spirit of Réminiscence as well as its heritage; there was a real wave of enthusiasm,” explains Gaëlle de Prunelé.

By the same taken, David Lozano tells us:

“Le Rem is a fragrance that’s embedded in my life. It reminds me of the smell of sea air and sand on my vacations in Italy visiting my grandfather.”

Fifty-five years after it embarked on the perfumery adventure, Réminiscence is

revisiting the elements its reputation and success are built on, refocusing the range on the brand’s iconic creations, with their memorable and powerful sillages, while redesigning the bottles for greater consistency. Similarly, the brand’s historical sources of inspiration – raw materials, travel, the Mediterranean Basin and the precious moments in life –have taken a more central role in brand communications. And the brand’s local roots in Juan-les-Pins, now part of its logo, have become a key element of Réminiscence’s distinctiveness in the niche landscape. “When we collaborate with creators, we expect them to produce compositions that correspond to the Réminiscence universe. A universe rooted above all in light, the very special atmosphere of southeastern France, embodied by our fragrances,” says Gaëlle de Prunelé as she talks about how the brand works with perfumers. “We pay particularly close attention to the unique character of the ideas they come up with and the presence of the Réminiscence olfactory signature.”

J.F.

RÉMINISCENCE IN 3 PERFUMES

LE PATCHOULI

Perfumer Francis Camail Launch 1970

“One of the first ingredient-focused fragrances on the market, this homage to the dense and syrupy notes of patchouli has not aged in the slightest over the decades.”

SOUFFLE AMBRÉ

Perfumer Francis Camail Launch 1970

“An ambery, spicy accord featuring resins, clove and geranium in a blend that is both classic and precious. A captivating fragrance that melts on the skin and tenderly permeates fabrics.”

LE REM

Perfumer Francis Camail Launch 1996

“All the exoticism of vacations in a bottle, with its ambery, salty sillage and the inimitable floral sparkle of salty sea air.”

Space Fluid THE SMELL OF THE REAL WORLD

Since 2021, Czech creator, artist and science fiction writer Marketa Maf (who writes under the name Ba ková) has been encouraging us to “own our space” with fragrances that are true works of art.

The reason Marketa Maf launched her own fragrance brand could be summed up by the maxim: If you want something done right, do it yourself. “Six years ago, I was looking for a fragrance for myself. Something different, strongly connected to the emotions. Since I couldn’t find anything that suited me, I devised one myself – and ended up creating Space Fluid,” she explains. The fragrance which set her on the perfumery path is Narcis nocturne, a homage to a “mysterious woman with multiple facets, like the

narcissus.” The artist and writer lives in Prague and New York and studied perfumery in London and Grasse. She followed her debut fragrance with four other creations to convey her vision of the world. A vision rooted in her belief that we need to get back to the perception of fragrance as a work of art. “We have a very commercial view of things today, but in the past perfumery was considered as an art just like painting and sculpture. Scent was once used to influence emotions or even encourage meditation. Its purpose went further than simply making us smell good,” she points out. In an era when everything can be copied, Marketa Maf is keen to offer “original fragrances that are entirely the work of the creator,” from concept to formula right up to hand-painted bottles.

She finds inspiration for her creations in the people she encounters and in unusual places as well as childhood memories, such as the garage where her father constantly had to take his old car and where she happily breathed in the smell of gasoline, dust, metal and smoke, leading to the conception of Funky Machine. She also gets ideas from the raw materials she discovers, like the lotus, a sacred flower for the Egyptians, “relaxing and comforting like a breath of fresh air,” celebrated in High to Lotus She mainly opts for natural ingredients – although she is not against the use of synthetic materials where necessary –and dilutes her scented concentrates in food-grade alcohol rather than the usual denatured alcohol. A choice that “means the fragrances can improve as they age, like a good cognac,” she notes. This approach produces creations “which do not smell like fragrances but bring out our odor rather than covering it up, like good-quality makeup should do with our face.” A.-S.H.

SPACE FLUID IN 3 PERFU M ES

NARCIS NOCTURNE

Perfumer Marketa Maf

Launch 2021

“I love narcissus. I find it intriguing, independent, unpredictable, even a little dangerous. I used it to express a concept of femininity that I admire.”

WHISPERING FIELDS

Perfumer Marketa Maf

Launch 2023

“Someone once told me that this fragrance brought to mind a Parisian street or a secondhand bookseller’s stand. What I had in mind when devising it was to offer a peaceful but energetic and uplifting creation.”

X-RAY

Perfumer Marketa Maf

Launch 2024

“It’s a very abstract composition, where the dark notes of frankincense and leather are irradiated by the luminosity of citrus fruits and flowers, like light falling from heaven.”

Space Fluid spacefluid.com

@spacefluidscent

© Lukáš

Dvo ák

The cereals and nuts trend CRAZY FOR NUTS

By Jessica Mignot

In a bid to keep improving on the gourmand fragrances that have been a runaway success since Thierry Mugler launched Angel in 1992, perfumers are trying a brand-new approach, gradually abandoning praline for toasted, creamy or crunchy notes inspired by cereals and nuts. Luzi perfumers David Chieze and Paulo de Moraes are taking a deep look at this broad array of tasty ingredients.

A quick botany lesson

Cereals are grasses belonging to the Poaceae family. Wheat (initially einkorn wheat), millet, corn and rice were some of the first plants cultivated by Homo sapiens and played a decisive role in the development of human societies. While nuts have been eaten for many thousands of years, they probably weren’t cultivated as early as cereals, no doubt due to their lower yields. Nuts are not a scientifically defined category but a set of oil-producing seeds enclosed in a shell from different botanical families. Another characteristic they share is a low water content: usually under 50% of their total weight. Walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts and chestnuts belong to the Fagales order. The walnut, which boasts the largest world-

wide production, is the fruit of Juglans regia in the Juglandaceae family. Its origins remain somewhat hazy, but we do know that it has been around for a very long time: An 8-million-year-old walnut was unearthed on an archeological dig in Ardèche, in southeastern France. The cashew nut comes from Anacardium occidentale in the tropical Americas and was not identified until the 16th century, although its use dates back to an earlier period. Castanea sativa Mill., from the Fagaceae family, is thought to have been grown for its chestnuts starting in the 5th century BCE and has often served as a substitute for cereals over the centuries, earning it the nickname “bread of the woods.” The almond, fruit of Prunus dulcis, which belongs to the Rosaceae family, was seemingly eaten as early as the Mesolithic era, when it was popular with people living around the Mediterranean region. The pistachio comes from Pistacia vera L., in the Anacardiaceae family, and hails from Central Asia. Last but not least, the hazelnut is the fruit of Corylus avellana, part of the Betulaceae family. The coconut, from Cocos nucifera, which belongs to the Arecaceae family, also deserves a mention due to its name as well as its olfactory similarity to nuts, even though it is not traditionally included in the same botanical category.

A variety of profiles

Nuts and cereals have a wide variety of highly prized olfactory profiles. A large number of volatile aroma compounds – around 200 – were initially identified. These can change depending on growing conditions: water stress, various illnesses and maturity. Post-harvest treatment also affects the olfactory nature of these raw materials. For instance, the Maillard reaction and oxidation of fatty acids that occur during cooking result in the deterioration of lipids and appearance of odiferous molecules, such as furanone, methylb -

Illustration : Sandrine Martin

utanal and benzene acetaldehyde, with its honeyed odor. Certain pyrazines – a family of molecules with the same roasted signature – also develop. Moreover, smells change over time: The concentration of linoleic acid gradually increases while hexanal and nonanal, partly responsible for a “rancid” smell, appear.

Toward other universes

A number of naturals have established themselves as ideal ingredients for creating gourmand facets. One example is vetiver from Haiti, with its peanut hints. Paulo de Moraes brings up an all-time classic: vanilla. “It isn’t particularly sugary. It can display balsamic or cosmetic aspects, create a second-skin effect, suggest tobacco or leather notes, and so on. Its versatility means it can take appetizing ingredients into totally different universes!” When he wants to play with the food dimension, the perfumer also uses “balsam notes of benzoin, which can create a lovely caramelized aspect. As well as coumarin with its hints of hay and tonka bean, or else aldehydes, musks to create a second-skin feel, or maybe a cocoa absolute with its toasted aspects. Some lactones provide a more cosmetic cereal facet.” The list wouldn’t be complete without the pyrazines: “There are a lot of them; some of them are more chocolatey; others have a popcorn feel. We use them differently depending on which nut or cereal we want to embody,” explains David Chieze. Everything depends on the desired effect as well as the ingredient the perfumer wants to include: Hazelnut has green, almost fruity facets mixed with creamy notes; walnut, on the other hand, is aromatic and earthy; almond has more of a green and milky feel; chestnut is sugary and slightly spicy; coconut is milky and creamy, while rice can be airy, powdery and toasted. For Paulo de Moraes, “the Brazilian

David Chieze

What do nuts evoke for you?

A childhood memory first and foremost: My parents’ garden in Picardy had hazelnut and walnut trees growing in it. We used to eat the fruits in secret. We also made wine and oil from them. So they really did symbolize happy times. And pistachio or hazelnut ice cream: my favorite flavors!

What would you like to explore in these notes? I’d like to work

What do these ingredients evoke for you? The morning aroma in Brazil when everyone’s eating pão francês, a sort of individual baguette, and drinking coffee. But most of all they evoke Sundays, when my mother used to make a cake with coconut and Brazil nuts. It’s also the smell of lots of beauty products in Brazil.

Which one do you like best? As well as the ones from my childhood, I adore pistachio: its texture, its flavor,

on the dried fruits you often find with walnuts, particularly the date, which brings a touch of modernity where prunol was used until now. To recreate it, I’d use a lot of lactones and a hay absolute. I’d team them up with rose, which in my opinion also contains dry fruit facets that are fairly gourmand.

Are there pitfalls to avoid when working with them? Pyrazines are unstable; they are so powerful that a tiny difference can have a radical impact on the end result. When they are present in large quantities they soon become sickly. And they tend to be fairly volatile: To prolong their effect you can use corylone, with its roasted facets, or a CO2 extraction of sesame, which smells of toasted sesame.

its color, but also its versatility; it can be sugary and salty at the same time. It is dense, creamy, almost oily with a cosmetic aspect, and has a velvety effect, a green note and milky as well as roasted facets.

In what way have you worked with these notes in your creations? I recently created Say Sakura for Len Fragrance: I wanted to reinvent the cherry blossom by going beyond the floral aspect. I focused my work on the almondy, crunchy aspects in a complex accord featuring benzaldehydes – which suggest bitter almond – enriched with dried fruit. I shaped it with floral aldehydes and pink pepper in the top notes rounded out by davana, vanilla, tonka bean and benzoin. The fragrance is a good illustration of my approach to composing.

Paulo de Moraes

Fragrancewise, walnuts, hazelnuts, pistachios and cereals do not have a long creative tradition.

cashew nut is oily, roasted and often salty. It features in personal care products from L’Occitane and Natura. It’s very popular in Brazil.” David Chieze talks about the different facets he draws on to recreate pistachio, a nut he is particularly fond of: “The pine dimension with alpha-pinene, floral aspect with jasmolactone, vanillin, of course, acetoin for the oilier facet, and then for the toasted effect, filbertone, which can be found in hazelnuts, or gammaheptalactone for its creamy feel.”

Scented tradition

Although some of these notes have already found their way into our fragrance bottles, others have played a more discreet role. Our noses are very familiar with coumarin, present in tobacco accords and certain florals. While it tends to be found more frequently in functional fragrances, coconut has made a home for itself in summery white florals and exotic fruity accords. But fragrance-wise, walnuts, hazelnuts, pistachios and cereals do not have a long creative tradition. Méchant loup , composed by Bertrand Duchaufour for L’Artisan parfumeur in 1997, may well be the fragrance that got the ball rolling. David Chieze feels that “it contains a very realistic hazelnut note, which was highly innovative at the time.” Another example is Bois farine, the celebrated fragrance

released in 2003, where Jean-Claude Ellena offers an interpretation of the Ruizia cordata flowers to be found in the Island of Réunion, with their floury aroma. The indisputable classics in the rice note category include KenzoKi Rice Steam by Olivier Cresp (released in 2004 and reissued in 2010 under the name MMM de riz sensuel before being discontinued again), with its evocation of steamed basmati rice. That same year saw the release of Marron chic from Nez à Nez, where Karine Chevallier fuses a creamy iris with cocoa and balsam facets, creating the illusion of a marron glacé. Chestnut also features in Fat Electrician from État libre d’Orange: an oily vetiver composed in 2009 by Antoine Maisondieu, followed by Fils de Dieu du riz et des agrumes (Ralf Schwieger, 2012) then, in 2013, La Fin du monde, a gunpowder accord composed by Quentin Bisch, full of crackling popcorn. When it comes to cerealcentered fragrances, a good example is Lann-Ael (2007) from Brittany-based brand Lostmarc’h, a tribute to the traditional Breton cake kouign-amann, where green notes rub shoulders with milk and cereals. Another is Jeux de peau (2011) from Serge Lutens, an evocation of French toast enveloped in dried fruits with a milky, malted, slightly smoky and candied effect. A special mention must go to British brand Jo Malone, which launched a collection of five fragrances in 2018 exploring “English Fields,” as interpreted by Mathilde Bijaoui, and included bran, oat and freekeh notes. And in terms of impact, although there is evidence that these distinctive, rich and diverse notes have had some influence on a few mainstream creations, niche perfumery is still their main playground.

BOIS FARINE

Brand L’Artisan parfumeur

Perfumer Jean-Claude Ellena

Launch 2003

A precursor of great delicacy, whose roasted hazelnut, shimmering with powder and rounded by creamy sandalwood, continues to move us.

BRIOCHE

Brand Anatole Lebreton

Parfumer Anatole Lebreton

Launch 2022

The honeyed, milky and roasted facets of the still-warm viennoiserie mingle with the straw, cereal and coumarin notes of a wheat field.

UNE PISTACHE

Brand Obvious

Perfumer Fanny Bal

Launch 2023

The composition evokes its subject well, revealing an almondy, vanilla-tinged, slightly oily and lactonic greenness, enveloped by a cloud of white musks.

UN JARDIN À CYTHÈRE

Brand Hermès

Perfumer Christine Nagel

Launch 2023

The juicy opening quickly gives way to blonde wheat, fresh hay and toasted pistachio, whose gourmand facets make your mouth water.

SAY SAKURA

Brand Len Fragrance

Perfumer Paulo de Moraes

Launch 2024

Far from the classic cherry blossom accord, this dense, complex fragrance spotlights almonds, enrobed in candied fruit and drizzled with amber rum.

Around the world

Sub-Saharan Africa

Olfactory products come in many forms and are put to a wide variety of uses in different parts of the world, reflecting variations in culture, living standards and climate. Every year, Niche by Nez invites you on a trip to a far-off destination to give you a better understanding of the potential, development

and future of fragrances in unexpected locations.

José María Mustieles, a fragrance evaluator with Iberchem, is our guide as we discover various facets of perfumery on the African continent.

By Anne-Sophie Hojlo and Gabrielle Fourcade

1.5 billion inhabitants including 223 million in Nigeria

1 Buchu

Cinnamon 3 Frankincense 4 Ginger

Clove 6 Karo karoundé

Myrrh

Opoponax

Bitter orange

Pepper

Marigold

Bourbon vanilla

Ylang-ylang

“The fine fragrance sector is very far from representing the largest segment, although it has grown in recent years.”

José María Mustieles, evaluator at Iberchem

José María Mustieles, an evaluator for the African fragrance market at Spanish composition house Iberchem for the past eight years, shares his insights about the specific aspects of this vast continent and the olfactory preferences in its various countries.

What are the particular characteristics of the fragrance market in Africa?

First of all, I must stress that fragrance is used mostly in more affordable products such as household cleaning products and toiletries. The fine fragrance sector is very far from representing the largest segment, although it has grown in recent years, keeping pace with the development of the middle class, and this growth is set to continue. The overwhelming major-

ity of sales are made via supermarket chains. In most African countries, the norm is for small bottles, usually plastic, containing 30 ml or less. These are sold at affordable prices and can be used and repurchased more quickly. Roll-on formats are also very popular, particularly for the alcohol-free fragrances that are fairly widespread. Another characteristic found across Africa is the considerable share of fragrance sales that happen in bazaars where you can also find local raw materials such as frankincense and myrrh resins as well as spices. This means it’s not always so easy to get a hold of reliable data or know what people are really buying, unless you can actually visit local stores to see for yourself. But these shared traits aside, habits obviously vary from country to country.

What are the main regions that can be identified?

It is important, when trying to understand differences between the regions, to remember the historical background and colonial legacy in each place. South Africa is the country with consumer habits closest to the European model. For household cleaning products, toiletries and fine fragrance, local brands are closely aligned with the practices of big-name international groups. Fine fragrance hardly has any presence in East Africa, with its historical trading ties to Asia and the Middle East via the Indian Ocean. People use other formats that are cheaper to make themselves smell nice: body lotion, moisturizing cream and scented petroleum jelly. On the other hand, West Africa, particularly Ivory Coast, has a long history of trans-Saharan trading and colonization by European countries. Alcohol-based fragrances are more common there, with a number of local brands and product launches inspired by Western perfumery. The situation in Nigeria is very similar, and the country has an especially dynamic market.

What are the most popular olfactory universes?

It’s always tricky to generalize, but when it comes to fine fragrance, people from Muslim communities have preferences similar to what we see in the Middle East, fragrances that are ambery or woody, or contain oud. In other categories, the trends are pretty similar to those in Western countries, with fresh, citrusy compositions, woody for men, gourmand or fruity for women. However, in certain countries, Nigeria for instance, perfumery isn’t really divided into women’s and men’s products and everyone uses them interchangeably. In fact, criteria such as a fragrance’s power, performance and persistence are often seen as more important than its olfactory profile.

And what about toiletries?

If we take the example of haircare products, a very important sector, we see that fragrances evolve in step with changing consumer habits. Rose-based notes are traditionally used for hair relaxers, as they are among the few ingredients perfumers can use when formulating these very high pH bases. But nowadays these types of products are losing traction, replaced by serums, masks and shampoos specially formulated for kinky hair. These offer composers greater freedom for finding inspiration in tropical fruits like mango and papaya, or in traditional African ingredients like shea and baobab.

LOCAL TREASURES

From the sacred resins of the Horn of Africa to the spices of Madagascar, a host of native or introduced perfume plants flourish on the continent that is the cradle of humanity.

MYRRH

This resin from the bark of trees in the Commiphora genus originates in northeast Africa, where it is widely produced. The essence is considered sacred and traditionally used in the composition of incense and ambery fragrances.

BOURBON VANILLA

The fruit of a Central American orchid vine transplanted to Réunion Island, formerly Bourbon Island, this vanilla offers creamy, tobacco, leathery facets. It is now grown extensively in the Sava region of Madagascar, now the world capital of the highly prized pods.

GINGER

Originally from China and India, the word “ginger” derives from the Latin zingiber, which gave its name to Zanzibar, an archipelago off the east coast of Africa where it is widely grown to produce a spicy, warm and rose-like essential oil.

YLANG-YLANG

Although the flower originally hails from Indonesia, most of today’s production is concentrated in the Comoros and Madagascar. Flowers from the Comoros are smaller and provide a smokier, headier essence than the Madagascan equivalent.

WHEN NICHE MEETS AFRICA

The wealth of raw materials native to Africa has inevitably inspired countless Western brands to celebrate the continent’s olfactory beauty in the form of creations that evoke far-off cultures and countries.

TIMBUKTU

Brand L’Artisan parfumeur

Perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour

Launch 2004

An invigorating vetiver evoking savannah grass teamed with a green mango enhanced by cold spices and enveloped in karo karoundé, a strongly scented flower from Guinea with a similar scent to jasmine and gardenia.

BAL D’AFRIQUE

Brand Byredo

Perfumer Jérôme Epinette

Launch 2009

Jérôme Epinette found inspiration for the fragrance in his grandfather’s travels in Africa. He invokes a preserved lemon in a reduction of marigold flowers, the aromas swirling up and away in a soft, ambery cloud.

KALAHARI

Brand Noème

Perfumer Majda Bekkali

Launch 2019

Kalahari, its name borrowed from the desert in southern Africa, explores the raw minerality of wide-open spaces. It features a gentle pepper that twists and spins like whirling sand, enveloped in a delicate veil of cardamom and saffron.

CLICK SONG

Brand Une Nuit nomade

Perfumer Serge de Oliveira

Launch 2022

A fragrance that pays tribute to singer Miriam Makeba, the iconic symbol of South Africa. Geranium, rose and patchouli join forces harmoniously to produce a slightly wine-like effect that becomes increasingly syrupy with the unfurling of a bevy of balsams and resins.

NICHE PERFUMERY MADE IN AFRICA

A non-exhaustive list of houses founded in sub-Saharan Africa.

RÉSERVE EN AFRIQUE 1934

Launched in 2024 in Senegal in homage to a nature reserve, the brand strives to support the conservation of African fauna and flora via its creations.

SCENT OF AFRICA

Created in Ghana in 2016 and relaunched in 2022 by Tanal Ghandour, the brand showcases African ingredients through collaborations with international perfumers.

TAYSHABA

The brand, founded by Franco-Sudanese perfumer Maiada El Khalifa, offers creations inspired by the memory of her forebears, freedom fighters who battled for Sudanese independence.

328mm

44mm

La Collection Notes de Cœur

Plongez au cœur des Fleurs et des Fruits, et de leur pouvoir de séduction ! Toujours innovante dans l’Art du Parfum, AFFINESSENCE a intégré dans ce parfum inédit un « cœur attractif » pour stimuler votre sensualité et augmenter votre pouvoir de séduction !

Bénéfice prouvé scientifiquement. Cliquez sur le qrcode et rendez-vous sur « en savoir plus ».

ROS E- REGLISSE

Imaginez la ROSE DE GRASSE, fière et noble, s’enroulant dans les effluves attirantes et originales de l’essence de REGLISSE. Etoilé d’Anis (essence Badiane) et nuancé de Violette-Litchi, son sillage embaumé d’essence de Magnolia devient alors irrésistible.

Ros e- Liquorice

Heart Notes Collection

The Heart Notes Collection Plunge into the heart of Flowers and Fruits, and their power of seduction! Always an innovator in the Art of Perfume, AFFINESSENCE has included an "attractive heart" in this new fragrance to stimulate your sensuality and increase your power of seduction! Scientifically proven benefit. Click on the qrcode to find out more.

ROS E- LIQUORICE

Imagine ROSE DE GRASSE, proud and noble, wrapped in the attractive and original scents of LIQUORICE essence. With a hint of Anise (Badiane essence) and nuances of Violet-Lychee, its trail, fragrant with Magnolia essence, becomes irresistible.

INGREDIENTS, Ингредиенты, مكونات : Alcohol Denat., Parfum (FRAGRANCE), Aqua (WATER, EAU), Hexamethylindanopyran, Tetramethyl Acetyloctahydronaphthalenes, Linalool, Linalyl Acetate, Pogostemon Cablin Oil, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Benzyl Salicylate, Vanillin, Citrus Aurantium Bergamia Peel Oil, Limonene, Diethylamino Hydroxybenzoyl Hexyl Benzoate, Citronellol, Citrus Aurantium Peel Oil, Geranyl Acetate, Geraniol, Pinene, Rose Ketones, Beta-Caryophyllene, Terpineol, Cananga Odorata Oil/Extract, Alcohol, Benzaldehyde, Citrus Aurantium Flower Oil, Tris(Tetramethylhydroxypiperidinol) Citrate, Benzyl Benzoate, Benzyl Alcohol, Cinnamyl Alcohol, Citral, Farnesol, Benzyl Cinnamate, Terpinolene, CI 14700 (RED 4), CI 19140 (YELLOW 5)

EVENTS

OLFACTORY

ESPERANTO

P. 48

arO U�D fra gra �ce

COMPTOIR NICHE BY NEZ BEHIND THE SCENES OF THE CREATIVE PROCESS

P. 51

Events OLFACTORY ESPERANTO

By Gabrielle Fourcade

The good news is that perfumery is flourishing like never before! Dedicated events are springing up all over the world, a clear sign of growing international interest in the subject. Fragrance forges ties and brings people together, and we can only hope that one day everyone will speak its universal language. Every year, Nez takes the pulse of the inexorable spread of “olfactory fever.”

There’s no doubt that the typical visitor to a fragrance trade show or exhibition can be distinguished by their silhouette: telephone glued to one ear, notebook in hand, nose buried in a scent strip. What is harder to pinpoint is their location. Events targeting the general public, such as ScentXplore in New York, Paris Perfume Week and Notes Shanghai, are gradually being added to the ranks of the more established trade shows, including Beautyworld Middle East in Dubai, Esxence in Milan, IFEAT, and SIMPPAR in Grasse and Paris. Together, these shows form a vast international olfactory web which is proving to be

remarkably magnetic, with some enthusiasts traveling the globe in their quest for the latest scented launches. They share the same goal: to put a new perfume on before everyone else, with everyone else. Because gathered behind the trail of sprayed scents are all the people and organizations involved in the profession: brands, perfumers, stores, influencers, distributors and composition houses, as well as students and other knowledgeable amateurs. The event organizers who tirelessly champion olfactory culture in all its vibrancy are often first and foremost passionate perfume fans, enthusiastically sharing their personal vision of the fast-growing world of perfumery. These entrepreneurs behind the scenes work to raise the profile of their show and make it an unmissable event for the fragrance market while, most importantly, enjoying themselves. We go to Grasse and Shanghai to talk to the people playing a part in this aromatic revolution.

GRASSE, THE BIRTHPLACE OF FRAGRANCE

GRASSE PERFUME WEEK

JULY 2-5, 2025

Who General public and professionals

Organizer Nez First year 2025

Interview with Romain Raimbault, Events Director of Paris Perfume Week and Grasse Perfume Week

It’s almost a year since the launch of the first Paris Perfume Week. What are your takeaways from the event? What an amazing adventure! When we announced the event we immediately felt a wave of enthusiasm, proof that there definitely is a need for people to come together and focus on olfactory culture. It was so popular that we even had to stop selling tickets two weeks before the opening. A total of 3,000 visitors attended, forming a real fragrance community.

This year will also be marked by the first Grasse Perfume Week. How did the idea for an additional event come about? The truth is that we already had it in mind when we set up the Parisian event. It was the fruit of

an encounter with the mayor of Grasse, who is strongly committed to policies that bring Grasse heritage alive. The idea of organizing an event in the birthplace of perfumery then took concrete form, driven by the desire to create a new dynamic drawing on the town’s historical dimension. The show is open to the general public and complements the raw materials event, SIMPPAR, which takes place in Grasse every two years and which is exclusively reserved for professionals.

How will the event in Grasse differ from the Paris one? The size and configuration of the Grasse show means we can appropriate the public space and offer our visitors an olfactory journey through the town. The event really is cultural in scope, with various exhibitions, artistic installations and a fragrance movie program. Grasse Perfume Week can be seen as a world’s fair with several pavilions and specific regions. For this first event the spotlight will be on China and the Sultanate of Oman – but I won’t say any more for now!

Can you tell us about the event’s highlights? There will be a lot of them, starting with an extensive program of conferences and masterclasses. Grasse Perfume Week will also be an opportunity to celebrate the presentation of the Fonds Baudelaire prize for young creators. A host of other activities will be organized with local professionals.

What’s your goal for the coming years? To give Grasse Perfume Week a longer format so it can become a summer event accessible to all tourists, a little like the Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie in Arles. And we won’t hesitate to move into other areas – after all, fragrance has no borders!

IN SHANGHAI, TAKE GOOD NOTE(S)

NOTES SHANGHAI

MARCH 27-30, 2025

Who General public and professionals

Organizer Alex Wu

First year 2024

Interview with Alex Wu, founder of Notes Shanghai

In a few words, what is Notes Shanghai, and what is its objective? It is the very first professional event dedicated to fragrance in China. This fair is held twice a year, in March and October, and each edition brings together over 160 exhibitors and brands, attracting a broad audience of around 15,000 visitors!

What is the typical profile of the exhibitors? We have a bit of everything, from local and international brands ranging from fine fragrance to functional fragrance. While half of the exhibitors are Chinese, 50% of the participating brands change with each edition, which keeps Notes Shanghai fresh and increasingly attractive.

You also organize numerous conferences. What is their purpose? I have always believed that substance is more important than form. These conferences, along with the exchange of knowledge they foster, are essential to stimulate the fragrance industry and help to develop a Chinese olfactory culture.

To the point where a free magazine, Nez in China , created in partnership with Nez, will be distributed to your 15,000 visitors. How did this initiative come about? This editorial collaboration with Nez reflects our global and long-term vision: educate before selling. Although the fragrance market in China has strong potential, it is still in its infancy, and at this stage, we believe the priority is to help consumers acquire solid and diverse knowledge about perfume.

In your opinion, what will be the short-term evolution of this market? The market has grown very fast recently. We see that more and more young Chinese consumers are using perfumes, and I’m quite happy to observe that their choices are becoming more independent and personal. Beyond the more commercial major brands, they are also very receptive to niche fragrances.

What are your ambitions for the coming years? We would like to be more involved internationally and interact with brands from different regions and cultures. Our ultimate goal remains the same: democratizing the richness of an expanding olfactory culture in China.

Comptoir Niche by Nez

BEHIND THE SCENES OF THE CREATIVE PROCESS

By Gabrielle Fourcade Illustration: Sandrine Martin

Comptoir Niche By Nez is hosting three new brands this year thanks to the support of the Nez partner composition houses. The initiative, launched in 2024, aims to highlight the importance of the relationship between creators and the galaxy of supporting talents who help them to give full rein to their creativity.

Leading composition houses provide access to perfumers, evaluators and salespeople as well as experts in marketing, innovation and ingredients for

brands that are starting out or continuing on the perfume path. The quality of the dialogue between everyone involved helps to open up new avenues and expand opportunities. The process forges solid and lasting ties, a meeting of minds that produces a unique and inventive perfumery enclosing an array of distinctive universes.

Nice-based brand Velvetvelo, created in 2022, uses a Mane technology to offer alcohol-free fragrances where the blue of the sea fuses with the adventure and energy of the hill country around Grasse.

Nissaba entered the scene in Geneva the same year with a range of creations designed by DSM-Firmenich “from the earth, for the earth” and paying tribute to essence pickers.

Last but not least, the young chessinspired brand Mind Games conjures the unfathomable workings of human skill and intellect in its Symrise formulas. The three brands describe their creative universes in company with the composition houses that support them every step of the way.

Nissaba × DSM-Firmenich A VIRTUOUS CIRCLE

By Aurélie Dematons

Since 2022, DSM-Firmenich and Nissaba have been building a close relationship rooted in the quest to reveal the treasures of extraordinary lands and a uniquely equitable approach.

“What is a sustainable perfume?”

This is the question that guided Sébastien Tissot throughout his career at DSM-Firmenich. The 17 years he spent at the composition house as head of sustainable sourcing of natural ingredients gave him plenty of opportunities to deepen his knowledge of the subject as he pursued his mission to find a balance between purchasing and sustainability. The mission resulted in 32 projects to support communities, from using agroforestry, introducing good farming practices and switching to organic crops to incorporating digital traceability and establishing schools in rural areas. The idea of creating a brand first took root as he crisscrossed the planet: “Some 80% of natural ingredients in the perfumer’s palette come from a dozen places, including Indonesia, Madagascar, southern India, the south of France, Morocco and Egypt,” explains Sébastien Tissot. Niche perfumery constantly refers to these inspiring places without necessarily

incorporating the ingredients that really come from there. “I wanted to make sure that the claims made align with what is in the formula and offer fragrances that are ambassadors for these places.” The name Nissaba denotes a Sumerian deity worshipped in the third millennium BCE in Mesopotamia, the birthplace of agriculture. Nissaba was the goddess of the harvest and associated with the invention of writing and the first schools, which were run by scribes. The schools had pediments with the inscription: “Praise to Nissaba,” a homage to the transmission of knowledge. “Her name explicitly conveys the brand’s purpose,” says its founder. A purpose rooted in the determination to combine environmental sustainability with innovation. Nissaba offers a bottle with the lowest carbon footprint on the market, a cap in FSC-certified* wood, 15% recycled glass and no glue or ink. The brand has also taken the unusual decision to ask its customers to return their empty containers to the store so they can be reused, ensuring full circularity. Nissaba’s concentrates are formulated with 90% of natural ingredients diluted in organic alcohol. “What was most important to me was making sure the ingredients listed were present in big enough doses to have a significant olfactory impact,” says Sébastien Tissot.

In terms of social responsibility, the brand allocates 5% of revenue to agri -

cultural projects. Nissaba also partners with Fundación Paraguaya, which works to improve the living conditions of rural families in Paraguay, and supports, among others, the Mahadera school in Madagascar.

“If you ever want to create a fragrance to fund your projects, let me know.” DSM-Firmenich perfumer Frank Voelkl was visiting a plantation when he pronounced these words to the sourcer. His offer took concrete forms a few years later with the fragrance Grande Île , inspired by Madagascar. Nissaba provides funding for students at the Mahadera school in the Sava region, at the heart of the vanilla industry. The establishment was co-founded in 2016 by Authentic Products, a French and Madagascan producer specializing in vanilla, and DSM-Firmenich. “The school meets a crucial need, offering alternatives to Madagascan families facing volatile prices for vanilla pods,” explains Pierre Ruch, VP Naturals Platform P&B for DSM-Firmenich. Graduates from the Mahadera school can join the microagroforestry program created by Nissaba. The program is designed to diversify the crops grown on the edges of family vanilla farms to include clove, pink pepper, coffee, citrus fruits and acacia, soon to be joined by cacao and coconut. The brand has supported 47 students to date, who have planted 7,100 trees on nearly 25 hectares of land. A plot has also been funded at the school, hosting twenty or so varieties of fruit trees to broaden the students’ knowledge. What comes from the earth returns to the earth: By allocating part of its revenue to the school, Nissaba completes the circle as it meets its commitment to ensure that its activities support local communities.

*The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an international non-profit organization with the mission to promote ecological, social and economic management of the world’s forests.

NISSABA AND DSM-FIRMENICH IN 5 FRAGRANCES

SULAWESI

Perfumer Nicolas Bonneville

Launch 2022

Tropical lands, textured wood and gourmand spices: Sulawesi patchouli is enveloped in nutmeg, clove, Java vetiver and benzoin, evoking a colored Indonesian batik.

PROVENCE

Perfumer Sébastien Cresp

Launch 2022

A bouquet straight from the south of France: “Diva” lavender, lavandin, clary sage, coriander and mint send a wave of aromatic and spicy freshness over cedar forests.

CHACO

Perfumer Alexandra Monet

Launch 2022

Tea and maté oscillate between sparkling cologne, with bergamot, lavender and petitgrain, and leathery Paraguayan palo santo

BERBERA

Perfumers Fabrice Pellegrin and Coralie Spicher

Launch 2024

Berbera takes us on a journey to the sandy winds of Somaliland, embodying the spiritual mystery of incense. Myrrh, opoponax and iridescent spices accompany a trio of incense.

MALLI NADU

Perfumer Ilias Ermenidis

Launch 2024

A majestic, enchanting tuberose hailing from Tamil Nadu. The luminous, sensual flower flourishes in the soft fruity embrace of davana and creamy caress of Indian woods.

“I pictured the olfactory abundance of Madagascar, an explosion of sensations and flavors.”

3 questions for Frank Voelkl, DSM-Firmenich

What makes Nissaba’s creative process different?

Unlike a traditional brief, where the concept guides formulation, at Nissaba the project starts with a list of ingredients. This initial selection naturally influences the fragrance’s structure and olfactory family. The perfumer’s role then consists of trying to find the perfect balance between the raw materials. Another specific characteristic lies in the use of local ingredients, a choice that allows us to highlight the authenticity of a place and embody the country of origin. We do not select the trials by using consumer testing, which means perfumers have a totally free hand

creatively, guided only by the search for quality. By funding high-impact projects, Nissaba pays tribute to the growers and ensures that part of the value they generate is returned to them. This process reflects the brand’s commitments, an ethical approach that I share.

What are the sources of inspiration for the fragrance Grande Île?

I pictured the olfactory abundance of Madagascar, an explosion of sensations and flavors: spices, aromatic plants, vanilla. I also drew on personal memories, of hot sand, the sea, hot sun warming the skin. I wanted to create the sensation of being instantly transported to this island with its extraordinary landscapes.

What are the creation’s key ingredients?

Grande Île is an ambery, spicy fragrance with an infusion of vanilla concrete at the heart of the formula, where it unfurls its creamy texture. It is enhanced by the liveliness of SFE pink pepper, a CO2 extract ingredient which brings a smile, a pulse. Black pepper underpinned by citrus zest adds a luminous touch. Then the composition blossoms into a woody accord where the power of vetiver meets the strength of patchouli, creating an impression of depth and abundance that mirrors this inspiring island.

Velvetvelo × Mane A DIVE INTO THE FRENCH RIVIERA

By Anne-Sophie Hojlo

Velvetvelo is a brand created by Nice-based Serge Rach that stands out thanks to its alcohol-free fragrance formulas inspired by the marine environment. A technical tour de force that would have been impossible without the invaluable assistance of teams from composition house Mane.

Serge Rach is an accomplished athlete who regularly competes in Ironman events, among the most demanding of all triathlon competitions. He participates under the Velvetvelo name. “The ‘velo’ part derives from the Spanish velocidad , for speed and performance, with the ‘velvet’ standing for gentleness, because I always aim for fair play and try to be a good sport,” he explains. It is also the name he has given his brand, created in 2020 with the aim of applying the same philosophy to fragrances after a 30-year career in fragrance industry manufacturing and retailing. “Nice is my home, which means I spend a lot of time in the water or close to it, and I wanted to bottle all the powerful sensations that the sea stirs up.” Determined to take his idea to its

logical conclusion, he also decided to opt for compositions based on water in place of the more usual alcohol. “I wanted the fragrances to be as pure and gentle as possible. And as an athlete who spends so much time outdoors in the sunshine, it’s a good idea to avoid alcohol, which can cause problems with photosensitivity,” he adds.

His good friend Étienne de Swardt, founder of the État libre d’Orange brand, steered him in the direction of French composition house Mane and its innovative technology for creating waterbased scents. Alcohol-free fragrances do have some drawbacks, as they are sticky and may stain clothes. With Aquafine, the microemulsion process developed by Mane, results are transparent and pleasant on the skin with a higher dosage of scented concentrate. This produces creations that combine gentleness with performance, offering a more linear movement but with considerable persistence. Serge Rach explains that “some olfactory families are tricky to tackle when you create water-based fragrances. For example I love oud, but it is complicated to work with. However, it also opens up new avenues for exploration.” At Mane, perfumer Mathieu Nardin created a mimosa brimming with sun and sea spray for Rue des mimosas, and an aqueous, powdery rose for

Archimède in Love . Véronique Nyberg drew inspiration from the intense sensation of freshness when diving into the sea, combining the exuberance of citrus with the power of cedar for Un homme à la mer. And in Sound of the Sun, Violaine Collas invites us on an evening stroll along the beach as we breathe in the exotic aromas of white flowers, creamy coconut and sunscreen.

The specificity of the fragrances made for a particularly close collaboration with the composition house. “Mane gave me a lot of time with the perfumers as well as with Loïc Bleuez, the head of fine fragrance innovation. This allowed me to really understand the technology and overcome the technical challenges it raises so that we could deliver the best possible products,” says Serge Rach. Diluting a scented concentrate in water rather than alcohol brings with it a certain number of constraints, including choosing special pumps, using preservatives to replace the alcohol (which plays the same role), and bottling in an antiseptic environment. And while this approach offers a way to stand out in a market with an increasing number of niche brands, it also demands greater efforts to educate the public about the specific characteristics of water-based fragrances. “The teams at Mane have given us plenty of support with marketing and communication since we launched,” notes the brand founder. Velvetvelo has opened a store in the Marais district in Paris to introduce its fragrances to a wider audience. The brand also sells via its website and at a number of perfumeries in France and Poland, where Serge Rach has family ties, and will be expanding into other European countries in the months ahead. And what about other projects? “The Aquafine microemulsion process also makes it possible to add cosmetic benefits to fragrances. All I can say for now is that it’s something we’re working on,” he adds with a smile.

VELVETVELO AND MANE IN 4 PERFUMES

RUE DES MIMOSAS

Perfumer Mathieu Nardin

Launch 2023

A fragrance invoking memories of the yellow pom-poms with their irresistible gentleness and joyfulness, enveloped in a bracing sea breeze and musky sunny accord.

UN HOMME À LA MER

Perfumer Véronique Nyberg

Launch 2023

An intensely fresh eau de cologne inspired by the world of sailing where pepper, ginger and lime all feature, underpinned by a woody structure.

ARCHIMÈDE IN LOVE

Perfumer Mathieu Nardin

Launch 2023

A fresh take on a lipstick accord thanks to dewsprinkled rose, tangy raspberry and delicately fruity geranium.

SOUND OF THE SUN

Perfumer Violaine Collas

Launch 2024

The high-spirited atmosphere of a beach party at sunset, when the sweet smells of cocktails mingle with exotic notes of sunscreen.

“I felt like a young perfumer again!”

3 questions for Mathieu Nardin, Mane

How would you describe Velvetvelo?

It’s an innovative and creative brand with fun values and plenty of stories to share. We were immediately interested in Serge Rach’s project when he came to see us. He is a genuinely convictionled entrepreneur. Setting up a brand is not so easy these days, and opting for a water base really is admirable.

What is it like working with him? For a perfumer, it’s a real pleasure to work with a brand like Velvetvelo, where the olfactory side is very much front and center. Our discussions are very open, which makes it easier to argue in favor of a clear vision and stronger choices during the development process. Serge knows so much about the market, and his retail background means he comes at things from a different perspective, which is invaluable during evaluations.

And since he lives in Nice and I’m originally from Grasse, I found it pretty easy to understand his references and inspirations – I could identify with them. When he talked about mimosa lighting up the landscape with the sea in the background, it was something I instantly connected with.

What changes when composing water-based fragrances?

It’s a very specific type of formulation: Raw materials don’t react in the same way as with alcohol, which influences the stability. And without alcohol as the carrier driving the top notes, you have to choose ingredients that project better. These technical constraints require you to be more precise in your choices, but we always find a solution to the problem. It was still a major task, I had to start again from the basics, learn new habits: I felt like a young perfumer again!

© Matthieu Dortomb

FRAGRANCES

BY CAMILLE & CHARLOTTE × MANE

Lavender, myrrh, gardenia, verbena, citrus, woods – an endless array of raw materials inspires our perfumers’ creativity worldwide. By virtue of our savoir-faire and our understanding of fragrance and beauty aspirations in every one of our markets, our original compositions scent memories to offer our consumers an extraordinary journey.

Lavande, myrrhe, gardénia, verveine, agrumes ou essence de bois, autant de matières premières qui stimulent la créativité de nos parfumeurs à travers le monde. Grâce à nos savoir-faire et à notre compréhension des aspirations en matière de parfum et de beauté sur tous les marchés où nous nous trouvons, nos compositions originales infusent les mémoires olfactives des consommateurs pour leur offrir un voyage sensoriel d’exception.

Camille & Charlotte are the winners of the Capture What Moves photo competition held by MANE.

Camille & Charlotte sont les lauréates du concours de photographie Capture What Moves organisé par MANE.

Mind Games × Symrise TOP OF THE GAME

By Clément Paradis

Backed by fragrance and flavor specialist Symrise, Mind Games is pulling out all the stops with 22 fragrances inspired by the ancient art of chess.

“I am not a grandmaster, but I’ve been playing chess for all of my life! Strangely enough, it’s a game that has a proximity with perfume,” explains Alex Shalbaf, who co-founded Mind Games with his wife Mariana. A personal adventure starts with Mind Games: “There is a resonance between chess and the art of perfumery. The grandmasters have a unique way of reading the game and translating their vision onto the chessboard. In a similar way, Symrise’s perfumers all have the same palette of ingredients to start with, and they use their taste and vision to create unique olfactory combinations. Moreover, chess is played all over the world; it resonates everywhere. Throughout history, it remained relevant. That’s what we want for our fragrances. We’re looking for that same universality, because our fragrances are for everyone, without limits, without borders.”

But how can the game be translated into fragrances? Thinking big is mandatory: Alex Shalbaf wanted the first ten

fragrances to be released simultaneously. This “Artisan Collection” represents, in black and white, the five key pieces of the game: the king, queen, bishop, knight and rook. “I’m supported by a talented team. First we came up with the names, inspired by the terminology of the game, and then we thought up the olfactory expression with the Symrise teams, with whom we work exclusively. We looked for raw materials that could tell the story of this universe. Everything evolved organically; the ten fragrances were created as a coherent whole, and it was only afterwards that we combined them with the bottles recalling the rooms and the names, as our inspiration took us,” explains Alex Shalbaf. “Checkmate is our white king: This move is a celebration which called for the combination of davana and champagne. Grandmaster, on the other hand, contains coffee and rose. It plays through the chiaroscuro with great character. As it’s more shaded than Checkmate, it had to embody our black king.”

A new challenge soon arose : The work on the collection ended in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, when retailers were at a standstill. The brand went all out: “We went to Dallas, called the Neiman Marcus buying team and chose them as our retailer of choice.

Neiman truly understands luxury and is a wonderful launch platform for Mind Games. ”

The launch of the brand was a success and “Soulmate,” the second collection, went into creation, taking the broad talents and innovations of Symrise teams a step further. The bottles, symbolizing ten black and white pawns, feature work by perfumers David Appel, Annick Menardo and Christelle Laprade, who designed 12 of the fragrances launched, including French Defense , the brand’s bestseller. “It is a daring fragrance,” explains Alex Shalbaf, “built on a cottony accord of tonka and black cherry, it is particularly long-lasting, and perfectly embodies the darker facets of the collection.”

In October 2023, to celebrate Mind Games’ first anniversary, the Guggenheim Museum in New York was chosen as the grand and sophisticated setting for a party attended by more than 800 guests, and a concert by Grammy Award-winning South African singer Tyla. “The evening was also a message: Niche perfumery lovers deserve the best, and that we are here to deliver it,” added Shalbaf. The new “Perfumer Extraordinaire” collection, with its emphasis on beautiful materials, is a reminder of this demand, as the brand continues to expand, even planning to open several boutiques in the United States in 2026.

“ There is a resonance between chess and the art of perfumery.”

Alex Shalbaf, co-founder of Mind Games

MIND GAMES AND SYMRISE IN 5 PERFUMES

J'ADOUBE

Perfumer Nathalie Benareau

Launch 2022

After a juicy opening of redcurrant, mandarin and bursts of pomegranate, the vibrant spontaneity is contrasted by a base of leather, patchouli and ambrostar.

FRENCH DEFENSE

Perfumer Christelle Laprade

Launch 2023

The boldness of amber, velvety woods and a cherry liqueur act as a first seduction. Gentle notes of fresh violet leaves and chamomile then shape the structure of the fragrance.

QUEENING

Perfumer Christelle Laprade

Launch 2023

Royal orris and vanilla are blended here, enhanced by the warmth of saffron and aged rum. The contrast between sweet and spicy notes celebrates each queen's journey to success.

MENTOR

Perfumer Carlo Vinals

Launch 2024

At the center of this fragrance is an intense, smoky oud, softened by notes of warm amber and honeyed plum. An evocative fragrance designed to inspire curiosity and confidence.

PRODIGY

Perfumer Nathalie Benareau

Launch 2024

A fragrance that blends the cozy warm familiarity of café au lait with the unexpected spice of longoza flower and cinnamon. Soft woods, vanilla and rose absolute add layers of intrigue.

“Mind Games’ briefs are particularly interesting; Alex is very good at inspiring and motivating perfumers.”

3 questions for Christelle Laprade, Symrise

How do you translate chess into scents?

Chess may seem reserved for an elite, but it’s accessible to everyone. I kept this idea in mind when developing the fragrances. I worked on dualities, like the contrast between black and white, and the nuances that range from light to darker facets of the palette. As an American perfumer with a French background, I wanted to preserve this dialogue in the fragrances. I wanted strong hooks that also hinted at the richness of the raw materials. So these fragrances

are more visceral than intellectual, but they are full of real complexity.

How did you create Castling, the white rook, and Queening, the white pawn?

I grew up with intense memories of Chanel N°5. I always tried to understand what made this fragrance so precious. It was while working on the composition’s base notes that I came up with the idea of highlighting the timeless facets of tonka to create Castling. Queening is part of the second collection, and was inspired by numerous encounters we had with the public at the brand’s launches. We knew we needed a vanilla because it’s universal, and it’s an ingredient tied to our childhood. Queening’s vanilla is both rich and airy, with rum accents.

What’s different about working with Mind Games?

Alex Shalbaf and I have known each other for a long time. We have a trusting relationship that facilitates discussion and makes the creative process run more smoothly. Mind Games’ briefs are particularly interesting, but beyond that, Alex is very good at inspiring and motivating perfumers. He has the finger on the pulse of the market and likes to go where the innovation needs to be. So he doesn’t impose his olfactory choices but focuses on expressing his overall vision. This paves the way for great consistency and transparency for the consumer.

© Symrise

DOLORS COSTA

“TECHNICAL PERFUMERS ARE IN SOME WAYS ‘ THE GUARDIANS OF THE TEMPLE ’ FOR THE FRAGRANCE HOUSE.”

P. 69

TECHNICAL PERFUMERY, A KEY EXPERTISE IN THE INDUSTRY

P. 66

eu ro fra gan ce

MAGDALENA REY

“YOU NEED TO LEARN TO CULTIVATE THE ART OF COMBINING THE PRACTICAL WITH THE CREATIVE.”

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Technical perfumery, a key expertise in the industry

While creative perfumers have a highly visible role in the world of fragrance houses, another profession remains shrouded in mystery behind the scenes. Spanish company Eurofragance invited us in to explore the unknown universe of technical perfumery.

By Samuel Douillet

Photos: Eurofragance

“We’re the ones who get called in to help as soon as there’s the tiniest problem with a formula!” says Magdalena Rey, Junior Technical Perfumer in Barcelona. She is somewhat facetious, but her words are revealing: She works in a profession where she often has to solve difficulties that are olfactive but consequential on many levels. “Technical perfumery used to refer to what are known as functional fragrances, designed for household products,” explains Dolors Costa, Chief Fragrance Development & Innovation Officer at Eurofragance. “Now it means something else: developing ingredients and regulating their inclusion in formulas.” Technical perfumery thus “surrounds” creative perfumery:

It determines the raw materials that will be made available to perfumers while ensuring that creations on the market are adapted to comply with regulatory changes.

The palette of ingredients designates the full range of raw materials that perfumers use, natural as well as synthetic. When the market started to boom in the early 2000s, fragrance houses worked on strengthening the quality and diversity of their palette, reflecting its importance as the creative perfumer’s main tool.

At the same time, the various regulatory stipulations, including REACH regulations and IFRA recommendations, routinely compel these same

companies to modify their product formulas. This is when technical perfumers have to exercise their expertise to minimize the impact on the fragrance itself.

Creating using superb ingredients

“If you want to create superb scents you need superb ingredients,” insists Dolors Costa. And to ensure these ingredients are available, Eurofragance has a technical perfumer in charge of sourcing the very highest quality natural raw materials. To convince growers to develop high standards, it is imperative to establish solid relationships with them that are rooted in long-term partnerships, while also guaranteeing stable prices and a regular flow of orders. These priorities were the springboard for the ICON program (for Innovation, Commitment, Origin, Nature). “High-quality and sustainable raw materials are only possible if the supplier and/or grower aligns

their business model according to a new vision, a new way of working. And they need a return on their investment,” explains Dolors Costa. “This means a myrrh tree will have a greater chance of being replanted if the fragrance house that buys the resin has committed to purchasing it for several years.”

Direct contact between suppliers and perfumers also reduces the purely commercial aspect of the relationship so that the focus can shift to the quality of the product.

Technical perfumers can delve deeper into the elaboration of the perfumer’s palette by getting involved very early on in its development. For example, working hand in hand with producers to “hone a cistus essence with specific facets that are the fruit of a briefer distillation process than usual.” The new process leads to the creation of a new “extract,” a new ingredient or reference in the palette that opens the door to new possibilities for the creative teams.

“We’re the ones who get called in to help as soon as there’s the tiniest problem with a formula!”

Magdalena Rey, Junior Technical Perfumer at Eurofragance

Above Dolors Costa, Chief Fragrance Development & Innovation Officer at Eurofragance.

Dolors Costa

“Technical perfumers are in some ways the ‘guardians of the temple’ for the fragrance house.”

Dolors Costa, Chief Fragrance Development & Innovation Officer at Eurofragance, discusses the challenges of technical perfumery in a constantly evolving industry.

What is your role at Eurofragance?

I’m in charge of all the perfumers – creative and technical – as well as analysts, evaluators and the Innovation Center, which houses our fundamental research and application laboratories. I also manage the five Creation Centers, in Barcelona, Dubai, Mexico City, Singapore and Mumbai. In short, I try to align the company’s creative, scientific and operational expectations – and personalities. I’m lucky that I get to work with amazing people. These close relationships and synergies between various activities teach me something new every day.

How would you sum up technical perfumery in a few words?

Technical perfumers divide their time between developing and managing the palette, optimizing the supply chain, and replacing regulated ingredients in our formulas. It’s a key role with lots of different facets, and the people who take it on are in some ways the guardians of the temple for the fragrance house.

What challenges does the profession involve?

Our business is growing, more factories are opening and, as a result, the volume of raw material purchases is also rising. And then there is the fact that regulations constantly change, so we have an increasing need for technical perfumers. Which is why we set up our own Perfumery Academy: One of its missions is to train young talents in the various challenges involved in a role that is really flourishing.

How do you see the future from the regulatory viewpoint, and what will the repercussions be on technical perfumery?

For the last few years, we have been making increasing and substantial investments in research focused on developing ingredients, including our own captives, in compliance with international regulations while maintaining very high quality and safety standards. We also work continuously with regulatory bodies (AEFAA, IFRA, etc.) and have put in place an internal committee made up of people from several departments – operations, purchasing, regulatory affairs and development – to stay one step ahead of changes in legislation likely to arise in our industry in the short or medium term.

What initiatives have you taken to draw attention to technical perfumery?

We try to bring these little-known roles into the spotlight in various ways. We want to encourage young talents to get involved in these positions, which means we have to highlight the vibrancy of the technical perfumery world. We also encourage direct contact between clients and technical perfumers since they are the ones in charge of a creation’s follow-up. And when a lovely fragrance benefits from a long life, it’s because a great deal of care has gone into tackling regulatory questions as well as safekeeping the ingredients that make up its formula.

Magdalena Rey

“You need to learn to cultivate the art of combining the practical with the creative.”

Becoming a technical perfumer requires a set of particular competencies to accomplish a wide variety of tasks. Magdalena Rey, who performs this role at Eurofragance, explains the main aspects of this pivotal profession.

How would you describe your role?

We receive exactly the same training as creative perfumers, but we’re involved in a wider variety of tasks. For example, in a single day we may work on a new captive [an ingredient for the exclusive use of the fragrance house that developed it], look into the extraction of a specific natural raw material, or take part in various projects with organizations outside the company.

What skills does your job require?

I’d say you have to be rigorous and methodical; since the volume of work is high, there are a lot of challenges involved, and we’re working at the interface of several dynamics. You also need to learn to cultivate the art of combining the practical with the creative, because we are first and foremost perfumers. And when one or more ingredients with a big olfactive impact needs replacing, finely tuned expertise is definitely a must!

Is your work focused more internally or externally?

Initially we were less visible than creative perfumers because we deal with internal subjects, including managing the palette, helping the logistics or quality control teams when raw materials arrive at the factory – there’s a person specifically dedicated to the task – and working on reformulations or internal classification databases for olfactive performance. But we are now increasingly being asked to meet clients so they can see for themselves how we are involved in monitoring their formulas in the light of regulatory or supply constraints.

What also often happens is that the technical perfumer in charge of raw materials goes on a field visit to see the plantations, talk to producers, establish good practices or develop a specific olfactive aspect in an ingredient.

Which of the projects you have worked on are you most proud of?

Our collaboration with the Sant Joan de Déu hospital in Barcelona to imagine scent-based solutions for trimethylaminuria, a metabolic disorder characterized by a fish-like body odor. An acquaintance told me about the medical condition and at Eurofragance we created a scent that harmonizes with the odor to neutralize it. Doctors at the hospital then recommended a range of personal care products including the scent as a base to the patients concerned. It was tested on a small number of people and the responses were positive. This is a purely social initiative, not at all commercial, with a truly useful and beneficial dimension. I should also point out that the products in question are not medicines and are not on the market.

Modifying just one line of a formula can modify the final olfactive balance.

An

expert touch and creativity

So what sort of “problems with a formula” was Magdalena referring to? “A typical example is having to rework a creation which has one or more ingredients that have turned out to be problematic, either because of their supply or due to a regulatory change,” she explains. This is high-precision work, since modifying just one line of a formula can modify the final olfactive balance. Following up on the work carried out by the creative perfumers, technical perfumers need to apply their expertise without altering the olfactive profile or the scent’s performance (diffusion, sillage, persistence, etc.). A number of factors can necessitate the reworking of a formula: a new regulation, the unavailability of a raw material, a request from the client to lower the price of the concentrate. The task is the same every time: to do everything possible to keep the olfactive identity of a fragrance intact. Eurofragance is convinced that

reformulation is a key issue that calls for the specialized skills of technical perfumers, seen as artists who are as discreet as they are inventive.

Above Magdalena Rey, Junior Technical Perfumer at Eurofragance.

DISCOVERY OF OLFACTIVE CULTURES from all around the world –CINEMA SESSIONS exploring scent and emotional landscapes

GRASSE EXPERTISE VILLAGE showcasing craftsmanship and innovation

EXHIBITIONS AND ART INSTALLATIONS in the historic center of Grasse –TALKS AND CONFERENCE PROGRAM with renowned speakers

A NICHE BRANDS TRADE SHOW 50 French and international exhibitors –WORKSHOPS AND CREATIVE LABS

SPECIAL EVENTS AND LOCAL INITIATIVES throughout the city –ALL INFORMATION AND UPDATES AT perfume-week.com

July 2 – 5 2025 by �e�

THE INTERNATIONAL GUIDE TO 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 their way to consumers? What are the places that serve as temples to olfactory culture? From France to the USA, 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.

To find out more, go to: mag.bynez.com/ niche-by-nez

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

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

Niche by Nez is also available online: North America: www.nez-editions.us Europe: shop.bynez.com

NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA

BRAZIL

SÃO PAULO

Paralela Escola Olfativa R. Cláudio Soares, 72 cj 504, Pinheiros São Paulo, SP 05422-030 paralelaescolaolfativa. com.br

CANADA

MONTREAL

Etiket

1826 O rue Sherbrooke QC H3H 1E4 Montreal etiket.ca

VANCOUVER

Scentrique 466 Granville St BC V6C 1V4 Vancouver scentrique.com

MEXICO

SANTIAGO DE QUERÉTARO

Ars Aromatica Studio Av. Hércules Ote. 10 76069 Santiago de Querétaro arsaromaticastudio.com

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

CHICAGO

Field & Florist

Division

1908 W Division St Chicago, IL 60622 fieldandflorist.com

Field & Florist Monadnock 312 S Dearborn St Chicago, IL 60604 fieldandflorist.com

DALLAS

The Scent Room 3699 McKinney Ave Suite 301 Dallas, TX 75204 thescentroom.com

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

HONG KONG

Scented Niche

Gough St Central 32

Hong Kong scentedniche.com

Scented Niche

Shop 210A

Musea Tsim Sha Tsui Hong Kong scentedniche.com

INDONESIA

BALI

L’Atelier Parfums et Créations

Jl. Nakula No.18, Seminyak, Kec. Kuta, Kabupaten Badung 80361 Bali perfumeworkshops.com

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

DUBAI

Villa 515

Jumeirah 3, Jumeirah Beach Road Dubai villa515.com

VIETNAM

HO CHI MINH

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

EUROPE

AUSTRIA

VIENNA

Osmotheca GmbH

Gumpendorfer Str. 31-33 1060 Vienna osmotheca.com

BELGIUM

BRUSSELS

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

Smell Stories

rue des Teinturiers 15 1000 Brussels smellstories.be

CZECH

REPUBLIC

BRNO

Vavavoom

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

FRANCE

ANGERS

Passage 31 11 rue des Lices

49100 Angers passage31.com

AUCH

Art des sens concept store

2 rue Laborde

32000 Auch @artdessens__conceptstore

BORDEAUX

La Parfumerie bordelaise 17 rue du Temple 33000 Bordeaux laparfumeriebordelaise.com

La Parfumerie de l’Opéra 10 bis allées de Tourny 33000 Bordeaux parfumerie-operabordeaux.fr

Le Nez insurgé 32 rue du Pas-Saint-Georges 33000 Bordeaux lenezinsurge.com

BOURGES

Mix lab 10 rue Michel de Bourges 18000 Bourges

CHARTRES

Cœur Grenadine 12 rue du Soleil d’or 28000 Chartres boutiquecoeurgrenadine.com

DINARD

Divine 32 rue de la Paix 35800 Dinard www.divine.fr

GRASSE

1 000 Flowers Perfumer 4 place aux Aires 06130 Grasse fr.1000flowers.ca

Café Fleur 19 rue de l'Oratoire 06130 Grasse

LE CANNET

Mayme? 74 rue Saint-Sauveur 06110 Le Cannet maymeperfume.com

LE MANS

Jovoy

Passage du commerce

72000 Le Mans

LINSELLES

Cdesbrosses Institut 73 rue de Wervicq 59126 Linselles

LYON

Maison Laugier 6 rue Thomassin

69002 Lyon

MARSEILLE

Maison des Nines 9 rue d’Aubagne 13001 Marseille @maisondesnines

MONTPELLIER

Serendipity

2 bis rue Four des Flammes

34000 Montpellier @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

NONTRON

Loulou Carnot

31 rue Carnot

24300 Nontron

PARIS & THE GREATER PARIS REGION

Cinquième Sens (training center)

18 rue de Monttessuy 75007 Paris cinquiemesens.com

Conscience Parfums

371 rue des Pyrénées 75020 Paris @conscience.parfums

Fragrances & Cie

6 rue des Marchés

77400 Lagny-sur-Marne fragrancesetcie.com

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

Osmothèque

(The world’s perfume archive)

36 rue du Parc de Clagny 78000 Versailles osmotheque.fr

Sens unique Paris

13 rue du Roi de Sicile 75004 Paris sensuniqueparis.com

Twins concept store

7 rue Béranger 75003 Paris twinsconceptstore.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

GERMANY

BERLIN

Urban Scents

32 Bleibtreustraße 10707 Berlin urbanscents.de

HAMBURG

Parfums Lübner

Große Bleichen 23 20354 Hamburg parfumslubner.com

MUNICH

Parfümerie

Brückner-Bublitz

Marienplatz 8 80331 Munich parfuemerie-brueckner.com

Parfums uniques

Klenzestraße 22 80469 Munich parfums-uniques.de

ITALY

FLORENCE

Campomarzio70

Via della Condotta, 65/r 50122 Florence 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

MILAN

50ML

Viale Monte Nero, 16 20135 Milan 50-ml.it

Campomarzio70

Via Brera, 2/a 20121 Milan shop.campomarzio70.it

Fragrans in Fabula

Via Madonnina, 17 20121 Milan fragransinfabula.com

Laboratorio

Olfattivo Store

Via Fiori Chiari, 7 20121 Milan 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 @7sensoludovisi

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

VERONA

Lebeau Enchanted Perfumery

Corso Cavour, 9 37121 Verona lebeauperfumery.com

VICENZA

Carla Chemello Pofumeria

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

LATVIA

Villa Mode Online shop www.villamode.lv

LITHUANIA

VILNIUS

FUMparFUM creative studio

Aistis Mickevicius 3 Bazilijonų g. 01303 Vilnius

POLAND

GDA SK

GaliLu neoperfumeria

Szeroka 15-17 80-835 Gdańsk galilu.pl

KRAKÓW

GaliLu neoperfumeria

Sienna 1

Rynek Główny 6 31-042 Kraków galilu.pl

WARSAW

GaliLu

22/30 Stępińska

00-739 - Warsaw galilu.pl

GaliLu olfactory

Mokotowska 26 00-561 - Warsaw galilu.pl

GaliLu neoperfumeria

Mokotowska 63

00-561 - Warsaw galilu.pl

GaliLu neoperfumeria

Elektrownia Powiśle Dobra 42 00-312 Warsaw galilu.pl

ROMANIA

BUCHAREST

50ML Artistic

Fragrance Bar

111 Calea Dorobanti 010562 Bucharest nicheparfumerie.ro

Niche Parfumerie

1 Strada Alba Iulia 300001 Timișoara nicheparfumerie.ro

SPAIN

BARCELONA

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

MADRID

Le Secret du Marais

C/ de Hortaleza, 75 28004 Madrid lesecretdumarais.com

SWEDEN

STOCKHOLM

Cow Parfymeri

Norrlandsgatan 18 111 43 Stockholm cowparfymeri.se

SWITZERLAND

GENEVA

Theodora

Haute-Parfumerie

Grand-Rue 38 1204 Geneva parfumerietheodora.com

THE

NETHERLANDS

AMSTERDAM

Perfume Lounge

Cornelis Krusemanstraat 25 1075 NC Amsterdam perfumelounge.nl

UNITED KINGDOM

BRISTOL

Shy Mimosa

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

EDINBURGH

Jorum Studio

12 St. Stephen Street

EH3 5AL Edinburgh jorumstudio.com

GLASGOW

A Library of Olfactive Material

28 St. Andrews St G1 5PD Glasgow a-library-of.com

LONDON

Bel Rebel

32 Seymour Pl

W1H 7NR London belrebel.com

Jovoy

21 Conduit St

W1S 2XP London jovoyparis.uk

�E�

the olfactory cultural movement is also…

A LEADING PERIODICAL

Nez, the olfactory magazine

Every 6 months a new issue of Nez serves up a slice of worldwide olfactory culture (fr, en).

A PUBLISHING HOUSE

Nez littérature

• L’Écrivain d’odeurs, Jean-Claude Ellena (fr)

• Aphorisms of a Perfumer, Dominique Ropion (fr, en)

• The Sense of Scent, Mathilde Laurent (fr, en)

• Pot-pourri, Maïté Turonnet (fr)

• A Scented Journey, Carlos Benaïm (fr, en)

Nez culture

• The Big Book of Perfume (fr, en)

• Essences & Alchimie, un guide du parfum au naturel (fr)

• Une histoire de parfums (fr)

• Les 111 parfums qu’il faut sentir avant de mourir (fr)

FOR THE EARS AS WELL AS THE NOSE

Podcasts by Nez

Smell Talks

The best conferences and roundtable discussions with experts across the globe

Les Grands Entretiens

Designers talk about their careers, their practice and their vision of the perfume industry

Parole de marque

The new players in modern perfumery recount their story and their world

1+1

A creative experiment

Nez + LMR

Naturals notebook

Magnolia, clary sage, vanilla, violet leaf, pink pepper, orange, lemon, jasmine grandiflorum, mimosa, ylang-ylang, immortelle, cinnamon, lavender and lavandin, tuberose, blackcurrant bud, geranium, orange blossom, sandalwood, vetiver, orris, jasmine sambac, patchouli, Damask rose, narcissus.

A BOX

The Auparfum box

An independent selection of four niche fragrances every two months.

AN ARRAY OF ONLINE CONTENT

Auparfum

auparfum.bynez.com

Reviews, news, selections, interviews and more

• La Fabuleuse Histoire de l’eau de Cologne (fr)

• Sentir, ressentir. Parfumeurs, odeurs et émotions (fr, en)

• Voici des feuilles, des fleurs, des fauves et des oiseaux (fr)

• Parfums pour homme. La sélection idéale (fr)

One-off publications

• We Love Fragrances. How Fragrance Is a Safe and Essential Part of Life (en)

• From Plant to Essence (fr, en)

1+1 AN EXCLUSIVE PERFUME COLLECTION

• Hongkong Oolong, Maurice Roucel + Alan Chan

• Folia, Julien Rasquinet + Eva Jospin

• Ambre à lèvres, Mathilde Bijaoui + Marjane Satrapi

• Kraft gommé, Marie Salamagne + Woodkid

• Le Lac, Annick Menardo + Angelin Preljocaj

• In the Arboretum, Violaine Collas + Sopheap Pich

• Adorem, Fabrice Pellegrin + Akrame Benallal

• Armoressence, Nicolas Beaulieu + Jeanne Vicerial

AN AGENCY SPECIALIZING IN OLFACTORY CULTURE

Le Bureau olfactif Consultancy and guidance, expert content, training and education, global design, digital and video, photography, publishing, etc.

TWO ANNUAL EVENTS

The unmissable olfactory culture event in Paris for the perfume world.

Mag by Nez mag.bynez.com

Perfumery, science, history, the arts, special reports, events and more

Paris Perfume Week March 20-23, 2025

Grasse Perfume Week July 2-5, 2025

THE ONLINE SHOP

The concept store for olfactory culture shop.bynez.com

CREDITS

our NETWORK

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

Barcelona Perfumery Congress

Barcelona, June 18–19, 2025

Beautyworld Middle East Dubai, October 27–29, 2025

Congrès olfaction & perspectives March 19, 2026

Cosmetic 360 Paris, October 15–16, 2025

Esxence Milan, February 19–22, 2025

Fragrance Innovation Summit

Paris

Notes Shanghai Shanghai, March 27–30, 2025

Grasse Perfume

Week by Nez July 2–5, 2025

Pitti Fragranze Florence, March 20–23, 2025

Paris Perfume

Week by Nez Paris, March 20–23, 2025

IFEAT Gothenburg, September 14–18, 2025

Rives de la beauté Paris

ScentXplore

New York, December 2025

Simppar

IFRA

Institute for Art and Olfaction

Los Angeles, Art and Olfaction Awards, May 29, 2025

Paris, June 4–5, 2025

World Perfumery Congress Geneva, 2026

Publishing directors Dominique Brunel, Mathieu Chévara, Jeanne Doré

Editor in Chief Jeanne Doré

Assistant editor Arielle Lauze

Sub-editor Jessica A. Volz

Translator Philippa Bowe

Art direction and graphic design Atelier Marge Design

Production managers Rose Malkin, René Todt

Illustrator Sandrine Martin

Advertising Dominique Brunel dbrunel@bynez.com +33 6 43 75 73 48

Jade Prudent jprudent@bynez.com

Press relations Lucile Rives lrives@bynez.com +33 6 18 62 61 03

Publisher Nez 29, rue des Orteaux 75020 Paris

Distribution North America Maison Duquesne info@maisonduquesne.com

France Manon Carrère manon@manotedecoeur.com

Niche by Nez www.bynez.com nezlarevue nezlarevue

With thanks to…

Giovanna Aicardi, Rayyan Alabdullatif, Guillaume Audy, Olivier Bachelet, Ines Bapst, Valeria Barraco, Jennifer Behar, Jeanne Bichet, Fanny Cangi, Amandine Cresp, Olivier R.P. David, Catherine Dolisi, Capucine Duguy, Lucile Duhoux, Xavier Fernandez, Sacha Garel, Neus Grau, Nicolas Iselin, Aurélie Keller, Andras Komar, Valeria Kozhevnikov, Cécile Lavenu, Camille Le Gall, Alina Lubin, Pierre Marcoux, Flora Martinsky, Stéphanie Marze, Gabrielle Monneraye, Alexandra Nadal, Abril Ramoneda, Émilie Regnier, Gloria Rosique, Miro Senjak, Marie Valette

Publisher imprint Printed in Lyon (Commercial Type), Nez (Longtype), Aperçu (Colophon), & Trade Gothic (Linotype). Printed by Corlet on Materica kraft FSC Mix credit 180 g/m2 and Couché satin trace de bois (Artipress O Silk) in February 2025.

The contents of this magazine were produced by the Niche by Nez editorial team and achieved in partnership with the brands mentioned, except for pages 1, 12, 15, 18, 22-25, 27, 44, 48, 51, 73-76.

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� 3 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.

RAW MATERIALS

An olfactory journey to discover the loveliest ingredients of niche perfumery.

STÉPHANE PIQUART

Oak barrel aging: Rejuvenating perfumery?

ASTIER DEMAREST

Cardamom, sowing the seeds of possibilities

AMOUAGE

Frankincense, a firm perfumer favorite

BRAND PORTRAITS

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

L’Entropiste, Map of the Heart, State of Mind, Réminiscence, Space Fluid

IN THE AIR

IBERCHEM

Sub-Saharan Africa events

COMPTOIR NICHE BY NEZ

How brands and composition houses work together to create an inventive and inimitable perfume world.

NISSABA X DSM-FIRMENICH A virtuous circle MIND GAMES X SYMRISE Top of the game

Major events in niche perfumery taking place throughout the world.

AND ALSO

VELVETVELO X MANE A dive into the French Riviera

GRASSE PERFUME WEEK

Grasse, the birthplace of fragrance

THE INTERNATIONAL GUIDE TO NICHE PERFUMERY

Discover the notes making a splash today, with expert analysis and insights from various perfumers.

THE BEST OF NICHE BY THE NEZ EDITORIAL TEAM

THE CEREALS AND NUTS TREND

With

NOTES SHANGHAI In Shanghai, take good note(s)

EUROFRAGANCE

Immersion in the Spanish fragrance house.

DOLORS COSTA AND MAGDALENA REY

Technical perfumery, a key expertise in the industry