Who is our perfumer?
"Perfume forms part of the beautiful language of love – as Christian Dior said, “Make me a fragrance that smells like love”. It therefore follows that the best fragrances were made in France as far back as we can remember.
I read that Napoleon was perhaps the world’s first perfume junkie. He loved French perfume (Try our Corsica) so much that he placed a regular order of 50 bottles a month, reportedly because the notes of citrus & rosemary reminded him of his native Corsica.
Is it true Cleopatra loved the Lotus flower's (Try Waterfall Eau de Parfum) fragranced oil? I don't blame her!
The Osmotheque founded by Jean Kerleo in Versailles
Although I have studied several Master perfumers' work, I was an admirer and student since 2003 of the work of Master perfumer Jean Kerléo. I shared his passion for natural materials. He was a highly respected French master perfumer who shared his art with love and enthusiasm. He was best known as the in-house “nose” for Jean Patou (where he created the iconic 1000 / Mille in 1972) and as co-founder and longtime president of the Osmothèque, the world’s leading perfume archive and museum in Versailles.
Kerléo had a well-documented, lifelong passion for natural raw materials. Industry tributes and colleagues repeatedly described natural materials as “his stated passion,” and he openly called himself a supporter of natural perfumery, although the world was flooded with synthetic fragrances.
The Interior
He was famous for sourcing the finest jasmine absolutes and other high-quality naturals, and he spent decades reconstituting historical fragrances at the Osmothèque using original formulas that relied heavily on natural essences.
From a now-lost Business Standard interview, preserved on "Now Smell This", he famously said:
“Perfume has become a mass product… Fragrances are banal and there is too much choice. Almost every day a new perfume appears on the market. Many are sold for a couple of months and then retired because they’ve gone out of fashion.”
His famous one-liner will always remain with me:
“You begin as a composer. You finish as a sculptor.”
It is not surprising that my passion, like my mentor's, is classical French perfume; made with natural botanical extracts, so each fragrance reminds you of a special memory... a secret in your heart.
I only use the best quality oils and never compromise, as Jean would approve of.
I hope you enjoy our perfumes as much as I enjoy creating them for beautiful people like you."
(Deonette is also the chairperson and founder of the International Foundation for Natural Perfumers).
