Saturday Question: Which Scents That You Have Were Made By Women?

/ australianperfumejunkiescom

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Portia

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Hello Fellow Fumies,

Every Saturday we have a Question, an idea purloined from Olfactoria’s Travels. Everyone gets to chime in with an answer, chat with other responders and it is a fun event each week. Taking sides never means taking offence and everyone keeps it respectful and light, even though we can sometimes trawl the depths.

The idea is you’ll see it on the weekend or chime in through the week. Hopefully you will come back and see if anyone has responded to your comment and you can reply to them.

Over 100 responses I will draw a Scent Sample Pack (from my collection)
This week:

Women Perfumers Selection

  1. Aftelier Sepia
  2. Strange Invisible Perfumes Epic Gardenia
  3. L’Artisan Premier Figuier
  4. CK Shock for her
  5. Penhaligon’s Saville Steam

Last Weeks Winner:

eMail me at (portia underscore turbo at yahoo dot com dot au) with your address please

Saturday Question: Which Scents That You Have Were Made By Women?

On Thursday 8 March the world celebrated International Womens Day. That sent me running to my collection to see what I had that was made by or with women perfumers. First I’d like to acknowledge Annick Goutal, Parfums de Nicolai, Strange Invisible Perfumes, Aftelier, Olympic Orchids, Vero Profumo, Soivohle, Mona di Orio and the many other brands created, owned and perfumed by women.

 

We still have so far to go for gender parity in our world.

My Answer:

Above are a selection of a few of the fragrances I have bottles of that were created by or with women perfumers. A fair cross section of blockbusters, boundary pushers, innovators and Indie perfumes there.

My Saturday Question to you is:

Which Scents That You Have Were Made By Women?

 

50 thoughts on “Saturday Question: Which Scents That You Have Were Made By Women?”

  1. Probably more than I know but some of my favorites by women that leap to mind are:
    – Diptyque Philosykos
    – Galop d’Hermes
    – Bandit

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  2. Quite a few, actually. Dzing! is the first one that came to my mind, made by extremely gifted Olivia Giacobetti. I also own and wear Hypnotic Poison and Bulgari Black by Annick Menardo and Sel de Vetiver by Celine Ellena, and then there’s Pissara Umavijani and Patricia de Nicolai. It’s safe to say that a genius has no gender.

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  3. I am a big fan of indies and I have perfumes by Dawn Spencer Hurwitz, Ellen Covey of Olympic Orchids and Laurie Erickson of my favorite Sonoma Scent Studio. Parfums de Nicolai, Annick Goutal (Isabelle Doyen) are also big parts of my collection.

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  4. I had to stand and stare at things for a while to work out this very incomplete list… Bandit and Fracas by the amazing Germaine Cellier (and I really need to track down some vintage Jolie Madame). Dryad by Liz Moores. Vero Kern’s Naja and Mito. Lots and lots by Sarah McCartney. Lyn Harris’s Fleur de Sel. Julie Marlowe and Julie Dunkley’s Fathom V for Beaufort. Olivia Giacobetti’s Dzing and Passage d’Enfer. Anne Sophie Capuis’s Odeur 53 (damn, that bottle is empty.)

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    • Oh yes Crikey, Jolie Madame was divine! (Bandit and Fracas too. Fortunately, those three I do have stashed away in vintage formulations.) Jolie Madame was so elegantly WILD! I do hope you find some.

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  5. Some of my favourites: Dawn Spencer Hurwitz (several fragrances); Jean Marie Faugier (MDCI Vepres Sicillienes); Patricia de Nicolai (MDCI Le Rivage des Sertes); Annick Menardo (Hynotic Poison); Daniela (Roche) Andrier (Prada Infusion D’Iris; Germaine Cellier (Fracas and Jolie Madame); Calice Becker (J’Adore); Laurie Stern of Velvet and Sweet Pea (Honey and Highway; Shelley Waddington (Zoologist Civet and her own En Voyage perfumes)

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      • Isn’t Shelley Waddington an amazing perfumer? I first fell in love with Civet, then discovered her En Voyage perfumes. I sampled several and my favorite is Zelda. I purchased a FB and she included a hand-written thank you not. I also have a decant of Figa which is beautiful.

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  6. I couldn’t possibly list all as I’m not 💯 percent sure of all the creators without first doing a quick bit of research, but just off the top of my head the ones I am sure of are
    Annick Menardo
    Isabelle Doyen

    Liz Moores
    Joséphine Catapano
    Laurie Erickson
    Calice Becker
    Evelyne Boulanger
    Daphné Bugey
    So, quite a few, and I’m sure there are many more, but I can’t do the background now because Rugby, and we’re winning. Wohoo 🙌

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  7. Right now I am absolutely OBSESSED ( I kinda feel like Val with Vero Kern) with Diane St Clair’s creations – St. Clair Scents…..all three of them (First Cut, Frost and Gardener’s Glove) speak to me….in a similar way that Laurie’s did….and now that Sonoma Scent Studio has closed its doors I am happy to have a replacement house with an extraordinarily similar vibe and aesthetics 🙂

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  8. Hhm off the top of my head: Infusion d‘Iris, Knot, Eau de Merveilles/ Merveilles Bleue, Passage d‘Enfer, Saffron Troublant, The Blei. I think almost all my full bottles are coincidently by women!

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  11. Many perfumes go uncredited, so who knows really… anyway, my full bottles of (mostly) undisputed maternity:

    Olivia Giacobetti:
    HDP Vamp à New York
    LAP Safran troublant
    LAP Thé pour une été
    Calice Becker:
    BK Beyond Love
    BK Amber Oud (?)
    Germaine Cellier:
    Piguet Fracas
    Isabelle Doyen:
    AG Songes
    AG Ninfeo mio
    LN Let me play the lion
    Matilde Laurent:
    Guerlain Attrape coeur
    Mona di Orio:
    Tubereuse
    Patricia De Nicolai:
    New York
    Gaye Straza:
    Kai (?)
    Sonia Constant:
    Tom Ford Orchid Soleil
    Annick Menardo:
    Guerlain Papier d’Armenie
    Delphine Jelk (w/ Thierry Wasser):
    Guerlain Neroli Outrenoir

    So, considering that the bulk of my perfumes consists of Guerlains and Chanels dating before the landing on the moon… I note that with the exception of few Bertrand Duchaufour and Christophe Sheldrake (and a loner here and there… a Montale, a Tauer, a FM by Ropion…), my FB conceived in “modern times” are mostly from female noses. I’m surprised, I’m proud and I’m happy about it!
    Also because considering how many perfumes the gentlemen above have put out, they should have had statistics on their side and outnumbered their sisters… yet, they don’t, at least on my shelves. 🙂

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  12. I have a hard time remembering the perfumer’s name if it isn’t a niche business (so far I have only tested few US and UK niche or indie perfumes). So, I had to take a look at my collection and then verify by checking on Fragantica.

    The first two on the list are the ony ones I could remember for certain:
    Cartier Le Panthère (Mathilde Laurent)
    En Passant (Olivia Giacobetti)
    Bottega Veneta Knot (Daniela (Roche) Andrier)
    MMM Untitled (Daniela (Roche) Andrier
    Prada Candy, the original (Daniela (Roche) Andrier)
    Seccret d’Essences Neroli from Y. Rocher (Veronique Nyberg)
    Week End (Patrizia de Nicolaï)

    My favourite Aqua Allegoria Pamplelune was created by Jean-Paul Guerlain and Mathilde Laurent.
    The reformulated Tilleul d’Orsay by Olivia Giacobetti is one I would buy quickly had it been available here (hate paying postage and import tax).

    I still hope to find a real love among Vero Kern’s creations, but need to sample some more of the Voile-concentration.

    Also, admire among others Liz Moores, but Salome didn’t fit me so need to sample more.Same thing with DSH, Mandy Aftel,Ellen Covey; my swap friends usually haven’t got samples of these to share.

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    • Hey Ingeborg,
      Next time you win something, when you send your address remind me and I’ll pop a couple of those US Indies in for you.
      Portia xx

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      • That is such a sweet and generous offer! I should try to widen my group of swap friends too, perhaps find a scent twin.

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  13. Karine Dubreuil-Sereni: L’Occitaine Eau des Baux, Vanille & Narcisse
    Annick Goutal and Isabelle Doyen: Myrrhe Ardente, Ce Soir ou Jamais
    Anne-Cecile Douveghan: Phaedon Tabac Rouge
    Olivia Giacobetti: L’Artisan Dzing!
    Cecile Hua: Atelier Grand Neroli
    Sylvie Jourdet: HdP 1740 (with Gerald Ghislain)
    Christine Nagel: Galliano EDP (with Aurelien Guichard)
    Evelyne Boulanger: Armani Oud Royal
    Liz Zorn: Soivohle Green Oakmoss, Leather Krem
    Shelley Waddington: En Voyage Indigo Vanilla

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      • Leather Krem is fun. I have had some people wrinkle their nose at it, but I love. Green Oakmoss is lovely as well, but like most chypres if I’m not in the exact right mood, it goes sideways on me.
        I felt the same about Galliano, but I’ve read he has gone to great efforts to make amends for his past behaviour.

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  14. I have immense respect for many perfumers but one of my most favorite perfumers happens to be a woman, Francoise Caron. Some perfumes I have from women perfumers include Lang Cuiron, Mona di Orio Cuir, Estee Lauder Beautiful, vintage Vent Vert, and vintage Bandit.

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  15. Well, quite a lot!

    Sarah McCartney: various for 4160 Tuesdays
    Angela Ciampagna: various for same name brand
    Marie Salamagne: Lune Feline for Ateliers des Ors, Beach Walk and Funfair Evening for Mason Margiela
    Olivia Giacobetti: Tea for Two and Premier Figuier for L’Artisan Parfumeur, Idole for Lubin
    Mathilde Bijaoui: Like This, Sex Pistols and Bijou Romantique for Etat Libre d’Orange
    Francesca Bianchi: Sex and the Sea for her own brand
    Hilde Soliani: Conaffeto
    Christi Meshell: various for House of Matriarch
    Magali Senequier: Ambre 114 for Histoires de Parfumes
    Keiko Mecheri: Ume, Musk Nobilis, Cuir Cordoba
    Maria Candida Gentile: Syconium
    Delphine Thierry: Tulaytulah for Majda Bekkali, Akkad and Galaad for Lubin
    Alienor Massenet: Jazz Club for Maison Margiela and Marfa for Memo
    Amelie Bourgeois: Id, Alfa, Omega, Rituale, South, Nettuno and Sogno Reale for Mebdittorosa
    Anne-Sophie Behaghel: North and Le Mat for Mendittorosa
    Mona di Orio: Vanille for same name brand
    Patricia de Nicolai: various
    Sidonie Lancesseur: Lumiere Blanche for Olfactive Studio
    Liz Moores: Dryad for Papillon
    Calice Becker: Back to Black, Intoxicated, Love and Liaisons Dangereuses for By Kilian, Black and Velvet Orchids for Tom Ford
    Pissara Umavijani: La Douceur de Siam Parfums Dusita
    Rania Jouaneh: various for her brand Rania J.
    Julie Masse: Salt Caramel for Shay and Blue
    Emilie Coppermann: South Bay for The Different Company
    Margot Elena: Bulletproof, Everything & Nothing, La Vie La Mort, Tainted Love for Tokyo Milk
    Nathalie Gracia-Cetto: Soleil Blanc for Tom Ford
    Daphne Bugey: 32 Venenum for L’Artisan Parfumeur

    And also some indie perfumers: Anna Zworykina, Kelly Jones, Terri Bozzo, Juliana Van Kampen.

    Maybe even more but I just don’t know the names of perfumers who made some of my perfumes.

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  16. Sophia Grosjman for mine.

    Those who didn’t experience YSL’s “Paris” before it was reformulated into a watery, synthetic and dated thing can have no idea how deliriously and deliciously WOMANLY that fragrance was.

    Paris was was so, so bosomy – but in an utterly ladylike way. It was like a devastatingly sexy, big-breasted young bombshell who, wearing a little floral dress that reveals just a little cleavage and just a little leg, arrests the gaze of all who see her. (And the skin of the one who slept with her would in the morning be scented with its glorious incense base.) Men noticed and adored it.

    Grosjman also created the more mature, more exuberant and more sunny but equally sexy (and equally ruined by reformulation) “Volupte”. While Paris was unmistakably French, “Volupte” for me evoked an ‘hispanic’ sensibility. Voluptuous it was indeed. The bottle was delightful too. (It won a Fifi award. But not the contents, I think.)

    Those who fondly recall Grosjman’s original “Tresor” often do so passionately. And I guess passion is something that’s palpable in the best of Grosjman’s work. I greatly admire her and wish that years ago I’d bought backups of several of her creations.

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    • kes, oh, thank you!! What a sublime post! Sophia probably has to be my favourite perfumer, when I really think about it. All my staples are made by her and have accompanied me through my ups and downs. You captured both Paris and Volupte so well. Fully agreed. Just beautiful. Xx

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  17. In my earnestness to collect all the Germaine Cellier that I can I have ended up with two formulations of Fracas, both of which smell room clearingly horrible on myself and my husband unfortunately. I hoard Jolie Madame. I have one bottle of that in the little felt “cozy.” I’d love to know more about what brought those about… Evidently she didn’t actually create Visa so I don’t have that one. I have a little 60’s bottle of Monsieur Balmain that I had thought was “skunked” but I gave it a good shake this weekend and tried it again. Unbelievable there’s still a lemon top note! How is that possible??? Wow! My Bandit has pride of place in the top cabinet of my perfume cupboard, but I never wear it. I sometimes stop and stare and think about who wanted to smell like that all day. I am fascinated. And intrigued. I love Vent Very so much that I can barely stand to use it. Because vintage. La Fuite Des Heures I have been fortunate enough to find in parfum and Edt. It was my desperation to enjoy my 60’s vintage bottle that caused me to think of shaking a misbehaving vintage perfume for the first time. It was one of my best decisions as a perfume collector. I was rewarded with violets and spring earth and grasses! Where before it had smelled of faded alcohol. I’m sad that evidently three of her creations are out of reach because they were not really distributed. She’s my biggest perfume hero. Please enlighten me if there’s one you think I could add to my collection!
    💓 Alanna

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  18. Here are a few of my favorites:

    Tanja Bochnig – April Aromatics Purple Reign
    Cécile Zarokian – David Jourquin Cuir Altesse and Masque Milano Tango
    Viktoria Minya – Hedonist
    Patricia Nicolai – Le Temps d’une Fête and Parfums MDCI Un Coeur en Mai
    Maria McElroy and Alexis Karl – House of Cherry Bomb Pink Haze
    Jessica September Buchanan – 1000 Flowers Narcotic Flowers and Reglisse Noire

    There are others but I’m being lazy. I did notice that most of the all-natural and mainly natural perfumers that I know of are women.

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  19. Reading all this has been marvellous! There are quite a lot of names I’m yet to discover. This is why perfumery is exciting. It is ine realm where women can explore their deeper selves alone, or in the company of others. We can share, wear and communicate so much. Great idea for a post, Portia. Xx

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