Jeroboam: Connected by Musk, the International Language of Scent

“What had been no more than an olfactory exploration and a game between Vanina and me became the foundation of a fully independent brand.”

— François Hénin, founder of Jeroboam

Basic Information

Founded: 2015
Founder: François Hénin
Perfumer: Vanina Muracciole
Official website: jeroboamparis.com

Note: Some Japanese-language sources give the founding year as 2014, but multiple English-language sources and perfumer Vanina Muracciole’s profile give 2015. This article adopts 2015.

The Founder and the Brand’s Origins

Entrepreneurial Blood in a Traditional French Upbringing

François Hénin grew up in an entirely conventional French household, with parents working in university teaching and finance. His education was classically conventional, taking him from boarding school to business school. Yet, as he himself explains, he carried an entrepreneurial DNA that made him unsuited to large organizations.

“I probably wasn’t made to work in a big organization. I think entrepreneurial DNA runs strongly in my blood.”

— François Hénin

Vietnam as a Turning Point: Opening the Door to Scent

After graduating from business school, Hénin traveled to Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City, in Vietnam, intending it as a trip, but established a small trading company there, connecting French buyers with Vietnamese businesses. Later, at twenty-five, he learned for the first time that he was required to perform military service. Closing his company, he managed to find an assignment with a French company within Vietnam. His posting, however, was not in bustling Saigon but in the north, near the Chinese border.

“I woke to propaganda broadcasts in the morning, and in the evening it was the same again. When I returned to Saigon at weekends, there were messages saying ‘Ho Chi Minh would be proud,’ and announcements about family planning.”

— François Hénin

These experiences in Vietnam, which Hénin recounts with abundant humor, drew him into the world of scent. He became involved in distilling botanical materials used in fine perfumery: leaves, roots, bark, and flowers. Eventually, growing homesick for France, he moved to Argeville in Mougins, near Grasse in southern France. Argeville deals in perfumery materials, and there he further developed his professional knowledge and connections within the fragrance industry.

Reviving Jovoy: Bringing a Forgotten House into the Present

After five years in Grasse, Hénin moved to Paris. He had in mind a plan to revive a forgotten Parisian perfume brand. After research, he chose Jovoy, founded in 1923 by Blanche Arvoy. The historic house had eventually ceased operating and lay dormant in a corner of history for many years.

While taking on its name, Hénin deliberately chose not to recreate the originals.

“I decided that instead of restoring the originals exactly, I would do what the founder, Blanche, might do today. Just as she made perfumes for the people of her time, I would make them for people today.”

— François Hénin

He revived Jovoy in 2006, opened the first boutique in 2010, and opened the flagship boutique at 4 Rue de Castiglione in Paris in 2012. Known as a destination for niche fragrance, this multibrand shop brings together more than 150 niche brands from around the world. It would become the setting for the later birth of Jeroboam.

A Brand Born from a “Cocktail of Musks”

One day, Hénin made a somewhat unusual request of Jovoy’s independent perfumer, Vanina Muracciole.

“I had a little problem, so I said to Vanina, ‘I don’t really understand musk. Could you make me a little cocktail? I don’t feel as though I can perceive it myself, and as someone who sells perfume, I want to understand it properly.’”

— François Hénin

In an interview, Hénin explained that approximately 25% of the world’s population cannot perceive musk, and he felt that he fell into that group. He linked the reason to the size of musk molecules and the transmission of information to the brain. In perfumery, this is sometimes described as being unable to “hear” a perfume.

Vanina created a cocktail of different musks. She added a few other materials so that it would not be just musk alone. Hénin himself did not find it especially strong, but a waitress at a restaurant he visited regularly remarked, “You smell wonderful today.” Compliments also followed one after another when he was out in the city.

“We have to do something with this musk.” With that conviction, Hénin spoke to Vanina, and the two decided to create a brand. The musk base called ORIGINO became the origin of a new universe named Jeroboam.

Perfumer Vanina Muracciole

Vanina Muracciole, who creates all of Jeroboam’s fragrances, is a perfumer with Italian and Corsican roots. Growing up amid the wild vegetation of Corsica’s maquis, a landscape of dense shrubs, she found scent “as natural as breathing” from childhood.

She decided to pursue the profession at the age of eight, when the lingering trail of Hermès Bel Ami moved her deeply.

“That sillage was so beautiful, so powerful, and so delicate. I wanted to create perfumes myself that could move people in the same way.”

— Vanina Muracciole

After studying chemistry, she attended ISIPCA in Versailles, the school for perfume, cosmetics, and flavoring, and trained at MANE in Milan and Grasse. She then studied under Thomas Fontaine, the in-house perfumer at Jean Patou, before becoming independent in 2012. Establishing her own studio on Paris’s Left Bank, she has worked with numerous brands including Jovoy, Jeroboam, Le Galion, Comptoir Sud Pacifique, Fragonard, Lubin, and Masque Milano. She has created more than one hundred fragrances since becoming independent.

As Jeroboam’s dedicated perfumer since the brand’s development stage, she continues to work “with four hands” alongside Hénin.

What Defines the Brand

Its Fragrance Philosophy: Deliberately Breaking the Pyramid

Perfumes are normally designed in a layered structure known as the fragrance pyramid, progressing from top to heart to base. Jeroboam deliberately breaks this structure, creating memorable depth by thoroughly emphasizing and highlighting the base and heart notes.

Vanina likens the approach to this:

“A perfume is like a hot-air balloon. Without enough heat, it cannot take off. Once it is in the air, it is fine. You stop worrying about the top notes. But you still need them to get off the ground.”

— Vanina Muracciole

Every creation uses “enigmatic musks” as a shared base, forming the common thread that connects Jeroboam’s scents.

Bottles and Packaging: The Contrast Between Small and Large

All fragrances have been offered in small 30 ml bottles, with 100 ml sizes now also added. Behind this decision lies an experience of Hénin’s: a frequent traveler, he reportedly often forgot to place his 100 ml bottles in checked luggage at the airport and had them confiscated repeatedly. Combining a carry-on-compatible size of 100 ml or less with extrait de parfum, the most concentrated category of perfume, makes it possible to enjoy a rich fragrance throughout the day even when traveling.

The name Jeroboam, meanwhile, refers to a three-liter bottle of champagne and other wines. Its name comes from the Old Testament’s Jeroboam, the first king of the northern Kingdom of Israel. Giving a 30 ml bottle the name of a three-liter bottle embodies the paradoxical humor that runs throughout the brand. Hénin himself describes the contrast this way:

“A strong perfume does not need a big bottle. I love this play of contrasts, and that is why I chose the name Jeroboam. Perfume is a weapon for those who know how to use it.”

— François Hénin

The bottles combine glossy black, white, or orange glass with gold caps and a design using 1920s-style gold lettering. Their appearance recalls the elegance of the Belle Époque while quietly expressing the house’s pride as a niche-fragrance brand.

Esperanto: “Fragrance Is an International Language”

With a few exceptions, all Jeroboam perfumes are named in Esperanto. Esperanto is a constructed language invented in 1887 by Polish ophthalmologist Ludwik Zamenhof as a shared international language.

Just as musk is a universal material used in almost all modern perfumes, Jeroboam’s fragrances speak to everyone across borders. That message is embodied in the Esperanto naming. In the words of the official website, “Perfume is Lingvo Internacia, the international language of seduction.”

Fragrance Lineup

Jeroboam’s collection develops around Origino. Its creations have Esperanto names and, while each has its own story and personality, they are connected by a shared musk base.

ORIGINO

Esperanto for “origin.” This fragrance completes the cocktail of musks that gave the brand its start as a perfume in its own right, and also forms the foundation of the entire line. It is designed to work either alone or layered as a base beneath other perfumes. Hénin says, “When you feel that another perfume does not work well with you, layering Origino creates new depth and lasting power.”

INSULO

Esperanto for “island.” An oriental-gourmand perfume composed of vanilla, jasmine, and enigmatic musks. For Hénin, vanilla is “the ultimate weapon of seduction,” and Insulo is said to embody that belief. It became a bestseller at Salon de Parfum, held at Isetan Men’s in October 2024, and made a strong impression in the Japanese market.

GOZO

The first Jeroboam fragrance to use an orange bottle. Inspired by the island of Gozo in Malta, it arose from an encounter. Influencer Abdulaziz Al Ajail, who had become close to Hénin through Jovoy’s expansion into Qatar, told him of his love for Gozo, which he called “a piece of heaven.” This developed into a collaboration between Vanina and Abdulaziz. A floral-woody fragrance composed of saffron, tuberose, bergamot, cedarwood, patchouli, and ambroxan.

AMBRA

A fragrance centered on amber. This woody-oriental opens with bergamot, geranium, and frankincense, while vetiver, vanilla, tonka bean, and enigmatic musks create its lingering trail.

VESPERO

Esperanto for “evening.” Combining oud, leather, and amber woods with the freshness of grapefruit, lemon, and bergamot, this scent evokes the city at night. It is also a fragrance Hénin has named among those he wears regularly himself.

ORIENTO

A creation intended to bridge Eastern cultures and sensibilities. Its top and heart, composed of lemon, saffron, styrax, rose, and ylang-ylang, are followed by a base of sandalwood, patchouli, and enigmatic musks.

YOUR OUDHNESS

A woody-spicy creation centered on an Indonesian mangrove-derived oud called Gaharu Buaya. Its playful name is a pun on “Your Highness,” offering a new interpretation of oud. It is also stocked at Harrods.

KUN AMO

Esperanto for “with love.” One of the latest creations, a fruity musk centered on pear.

The collection has also expanded to around fourteen creations, including UNUE (Esperanto for “first”), FLORO (“flower”), HAUTO (“skin”), LIGNO (“wood”), MIKSADO (“mixture”), and BOHA.

Incidentally…

The Historical Origin of the Name Jeroboam
The first use of Jeroboam as a wine term dates back to Bordeaux in 1725. Many bottle-size names come from the Old Testament, and Jeroboam refers to the first king of the northern Kingdom of Israel in the tenth century BCE. Interestingly, its size is not uniformly defined: it may refer to three liters in Champagne or 4.5 or 5 liters in Bordeaux, depending on the region.

A Dream Hénin Never Quite Fulfilled
His childhood dream was to become a cook. He has said he wanted to leave school and become a chef, but his family’s persuasion helped lead him down a different path. Something of that ambition remains in his boast that he is still the man to call for a barbecue.

The Japanese Launch
NOSE SHOP began advance sales at Salon de Parfum 2024 at Isetan Men’s in October 2024, where Jeroboam ranked first in popularity among the approximately thirty brands the retailer handled during the event. Its full Japanese launch followed on December 13 that year.

References