Anne-Sophie Behaghel: From Asphalt and Musk to Scents Still Unknown

アン＝ソフィー・ベヘゲルのスケッチと代表作品を掲載した調香師名鑑のサムネイル

“I would like to make a perfume that smells of the moon.”

Anne-Sophie Behaghel, from an interview with D’Orsay; translated from the Japanese rendering.

The smell of the moon. Would it be like cold stone, dry soil, or something altogether different? The phrase sets the imagination working.

Anne-Sophie Behaghel is one of the perfumers leading FLAIR, an independent perfumery studio in Paris. She has created many fragrances for niche brands, including Mendittorosa’s Le Mat and BDK Parfums’ Sel d’Argent.

She grew up not among flower fields, but in a city smelling of asphalt and concrete. Yet when asked which smells soothe her, she names clean scents and musks.

Roughness and softness. The slightly strange and the familiar feel of skin. She is a perfumer who finds interest between these things.

A Life in Perfumery

The Streets of Paris and the Perfume Her Parents Left Behind

Anne-Sophie was born in Paris in 1978. She recalls being a curious child who observed her surroundings, with hot pavements and crowded public transport close at hand.

One particularly vivid memory is the scent of her parents when they went out. They always kissed her before leaving. At that moment she smelled their freshly applied Guerlain Parure and Habit Rouge.

Perfume was not a remote world contained in beautiful bottles: it was connected with the presence of people she loved.

She later said that when thinking about fragrance, she looks not only to nature and travel, but to people themselves.

“I often draw inspiration from people: their smiles, the way they move, the way they look at others, the way they live.”

Anne-Sophie Behaghel, from an interview with Versatile Paris; translated from the Japanese rendering.

A person’s atmosphere cannot be explained through ingredient names alone. She wants to follow freely the sensations and emotions a smell evokes and bring them together in a perfume. That desire comes through in these few words.

Beginning by Learning and Teaching Fragrance

She is described as having studied chemistry at Paris VI, then Pierre and Marie Curie University. She subsequently learned the skills of smelling and composing at the perfumery-training institution Cinquième Sens.

Her teacher was the school’s founder, Monique Schlienger. It was also here that she met Amélie Bourgeois, a colleague and friend with whom she would work for many years at Flair.

She worked at Cinquième Sens for about nine years as a teacher, perfumer, and evaluator. She gained experience not only in making scents, but also in communicating them and considering how others received them.

She then broadened her experience at Firmenich and Symrise, including work with fine-fragrance clients and the evaluation of scents for personal-care products.

After experience at large fragrance companies, she chose a small studio where she could approach creation more freely.

Flair: A Place to Think Together with Independent Brands

Flair was born in 2012. Anne-Sophie joined the studio begun by Amélie and Martine Denisot, and together they developed the business.

Niche perfumery was expanding, and new brands were seeking to express their stories through scent. But the systems of large fragrance companies could not always fully address small brands’ demand or their need for detailed consultation. Anne-Sophie says this created an opportunity for independent perfumers.

Early supporters included François Hénin of Jovoy and David Frossard, who was involved with Frapin. Rouge Assassin and Paradis Perdu were Amélie’s creations that marked the studio’s beginnings.

Work followed with Room 1015, Les Liquides Imaginaires, Les Eaux Primordiales, and others. At BDK Parfums, creations such as Amélie’s Rouge Smoking and Anne-Sophie’s Sel d’Argent reflect their makers’ different personalities.

A 2024 interview reported that the studio had worked with fifty-six brands and was involved in around fifty launches a year overall. This is the reach of a team, not Anne-Sophie’s individual output.

Camille Chemardin and Margaux Le Paih-Guérin also joined, and Flair developed into a studio where perfumers with different sensibilities worked in the same space.

Perfumery Philosophy and Style

Using Fewer Materials Boldly

“I like making simple formulas with bold quantities of materials. I have an abstract ‘pen.’”

Anne-Sophie Behaghel, from an interview with Premium Beauty News; translated from the Japanese rendering.

While Amélie excels at more intricate formulas with a sensual, refined character, Anne-Sophie says she prefers to magnify the presence of materials.

Emphasizing a single material can reveal another face of it. Pairing it with something unexpected then introduces a slight friction within an otherwise well-ordered fragrance.

Flair’s official profile describes her style as “the subtle art of contrast.” She values not just gentle harmony, but dissonance, roughness, and unexpected twists. This is how her studio colleagues see her as a perfumer.

Of course, strangeness is not an end in itself. At the center of Anne-Sophie’s creative work is listening to brand creators tell their stories in their own words. She seeks her own expression while responding to their wishes.

Giving Her Favorite Musks Free Rein

Hemp and musk. Musk and orange blossom. Asked about favorite combinations, she mentions musk again and again.

“My ideal perfume? Any perfume, as long as at least 50% of it is musk.”

Anne-Sophie Behaghel, from an interview with Versatile Paris; translated from the Japanese rendering.

This is a humorous expression of her affection for musk, not a numerical description of the formulas of all her actual creations.

Among materials, she favors carbon-dioxide-extracted pink pepper. Conversely, she says she dislikes honey in every form. Her refusal to dress up her tastes politely is also characteristic.

To support this freedom of choice, Flair adopted a policy of not limiting its materials to one supplier. Working with its manufacturer, VO Aromatiques, it established access to materials handled by Stéphane Piquart and ingredients from Albert Vieille, Biolandes, and others.

The palette described in 2024 contained around eight hundred materials. What matters is perhaps not just their number, but being able to choose their source to suit the scent one wishes to express.

Signature Creations and How They Were Made

Le Mat: From Tarot to Chypre

In 2014, Mendittorosa founder Stefania Squeglia visited Anne-Sophie with the tarot card of the Fool in hand.

Anne-Sophie was not familiar with tarot at the time. But she says she was immediately drawn to the figure on the card and the story of moving toward an unknown future.

She chose chypre as the olfactory starting point.

“To create the accords of the future, we need to know the accords of the past.”

Anne-Sophie Behaghel, from an interview about Mendittorosa’s Le Mat; translated from the Japanese rendering.

Knowing the past in order to move into the unknown: she connected that story with the history of perfumery.

Le Mat is recorded as a collaboration with Amélie. Layering patchouli, rose, black pepper, nutmeg, and other materials, she used immortelle where jasmine might otherwise have been placed. A flower that retains its form after drying became a symbol of the soul’s continuation.

The fragrance was finished with the second trial. In the first formula, there had apparently been a kind of “misunderstanding” between two materials. She recalls that the second brought balance, allowing creator and brand to share the same emotion.

The perfume received five stars from critic Luca Turin. It is also known as a highly rated creation in the 2018 perfume guide. Anne-Sophie says that reading the assessment of a critic she admires made her feel very proud and moved.

Sel d’Argent: Skin after the Sea

Sel d’Argent (2020) depicts a seaside scene from a perspective close to the skin.

Part of BDK Parfums’ Collection Azur, it has memories of Corsica and the sensation of salt remaining on the skin after swimming as its background. On the official site, Anne-Sophie explains it as follows.

“It captures a cool, salty breeze that leaves crystals on sun-warmed skin.”

Anne-Sophie Behaghel, from BDK Parfums’ official presentation of Sel d’Argent; translated from the Japanese rendering.

Bergamot and grapefruit meet a salt accord, with orange blossom and ylang-ylang layered over them. Ambroxan, Cashmeran, white musks, and other materials create the feeling that remains on the skin.

Rather than depicting the sea only as a vast landscape, the fragrance draws it toward the body after swimming. Is this not a theme that expresses her fondness for musk particularly well?

Ohsphalte: Turning the City’s Smells into Perfume

OHTOP’s Ohsphalte appeared in 2023. Its theme is asphalt under strong sunlight.

The brand’s founder, Romeo Oh, is described as being drawn to the smell of pavements and the urban modernity they symbolize, the roads connecting people, and even dust and human activity.

Anne-Sophie expressed this idea by layering flowers, woods, and suede over a concrete accord. Patchouli, vetiver, labdanum, musk, and other materials connect the city’s hardness with the softness of skin.

Concrete and asphalt here mean olfactory impressions of these things, not literal road-building materials added to perfume.

For someone raised in Paris, the city is perhaps no less worthy a subject than nature. Not only flowers, but also familiar pavements, can still open the way to a new perfume.

Not Confined to One Expression

Evody’s Blanc de Sienne was co-created with Amélie. Anne-Sophie has also created fragrances for brands with different worlds, including Jovoy’s Sans un Mot and MDCI Parfums’ Le Barbier de Tanger.

For Alexandre.J’s The Majestic series, she teamed up with Amélie to explore amber, musk, vanilla, vetiver, and other themes.

Recent work also includes Sora Dora’s Mallow and Borntostandout’s Sugar Addict and Angels’ Powder. Alongside hard-edged urban scents, expressions that magnify sweetness and powderiness are also part of her work.

Bringing Fragrance into Art

Flair’s work is not limited to perfumes worn on skin.

In 2022, Sandra Barré, who has a background in art history, joined the team, expanding its activity connecting fragrance and contemporary art. The Flair Prize for olfactory art began that same year.

“We thought it would be more interesting to remain open to every possible subject.”

Anne-Sophie Behaghel, from an interview about the Flair Prize with the olfactory-culture publication Nez; translated from the Japanese rendering.

The theme was open, provided that using smell had a meaningful purpose. The prize welcomed not only artists experienced in scent, but also newcomers, offering a selected project a grant of €10,000 and fragrance creation by Flair.

Anne-Sophie and Amélie also took part in judging. Across its editions, juries included people working in art and fragrance, such as artist Bianca Bondi, art theorist Nicolas Bourriaud, and Cartier perfumer Mathilde Laurent.

From the first edition in 2022, it moved to a second in 2024/2025 and a third in 2025/2026. The official site announces that the initiative ended with the third edition. Although not an ongoing annual prize, it created a meeting place for artists wishing to express themselves through scent and perfumers who could give those ideas form.

Scenting spaces or the materials in artworks requires a different approach to formulation than perfumes for skin. This also gave Flair opportunities to discover new worlds.

By the Way…

Anne-Sophie’s interviews contain answers that make one smile.

Her favorite color is blue, without hesitation. Her food indulgence is sausage: she says she wants it at any time of day and has to stop herself buying too much. Her drink is red wine, jokingly adding that she would have it even from eight in the morning.

She feels free when skiing to her heart’s content. Among memorable encounters, she names her husband René and recounts accepting a proposal aboard a boat. A time she would like to experience again is a voyage on an old sailing boat in Madagascar.

In an interview with Kerzon, she says she sprays Fleur Bleue on her bed every morning. Whether she makes the bed properly or not, she never skips the scent.

And her favorite time of day is at home in the evening.

“Around half past seven in the evening, orange light comes into the house, and I have a glass in my hand. The children, smelling of white musk after their baths, all three talk to me at once about this and that.”

Anne-Sophie Behaghel, from an interview with Kerzon; translated from the Japanese rendering.

Such a soft scent memory from a bold perfumer who sometimes prefers dissonance. The perfume she first knew beside her family may now be connected with moments in her own home.

The city’s asphalt, clean musk, and the still-unknown smell of the moon: Anne-Sophie seems to see the possibility of perfume in them all.

Major Fragrance Creations

Major creations are presented chronologically. Where earlier works share a name or different concentrations exist, the relevant version is specified.

Year Brand Fragrance Co-perfumers / Notes
2014 Les Liquides Imaginaires Lacrima Early version; distinct from the 2020 eau de parfum
2014 Les Liquides Imaginaires Melancolia Early version
2014 Les Liquides Imaginaires Phantasma Early version; distinct from the 2020 eau de parfum
2014 Mendittorosa Le Mat Amélie Bourgeois
2014 Frapin Nevermore —
2015 Evody Fleur d’Oranger Distinct from the earlier 2008 fragrance of the same name
2015 Jovoy Sans un Mot —
2015 Evody Blanc de Sienne Amélie Bourgeois
2015 Evody Musc Intense 2015 version
2015 Une Nuit Nomade Suma Oriental Recorded as co-created with Amélie Bourgeois
2015 Room 1015 Electric Wood Recorded as co-created with Amélie Bourgeois
2016 MDCI Parfums Le Barbier de Tanger —
2017 Les Eaux Primordiales Couleur Primaire Collaboration with Arnaud Poulain; also dated 2018
2017 L’Orchestre Parfum Encens Asakusa Recorded as a Flair collaboration
2017 L’Orchestre Parfum Thé Darbouka Amélie Bourgeois
2018 Mendittorosa Lacura —
2019 Frapin IF by R.K. —
2020 BDK Parfums Sel d’Argent —
2020 Frapin Bois Blanc —
2020 D’Orsay Je Suis le Plus Grand M.A. / “My Greatest Self” —
2020 Mendittorosa Orlo —
2020 Alexandre.J The Majestic Vanilla Amélie Bourgeois
2020 Alexandre.J The Majestic Amber Amélie Bourgeois
2020 Alexandre.J The Majestic Musk Amélie Bourgeois
2020 Alexandre.J The Majestic Vetiver Amélie Bourgeois
2020 Alexandre.J The Majestic Jardin Amélie Bourgeois
2020 Une Nuit Nomade Nothing but Sea and Sky —
2020 Obvious Une Vanille Amélie Bourgeois
2021 FiiLiT Amante – Andalucia —
2021 Frapin Checkmate —
2021 Calaj Carmen Camille Chemardin
2021 Adi Ale Van Dilema —
2021 Sora Dora Mandorle Flair collaboration with Amélie Bourgeois and Camille Chemardin; extrait version
2021 Sora Dora Kamel Oud Created by Flair; extrait version
2021 Sora Dora Vanuatu Flair collaboration with Amélie Bourgeois and Camille Chemardin; extrait version
2021 Mendittorosa Albatros —
2021 FiiLiT Joli Cœur – La Réunion —
2022 Adi Ale Van Hai Hui Flower Power Extrait —
2022 Adi Ale Van Mioritic – Extrait de Folklore —
2022 Versatile Paris Culot Thé —
2023 Borntostandout Sugar Addict —
2023 Sora Dora Mallow —
2023 OHTOP Ohsphalte —
2024 Borntostandout Angels’ Powder —
2024 Perroy AzureBlush Recorded as a Flair collaboration with Arnaud Poulain and Amélie Bourgeois
2024 Blndrgrphy 03 Vanilla Mudslide —

References