Bon Parfumeur: A Parisian Atelier Turning Memories into Fragrance

“Just as some people preserve beautiful moments in photographs, I decided to put my trust in perfume.”

— Ludovic Bonneton, founder

Key Facts
The Founder and the Origins of the House
The House’s Commitments
The Perfume Lineup
By the Way…

Key Facts

Founded: Early sources give 2016, while the current official history takes the founder’s return to France in 2017 as its starting point
Founder: Ludovic Bonneton
Based in: Paris, France
Official website: bonparfumeur.com

The brand name “Bon Parfumeur” means “a good perfumer” in French. The three letters “Bon” also coincide with the first three letters of the founder’s surname, BoNNeton.

The Founder and the Origins of the House

Olfactory Memories Nurtured since Childhood

For Ludovic, scent had been a “detective game” since childhood.

“For as long as I can remember, my nose has always been curious. Whenever I smelled a fragrance that intrigued me, I could not help asking, ‘What is that?’ even if the person was a stranger. How many passersby I must have stopped in the park!”

— Ludovic Bonneton

His own olfactory journey has been varied. As a teenager, he wore Guerlain’s Jicky and Carven’s Vetiver, later becoming familiar with Guerlain’s Habit Rouge and Caron’s Pour un Homme. In an interview with KAMS Paris, he also said, “The scent that captivated me as a child was Opium, and later I met perfumers in Paris. At 15, my favorite perfume was Jicky.”

Discovering Niche Perfumery and a Turning Point

After becoming familiar with major brands, Ludovic next discovered the world of “confidential” houses: small in scale, yet devoted to pursuing the intrinsic beauty of scent. They sought to return to the original principles of perfumery, placing fragrance at the center of the product.

“Artistic, sincere, creative perfumery. Bon Parfumeur was born from that idea.”

— Ludovic Bonneton

Professionally, he spent just over three years as a product manager at French beauty and cosmetics giant L’Oréal, then founded a company of his own before becoming head of digital and e-commerce at Yves Rocher. Why would someone with a background in digital business and marketing, rather than professional perfumery, create a perfume brand? The answer lies in Colombia.

A Revelation on Colombia’s Pacific Coast

Ludovic moved to Cali, and one day, somewhere on Colombia’s Pacific coast, the tropical breeze spoke to him. Cocoa, coffee, fragrant flowers: as he lived among these dense aromas, the impulse to share his emotions and memories through scent began to take a clear shape.

“When I returned from Colombia, I realized how powerfully fragrance can stir emotions, unlock memories, and tell deeply personal stories. Scent does not need a fixed identity; it is a language, a living form of self-expression. That was the starting point of Bon Parfumeur.”

— Ludovic Bonneton, from an interview with Woodberg

He later reflected, “Some of the perfumes existed long before Bon Parfumeur. Through travels, encounters, and emotions, I kept collecting beautiful materials, and they became snapshots of my life. My perfumery is my photo album.”

The Birth and Naming of the House

Although he had spent years “collecting, mixing, and savoring” perfumes as an enthusiast, Ludovic admits he hesitated to make them his profession. “Like any passionate fan, I was afraid to turn what I loved into a job. My friends and family gave me the encouragement to take that step.”

A 2019 article in L’Honoré Magazine states that the brand was born in 2016 after two years of development. The current official history, however, dates his return from Colombia to 2017, so the chronology differs between sources. The story that the name was changed from “Bonneton,” the founder’s own surname, to “Bon Parfumeur” has not been substantiated in official materials. The present name, too, quietly carries the three letters “Bon” from the founder’s name.

In late 2025, Bon Parfumeur was officially launched in Colombia itself, with Ludovic visiting Bogotá to hold a masterclass. “The journey began in Colombia. I am truly delighted to be able to launch Bon Parfumeur there officially,” he wrote on LinkedIn.

The House’s Commitments

A Fragrance Philosophy: Giving Perfumers Carte Blanche

One of the most distinctive features of Bon Parfumeur’s approach is its practice of giving perfumers “carte blanche,” or a free hand. A 2020 introduction to the house described an approach allowing perfumers to exercise their imaginations freely in choosing themes and ingredients. The current official account also emphasizes collaboration through an ongoing creative dialogue with perfumers, beginning with Ludovic’s memories and emotions. This produces individual fragrances with clearly defined characters.

The collection is currently created by 14 perfumers, a varied group ranging from leading French master perfumers to emerging talents. They include Anne Flipo, Karine Dubreuil-Sereni, Juliette Karagueuzoglou, Paul Guerlain, and Clément Marx.

Ludovic says, “A good fragrance has a beautiful material at its core, around which strong olfactory contrasts unfold: a liqueur-like rose softened by vanilla, for example, in 106, or cardamom tea served on a cloud of mimosa in 102.”

Numbers as Names: A Naming System from the Perfumer’s Atelier

Bon Parfumeur uses numbers as the basic names identifying its fragrances: 001, 102, 602. This naming convention has a clear meaning. The first digit identifies one of ten fragrance families, while the final two digits indicate the order of release within that family.

“The numbers pay tribute to the numbering of bottles in a perfumer’s atelier. I wanted to retain a trace of the artisanal tradition in which my perfumery is rooted.”

— Ludovic Bonneton

Each bottle label lists three principal notes representing the fragrance. This expresses a commitment to transparency in which “the materials themselves speak, rather than the poetic words accompanying a fragrance.”

Bottles and Packaging: Craftsmanship Gathered from across France

For Bon Parfumeur, “Made in France” is more than a statement of origin: it is an identity at the very foundation of the house.

Bottles: Made by Pochet du Courval, located in Normandy’s Vallée du Verre, or Glass Valley. Having made glass for the luxury industry for four centuries, this workshop has been called “the Rolls-Royce of French glassmakers.” The clear, poised form has a simplicity that highlights the fragrance itself without imposing too strong a theme.
The juice, or fragrance itself: Produced in Grasse, “the world capital of perfume.”
Labels: Printed in Cognac.
Packaging: Made in Grignan. Final packing takes place in the Cosmetic Valley in Chartres.

The outer cartons use recycled fiber or paper from managed forests, with FSC certification attesting to sustainable forest management. A 2019 introduction described a design incorporating refill systems for the 50 ml and 100 ml bottles to reduce waste.

Clean Formulas: Up to 99% Naturally Derived Ingredients

The commitment to “clean” formulas is also pronounced. The house states that it uses up to 99% naturally derived ingredients and adds no colorants. Brand-introduction materials have also described the absence of parabens, phthalates, formaldehyde, BHA, EDTA, and phenoxyethanol, along with vegan and cruelty-free, or no-animal-testing, policies.

The Perfume Lineup

Ten Fragrance Families and the Numbering System

Bon Parfumeur offers at least 30 perfumes, including eaux de parfum, with the entire range divided into ten fragrance families. Each family is assigned a color code, reflected in the colored band on the bottle label.

Number Range	Family	Color	Scent Character
000s	Cologne	Gray	Refreshing, citrus-centered scents
100s	Floral	Light pink	Blends of delicate flowers
200s	Fruity	Yellow	Light fruit scents
300s	Amber & Spicy	Red	Sensual, intense scents
400s	Vanilla & Musk	Purple	Warm vanilla and musk scents
500s	Gourmand	Magenta	Sweet scents reminiscent of desserts
600s	Woody	Green	Powerful, warm woody notes
700s	Aromatic	Brown	Distinctive scents where herbs and woods meet
800s	Aquatic	Blue	Refreshing scents that bring a sense of summer
900s	Special	Black	Unclassifiable, unconventional scents

Signature Fragrances

Here are several particularly well-known creations from the collection.

001 (Eau de Parfum) — Both the starting point of the cologne family and a signature of the house. A timeless cologne played by a trio of orange blossom, petitgrain, and bergamot. With “an enveloping, refined softness loved by everyone,” it is cherished as the house’s La Cologne Intemporelle, or timeless cologne.

105 (Eau de Parfum) — A member of the floral family that Ludovic calls “the first perfume I created.” He describes it as a dark rose inspired by Hoxton Square in London. An androgynous spicy rose, it opens with mandarin, freesia, and saffron, intertwines geranium and cinnamon, and settles into sandalwood and cedar. A special edition, 105 YMC, was later released in collaboration with London fashion label YMC.

602 (Eau de Parfum) — A member of the woody family built around pepper, cedar, and patchouli. Ludovic says it reminds him of walks in Auvergne, and it has found favor with customers in Asia, including China. “It was precisely in Auvergne, the home of this 602, that Bon Parfumeur and Asia met,” he says.

502 Iris Cartagena (Extrait de Parfum) — A gourmand fragrance created as a tribute to Colombia. Composed by Clément Marx, it begins with rum, cocoa, and mandarin petitgrain, moves into the creamy comfort of iris and vanilla, and settles into coffee, vetiver, sugar cane, and papyrus. “I wanted to turn the Cartagena night into perfume: a tribute to Colombia and its scents,” Ludovic says.

Mix & Match: The Philosophy of “Creating Your Own Scent”

One of Bon Parfumeur’s defining features is the idea of Mix & Match. Each bottle label lists the numbers of other compatible fragrances, allowing two or three to be layered to create a bespoke scent unavailable on the market. In an interview with ELLE, Ludovic revealed, “I like layering two or three fragrances according to the season, weather, and my mood. This morning, for example, I combined 602 and 004.”

He describes the approach this way: “Layering has always felt natural to me. It is like choosing clothes. You wear a base fragrance like a second skin, then add a light touch like a scarf, or depth like a coat. Or you can wear different scents on your skin, hair, and clothes to create dimension and movement.”

By the Way…

The Name’s Double Meaning: “Bon Parfumeur” means “a good perfumer” in French, while the three letters “Bon” also overlap with the founder’s surname, BONneton. The name thus has a playful double structure.

A Varied Career: According to Ludovic’s LinkedIn profile, his unusual career began as a product manager at L’Oréal, then took him through founding a property portal, heading e-commerce at a vacation-rental company, and directing digital operations at Yves Rocher before he entered the world of perfumery. A perspective from outside the fragrance industry may well have produced the house’s unconventional concept.

A Circle Completed in Colombia: In 2025, Ludovic officially launched the house in Colombia, the country where Bon Parfumeur was born, and held a masterclass for fragrance lovers and local media. The starting point of the journey became the place of a triumphant return, an episode that embodies the philosophy of “inscribing life in scent.”

Three Paris Shops and Four in China: As of 2025, the house had three shops in Paris, at 11 Rue des Francs-Bourgeois in the Marais, 68 Rue du Faubourg Poissonnière, and 17 Rue Sainte-Croix de la Bretonnerie, as well as four shops in China. In Japan, Bluebell Japan is the authorized distributor, with stockists including Jardin des Parfums.

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