Essential Parfums: Rediscovering the Essence of Perfume

“I have always questioned the way the perfume industry works. Why are creative perfumes so expensive? Why is the perfumer’s talent hidden behind the brand name? Why does marketing obscure perfume’s inherent creative value?”
— Géraldine Archambault, founder of Essential Parfums​

Basic Information

Founded: September 2018
Founder: Géraldine Archambault
Official website: https://www.essentialparfums.com

The Founder and the Origins of the Brand

A Childhood Surrounded by Perfume

Géraldine Archambault grew up immersed in the world of perfume from birth. Asked about her earliest scent memories, she answers without hesitation: “My mother wore Shalimar, and my father wore Eau Sauvage. I have lived surrounded by perfume since I was very small.”​

Her father spent 15 years at the established French perfume house Rochas, including in the 1970s. Her mother also worked there, and the two met in the workplace. They later went independent and co-founded the French brand Parfums Aubusson, where Géraldine worked for 15 years. Her parents’ time at Rochas, her own career at Aubusson, and the niche-fragrance world she would later explore: her life in perfume is truly a story spanning three generations.

Questions About the Industry and a Turning Point

After leaving Aubusson, Géraldine witnessed the rise of niche-fragrance brands. Distinctive houses offering original creations and bold scents emerged one after another, thrilling perfume lovers. Yet one question would not leave her: “Why should wearing an individual fragrance have to cost so much?”​

Her years inside the industry meant she already knew the answer. Licensing fees, advertising costs, celebrity marketing: these accumulated and were added to the price. The quality of the perfume itself and the talent of the perfumer who made it were instead treated as secondary.​

She also recognized the industry’s “opacity.”

“Perfumers have long been hidden in the shadows of brands, celebrities, and designers. They are the real artists, yet they hardly ever see the light of day. Every other artist’s work carries its creator’s signature. Perfume should be the same.”​

The Birth of the Brand: September 2018

Armed with 30 years of industry experience, Géraldine launched Essential Parfums in Paris in September 2018. Its philosophy was simple, yet directly challenged the industry’s conventions.

“It began with one simple idea: to let perfumers create freely, without any constraints.”​

One passage in the brand’s manifesto reads: “Never mind Kate [Moss], Gisele [Bündchen], or Kendall [Jenner]. Perfumers are our real stars.” Not celebrity endorsements, elaborate bottles, or huge advertising budgets, but the people responsible for the art of fragrance would take center stage. That was Essential Parfums’ starting point.​

Expansion in Paris and Rapid Growth

The brand began appearing in the Scent Room at the luxury Paris department store Printemps Haussmann in 2019. It later opened a directly operated flagship boutique in the Marais, a minimal, immaculate space with walls adorned by portraits of its perfumers.

The brand grew rapidly from 2020 onward, reaching €60 million in retail sales in 2023. In June 2024, it opened a pop-up at Galeries Lafayette on the Champs-Élysées and also established a second directly operated store on Boulevard Saint-Germain. “Essential Parfums is now self-financed and doing very well,” its founder says. Openings in Lyon, Bordeaux, and London are also planned, and by 2021 the brand had at least 200 points of sale worldwide.

What Defines the Brand

Putting Perfumers Center Stage as “Stars”

Essential Parfums’ defining feature is that each fragrance’s label clearly carries its perfumer’s name. Bottles also show the reference number of the final laboratory trial, for example “MOD 1151EX” for Bois Impérial, demonstrating a transparency rarely seen in other brands. The concentration of every perfume, 16–17%, is also disclosed. “No other brand makes this public,” Géraldine says.​

Each perfumer is given carte blanche, or complete creative freedom. There are no budget limits, stylistic restrictions, or interventions from the marketing department.

Natural Materials and Sustainability

The proportion of natural raw materials in every perfume reaches 86–93%. Géraldine requires each perfumer to “use a high proportion of natural raw materials” and “include at least one ingredient from a sustainable program.”

She also recognizes the value of synthetics: “People need to understand that synthetic materials are just as important as natural ones. In terms of environmental impact, there are cases where synthetics are kinder to the planet.”​

The alcohol is derived from sugar beet. The perfumes contain no artificial colorants or phthalates, are vegan and cruelty-free, with no animal testing, and are made in France.​

Bottle and Packaging Design Philosophy

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”: this phrase sums up the brand’s design philosophy.​

The original bottles were stock models from glass supplier Coverpla. As sales grew, the brand began transitioning to its own signature bottle in 2024. The new bottle was designed by Alnoor Mitha de Bharat, founder of Parisian design agency Objets de Convoitises, and manufactured by Italian glassmaker Zignago Vetro Brosse.​

Made with 25% recycled glass, the bottle has a refillable, or rechargeable, design that allows it to be refilled indefinitely. Packaging uses FSC-certified cardboard with no plastic whatsoever. The brand logo is engraved on the base of the bottle, while the label is pared down to the perfumer’s signature alone. “A simple cap, not magnetic, a simple virgin-cardboard box… all these choices add up and are directly reflected in the price,” Géraldine explains.

By avoiding distribution intermediaries, the brand passes the savings directly into its product prices. As of 2024, it offered a 100 ml eau de parfum for €82 and a 150 ml refill for €95.​

The Fragrance Lineup

How the Collection Is Structured

Essential Parfums uses a single-perfumer model: each perfume is entrusted to one world-class creator with the title of senior or master perfumer. Each creation carries its perfumer’s name, giving the collection as a whole the character of a series of solo exhibitions by perfumers.

The brief is simple: “Create a unisex perfume centered on one ingredient or accord.” Transparent naming that conveys the fragrance’s central idea is a distinctive feature.​​

Fragrance	Perfumer	Principal Fragrance House	Characteristics
Bois Impérial	Quentin Bisch (in Japanese)	Givaudan	The collection’s biggest bestseller. A sensual, fresh woody fragrance centered on Akigalawood.​
Rose Magnetic	Sophie Labbé (in Japanese)	IFF	A floral fragrance in which lychee and grapefruit enhance the sweetness of rose.​
Mon Vetiver	Bruno Jovanovic (in Japanese)	Firmenich	An earthy fragrance pairing Haitian vetiver with juniper berry and lime.​
Orange x Santal	Natalie Gracia-Cetto	Givaudan	A citrus-woody fragrance combining orange and sandalwood.
Divine Vanille	Olivier Pescheux (in Japanese)	Givaudan	An ode to sustainable vanilla from Madagascar.​
The Musc	Calice Becker (in Japanese)	Givaudan	A refined amber fragrance with musk in the leading role.
Nice Bergamote	Antoine Maisondieu (in Japanese)	Givaudan	A citrus-floral fragrance centered on bergamot.
Fig Infusion	Nathalie Lorson (in Japanese)	Firmenich	A green-fruity fragrance featuring fig.
Patchouli Mania	Fabrice Pellegrin (in Japanese)	dsm-firmenich	A 2023 creation featuring earthy, chocolate-like patchouli.​
Néroli Botanica	Anne Flipo (in Japanese)	IFF	A floral-spicy fragrance centered on neroli.
Velvet Iris	Dominique Ropion (in Japanese)	Givaudan	The eleventh fragrance. An ambitious woody, carnal interpretation of iris.​

Osmanthus Absolu is also listed separately as a creation by Mathieu Nardin.​

A Signature Fragrance: Bois Impérial

Bois Impérial by Quentin Bisch enjoys enduring popularity within the collection.

“I built this perfume around a rare and exceptional wood material, Akigalawood. Clothed in fresh spices, it is a great woody fragrance, with a contrast between patchouli and Thai basil.”
— Quentin Bisch​

Akigalawood is a proprietary natural material upcycled from patchouli through biotechnology, symbolizing the brand’s commitment to sustainability. The specifications shared throughout the lineup are natural-material content reaching 93%, vegan certification, and sugar-beet-derived alcohol.

The eaux de parfum Bois Impérial and Néroli Botanica combine spices with different materials. According to the official descriptions, the former pairs Thai basil and Timut pepper with Akigalawood, while the latter layers orange blossom with ginger, pepper, jasmine, sandalwood, and vetiver. These differences in composition provide useful reference points when trying the two.

Extraits and Hair & Body Mists

From autumn 2024, three fragrances, Bois Impérial, The Musc, and Nice Bergamote, appeared in richer-concentration Extrait de Parfum versions in 30 ml bottles. Hair & Body Mists in Bois Impérial and Nice Bergamote have also joined the lineup, broadening the ways to enjoy fragrance.

By the Way…

• Essential Parfums bottles display the perfume’s production reference, the number of its final laboratory trial. Bois Impérial’s “MOD 1151EX” is one example. “We do this in order to be truly transparent,” Géraldine says.​
• The signature bottle introduced in 2024 has the brand logo engraved on its base. It incorporates a recessed window to accommodate the label. The designer’s description, “an improvement that changes the face, like a facelift, without changing the essence,” perfectly reflects the brand’s attitude.​
• Founder Géraldine hosts her own podcast, Conversations Olfactive, interviewing industry figures such as perfumers and evaluators.​
• Olivier Pescheux, the Givaudan master perfumer who created Divine Vanille, passed away after joining the brand. The official website refers to him as “the late Olivier Pescheux,” and Divine Vanille is among the works he left behind.​