Josephine Catapano: A Pioneer Who Joined Flowers with Greenery and Opened a Path for American Fragrance

“Pick any flower, and you will smell a green note.”
Josephine Catapano, her own words as presented by Michael Edwards in his 2013 Esxence tribute lecture

Born on December 29, 1918, in Brooklyn, New York. Died on May 14, 2012, aged 93.

Estée Lauder’s Youth-Dew, Guy Laroche’s Fidji and Norell: Josephine Catapano’s creations include fragrances that changed not only tastes in scent but also the attitudes of the people buying perfume.

While composing richly diffusive resinous fragrances, she also listened closely to the greenness of a freshly picked flower. Both approaches were supported by the curiosity of someone trained in chemistry. At a time when women perfumers were still unusual in America, she opened a path through her creations and her training of the next generation.

A Life in Perfumery
Fragrance Creations
References

A Life in Perfumery

From a Hospital Laboratory to a Fragrance Company

Catapano was born into an Italian-American family. Family and colleagues affectionately called her Jo. After Hunter High School, she studied at Hunter College, acquiring a grounding in chemistry.

She did not set out to become a perfumer. During the Second World War, she began working in a hospital laboratory. She reportedly found, however, that she did not like working with blood. Still attached to chemistry, she began looking for another way to work.

In the 1940s, she joined Van Ameringen-Haebler, a fragrance company that would later become part of International Flavors & Fragrances, commonly known as IFF.

“Josephine’s ‘nose’ was still an undiscovered talent until she joined our company in the 1940s.”
IFF, official profile, 2025

She was not someone born into a perfumer’s family and surrounded by fragrance materials from childhood. For Catapano, pursuing chemistry as a career led to scent, and it was there that she discovered her talent.

A Mentor in Ernest Shiftan

At the fragrance company, Catapano was guided by Ernest Shiftan (1903–1976). He brought European perfumery knowledge to America and excelled not only in technique but also in understanding clients’ expectations. He later served as an IFF vice president.

In this environment, Catapano learned to compose fragrances using both natural and synthetic materials. Rather than simply reproducing French perfumes, the work meant responding to the fragrances American brands and consumers wanted. It eventually led to her own signature creations.

The mentor’s and pupil’s names do, however, need to be distinguished in records of authorship. The specialist perfume website Bois de Jasmin describes Youth-Dew as Catapano’s creation, although it is sometimes credited as a collaboration with Shiftan. IFF also presents it as a fragrance she created.

In an era when perfumers’ names were far less visible than today, tracing a creator through their work also means rereading records of this kind.

Youth-Dew: Helping Women Buy Fragrance for Themselves

A major turning point came with Youth-Dew in 1953. The client was Mrs. Estée Lauder, who was building her cosmetics brand.

In America at the time, the view of perfume as something men gave women to wear on special occasions remained deeply rooted. Mrs. Lauder chose to introduce the fragrance first as a bath oil. Women could buy something for their own baths, and it was also made to be worn directly as a fragrance.

The brand’s official retrospective likewise explains that women bought it for bathing and then began using it as an everyday fragrance. Youth-Dew’s success lay in bringing its composition together with a way of delivering it into people’s lives.

Perfume historian Michael Edwards discussed its creation in detail in his tribute lecture at Esxence in 2013. Mrs. Lauder wanted a fragrance that seemed to last forever. According to his account, Catapano responded with depth and diffusion, using resins such as tolu balsam alongside materials including civet and sandalwood.

The same lecture also discussed the bath-oil formula. Isopropyl myristate served as an oily diluent for the fragrance; rather than dissolving into the water, the scent spread over its surface and clothed the skin. Its action was described as an invisible veil covering the body.

Sweet resins, spices, flowers and woody depth: even a small amount of Youth-Dew makes its presence felt. Its richness became an important reference point for later amber fragrances, and its relationship with Yves Saint Laurent’s Opium (1977) has often been discussed in perfume history. Belonging to a similar lineage, however, is not the same as having the same formula.

Youth-Dew was also inducted into the FiFi Fragrance Hall of Fame in 1994. Decades after its launch, it remained an essential creation in accounts of American perfume history.

Fidji: Green Notes That Bring Flowers Closer to Nature

The weighty Youth-Dew alone cannot tell the story of Catapano’s work. In 1964, she created Shiseido’s Zen: the original fragrance in the black bottle, distinct from later creations bearing the same name. In 1966, Fidji, Guy Laroche’s first fragrance for women, showed an entirely different side of her work.

The name evokes the Fiji Islands in the South Pacific. Yet at its heart are not sweet tropical fruits but vivid greenery surrounding flowers. Rose, jasmine, ylang-ylang, carnation and other flowers are layered over the greenness of galbanum and hyacinth, leading into a woody foundation. The bottle was designed by Serge Mansau.

“In creating Fidji, I was trying to add the scent of fresh flowers, close to nature.”
Josephine Catapano, her own words as presented by Michael Edwards in the materials for his 2013 Esxence tribute lecture

The words at the beginning of this article connect to that idea. Pick a flower and you smell not only its petals but also the greenness of its stem and leaves. For Catapano, green notes did not obstruct a flower’s beauty; they brought it closer to its living form.

In the account of its creation presented by Edwards, she combined natural materials with synthetic ingredients that were new at the time, conducting many experiments in search of a fresh effect. Seeking naturalness does not conflict with using chemistry. Rather, new materials made it possible to create a floral lightness that had not previously been fully expressible.

Green perfumes existed before Fidji. Its significance does not lie in having invented the genre. It brought together the familiarity of flowers and the freshness of greenery, delivering them widely in an approachable, wearable form.

Norell and the Work That Led Toward Charlie

In 1968, a collaboration between fashion designer Norman Norell and Revlon’s leader Charles Revson produced the perfume Norell.

It is an important early example in the story of American designer fragrances. Here again, galbanum’s greenness makes its presence felt, defining flowers such as iris, carnation, gardenia, jasmine and rose. Although it continues the green-floral work of Fidji, it has a neat, composed impression akin to well-tailored clothing.

ÇaFleureBon’s review of Edwards’s book American Legends: The Evolution of American Fragrances also discusses Norell as a bold creation with an increased concentration of fragrance. Delicate flowers need not end up weak: the work offers a glimpse of that aspect of Catapano’s skill.

According to Edwards’s tribute lecture, Catapano later participated in the early development of Revlon’s Charlie (1973). His account describes how Revson wanted a stronger fragrance, how increasing the concentration led to cost problems, and how the project eventually moved to Florasynth.

Charlie therefore cannot simply be counted among Catapano’s released creations. Even so, the connection between the work running from Fidji to Norell and American fragrance in the 1970s is an aspect worth noting.

Cinnabar and JHL: Taking Rich Fragrances Further

Cinnabar (1978), released by Estée Lauder, was a collaboration with Bernard Chant. Spices suggesting cinnamon and clove are layered with flowers such as carnation, resins and sandalwood.

Often compared with Opium, introduced the previous year, it can also be viewed as a continuation of Catapano’s own work from Youth-Dew. Perfume criticism website Perfume Posse praises its progression from spice to resin to woods, and its lasting scent. Which ingredients are given definition within such density? It is a creation that invites attention to that construction.

Next came JHL, released by Aramis in 1982. Its name derives from Joseph Harold Lauder, Mrs. Lauder’s husband. Accounts describe it as a fragrance made for him and subsequently released to the public.

Edwards describes the fragrance as an extension of Youth-Dew’s world in a woody, masculine direction. Records of its authorship differ, however. Catapano’s obituary and Parfumo list it as her work, while Fragrantica names Chant. Rather than removing either name and declaring it a solo creation, it is better approached as a fragrance for which differing records survive.

Antonia’s Flowers: An Attempt to Capture the Scent of Living Flowers

Antonia’s Flowers is a fragrance cited as a reported involvement when considering Catapano’s later career.

Of the flowers florist Antonia Bellanca handled each day, freesia was the scent she particularly wanted to express in a perfume. Released in 1985, the fragrance depicts a bright bouquet suggesting freesia, jasmine, magnolia and lily. Some sources give its year as 1984.

It is known as an early example of applying headspace technology to perfume: collecting and analyzing the scent in the air around a living flower, then reconstructing its impression. Obtaining an essential oil from a flower is not the same as capturing the scent it releases into the air. New technology helped express the impression of flowers that are difficult to extract.

Chant is widely listed as its perfumer. By contrast, ÇaFleureBon’s review of Edwards’s book describes it as a collaboration with Catapano. Sources report her involvement, but an official joint credit has not been established.

Even so, the idea of using chemistry to bring flowers closer to their natural form echoes the thinking described for Fidji. When tracing Catapano’s work, it is important to preserve a distinction between established signature creations and records of involvement such as these.

Giving the Next Women Perfumers a Chance to Learn

Catapano’s legacy was not limited to perfume. Throughout a long career at IFF, including an executive role, she supported the development of perfumers who would later become leading figures.

One was Sophia Grojsman. Grojsman, who moved to America in 1965 and began working at IFF the following year, names Catapano and Shiftan as mentors. According to Bois de Jasmin, it was also Catapano who urged Shiftan to give Grojsman an opportunity to train.

She did more than succeed as a perfumer herself: she helped the next person learn. That action reveals another aspect of her work as a pioneer.

In 1980, she received the Cosmetic Career Women’s Award; in 1993, the American Society of Perfumers Lifetime Achievement Award.

Catapano died on May 14, 2012, aged 93. Alongside her creations, the obituary supplied by her family remembers Jo’s devotion to her sisters, nephews and nieces.

“Known to many as a ‘nose’ and a pioneer among women perfumers of note in America, Jo created fragrances including Estée Lauder’s Youth-Dew and JHL, Guy Laroche’s Fidji, Norell and Shiseido’s Zen.”
The Catapano family’s obituary in Dignity Memorial, 2012

Incidentally, the obituary also preserves the names of her brothers Patrick and John and her sister Carmella. Edwards remembers a quiet person, while her family’s words also portray someone loving who enjoyed life with spirit. Expansive fragrances and the quiet presence of their creator: perhaps that pairing, too, was characteristic of Catapano.

A Name Becomes a Title for the Next Generation

Catapano’s name lives on within IFF as well. In 2024, the company announced Natasha Côté-Mouzannar’s promotion to the title bearing Josephine Catapano’s name: Senior Perfumer, Josephine Catapano.

“It is named after Josephine Catapano, one of the early women perfumers to become known in America.”
IFF Scent, announcement of Natasha Côté-Mouzannar’s promotion, 2024

The title is described as recognizing creative influence and the embodiment of the company’s values and ideals. A perfumer’s name that was once liable to remain hidden behind her creations has now become a name used to honor those who follow.

Youth-Dew’s rich trail and the greenery surrounding Fidji’s flowers: different as their expressions are, both preserve Catapano’s work of bringing fragrance into people’s lives.

Fragrance Creations

Major creations and works in which involvement is reported are summarized here. For JHL and Antonia’s Flowers, differing authorship records are listed together.

Year	Brand	Creation	Co-perfumers and Authorship Records
1953	Estée Lauder	Youth-Dew. Introduced as a bath oil.	Created by Catapano. Credits naming Shiftan as co-creator are disputed.
1964	Shiseido	Zen. The original creation in the black bottle.	―
1966	Guy Laroche	Fidji	―
1968	Norell / Revlon	Norell	―
1978	Estée Lauder	Cinnabar	Bernard Chant
1979	Ralph Lauren	Chaps	IFF’s profile lists it as a Catapano creation.
1982	Aramis	JHL	The obituary and Parfumo credit Catapano; Fragrantica credits Chant.
1985 (some sources give 1984)	Antonia’s Flowers	Antonia’s Flowers	The main records name Chant. A book review reports a collaboration with Catapano, but an official joint credit is unconfirmed.

Edwards’s lecture describes Catapano’s involvement in Charlie’s early development. It is not included in this table as a released perfume authored by her.