Debates between fashion fragrances and niche fragrances have been breaking out lately, but cosmetics brands release perfumes too!! And some of them smell so good. For some of you, these may be nostalgic fragrances. Let’s look at some representative perfumes created by hugely famous perfumers♪ (I discuss perfumes from cosmetics brands that grew out of fashion brands elsewhere.)
Zen (Shiseido, 1964)
Shiseido’s perfume Zen is now entrusted to a renowned perfumer with each renewal. Its original version was composed in 1964 by the great American female perfumer Joséphine Catapano. Also famous for composing Estée Lauder’s first perfume, Youth Dew, she was the mentor of Sophia Grojsman (in Japanese). The beautiful flowers stand out against the black bottle, which seems to embody true beauty itself.
Nathalie Lorson composed the 2000 version, and Michel Almairac (in Japanese) the 2007 version. Other fragrances have been created by perfumers of masterly stature: Jean-Louis Sieuzac, Jacques Cavallier, Maurice Roucel and Françoise Caron.
Aramis (Aramis, 1966)
Aramis, a men’s skincare brand born from Estée Lauder, released its namesake perfume in 1966. Its perfumer was Bernard Chant, a legend of American perfumery who created many fragrances considered masterpieces, including Grès’s Cabochard and Clinique’s Aromatics Elixir.
Aramis was enormously popular in Japan at the height of the economic bubble, to the point of being called the “scent of success.” A rare leather chypre, it is a pleasant fragrance in which a mysterious, fruity sort of sweetness is enveloped in herbs such as sage and patchouli. Once you have worn it, you cannot let it go, and it remains a favorite of people in their sixties and seventies. Sadly, the brand has withdrawn from Japan…
Aramis’s other perfumes were created by seasoned perfumers Ilias Ermenidis, Édouard Fléchier and Yves Tanguy.
Eau de Campagne (Sisley, 1976)
Sisley is a French luxury cosmetics brand. In fact, the person who founded the company was Jean Laporte (in Japanese), the founder of L’Artisan. And Sisley’s first perfume was composed by Jean-Claude Ellena (in Japanese). Eau de Campagne slips the scent of tomato leaves grown by Ellena into the scents of Normandy, where lettuce and apples grow. It is a bracing fragrance that recalls May’s fresh leaves and gentle breezes.
The bath products in the same scent are appealing too♡
Other creations also feature quite a lineup of perfumers: Dominique Ropion, Olivier Pescheux and Amandine Clerc-Marie.
Trésor (Lancôme, 1990)
Founded in 1935, Lancôme was actually a perfume brand whose founder had worked under François Coty, and which launched with five perfumes. It has many famous fragrances, but surely Trésor is the best known. Its perfumer is the great Sophia Grojsman (in Japanese). Named with the French word trésor, meaning “treasure,” this perfume was originally a scent Sophia created for herself. Treasure-like golden liquid fills a bottle shaped like an upside-down pyramid, holding a fragrance that captivates everyone.
Many perfumers have worked on the brand’s other fragrances, including Pierre Bourdon (in Japanese), Francis Kurkdjian (in Japanese), Christine Nagel and Aliénor Massenet.
Pleasures (Estée Lauder, 1995)
In contrast to French brands, I think the appeal of American perfumery lies in scents you instantly recognize as pleasant, refreshing scents that you can wear casually anywhere. A representative example is the perfume named Pleasures, released by Estée Lauder, one of the world’s largest cosmetics brands. Said to be the first perfume to use pink pepper, it appeals to Japanese sensibilities with its freshness, cleanness and subtle fruitiness. Its perfumers are the famous Alberto Morillas and Annie Buzantian.
The perfumers behind its other fragrances include IFF heavyweights Calice Becker, Sophia Grojsman (in Japanese), Dominique Ropion and Carlos Benaïm.
Happy (Clinique, 1998)
Launched in 1968 as a sister brand to Estée Lauder, with a fragrance-free, additive-free message, Clinique enjoyed explosive popularity not only with the celebrated Aromatics Elixir but also with a perfume named Happy. American perfumery in this era had so many legendary perfumers that many of its fragrances are famous in Japan too.
So who composed Happy? Its perfumers are the somewhat less widely known Jean-Claude Delville, famous for composing Grès’s Cabotine, and Rodrigo Flores-Roux, now deputy head of Givaudan’s perfumery school and also known for fragrances for Tom Ford and Thom Browne. This is a perfume whose name alone lifts your spirits. I like that straightforwardness♪
Other fragrances feature perfumers with IFF backgrounds, including Olivier Polge, Chanel’s current in-house perfumer, and Sophia Grojsman.
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