Photo Credit: Photo courtesy of Cecil Mathieu
Blaise Mautin is one of the world’s most sought after exclusive, bespoke perfumers. Based in Paris, France, Mautin has spent almost a quarter of a century creating and perfecting the most incredible and elegant fragrances and bath lines for the finest private clientele and the most luxurious 5-star hotels around the world, including the exceptional 5-star Park Hyatt - Paris Vendôme.
Mautin recently launched the BM01 Fragrance Collection, his first fragrance collection ever offered to the general public. His goal - to create affordable, exquisite luxury fragrances for the public.
“I think a fragrance should not only be exceptionally made, but should also make you feel amazing when you’re wearing it.” -Blaise Mautin
You are one of the most sought after bespoke perfumers by the most exclusive international clientele designing unique and personal home, helicopter, car, and yacht scents, and the only bespoke perfumer in the world who has created signature luxury fragrance and bath lines for 50 of the most renowned 5-star luxury hotels around the world which bear your name, including the Park Hyatt - Paris Vendome. Explain briefly what the process is from an initial fragrance order to completion for one of your custom fragrances.
BM: A lot of time is spent upfront, whether the bespoke client is an individual or a hotel. I spend initially time talking with them and getting to know their likes and dislikes. If the fragrance is for a specific place like a hotel, residence, yacht, helicopter, then I visit the place and take into consideration the location and geographical and/or cultural sensitivities of the area or space designated. After, I come up with some fragrance notes that I feel would reflect the client’s desires and we begin the smelling and sampling process from there. Sometimes the process goes quickly, while other times it can take quite a while from start to finish. Ultimately, the goal is to end up with a unique fragrance scent or product line in a distinctive bottle whether in glass or crystal, or adorned with jewels, which best reflects the client’s needs and preferences and which is uniquely reflective of them at the end of the day. Creating a bespoke scent is always a truly extraordinary experience, none of which is ever exactly the same each time.
You are one of the world’s most exclusive bespoke perfumers having taken a professional course at the International Higher Institute of Perfume and Cosmetics and Food Aromatic (ISIPCA) - Versailles (France), and are a Knight of Arts and Letters appointed by the French Ministry of Culture. How did you aspire to such a unique career path in the fragrance industry?
BM: My career started in the bespoke toy industry initially, as I worked for the most famous toy store in the world at the time, Au Nain Bleu, founded in the heart of Paris in 1836. We had some of the most exclusive clientele of the world there, and I became involved in franchising the toy store to Dubai through a connection with the royal family there. I had an idea at the time to create a signature fragrance for the toy store which I felt would enhance the childhood memories of our clientele. Ultimately, my idea for the toy store fragrance was rejected by its board, yet the idea of exclusive fragrances stayed with me. By the late 1990’s, I had studied perfume making in Versailles (France) and trained at the same time in a famous perfume house in Paris after I stopped working at the Nain Bleu and began my own company, Blaise Mautin, Parfumeur (Paris). My first bespoke fragrance design job was for the renowned 5-star hotel, Hotel Le Bristol in Paris. Thereafter, I was given the opportunity to work with many other specialty clientele, including various haute couture fashion houses, international royalty, and over 40 other luxury international 5-star hotels and resorts.
Your perfume laboratory is in Paris, and your fragrances are shipped directly to customers from Paris. In your opinion, what is it that makes Paris and France, specifically, such a mecca for the bespoke and designer fragrance industry?
BM: France became very famous for fragrances in the late 19th century with the fragrance house Coty designing fragrances exclusively for the emperor and empress of France. Coty launched the fragrance “La Rose Jacqueminot” in 1906 which included a tincture of fine roses. This fragrance cultivated a desire for fine fragrance from France’s most elite society women, and fueled the evolution of the “Chypre” fragrance launched by Coty in 1917. “Chypre” was offered in a stylish bottle designed by Parisian artisan glassmaker, Lalique, its scent inspired by raw ingredients from the Mediterranean countries. The “Chypre” perfume offering was so popular at the time with the general public that it led to a whole family of related fragrances for both men and women, and to an incredible partnership between Coty and Lilaque creating fragrances in stylish glass bottles at affordable prices for the general public. Fragrances became seen by the public as a required luxury accessory item, like wearing a nice pin or a tie. Fragrances quickly became an everyday fashion expression and an integral part of one’s self-expression. This is why there is so much emphasis placed on the French and Paris in the fragrance industry. Its popularity for mass consumption to the public came directly from Paris. Of course, Paris and France’s fragrance legacy is also partially derived from Coco Chanel and her creation of the iconic Chanel No. 5 perfume in 1921 which is also synonymous with Paris, and with fragrance becoming a “must-have” public fashion accessory.
Photo Credit: Cecil Mathieu
You spent 20 years developing your newly launched BM01 Fragrance Collection, the first fragrance collection you have ever offered to the general public. What was your inspiration for this special fragrance collection, and how does it feel to have completed its launch this past fall?
BM: I am really delighted to have launched my new BM01 Fragrance Collection, which includes 10 affordable signature scents for both men and women, and unisex scents. I was asked by many clients over my career to create and offer some fragrances for the general public, and now this has been done. Since starting my fragrance business, I have always been intrigued and captivated by authentic fragrance ingredients and discovering their true fragrance nature through their purest essence. I use a lot of natural products from around the world in each of my fragrances. For me, this fragrance collection has been a true labor of love for my audience and customers. It’s something I’m thrilled to share with the public. While it may seem straightforward to say, “This is simply a basic fragrance of amber, rose, vetiver, white musk, aoud, or orange flower,” as examples, the formulas for these newly launched fragrances are actually extremely complex, having been created with some of the finest globally sourced natural ingredients, and with multiple ingredients being combined together to form the top, middle, and base notes for each fragrance. It has taken many years to create and finesse each of these highly unique fragrance formulas so that they combine together effortlessly into a singular scent. My new fragrance line is one of the purest fragrance experiences anyone can have with each of the specific scents. In fact, for my Lily of the Valley fragrance, it is so concise that it smells as if the flower itself is with you when you wear it, and yet, Lily of the Valley is not a flower that can have its scent extracted in any way, thus illustrating the complexity to achieve this exact scent. Lily of the valley symbolizes the return of happiness in the “language of the flowers” and is a flower given to your love at the beginning of spring in France, so it is was especially inspiring to create this fragrance as one of the signature scents for my new collection.
You have said that the 10 different fragrance scents which comprise the BM01 Fragrance Collection, "transform the perfume experience by deconstructing the most beautiful and complex fragrance scents ever envisioned, and refining and offering them in their purest essence for a reasonable price.” What does this mean for a customer, and explain how this "deconstruction” leads the wearer to a uniquely pure and authentic fragrance experience.
BM: I wanted this fragrance collection to showcase each of the 10 unique fragrances - rose, vetiver, amber, white musk, neroli, lily of the valley, lavender, aoud, leather, orange flower - in their purest and most authentic form. When you extract from an ingredient, let’s say from a rose, it will smell as a rose, but not necessarily as a fresh rose. In my formulation for the fragrances, I use the finest natural ingredients to reconstruct each fragrance’s truest essence. Thus, I am reconstructing original singular scents to be experienced at the purest level, while deconstructing by not combining multiple scents in order to create a completely “new” fragrance. They are fragrances which have a relevance in the fragrance world. Neroli, as an example, is a favorite of mine since it was a fragrance originally made for and worn exclusively by emperors and kings.
The fragrances in your new BM01 Fragrance Collection are created and produced in an extremely different way in quality and manufacture so as to be a very different fragrance product and experience from other luxury fragrances currently available to the public. Explain what makes your fragrance collection so different and unique from other high-end fragrance brands.
BM: While I will say that there are a number of incredible, high-quality fragrances on the market which I do like, I have developed a unique approach in my fragrance formulation, combined with using exceptionally high-quality ingredients, which provides a very special fragrance experience to my clients. Like any artist or designer, perfumers each have their own unique style and way of combining and formulation. I have created a highly tailored and unique style which I think gives the BM01 Fragrance Collection a special feeling and a texture. It offers a highly luxurious signature experience in the international fragrance marketplace. You will feel as if you’re experiencing fragrance for the very first time while wearing the fragrances from the new collection.
Photo Credit: Photo courtesy of Blaise Mautin
You travel constantly and infuse the finest ingredients from around the world into your fragrances. You have said that your travels led to your signature motto: ”The world is yours,” since each fragrance smells either familiar or exotic depending on your geographic location. Tell us more about this concept of being able to travel the world through experiencing your fragrances.
BM: In my career, I travel a lot. It is true that traveling is one of my greatest joys since it inspires me constantly for my fragrance development and formulation. I love visiting other countries to experience different cultures and to find plants and flowers which are not familiar to me that I can source from to create signature scents. By using ingredients sourced globally, I am able to share my unique travels through my fragrances. In Hawaii, there is a coffee flower there which is a bit of a combination of an orange flower and jasmine flower. You can find this flower about an hour flight from Honolulu (Hawaii). This flower is something I will always remember since smelling it. If I didn’t travel, I wouldn’t know personally of the experience of such a flower. Traveling gives me the freedom to experience not only new fragrance ingredients, but also to learn what scents culturally are important in different areas of the world, and why they carry such significance for each culture and location. Traveling also makes me culturally sensitive to the needs and desires of my bespoke customers and for my international hotel clients.
As one of the top perfumers in the world, please discuss how fragrance layering works, and some of your favorite fragrance layering combinations from the new fragrance collection.
BM: Fragrance layering is something that I really enjoy. It’s the game of creating your own bespoke scents using fragrances you combine by layering them on top of one another when wearing them. You can really have fun with it by creating your own completely unique scents. The key is to know which types of fragrances combine together. For example, rose and lily of the valley fragrances will always combine or layer well with any other flower fragrances. Some other nice fragrance layering combinations are lily of the valley+ white musk, white musk+aoud, rose+aoud+lily of the valley, vetiver+orange flower, orange flower+neroli, lavender+orange flower, aoud+rose. I have a section on my website menu “layering” at www.blaisemautin.com that explains fragrance layering in detail and offers multiple combinations for successful fragrance layering for both men and women.
Right now, the BM01 Fragrance Collection is only available online direct from your website (www.blaisemautin.com). Do you have future plans to have your fragrances available to the public through retail outlets?
BM: I think the internet and social media is really the future for retail selling. This is where I feel most comfortable at the moment. Everyone is busy. Being online with a direct to consumer shopping website allows me efficient control of my brand. It’s also very practical for the business to have the designer directly behind the shopping website. It allows me the ability to interact globally with my clients and my audience through direct internet selling internationally. Since it is understandable that some people may miss the experience of retail purchasing and being able to try on and experience the fragrances in a retail store, we do offer samples available for purchase online for sampling the fragrances, or for experimenting with fragrance layering.
You’re quoted as saying, "The happiest people wear Blaise Mautin.” Where did this saying come from and what does it mean to you exactly?
BM: It is a saying that I quite like a lot. I think that if you do an excellent job in your chosen work, especially in the fragrance world, you have an incredible opportunity to bring joy to many people. Wearing a specialty fragrance makes you happy. I feel that part of my task in creating unique fragrances is to help people to feel happy by bringing them joy and great memories. I believe my bespoke fragrances and the new BM01 Fragrance Collection provide a special feeling of happiness. I have received so much feedback stating this from my clients, as well. They also love that we ship directly from Paris, which makes our fragrance arrival extra special. This is something I have loved hearing, and it resonates deeply with me.
Through the month of February, using the code FEB20, customers purchasing online will receive 20% off gift sets and fragrances from the BM01 Fragrance Collection. Gift vouchers are also available for purchase.
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