Category: Niche Houses

Louis Vuitton’s Master Perfumer Jacques Cavallier-Belletrud & A Couple Of My Favorite LV Fragrances

Louis Vuitton, the mega fashion house based in Paris, France most recently launched a line of fragrances in 2016. Prior to that, it had been over 70 years since it had released one. Most noted for its top-of-the-line purses, luggage, and leather accessories, Louis Vuitton now joins the list of the top niche fragrance houses since Jacques Cavallier-Belletrud was selected as its master perfumer.

Cavallier-Belletrud was born in the fragrance capital of the world Grasse, France and is the fourth generation perfumer to dedicate himself to the art of perfume making. His father, grandfather, and great-grandfather were all perfumers, so fragrance is in his blood to say the least. At the tender age of 10, he began working in the perfume factories in Grasse during the summers while getting trained by his father on the raw ingredients that make up fragrances. A neat fact about his childhood that he recalls very fondly is that his mother would always apply rosewater to his face and it was his first scent memory as a child. So to this day he uses rose in all of his fragrances.

Cavallier-Belletrud went on to study English and Spanish at the University of Nice in France. Upon graduation he worked several jobs in the fragrance world and as an adult he went on to create fragrances for a who’s who of designers including Giorgio Armani, Calvin Klein, Bulgari, Yves Saint Laurent, Issey Miyake and Tom Ford among several others. He considers his most famous works to be the iconic Acqua di Gio (for men) by Giorgio Armani and L’eau d’Issey (for women) by Issey Miyake. Acqua di Gio was a powerhouse after it’s 1996 release and to this day I still smell this one on men while in public and there have been many variations made of this fragrance ever since. I remember my dad was gifted this fragrance a while back (he also loves wearing fragrances, just not to the geeky extent that I do!) and we went through it pretty quickly since he loved it.

Cavallier-Belletrud was hired by Louis Vuitton in 2012 to be its master perfumer. In 2016, he released the first line of fragrances for the house in over 70 years. Let me tell you, it was well worth the wait. In my opinion, his fragrances are excellent and I have sampled the vast majority of them. I currently own two Louis Vuitton fragrances, Ombre Nomade and L’Immensité and they are two of my favorites in my collection. Below I go more in depth on these two fragrances with the included notes and links to purchase.

Louis Vuitton has tight distribution with their fragrances and I believe they only sell direct via their website and in their physical stores. If you happen to purchase a full fragrance bottle, you will be able to select two samples of your choice. As mentioned in my niche fragrance overview blog post, I recommend you get a sample of the fragrance you plan to purchase so that you can make sure you enjoy it and if for whatever reason you don’t, you are able to return the big bottle without any hassles. I also recommend getting another sample of a fragrance in a different category that can be worn in a different season or occasion to try to mix things up and test out the depth of the fragrance house.

The Louis Vuitton fragrance bottles are of superb quality. They are tall and round shaped with magnetic lids. The atomizer sprayer is of high quality too and you can control the spray stream by adjusting the pressure when pressing. The other thing I absolutely love about the Louis Vuitton fragrances is that you can keep the empty bottle after it’s all used up and take it to a store to get the fragrance refilled for a great discounted price!

Ombre Nomade

If you know me, I absolutely love oud fragrances and it was love at first sniff with Ombre Nomade. I researched this fragrance and the vast majority of the reviewers had high praise for this one. I ended up caving in and going into a Louis Vuitton store and purchasing a bottle. This fragrance, although an eau de parfum, performs like an extrait since it has great performance with long staying power on the skin and it smells exquisite. Oud definitely is an acquired taste and not everybody likes this scent, but I find it very dark and sexy and this is a night time and cold weather fragrance that smells very elegant. If you enjoy oud, you will want to get your nose on this. This fragrance can be categorized as a woody fragrance and the oud and raspberry are at the forefront of this one and I feel it’s blended to perfection.

Similar to Maison Francis Kurkdjian, the Louis Vuitton website only lists a handful of the ingredients and does not break them down into top, heart and base notes but nevertheless here are the Ombre Nomade notes: oud wood, benzoin tears, incense and raspberry.

Purchase Ombre Nomade Here

L’Immensité

This eau de parfum fragrance is on the other end of the spectrum from Ombre Nomade and is lighter and fresher, so it’s categorized as a fresh fragrance. Similar to Ombre Nomade, I researched this fragrance and it is also one of Louis Vuitton’s most highly rated fragrances by the public. This is a fragrance that is best suited for warmer months but I can also see it being worn all year around. It has a somewhat similar smell to Acqua di Gio, no surprise since it is also created by the master perfumer Jacques Cavallier-Belletrud, but definitely is more complex and sophisticated. Here are the notes that make up L’Immensité: fresh ginger, grapefruit, labdanum, ambroxan, cascalone and ambergris.

Purchase L’Immensité Here

I also have sampled several other Louis Vuitton fragrances and two of them make my honorable mention list: Nouveau Monde and Sur La Route. Nouveau Monde is oud-based and has similar tones to Ombre Nomade while Sur La Route has a somewhat citrus and leathery smell.

I definitely have my eye on this house and plan to sample more fragrances as soon as more are released!

A Brief History of Maison Francis Kurkdjian

Francis Kurkdjian is a French perfumer who was born in Paris to Armenian parents. He has created over 40 fragrances for other houses before he started his company in 2009. He’s produced work for several of the most famous houses including Armani, Versace, Dior, YSL and Ferragamo amongst many others. Perhaps his most famous work prior to starting his house was Le Male, which was created for Jean Paul Gaultier when he was just 26 years old. Francis had an interest in fragrance making at the very young age of 13 and in his early 20’s he studied at Institut Supérieur International du Parfum, de la Cosmétique et de l’Aromatique Alimentaire (ISIPCA) located in Versailles and he also went on to receive his master’s degree.

The brand Maison Francis Kurkdjian was born in 2009, which Franicis co-founded with Marc Chaya, who is president of the fragrance house. Since the launch of his house, he has been churning out very high-quality fragrances that are well-received in the fragrance community. He has won several prestigious awards for his work and rightfully so. I personally own two of his fragrances, Baccarat Rouge 540 Extrait de Parfum and Amyris Homme Extrait de Parfum, and they are probably two of my favorite fragrances in my collection. They smell heavenly like nothing else out there on the market and are of extreme quality. I have also sampled several others and would love to purchase a couple others!

If you happen to follow his Instagram account, he posts videos of his thought process and it’s very interesting watching him work. He’s very passionate, essentially an artist, and he believes in creating stories with his fragrances and not just a scent.

Below is more information on the two fragrances that I have purchased that I absolutely love. I plan to hopefully purchase more of MFK’s fragrances in the future as soon as I get through some of the bottles in my current collection!

Baccarat Rouge 540 Extrait De Parfum

This oriental fragrance (learn about different fragrance olfactory families here) is perhaps MFK’s most famous and popular fragrance to date, and rightfully so. Back in 2014, the eau de parfum version of Baccarat Rouge 540 was released and two years later the extrait version followed. The difference between the two is the level of pure fragrance oil used, the extrait version has more oil and secondly there are also two ingredients in the extrait version that aren’t in the eau de parfum version: bitter almond from Morocco and musky woody accord. The ingredients listed on the MFK website for the extrait version are: grandiflorum jasmine from Egypt, saffron, bitter almond from Morocco, cedar wood, musky woody accord and ambergris.

At initial spray, the extrait version smells sweet, almost like cherry & strawberry perfectly mixed with almond and light woody tones. It kind of reminds me of the dessert marzipan mixed with berries, which I love 🙂 After about 30 mins to an hour though, the woody tones kick in a little more and the sweetness is somewhat toned down. This fragrance will last several hours on your skin and even longer if you spray it on your clothing. I have worn it to work and have sprayed it on my shirt and the next day i could still smell the fragrance. You will definitely receive compliments while wearing this masterpiece of a fragrance. MFK does not list the top, heart and base notes on its website, most likely to try to limit the number of copy-cat products made but I may be wrong.

This is a very elegant and sexy smelling fragrance that can be worn year-round and it is also unisex. I’ve smelled it on women before and it is quite lovely. I personally have not smelled the eau de parfum version but from the reviews I’ve seen, it is not as rich and complex but is a bit more transparent and doesn’t last as long on your skin/clothing.

You can purchase Baccarat Rouge here:

Baccarat Rouge 540 Extrait de Parfum

Baccarat Rouge 540 Eau de Parfum

Amyris Homme Extrait de Parfum

Amyris Homme can be categorized as a woody fragrance. The MFK website lists the ingredients used as: mandarin oil from Sicily, cinnamon oil from Ceylon, saffron accord, iris oil from Florence, amyris oil from the Caribbean, vanilla accord and tonka beans absolute from Brazil. So you can see, there are a variety of top-notch ingredients used in this fragrance to give a full and complex scent. 

Amyris itself comes from the wood of the Amyris balsamifera tree and has a woody scent, hence its categorization as a woody fragrance. 

For me, the mandarin, cinnamon, vanilla and tonka beans really shine in this one. It smells very sophisticated and has a lot of depth and I can see this one pairing well for date night or in the colder months since it has a very warm smell. 

The difference between the extrait de parfum and the eau de toilette is that two ingredients are swapped. The extrait has vanilla accord and cinnamon oil not present in the eau de parfum whereas the eau de toilette has rosemary oil and cedarwood oil not present in the extrait.

You can purchase Amyris Homme here:

Amyris Homme Extrait de Parfum

Amyris Homme Eau de Toilette

A Brief History of Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle

Frederic Malle, born in Paris, is a name that is well-known in the niche fragrance industry. Having a nose for fine scents runs in his family’s blood, as his grandfather founded Parfums Christian Dior and his mother was Art Director of Parfums Christian Dior. Frederic had his first professional job while working as an assistant at Roure Bertrand Dupont, which is a company that produces raw materials used in the fragrance industry. Then in the year 2000, Malle launched his company, Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle. What makes his company unique is that Malle does not personally create the fragrances himself, he instead hires some of the finest perfumers in the world and acts as an “editor” or advisor to the perfumers who he considers the “authors.” He sometimes is very involved in the creation of a fragrance and other times he is practically non-existent. One thing that I respect Frederic Malle for is that he features the perfumer’s name on the bottle and a picture and brief bio of the perfumer on the back of the packaging box, which most houses do not do. At the time of this writing, Frederic Malle has produced thirty two fragrances.

Frederic Malle is truly passionate about the fragrances that bear his name and has said a couple things in one of his interviews that really stood out to me. He said “wearing a perfume is an essential part of elegance” and that “it sometimes takes 1-2 years to produce a fragrance.” That just goes to show how dedicated he is to his craft. He also said that a perfume should be “chic, timeless and very sexy.” But probably the most important thing I grasped from his interview was when he said that his grandfather (who founded Parfums Christian Dior) died at a young age and so his mother told him that perfume is important in life because it was her life. He goes on to say that “perfume was probably a way to maintain an exchange with her father.” That’s very powerful and you can tell that perfume not only runs in his blood, but he respects and is dedicated to perfume due its deep roots within his family. He goes on to say that it’s his “quest to create the great classics of tomorrow.” Well I can tell you that with his mindset and love for fragrance, he is surely on his way to achieve that quest and I absolutely adore his work.

I was first introduced to Frederic Malle at Neiman Marcus late last year. I happened to be returning a different fragrance and was approached by a sales rep from Frederic Malle. I was skeptical at first since I had not heard of Frederic Malle but after smelling various samples, I was awestruck. The fragrances were very unique smelling and lasted a very long time on my skin – a symbol of quality. I ended up purchasing Promise and Rose & Cuir and a few months later I ended up purchasing Music For A While after falling in love with the sample. I have been very happy with my Frederic Malle fragrances and even though my fragrances from this house are eau de parfum, they perform like extrait de parfum since they have a strong projection and last so long on my skin.

Music For A While

Music For A While, created by Carlos Benaïm, in my opinion can be categorized as a sweet oriental, although I can’t confirm this 100%, and can be worn year-round. To learn more about the different niche fragrance olfactory categories please read my intro to niche fragrances blog post that goes into more detail.

Pineapple and lavender really shine in this fragrance and it definitely gets a lot of compliments. I have read some negative comments though with the majority of the negative feedback around its sweetness and strong projection. As previously mentioned, Frederic Malle uses quality ingredients and the vast majority of his fragrances have a strong projection and this could be off-putting for some people, especially if you overspray. As I always stress, make sure to sample the fragrance before purchasing a bottle since it can be a sizeable investment. It’s best to spray the fragrance on your skin and let it sit for several hours to make sure you enjoy the top, heart, and base notes.

Top notes: lemon, mandarin and bergamot

Heart note: lavender

Base notes: patchouli, labdanum, vanilla and “tinted by a touch of pineapple”

Purchase Music For A While Here

Promise

Promise can be categorized as an oriental fragrance that has a strong apple accord, mixed with rose and woody tones. It’s a Middle Eastern-inspired fragrance that is best suited for colder weather or formal events. This is definitely a very sophisticated and masculine fragrance that is geared toward the mature man. Again, the ingredients used here are of high quality and this will last on your skin and clothing for a long time.

Top notes: Pink pepper, rosemary oil and apple accord

Heart notes: Bulgarian rose oil, Turkish rose absolute and clove oil

Base notes: Patchouli heart, ambroxan, labdanum and cypriol heart

Purchase Promise Here

Rose & Cuir

Rose & Cuir, which means rose & leather in French, as its name implies is a floral rose fragrance with leathery notes. The two notes pair very well together in this fragrance and this is one that can be worn by both men and women. I think it works well in warmer months during the summer due to it’s floral scent.

Top notes: geranium, blackcurrant and bourbon geranium 

Heart notes: vetiver and cedar

Base note: leather accord

Purchase Rose & Cuir Here

A Brief History Of The House Of Creed

The house of Creed has a long history that spans over two and a half centuries. It was founded in England in 1760 by James Creed to provide the English Court with custom made clothing, scented leather gloves, and fragrances commissioned by King George III. The king would use the scented leather gloves while horseback riding and loved the scent so much that he commissioned James Creed to create a fragrance for him. In 1781, Creed’s first fragrance was created, Royal English Leather. It is said to be a mix of ambergris, mandarin and sandalwood.

In 1824, Henry Creed II was born and was the third generation perfumer of the house. He was considered the most innovative perfumer of the house and helped expand the Creed brand throughout Europe. In 1854, the house officially moved to Paris, France in order to be at the center of the fashion & beauty industry. Fast forward to 1970 and Creed officially made its niche fragrances available to the public under the tutelage of Olivier Creed, sixth generation of the Creed family. It would be in 2010 where Olivier created its most famous and best-selling fragrance to date, Aventus. 

Creed continues to churn out excellent fragrances and is very well-known in the industry. The thing that stands out for me is that fact that the business has remained in the family for over 250 years, which is quite impressive.

For me, Creed makes superb fresh fragrances using high-quality ingredients. I personally own three Creed fragrances: Aventus, Royal Oud and Virgin Island Water and have tested several others. 

Fun fact – the following celebrities wear or have worn Creed fragrances: Jay-Z and the late David Bowie and Frank Sinatra.

Aventus

Aventus is an excellent fresh fragrance that is super popular in the fragrance community. Please read my blog post to learn more about the different niche olfactory families.

These are the notes that make up Aventus:

Top notes: bergamot, blackcurrant leaves, apple and pineapple. The pineapple really shines in this fragrance and is the note I notice the most.

Heart notes: pinkberries, birch, patchouli and jasmine

Base notes: musk, oakmoss, ambergris and vanilla

Purchase Aventus Here

Royal Oud

Royal Oud is a spicy, woody fragrance and is a very sophisticated scent, best suited for mature men for use during formal occasions, date night or when you would like to make a statement. Please read my oud niche fragrance blog post if you haven’t done so already to learn more about this unique and precious ingredient. Oud is an ingredient with a distinct smell that is regarded very highly in the industry. This is one of my favorite oud fragrances and should not disappoint!

These are the notes that make up Royal Oud:

Top notes: lemon, pinkberries and bergamot

Heart notes: cedar, galbanum and angelica roots

Base notes: sandalwood, oud and tonkin musk

Purchase Royal Oud Here

Virgin Island Water

Virgin Island Water is a fresh fragrance with citrus and coconut tones that makes for an excellent summer fragrance. If you are feeling creative, you can layer on equal parts Aventus with Virgin Island Water to concoct what smells like a piña colada! But don’t worry, you won’t smell like you are drunk by any means, it actually smells quite lovely. Either combined or on it’s own, this is a great fragrance that I personally just purchased very recently and have enjoyed wearing it very much during these hot summer days.

These are the notes that make up Virgin Island Water:

Top notes: Sicilian white bergamot, Jamaican lime and Sicilian mandarin

Heart Notes: hibiscus, ylang ylang and Indian jasmine

Base Notes: Tonkin musk and tropical wood

Purchase Virgin Island Water Here