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About us
Who are We?
SCENTISSIME was born out of a passion for niche fragrances and a desire to share that passion.
Its founder wanted to create a place where connoisseurs and newcomers could easily find exclusive, rare fragrances of exceptional quality.
We select these fragrances carefully, focusing on their quality and originality, as well as on the vision of their creators.
We are proud to bring those wonderful fragrances to you and to imagine that they will soon be part of your olfactory identity. Your invisible double.
Our Creed
At SCENTISSIME, we believe that perfumery is an art form. A refined and precious art, but one that everyone can appreciate.
For this reason, we want everyone to have access to the olfactory creations of the most beautiful Houses, and for no one to have to give up wearing a perfume because a boutique is too far away or for fear of having made the wrong choice by ordering online.
That's why we allow some of the world's finest niche fragrances to your door, guaranteed to be authentic, with complimentary delivery and the option of returning the fragrances if they don't suit you.
What we can do for you
We want you to be able to find the fragrance that suits you perfectly. Your Olfactory Signature.
The one that identifies you immediately and tells the story of your personality or your mood of the day.
To help you make your choice, we offer you our expertise and advice every step of the way.
Our ScentBot and Scent Dating will help you find fragrances you might never have seen before.
And if you want to go further, click here to book a private consultation with an Expert who will personally guide you in your choice.
Our Story
A perfume professional for many years, Hervé Mathieu is passionate about niche perfumes. This passion led him to found SCENTISSIME, a unique online boutique where one can find rare fragrances to suit their taste, personality and mood of the moment.
SCENTISSIME's secret? Algorithms that integrate the olfactory characteristics of fragrances and the preferences of a demanding and curious clientele, who like to be surprised by fragrances that they won't smell on others.
Hervé Mathieu recounts how he discovered his passion for fragrances as a teenager, when he found a sample of Geoffrey Beene's Grey Flannel in a magazine. A surprising fragrance, warm but with a hint of violet, which he found very hard to get hold of. "At that age, the other boys were more likely to use deodorant or Brut de Fabergé," he says with a smile.
After graduating, he joined Chanel as head of women's fragrances. He describes it as a life-changing experience. He was lucky enough to be trained in olfaction and to work with Jacques Polge and François Demachy on the creation of Allure. He took advantage of this exceptional opportunity to learn all he could about ingredients, formulation techniques and extraction methods.
Although not a perfumer himself, Hervé Mathieu has a fascination for beautiful ingredients. Among his most memorable discoveries are the Oud from Laos, a precious and powerful resin that comes from a tree infected by a fungus; the Tuberose from Mexico, an intoxicating white flower that blooms only at night; and the Saffron from Iran, which lends a refined oriental touch to olfactory compositions.
But above all, the founder of SCENTISSIME is an enthusiast. He's constantly on the lookout for the world's best niche fragrances, not with snobbery but with an ever-renewed curiosity and enthusiasm. He loves unearthing confidential brands, discovering daring compositions and spotting emerging perfumers. He has an unfailing flair for unearthing the olfactory nuggets that will delight SCENTISSIME customers.
Anecdotes
The Bride's Perfume
A close friend visited him as she was looking for a fragrance to wear for her wedding. She wanted something unique and memorable. Hervé Mathieu gave her several scents to smell, but none of them suited her. He then spent a long time with her, asking her what emotion she wanted to evoke, what style of art she liked, her favourite place in the world, or her favourite book... At the end of this questioning, he suggested a single, rare perfume with a strong personality. Her friend was delighted with the result and told him that he had found the perfume of her life. Years later, she still wears it.
Hervé then had the idea of a software programme that would reproduce what he had just done, by combining his expertise with a questionnaire and images, and associating it with olfactory notes. Fifteen years later, he discovered the possibilities offered by artificial intelligence and algorithms. The idea for SCENTISSIME was taking shape.
Of smells and preferences
During one of his travels, Hervé Mathieu had a discussion with a man who was very passionate about niche perfumes. This man from the Middle East had ordered a perfume from a brand's website, but was not satisfied. He felt that the fragrance did not match the description or the reviews he had read online. Hervé Mathieu asked him what he didn't like about the fragrance and what type of fragrance he was looking for. He realised that this customer had different expectations from other customers who had bought the same fragrance. He understood that beyond the notes and olfactory families, which already constituted a vocabulary that was not always easy to understand, it was necessary to take into account subjective factors as well as the cultural and individual specificities of customers in order to offer them adapted fragrances.
This is how the idea of the Scent Dating came about.
The Pleasure to purchase a niche perfume, nothing less
The perfumes we offer on SCENTISSIME are guaranteed authentic. They are sent to you by the perfume houses themselves. We offer you free postage.
You can change your mind. You will receive each perfume ordered with a sample, so that you can test the fragrance before opening your perfume. If you don't like your perfume, you can return it. Returns are free for members of The List, SCENTISSIME's VIP club.
