The essence of vanilla is a French masterpiece that we can’t stop spraying …
It seems strange that “vanilla” is a byword for boring or predictable because if you’ve smelled or worn a great vanilla-centred perfume, you’ll know it’s the opposite. A masterfully made vanilla fragrance can be the epitome of enticing, warm and comforting, and as delicious as a slice of sponge cake.
Not all vanilla-based scents are equal, though. For the handful of majestic options there are ten times as many sickly-sweet, plasticky concoctions. These can leave a bad taste in your mouth, making you feel like you’ve gorged on sugar, so you’re now shaky and depleted in the come-down.
Since it launched in 2023, Matiere Premiere’s Vanilla Powder (€165 50ml, €240 100ml) has quietly surged to the top of the vanilla charts. Gorgeously rich and almost edible, this beautiful eau de parfum manages to have longevity without ever overpowering the wearer. This is down to the blend of two contrasting elements, a white coconut powder with a dark and rich vanilla.
SOFT YET STRONG
And there’s now a new version to explore. Matiere Premiere’s Extraits de Parfum are a luxury line-up in which perfumer Aurélien Guichard adds a “guest” ingredient to his original scent, putting a new twist on the key ingredient and creating a different interplay.
I spoke to Guichard from his office near Opera in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris after the brand opened its first standalone store in the city, on rue St Honore: “This is a new chapter for us.” Future stores are planned for London and Berlin, to start with. He’s worked with Swedish architect Halleroed, the Swedish architects behind recent store designs of the coolest brands, from Byredo to Acne Studios and Toteme; he admires their approach to minimalism.
Guichard is keen that the stores offer an experience and highlight what’s most important to him: “to reconnect the raw materials with the fragrance itself. I wanted to have access to pure raw materials, to design a perfume organ in a modern way, so that you can smell the raw ingredients as a perfumer smells it. It was important for me that people could smell the ingredient and smell the fragrance next to it.”
“We always try to reconnect the beauty and simplicity of a raw material with a finished fragrance – that’s really what Matiere Premiere is about.” Aurélien Guichard
THE EXTRAITS
What’s Guichard aiming for with the Extraits de Parfum? “As a concept, I find that most brands will go higher in concentration, and that’s about it. For me, the challenge was not necessarily to create a more powerful version, but to underline different facets of the vanilla. So, first I increased the amount of natural vanilla in the fragrance in order to give a darker, deeper impression; richer though not necessarily stronger. And what I tried to do was not to decrease ingredients or facets, but to add something else. I could feel that in the eau de parfum itself there was something very mineral, and so I was searching for an ingredient to add something that’s opposite to mineral – an element of sensuality. And I thought about tonka bean because in perfumery we use it especially for the addiction that it brings to a fragrance, the smoothness. For me, this was a way to add a natural ingredient, a natural powder.”
Guichard is currently spending more time in the field and that means literally as his family farm grows a huge proportion of the raw materials for the perfumes. “We’ve replanted and doubled the size of roses, so we now have 25,000 rose bushes,” he says. Matiere Premiere is, quite literally, a growing business. Guichard is currently working on lavender, straight from the fields – we can hope for an MP take on lavender some time next year perhaps.
We talk about how scents provide comfort in troubled times. “When something smells good, it’s comforting. We all reach addiction in different ways and it’s comforting smelling things that are real, that come from the ground, particularly in a digitised world. Elements of nature bring positive elements. And that’s really what I try to do when I create a scent – to create an addiction for something.” He’s happy that Vanilla Powder eau de parfum appeals to such a wide range of ages and genders, free from ‘trends’.
The bottom line: everyone will instinctively lean in and want to know more when you wear this. Vanilla Powder and the new Extrait are under the radar gems that are too good not to share. I’ve worn the Extrait constantly and on every single occasion it’s been remarked upon. Perfume at its finest.
Matiere Premiere Extraits de Parfum are available in 100ml (€350) size and 50ml (€240). Vanilla Powder Extrait is available exclusively at Selfridges from August 1 and then online at www.matiere-premiere.com or stockists worldwide from October 1. The Discovery Set of five samples is €30.
