A Never Ending Quest To Create Perfume – With Domitille Bertier

Parisian like the three generations before her, Domitille has always had an exceptional affinity for the world of perfume

Domitille Bertier
Domitille Bertier

Domitille Bertier joined IFF as a trainee in 1994 and in 2007; she was promoted to Senior Perfumer at IFF. Parisian like the three generations before her, Domitille has always had an exceptional affinity for the world of perfume.

Love for Paris

What Domitille loves most about the city is the fragrance of its gardens. If she had the time, she would walk up the boulevard Saint Germain to the Luxemburg gardens where, seated at a terrace she would take in all the news along with the ink of the newspaper.

Perfume and her childhood

For Domitille, perfume has always been a wonderful way to discover the world. When she was a child she spent two years in the New Hebrides, now called Vanuatu, and all the exoticism of a tropical paradise was the perfect education for her sense of smell. It soon became her favourite playground and she discovered a taste for wood and spice, the very heart of the island’s identity.

Studying Perfume

Back in France, she became aware of the ISIPCA course and after getting the required degree in organic chemistry, she got herself admitted to the international institute. Working as a trainee there, she found herself hired by the IFF after an interview. Enjoying the autonomy IFF gives its perfumers, she has honed her technique. And the most important thing? She never loses sight of the fact that every day she needs to experience new fragrances and scents.

Domitille considers herself an architect of smell with a preference for enveloping signature fragrance structures rather than ornamental flowers. If the art of perfume constantly repeats itself and tests have to be done over and over, Domitille has the wisdom to accept the rules of the game and says that risk is the perfect challenge. “You have to polish and re-polish to get the very best out of yourself.”

The demands of her profession, an excellent know-how and an extended knowledge of perfume ingredients, make her believe “there is no such thing as a bad perfume, some of them only smell bad because they are not made correctly”.

Her style

Extremely fond of daring and unusual fragrance associations, Domitille has a very vivid, salient style that is both powerful and contrasting. Her creations whip up a reaction of even when toned down – just like the crime novels she devours. Always creating new perfumes that persist but are outside of current trends, her creations always complement the silhouette like a thick, rich cashmere sweater worn without ever compromising its elegance.

Exotic by Jimmy Choo
Exotic by Jimmy Choo

SOME OF HER PERFUMES:

Exotic by Jimmy Choo

Just Cavalli Men by Roberto Cavalli

RV Pure Women by Roberto Verino

Lanvin Me by Lanvin

Balenciaga Paris L’Eau Rose by Balenciaga

Versace Pour Homme Oud Noir by Versace

Baldessarini Mission Secret by Baldessarini

Jeanne Lanvin Couture by Jeanne Lanvin

Flowerbomb La Vie en Rose by Viktor & Rolf

Toujours Glamour by Moschino

Ô d’Azur by Lancôme

Midnight in Paris by Van Cleef & Arpels

Eau de Fleurs Lavande by Chloé

5:40PM à Madagascar by Kenzo

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