“It is an approach for those that are more relaxed about perfumery. For those who, like me, have a lot of them and enjoy changing,” Ludovic Bonneton announces straight away.
The concept is based on 15 really varied fragrances classified in 10 olfactory families identifiable with a code. Every perfume is identified with a number composed of three figures and a colour. The first figure – the hundreds column – and the colour indicate the olfactory category. The 000 category is that of colognes, 100 represents floral perfumes, 200, fruity fragrances, and so on. The figures after the hundreds column refer to the order of appearance in each family. For example, the 601 perfume is the first created in the 600 family, that of woody fragrances. Most importantly, the three main notes in every perfume are clearly displayed. Not the top, middle, or back notes, but those the user will obviously recognize. As an example, the 601 fragrance announces ‘pepper, cedar, patchouli.’ “People just love it. These three notes help start a conversation. They search for pepper, cedar, or patchouli, and they do recognize them. It arouses their interest,” Ludovic Bonneton asserts.
Now, that is an atypical approach to perfumes and consumers. Here, dreams and mystery are replaced by didactics, by another form of discovery that is direct, simple, and frank.
“We endeavour to be part of this wave that awakens things, this interest for a sense that has been forgotten, in a way, but in which everyone is actually interested. It is a bit like what was done with the ‘bistronomy’ or ‘eating well’ movements to which access was opened, and which did correspond to a certain curiosity or interest from people.”
That is why Bon Parfumeur fragrances bank on affordability and logically boast an affordable price range: EUR35 for 30ml, for a brand that is still positioned on the niche perfumery segment. Juices are all composed by French perfume creators (Alexandra Monet, Benoît Lapouza, Corinne Cachen, Karine Dubreuil, Nathalie Koobus, and Philippe Romano), who share both sophistication in their compositions and the use of beautiful raw materials. “I do not impose any limits on the perfume creator, I only ask them to search for what is best,” Ludovic Bonneton assures.
It seems this new perfume dimension has found an echo. Launched in June 2016, Bon Parfumeur opened their first wholly-owned store in late December, Rue des Francs Bourgeois, in the heart of the Parisian Marais Quarter - a Mecca for alternative perfumery. The brand is also present at the Bon Marché Department Store and in over 70 points of sale similar to concept stores, all around the world (Tokyo, Los Angeles, New York City, London, Dubai…). “We are trying to settle in pretty places, where people already have this sort of curiosity for innovative concepts.”
New references are to be launched before summer, including a very sensual amber-based perfume, a solar floral, and a new fragrance in the “special” category.
“We are set for a long story,” Ludovic Bonneton promises.
