Jean Jacques

Why do you want to become a perfumer? his examiners had asked him during the entrance exam for ISIPCA. Because I'm a pianist, the young Jean Jacques had evaded, aware of his sidereal gaps in perfumery. Since then, he has caught up, discovering a passion for this extraordinary world that opened up to him, and boosted by his mentor Pierre Bourdon, who was his first boss. After a few internships at Quest and Fragrance Resource, then four years at Kao, he joined Takasago in 1997 as a creative perfumer, and also took on international responsibilities for harmonizing the house's ingredient catalog. Making sure the company's perfumers can work with the finest quality materials, sourced from exceptional terroirs, and evaluating the new molecules from the Japanese laboratory to make them available to everyone: that is what keeps us going, constantly, to create new fragrances. A job that does not feel like one, so much does Jean Jacques enjoy doing it. With full awareness and humility. And always to music.

The perfumer Jean Jacques answers you

My olfactory memory

The smell of the sea, mixed with that of the pine resin that stuck to our fingers when, as children, we played hide and seek in Quiberon.

My journey

The emotional and cultural shock during a recent stay in India, in Assam, where I went to discover oud distilleries.

My inspiration

Piece Peace by Bill Evans, a jazz piece recorded in 1958, which inspired a fragrance in me. With the image of an infant on its mother's belly. A moment of bliss. Nothing can happen.

My cult fragrance

Aromatics Elixir, a real shock, it is olfactory Basquiat, sensual and sexual.

My color

Blue, optimistic and elegant. And the Note Bleue, blue note, dear to jazzmen, for that small nostalgic dissonance within a theme.

My dream

To go in search of a natural for perfumery and set up its supply chain. For the raw material, but also for the encounter with those who work it.

My motto

When inspiration comes, may it find me working: a line from Picasso that speaks to me... I do not have exceptional talent but a great capacity for work.

My favorite raw materials

Ambroxan: a woody amber note that smells of life, a bed from which one takes out the children's pajamas... Humanity.

Irone: the molecule of iris's powdery-floral-violet note. The height of elegance, the heart of the iris diamond. All the more precious since it takes time for irone to be synthesized.

Bio Muguet: derived from sugar cane, this Takasago molecule makes it possible to replace banned lily of the valley notes. It is 100% bio-based, biodegradable, and I am certain, revolutionary!

The perfumer's craft can be described as a creative profession at the heart of an industrial, technical and scientific process. Some perceive it in its most cynical aspect, while others turn it into an artistic passion. After all, is that not the sign of the great diversity of this craft? Jean Jacques, for his part, is an artist through and through. It is even for this reason that he chose to embark on this path. Let us take a closer look at what his ambitions were and what works his talent has produced.

Jean Jacques's love of art in general

Before being a perfumer, Jean Jacques is above all a lover of the arts. A musician, he has a genuine passion for jazz. Thus, Jean Jacques always expressed the wish to pursue a creative profession. Moreover, in his view, this is the only way to leave a trace of our passage on earth. Now, it must be acknowledged that this idea always preoccupied him. It was therefore through a friend that he discovered the world of perfumery. Convinced he had found his path, he joined the most prestigious perfumery school there is: ISIPCA in Versailles. He graduated from it in 1992. He then spent four years at Kao, a company specializing in the making of chemical products, and more specifically flavors and fragrances. While holding a position at this company, he took part in the Young Creative Perfumer competition of the Société Française des Parfumeurs. It was there that he caught the attention of Takasago, a Japanese fragrance production company. Today, he has been working for this Asian house for more than 15 years. Benefiting from its renown, this allowed him to work with the biggest brands in the world such as Guerlain, Christian Lacroix, Davidoff, Givenchy and Kenzo.

Jean Jacques's sources of inspiration

Generally speaking, Jean Jacques likes fairly short formulas. He likes to get to the essential and always strives to create fragrances that give rise to an emotion. For him, a fragrance is a very powerful emotional product, sometimes synonymous with attachment, comfort or protection. For him, perfumery is far from trivial. He explains that he has certain favorite materials. Moreover, he is absolutely fascinated by ambroxan. He puts it in every one of his compositions and has made it a kind of signature. That, to me, is the smell of life and love, he says. I have used it in numerous key accords, evoking my first comfort blanket, rumpled sheets, mother's milk, and I have it in almost all my creations. Moreover, he considers this ingredient to be an ideal raw material for ensuring the longevity of fragrances. He even admits that he has to restrain himself somewhat to avoid overdosing it. A very meticulous person, Jean Jacques then modestly admits that, despite his many olfactory successes, he is rarely fully satisfied with the result of his fragrances. Regardless, the public, for its part, seems to appreciate them.

The fragrances imagined by the perfumer Jean Jacques

Adolfo Dominguez: Bambù for Men, Bambù for Women, Aqua di Bambù for Men, Aqua di Bambù for Women, Viaje a Ceylan (in duo with Antoine
Lie) - Avon: Infinite moment for men - Balmain: Balmya - Bebe: Bebe Sheer - Bourgeois: Jeux de Nuit - Bugatti: Infinite blue - Christian Lacroix: C’est
la Fête (in duo with Francis Kurkdjian) - Courrèges: Hyperbole (in duo with Antoine Lie), Minijupe (in duo with Antoine Lie) - Davidoff: Cool Water
Wave (with Antoine Lie and Francis Kurkdjian), Cool Water Ocean Extreme (in duo with Antoine Lie), Silver Shadow Altitude - Givenchy: Gentlemen
Only Fraîche, Gentlemen Only Absolute, Gentlemen Only Parisian Break, Gentlemen Only Casual Chic, Gentlemen Only Intense, Gentlemen Only
(in duo with Francis Kurkdjian) - Isabey: all fragrances - Jean Paul Gaultier: Madame eau fraîche (in duo with Francis Kurkdjian) - Jil Sander:
Sun Rise Women, Sun Day Women - Kenzo: Totem Blue (in duo with Antoine Lie), Kenzo Floralista, Kenzo Couleur Violet, Kenzo Couleur Rose (in
duo with Sylvie Fischer), Kenzo Couleur Jaune, Eau de Fleur de Soie, de Prunier (in duo with Francis Kurkdjian), de Yuzu, de Camelia (in duo with
Francis Kurkdjian) - Mandarina Duck: All of Me for Men - Masaki Paris: all fragrances - Mirko Buffini: La Chute d’Eau - Molton Brown: Londinium
- Oriflame: Divine, Amethyste Fatale, S8 night men, Lovely garden, Urban lover women, Extravagance, Amazonia - Salvatore Ferragamo: Incanto
Amity (in duo with Antoine Lie) - Sex Symbol: The Superstar - ST Dupont: Passenger Cruise Women (in duo with Sylvie Fischer) - Stendhal: Noir
Divin - STR8: Unlimited - Ted Lapidus: Pour Homme, Lapidus Black Extreme - Torrente: L’or, L’or intense, My Torrente - Ulric de Varens: So Varens,
Love by Lilly prune, Hot Fragrance Extrême, Hot Fragrance Desire, UDV Fire, UDV Black, Varens Desire, Varens Love, Varens Uno, Varens Essentiel /
Violette Délicate / Rose Glamour / Muguet Secret / Musc Provocant, Musk Patchouli, Eau de Varens Fresh, UDV Night, Musk Collection GLAM -
United Colors of Benetton: United Dreams One Love, United Dreams One Summer - Yves Rocher: Un Matin Au Jardin Cerisier en Fleurs (in duo
with Francis Kurkdjian).