Nathalie Feisthauer, serial creator of emotions

She creates fragrances for the most prestigious fashion, perfume and luxury houses. We invite you to discover Nathalie Feisthauer, her career path, her vision and her talent, which make her an artist in her own right, who sublimates raw materials and transmutes them into emotions in the manner of a delicate alchemist with a touch of magic about her.

From falling in love to making a career

Nathalie Feisthauer likes to describe her vocation as a perfumer as an "improbable possibility". More of a tomboy as a child, she belonged to a world far removed from perfumery. But one encounter with a perfume turned her life upside down. When she discovered Opium by Yves Saint-Laurent at the age of 16, her life suddenly took a new and exciting direction. She says she was literally fascinated by the perfume, which she describes as a work of olfactory art, and which she has never stopped smelling and feeling since. She then realised that her vocation was to create perfumes, to play with materials and emotions: she would become a perfumer.

Making the impossible possible

To make her dream come true, Nathalie Feisthauer joined the prestigious Roure (now Givaudan) perfume school in Grasse, the perfume capital of the world, in 1983. She was the first trainee without a family background in perfumery to be accepted onto the programme, at a time when the profession remained a closed world if you weren't born into it yourself, before becoming a Nez. She learned the trade from such perfume masters as Jean Guichard and Jean-Claude Ellena.

She began her career in New York, where she discovered the American style, energy and fun that have fuelled her creativity. There, she had the opportunity to work with some of the greatest perfumers of the moment, including Anne Gottlieb, Karyn Khoury and Clare Cain. She enriched her creative palette and her sensitivity to the world of the prestigious brands she worked with.

First international success

She then pursued her career at Givaudan in France, where she signed some of the world's most successful fragrances: Must de Cartier pour Homme and Pasha Edition Noire de Cartier, Eau des Merveilles d'Hermès, which she co-signed with Ralph Schweiger, Les Belles de Ricci, and the fascinating Nuit Indienne by Jean-Louis Scherrer.

In 2006, she joined Symrise, another major perfume group. Here she created Eau Mega by Viktor & Rolf, Love Chloe, L'Eau d'Issey Florale by Issey Miyake and Narciso Rodriguez for Her L'Absolu.

She gradually developed and affirmed a more personal and daring creative style, exploring new facets of certain ingredients.

The Feisthauer touch

In 2014, Nathalie Feisthauer decided to embark on a new adventure, becoming an independent perfumer. She set up her own laboratory, which she beautifully named LAB Scent, in a former art gallery in Montmartre. There, she creates made-to-measure perfumes for niche brands, individuals and events.

She creates bespoke projects for a wide range of clients, from luxury and niche brands to design and contemporary art. She expresses all her creativity and freedom here, resolutely freeing herself from codes and trends.

With the emergence of this demanding, creative and audible perfumery known asniche perfumery, she also collaborated with État Libre d'Orange, for whom she created the famous Putain des Palaces, Maison Crivelli, for whom she designed Absinthe Boréale, and Zoologist, for whom she created Cow.

She explores new facets of olfactory creation, playing with codes, genres and emotions, giving birth to superb olfactory architectures in which she fully expresses her freedom, sincerity and passion.

 Her best-known niche creations include Pelargonium for Aedes de Venustas, fluo_ral for Nomenclature, Electro Limonade for L'Orchestre Parfum and Amoroso for Burdin. These fragrances bear witness to her great versatility and ability to innovate and surprise with original compositions.

Nathalie Feisthauer is a perfumer with character and personality. She doesn't try to please at all costs, but rather to touch people at their deepest level. She likes to work with contrasts, unexpected combinations and surprise effects. She plays with textures, colours, sounds and emotions.Nathalie Feisthauer est un parfumeur qui a du caractère et de la personnalité. Elle ne cherche pas à plaire à tout prix, mais bien davantage à toucher les gens au plus profond d’eux-mêmes. Elle aime travailler les contrastes, les accords inattendus, les effets de surprise. Elle joue avec les textures, les couleurs, les sons, les émotions.

International awards

 Nathalie Feisthauer has won countless awards in recent years, demonstrating the respect and admiration she enjoys from both her peers and the public.

To name but a few of the most recent, she won the FIFI Award for Perfumer of the Year in 2019, the Russian FIFI Award in the Exclusive Niche category for fluo_ral Nomenclature in the same year, the Fragrance Foundation UK's Best Newcomer Award for "Sous le Manteau" in 2020, and the FIFI Awards' Customer Choice Award for "Electro Limonade" by L'Orchestre parfum in 2021.

 Nathalie Feisthauer's creations are invitations to travel, to discover and to experience intensity. If these few lines have inspired you to immerse yourself in her lush olfactory universe, you'll find some of her finest creations on SCENTISSIME.

Don't hesitate to treat yourself and discover the immense talent of Nathalie Feisthauer. We offer free delivery to your home, as well as free returns if you don't like the fragrance you purchased from us.