Perfumes de Caroline Dumur

Caroline Dumur is a perfumer at IFF, and her passion for scents goes back to her childhood on her grandparents’ farm in the north of France. She was surrounded by the fragrances of flowers, cheese, hay, and animals, which sharpened her sense of smell and sparked her fascination with the world of perfumery.

As she grew up, Caroline was exposed to various perfumes worn by the women in her life, and she absorbed every olfactory impression to remember them forever. Her parents, both editors, introduced her to the biographies of master perfumers and the history of perfumery, solidifying her desire to become a perfumer.

Caroline pursued her passion by earning a bachelor’s degree in fragrance and flavor chemistry, and then attending ISIPCA to complete her Master’s. For her, fragrance is the realization of an idea born from the instinctive association of different materials, and each composition bears the imprint of its creator.

Her preference for certain materials is her main inspiration, and she does not shy away from challenges. Caroline does not shy away from overly, darkly, and mysteriously combined associations. She likes to quote Ingres, whom she deeply admires, and she loves the way he works with textures, his freedom of style that makes room for the real and the beautiful. For Caroline, it is simply a matter of interpretation—doing things her way and using her own perceptions.

In general, Caroline is intuitive, mysterious, and very perceptive, and her compositions are full of different colors and materials that evoke emotions and feelings. She is always ready for a challenge, and her love for warm materials and freshly distilled ones continues to inspire her to this day. Caroline aims high in her career and, as she likes to say: “aim for the moon; even if you fail, you’ll reach the stars.”