Perfumes de Mathilde Laurent

Mathilde Laurent was born into a family of artists in the Montparnasse neighborhood of Paris. As she grew up near the train tracks, Laurent had an innate curiosity about the world around her. She earned a degree in chemistry and physics before attending the Institut Supérieur International du Parfum, de la Cosmétique et de l’Aromatique Alimentaire (ISIPCA) in Versailles. A family friend who noticed Laurent’s sharp sense of smell and her tendency to “meet the world first with her nose” encouraged her to pursue perfumery.

At a school event, Laurent approached Jean-Paul Guerlain, the leading perfumer of the prestigious succession of perfumers in the Guerlain family, and asked for an internship. He agreed, and Laurent began her career in the early 1990s working alongside Guerlain. After a three-month internship, she was offered a permanent position at the house and ultimately remained at the company for the next 11 years. Her perfumes for Guerlain include Herba Fresca, inspired by the early mornings when she walked barefoot in her grandfather’s garden.

Laurent joined Cartier in 2005 and has been the house’s perfumer ever since. In 2006, she created the Cartier Baiser Volé fragrance and later launched L’Heure Vertueuse in 2012. In her 2015 creation, L’Heure Perdue, Laurent used exclusively lab-created molecules to challenge the stereotype that synthetic ingredients result in harsh, abstract, and aggressive fragrances. Instead, she created a scent that felt soft, caressing, and almost maternal.

In 2016, she created Cartier L’Envol, which was used in the 2017 installation “OSNI 1- Le Nuage Parfumé” (“Objet Parfumé Non Identifié 1 – the Perfumed Cloud”) at the Foire Internationale d’Art Contemporain (FIAC). Also in 2016, Laurent launched an oud fragrance line for Cartier called Les Heures Voyageuses. The collection includes six fragrances: Oud & Santal, Oud & Musc, Oud & Oud and Oud Radieux.

Mathilde Laurent is one of 16 perfumery experts who oversee the Grand Musée du Parfum in Paris, along with Jean-Claude Ellena and Sylvaine Delacourte.

Her most popular perfume compositions include Cartier La Panthère, Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Herba Fresca, Cartier Baiser Volé, Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Pamplelune and Cartier Declaration d’Un Soir.

Laurent’s unique approach to creating perfumes combines her artistic education with her scientific training, allowing her to create innovative, expressive, and memorable fragrances. She challenges the boundaries of traditional perfumery by experimenting with natural and synthetic ingredients to craft evocative scents that defy preconceived notions.