The Raw Beauty Behind MATIERE PREMIERE

Aurélien Guichard: There were always people around, pickers, artists, friends, people working on the property. I loved that energy and movement. As I got older, I realized I wanted to recreate that feeling in my own life: being surrounded by different people, nature and creativity.

Yes, two memories. One was my grandfather’s jasmine fields in August. The pickers would bring flowers into this small cabanon with clay floors and the smell of gasoline. The mix of jasmine, earth, bags and gasoline was incredible. Even today, I can still smell it in my memory. The second was driving with the pickers in an old broken red Volkswagen to deliver flowers to the factories in Grasse. Loud music, cigarette smoke, bags of flowers everywhere, windows open, the smell and joy of that moment felt magical.

I don’t think anyone pushed me into it.

When I was in my twenties, I realized I had grown up around artists and people who believed in creation. I asked myself if I really wanted to walk away from that. In the end, I wanted to do it in my own way, but still carry on that amazing way of life.

 A lot of people think rose smells old-fashioned or overly romantic. And honestly, when I looked at existing rose fragrances, there weren’t many I personally wanted to wear. With Radical Rose, I wanted to create something modern, edgy, long-lasting and unique, while using the highest dosage of rose centifolia ever put into a fragrance. A lot of people tell me, “I don’t like rose perfumes but I like Radical Rose.” Men wear it, women wear it. That’s the coolest thing for me, surprising people and sharing the beauty of raw materials in a different way.

What touches me is the part people don’t see. In fragrance advertising, you see a lot of fantasy but what makes me dream is the reality behind it. When you pick roses, after half an hour you get sap on your hands. It smells rosy, of course, but also woody, spicy, dark. When I created Radical Rose, the inspiration was to recreate that darker, spicier side of the rose, almost like a black rose. Sometimes you don’t invent things, they’re already there. 

They grow naturally wherever they were planted. When roses naturally cross pollinate, the wild rose can dominate and you end up with flowers that look beautiful but have almost no scent. They’re usually lighter in color and almost white. Some people try planting centifolia directly but it doesn’t necessarily improve the scent. It just creates weaker plants and you lose a lot in the process.

In perfumery, the two main roses are damascena and centifolia. Centifolia is extracted into an absolute, which gives it that rich, waxy quality. Not every flower can actually be extracted, lily of the valley smells amazing, for example, but you can’t really extract anything from it.

No. If there are no roses, we simply won’t produce more Radical Rose until the next harvest. People ask me how we’ll handle growth as the company gets bigger. This field was planted in 2017, literally by me and two other people. A rose field lasts about 17 years and we’ve planted 15,000 more roses further up the hill. The idea is to keep growing carefully, maybe one day partnering with another farmer who shares the same practices. Otherwise, we simply accept that this is our production and that’s it.

They’re all difficult but

Ingredients don’t have a gender. The challenge was to surprise people in an effortless way. Something unique, edgy, comfortable, easy to wear. I made around 1,500 trials for Metal Lavender. In the end, I actually went back to trial number ten, that was the best one. Sometimes you overthink things. You keep adding, trying, pushing, when actually the simpler version was already right.

Lavender grows above 900 meters altitude. It’s softer, more floral. Lavandin is a hybrid between lavender and aspic, and it grows at lower altitudes. Most lavender fields you see are actually lavandin, probably 80% of them. Lavandin is bigger, bluer and smells more metallic and camphorous. Lavender smells warmer and softer. In Metal Lavender, I used both. Together they create something really beautiful. The brightness of lavandin fades into the softer warmth of lavender, almost like a veil.

Very often. Colors, shapes, textures. For Vanilla Powder, I wanted something white and cloud-like, almost fluffy. With Metal Lavender, I wanted a blue feeling over the traditional, purple. The lavandin fields themselves are bluer and I wanted something that felt more modern.

Rose centifolia, of course. 

Rose centifolia is also deeply connected to where I’m from. The second would be vanilla from Madagascar. We work with a Fair for Life program where the vanilla is bought at a fixed price so growers aren’t affected by market fluctuations. Part of the money is reinvested into schools and solar panels.

Vanilla is magical because it’s pollinated by hand. The beans grow for nine months in the jungle, then dry under the sun for another nine months before developing their scent. The vanilla from northeastern Madagascar has this incredible balance of richness and tenderness without being overly sweet.

On one hand, there’s a lot of real estate pressure. Many agricultural fields disappeared because farmers sold their land for housing. But at the same time, since we started Matière Première, there’s been a new generation of farmers coming back. Young farmers with strong ecological practices. That’s very encouraging. For us, sharing this reality is important. We wanted people to see that these raw materials and this way of life can feel modern, universal and cool, not just old-fashioned French perfumery.

A fragrance only becomes complete when someone wears it. For me, there are three things. First, the quality and amount of the ingredients. A fragrance should feel obvious, natural in a way, not overly complicated. Like a painting you instantly connect with, even if you’re not a painter. Second, it has to diffuse. People should notice it and ask what you’re wearing. And third, uniqueness and modernity. A fragrance can be loud, but if it smells dated, it doesn’t work. The balance is to be noticed without overpowering people. Like makeup, enough to enhance, not too much.

I love traveling because of the people and the ideas I discover. Matière Première isn’t only about creating fragrances, it’s also visual, cultural, emotional. I love cities. Paris, London, Berlin, I need that energy, the mix of people and cultures. As much as I love the calm here, I also need the vibration of the city. Places come alive because of people. That mix of backgrounds and cultures gives this place another dimension too. We have people here from Italy, the Czech Republic, Asia, America, I love that energy. A fragrance house is always connected to the people around it.

No, it’s like learning a language. At first it’s difficult, you get headaches, everything feels overwhelming. But the more you practice, the easier it becomes. When you learn perfumery, you keep a notebook and write what ingredients remind you of. It’s very personal. Then you learn families of scents, lavender, rose, anise and eventually you learn the nuances within those families.