Top of her class and competitions alike, young Eléonore de Staël became a 100% natural perfumer and creator by calling, driven by her love for plants and her commitment to authenticity. Her creations reflect the uniqueness and exclusivity she brings to her short formulas, along with her genuine taste for beauty. A talent to watch…
“When I was little, I wanted to be a ‘nez’, a nose. The kids at school used to tell me: ‘But you already have one!’ So I’d just point to the end of my nose,” she laughs. That’s how Eléonore de Staël’s journey into natural perfumery began. A descendant of the writer Madame de Staël, Eléonore certainly has a way with words, and with scents. Valedictorian of the Grasse Institute of Perfumery in 2015 and winner of the first New Noses competition in 2017, she has everything it takes to become a leading natural perfumer. Before living her childhood dream, however, the path wasn’t an easy one. Torn between passion and family expectations, she first went through business school “to get a real job.” During her studies, though her heart was elsewhere, family friend and renowned perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour invited her to “test her motivation” for this demanding profession.
The school of life
Starting out with a major perfume agency representing houses like Chanel and Dior, Eléonore quickly made a name for herself and landed an internship in Stockholm at Christian Dior Parfums. From there, everything fell into place, she entered the Grasse Institute of Perfumery’s professional program and began a series of prestigious internships. 
She composed her first fragrances at the legendary Maison of Edmond Roudnitska, the first independent perfumer of the 20th century. “Monsieur Roudnitska created Diorissimo and Eau Sauvage for Dior, Femme by Rochas, Eau d’Hermès… true masterpieces! He also defended the idea of perfume as a work of the mind.” Later, Bertrand Duchaufour twice arranged for her to intern at Accords & Parfums, a temple of perfumery high above Grasse, where artisan perfumers and fragrance houses collaborate. “I was trained by Myriam Compiani. She was the one who took notes on Monsieur Roudnitska’s formulas near the end of his life. Myriam watched me take my first steps in the lab and taught me the fundamentals of weighing and respecting raw materials.” Her time at Maison Jean Patou gave her access to exceptional raw materials and the art of fast weighing in the laboratory.
Synthesis: a necessary step
While natural perfumery - “emotion” - has become her playground and her cause, Eléonore first trained in synthetic perfumery. “At school, every morning before class, our team of four would gather for a test, identifying ten different raw materials by scent.” This daily practice honed her nose, but she quickly turned away from chemistry “which didn’t move me, it makes perfumes all smell the same.” She met leading figures in natural perfumery like Jean-Charles Sommerard, Stella Giordanengo, and Chantal Dufargue. Her Grand Prize win for her fragrance *Indigo* at the 2017 New Noses competition confirmed her path and strengthened her convictions.
“Natural perfumery will become the true luxury, artisanal and respectful of life.” One of her trusted suppliers is L’Atelier Français des Matières, founded by Rémi Pulvérail and based in Annecy. With the support of Grace, the first agency for independent perfumers, who recognized her talent early and continues to guide her creative journey, Eléonore now multiplies simple, short, and exclusive compositions from a blank page, for perfumery, cosmetics, and lifestyle creations. Today, she works independently, free to follow her creative instincts. Her natural perfumes are beginning to make waves and attract major fragrance houses for bespoke collections and limited editions. Could natural perfumery be entering a new golden age, one reminiscent of the pre-20th century era?
Captions
Perfumer’s blotters essential tools for capturing and testing scent creations.
An open-air perfume workshop, echoing the plein air studios of the impressionist painter Claude Monet.
Eléonore’s favorite perfume bottle: a blue Murano glass atomizer.