Violette Fumée – luxurious and creamy and unforgettable

Violette Fumeé is the kind of fragrance that, once you smell it, you never forget it. It’s a luxurious skin scent that partners violet and pipe tobacco in a way that makes you want to keep on smelling it. Like most fragrances, Violette Fumeé has a back story and this one has its beginning in Grasse.

While developing an amenity line for a luxury hotel, interior designer Jeroen Oude Sogtoen met perfumer Mona di Orio at Accords et Parfums in Grasse. Working together on the project, they realized that they shared a strong belief in artisanship and a passion for quality ingredients, and over time, a friendship was born.

A pupil of the great Edmond Roudnitska, a titan in the fragrance world, Ms. Di Orio was a gifted and talented nose. Sogtoen saw the potential of combining their skills, and so in 2004, they became business partners and launched Mona di Orio Parfums. In 2005 they released their first fragrances: Lux, Carnation and Nuit Noire (and in 2010, they launched the Les Nombres D'Or collection. Then, in December 2011, di Orio suddenly passed away, leaving behind fragrances that were almost completed but not quite ready for market. This left the grieving Sogtoen with some very difficult options. In the end, he decided to honour di Orio’s memory by releasing some of the fragrances she had worked on, and so in 2013, Violette Fumeé was launched.

Violette Fumeé is the personal fragrance di Orio created for Sogtoen. Based on his memories: the pipe his father smoked, his favourite materials like fresh lavender and his love of luxury – violets, the feel of cashmere, champagne, it was made for his use only. Together, they sourced and searched for the perfect materials for Violette Fumée. The result is a gorgeous fragrance that is a true reflection of their shared artistic vision and their commitment to quality ingredients.

Violette Fumeé opens with a note of fresh lavender – not the sickly synthetic stuff you find in scented soaps and sachets, but the aromatic, herbal, floral scent of fresh lavender sprigs that have been crushed and rubbed between your palms. Bergamot adds a crisp sparkliness that’s a nod to champagne, as is the muselet that covers the stoppers on all 100 ml. Les Nombres D'Or perfume bottles. Oakmoss gives the opening a delicate earthiness. Skin heat brings out the heart notes – tender violet, bolstered by lush Turkish rose, dance through tendrils of a soft, smoky pipe tobacco accord created by vetiver and clary sage. Violet leaf, green and fresh, is warmed by spicy saffron, which makes Violette Fumeé smoulder on a resinous base of resinous opoponax, bitter myrrh and musky, woody cashmeran.

The drydown is creamy, soft and tender with a freshness that livens it up just enough, but it’s that violet/smoke pairing that wafts up from my wrist to my nose from time to time that makes it, and Mona di Orio, unforgettable.

Check out Violette Fumeé in our Shop.