They met at Cinquième Sens, where they also got to know Martine Denisot, who later joined the Flair project as well. Amélie and Anne-Sophie share the same olfactory language and sensitivity. They complete each other in the creation process, as one enjoys working with natural ingredients, while the other prefers delicate synthetic materials. Their credo: making surprising, but wearable and bearable perfumes.
Amélie Bourgeois (left) Anne Sophie Behaghel (centre) et Martine Denisot (right)
This desire makes sense to young creators of niche perfume brands seeking new inspirations and the guarantee of a very precise, sophisticated creation work with the materials. Flair, a free spirit in the perfume sector, enjoys its independence and plays with its ability to develop compositions with exclusive ingredients. “It is the small volumes specific to artistic perfumery that make it possible. We are always seeking unusual, differentiating raw materials that tell a story”, the duo explains, giving the example of Piri Piri, a plant with hallucinogenic properties sourced from Peru by Stéphane Piquart, a rare ingredient expert. It was incorporated into their latest creation, Une nuit à Bali.
Amélie and Anne-Sophie are confident, stimulated by the increase in the perfume extract volumes sold by the studio every year. They believe in a grand future for French perfumery and have been investing in brands. “We bank on the success of the brands we work with. They know we are at their side to defend our perfumes – this is our added value, and it is in our interest too,” Amélie Bourgeois explains.
Amélie Bourgeois and Anne-Sophie Behaghel will be presenting Flair at the next Beauty World show in Dubai, and willingly admit they aim to reach the Middle East creation market. “Perfumery there is generous, very oud-oriented, and absolutely voluptuous. Many brands are developing there right now. And we would like to add a little more artistic, different touch to their compositions. They are actually quite open to novelty”, Anne-Sophie concludes.
