Clara – Le Jardin Retrouvé Blog

In Notre Actualité

Explora Journeys x Le Jardin Retrouvé

05/02/2024 No Comments

We’re always excited to tell you about new locations where you can find Le Jardin Retrouvé range, but this one really is very special to us. We met in Esxence and immediately realised how much we had in common. As a result, we entered into a partnership with Explora Journeys, which means that customers can now enjoy our exclusive scented wellness by the sea.

The environment at heart

Explora Journeys is a new generation of ships, belonging to MSC, that has the environment at its heart, and this is why we’re so excited to be a part of their journey. They have pushed the limits of their eco-credentials to include provision for battery storage onboard, catalytic reduction technology that cuts nitrogen oxide emissions by 90%, and a complete ban on single-use plastics.

What is the Rina Dolphin Certification?

They’ve also taken this one step further though by being Rina Dolphin Certified. What does this mean? Ships moving through the ocean create noise which can disturb marine mammals, so new ambient noise limits have been introduced that aim to reduce it by 10 decibels by 2029. We are passionate about caring for our planet at Le Jardin Retrouvé, and that includes the oceans.

The new luxury? Niche perfume brands!

You’ll find our products onboard alongside the likes of Rolex and Cartier, and only 6 other Niche Perfume brands, so it’s clear confirmation of the perceived quality of our products by a powerful player in the luxury cruise realm. We’re excited to see what the future holds for our partnership with Explora Journeys, and do get in touch if you’ve had the chance to enjoy one of their five luxurious routes.

Discover more about Explora Journeys at explorajourneys.com

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In interviews,

Meet The Expert … Amanda Carr

08/01/2024 No Comments

We’re very proud to have professional support all around the world, and we’d like to celebrate some of these heart-warming connections. Amanda Carr is a perfume writer and trend forecaster based in the UK, and we were excited to see her again at the Fortnum & Mason launch in November 2023. Amanda wrote a beautiful review of Osmanthe Liu Yuan (read it here), and so we wanted to learn a little more about her fragrant journey.

How did you discover Le Jardin Retrouvé?

My first brush with Le Jardin Retrouvé was at Esxence, in Milan, (I think 2019) where its gorgeously fresh and decorative stand shone out from the sea of black, gold and chrome on offer elsewhere. The charming illustrations and product innovation – the porcelain room diffusers, refillable bottles at a time when hardly anyone else was doing them, the decorated keep-me-forever blotters, not to mention the delicious and modern fragrance profiles, all felt really exciting to me.

What do you love about the brand?

I’m a gardener, and so I guess I was hooked by the connection to real flowers and plants and the concern for nature. I love the ingredient references that Clara and Michel use, Osmanthe Liu Yuan, for example, is inspired by the ‘Lingering’ Garden in Suzhou, China, somewhere I’d never heard of but now I’m connected to it because I wear the scent regularly, I feel like I’m travelling via botanicals. The scents are also so easy-breezy, they are like the best of friends, you can take them anywhere and they fit in beautifully.

What does the future have in store?

On May 18th 2024 I’ll be holding the second Barnes Fragrance Fair (@barnesfragrancefair ). Last year we launched a wonderful, immersive environment where visitors discovered the joyful world of independent perfumery. We featured workshops and talks about how fragrance is made and its wellbeing benefits as well as offering the chance to meet the perfumers and brand founders and discover their beautiful scents. Fragrance is so much more than a ‘beauty hall product’ and hopefully the Fair demonstrates how exciting the possibilities are of finding a fragrance you love.

Discover more about Amanda Carr, and read the We Wear Perfume interview with Clara and Michel, by clicking here.

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In Meet the Retailers

Meet … FIOLE

15/11/2023 No Comments

Le Jardin Retrouvé owes so much of its success to the help we receive from our retailers around the world. That’s why we like to learn a little more about how they found us, what they love about our company, and also their own plans for the future. This month we contacted the founders of London-based Fiole, Samuel and Josh, to learn more about their journey.

How did you discover Le Jardin Retrouvé?

We discovered Le Jardin Retrouvé while preparing for our trip to Esxence in 2022. We mentioned to a mutual friend, Karen Marin, that we were planning to open a conversation, only for her to say that she was already well acquainted with them and would happily make the introduction. We had a call before Milan and instantly fell in love with the brand, its story, and, of course, Michel and Clara. So by the time we finally met in person, it felt like we were old friends, and we knew we had to start working together.

“Le Jardin Retrouvé blends classic perfumery with contemporary style.”

What do you like about Le Jardin Retrouvé?

The brand stands out for many reasons. It is vegan and strives to be as natural as possible. The packaging is stunning, and the fragrances are diverse, accessible yet still interesting. They seem to blend classic perfumery with contemporary style, all while meeting our stringent quality standards. However, what we love most is that Michel and Clara have taken a brand with such exceptional heritage and ensured that everything they do both honours the past and paves the way for the future. Many brands could learn from them in terms of sustainable practices and how to keep a perfume brand at the forefront of protecting our planet, “the garden we live in”, while effortlessly remaining luxury and beautiful.

What are your business plans for the future?

Fiole is constantly evolving. We are currently launching our brand boxes, where we have listened to our loyal customers and created highlight collections from each of our wonderful brands. This means our customers still have access to our Fiole Fragrance Finder, but if they fall in love with a brand, they can explore it in more detail. In the coming months, we also plan to host many more in-person events and introduce a few more top-secret products that will solidify Fiole’s position as the home of fragrance discovery.

You can discover more about Fiole by visiting their website or by following them on their Instagram.

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In Did You Know?

Meet the retailers… DUFTKUNSTHANDLUNG

08/11/2023 No Comments

This month’s “Meet The Retailers” sees us travelling to Germany, and in particular the city of Köln. Famous worldwide for being the location of the original Eau de Cologne, which we honor with our own Eau des Délices, we’re visiting Duftkunsthandlung to learn more about founder Holger Dubben’s journey.

How did you discover Le Jardin Retrouvé?

I actually discovered Le Jardin Retrouvé in one of Luca Turin’s books. I did some research about the house on the internet and happened to plan a trip to Paris a few weeks later. So I contacted Michel and he invited me to come over and visit him at his store. It must have been around 2017 or 2018 I’m guessing. I was the owner of three pharmacies near Cologne at that time and was already planning to open my own niche perfume boutique in the city center. I remember we felt very welcome at Le Jardin Retrouvé, and Michel told us a lot about his father and the history of the house. It was clearly something that was very close to his heart. Eventually in 2019 I finally opened my boutique, but then Covid hit the world, and so it took a little longer for Le Jardin Retrouvé to finally find its way into my boutique.

What do you like about Le Jardin Retrouvé?

From our first visit in Paris, we felt the true passion and honesty behind the brand. I especially loved the idea that this was the first true niche perfume house, because Yuri Gutsatz did not want to remain a nameless perfumer for one of the designer houses, and the founder wanted to be recognized as an artist. That’s why, when working with Le Jardin Retrouvé, you feel you are part of a family rather than merely a business partner. There’s a special kind of spirit in this house and I think you can also feel it and smell it in the creations. This is also the reason why, in my opinion, the latest creations of Maxence fit the catalogue so seamlessly.

“With Le Jardin Retrouvé, you feel you are part of a family.”

What are your plans for the future of your business?

My boutique is called “Duftkunsthandlung”, which translates as “Perfume Art Shop” rather than just “Perfumery”. I always try to show my customers the artistic aspects of perfumery and tell them about the brands and perfumers. That means I’m always looking to offer a good range and variety of unknown brands from around the world, and which are not found in the big perfume shops. There are always new and creative perfume artists appearing, and of course we should not forget about the well-established either. I guess this mix of classic style and modern-influence niche perfumery is the foundation of the special selection of fragrances I offer to my customers, and I would like to keep on growing this way.

You can discover more about Duftkunsthandlung by visiting their website or by following them on their Instagram.

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In News

Le Jardin Retrouvé x Jamini Paris

30/10/2023 No Comments

The story of 50 years of female collaboration

When Yuri Gutsatz founded Le Jardin Retrouvé back in 1975, it was in response to the perfume industry becoming both faceless and unaccountable with regards to the perfumers and the ingredients. Yuri wanted to reconnect with the artistry of fragrance, and the only way to do that was to become his own boss. So, the first niche perfume house in the world was born. Alongside Yuri, every step of the way, was his wife Arlette. Her passion was to become fabric and design, and moving to India with Yuri in 1956 was where it truly took hold. However, could the family’s return to France in 1963, after a successful 7 year stay, mark the end of Arlette’s fascination with fabric?

Of course not. Arlette couldn’t bring herself to cut ties with her friends, and so started importing evocative Indian fabrics for fashion houses such as Chantal Thomass, Cacharel, Renoma, Hémisphères, and Le Printemps. It was also at this time that Le Jardin Retrouvé was founded and, while fragrance took centre stage, perfumable products such as towels, pillowcases, and a revolutionary travel bag, also regularly featured in their customers’ baskets. So, when Clara Feder, the new creative director of Le Jardin Retrouvé and wife of Yuri’s son Michel, found the prototype of the 1975 Pochon du Voyage, she knew instantly it had to be revived.

The original relaunch of Le Pochon du Voyage was an incredible success, and so Clara started to wonder how she could improve on the original concept of a quilted, fully-lined, drawstring bag that had 5 secret inside pockets? The answer was to collaborate with another female-led company and, in the spirit of Arlette, create a series of limited-edition pouches that featured fabric imported from India. Clara chose Jamini Paris, a Franco-Indian lifestyle and interior design house, and the power of the female influence across a 50-year span can be felt in every stitch. But who is Jamini Paris?

The skills and techniques that Jamini Paris use in the creation of their fabrics, and then their outstanding range of linens, decorative objects and fashion accessories, is centered around preserving and honoring age-old Indian traditions. Usha Bora, the founder, grew up in Assam, and so has a deep connection to the people of the area. It’s this that drives her to preserve the art of textile weaving and woodblock printing, and truly sets her designs apart from everyone else. In Usha’s words, “Jamini is the desire to combine the elegance of Indian tradition with French chic, so that both cultures can live in harmony.”

The Limited Edition Pochon du Voyage truly is a blend of two worlds, a mix of cultures, and celebrates the union of three women across 50 years. From Arlette to Clara to Usha, it’s time for you to become the next stitch in the story of Le Jardin Retrouvé.

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In wellbeing

The Wellbeing Edit

07/10/2023 No Comments

We often talk about wellbeing at Le Jardin Retrouvé, and that’s because it’s a subject that is very important to both you and us. Whether it’s relaxing, focusing, or finding the inspiration to make choices, harnessing these emotions and feelings can help to free you for the days and weeks ahead. To help you start your journey into the world of scented support, we’ve carefully selected three of our products that we think everyone should experience.

L’Oracle du Jardin

Everybody needs a little help now and again, because life can be complicated, but the strength you need is often already inside you. The question is how to unlock it. Clara Feder, our Creative Director, has the answer. She’s created a series of 24 beautiful positive energies only cards that can help empower you to make personal and professional decisions by focusing on your inner energy. Remember, perfume is about emotions, and our Oracle Cards are waiting to tap into yours.

Shop Now (22 €)

The Pillow Mist

In France we have a famous saying, “the night brings advice”, and so our Pillow Mists were literally born in our dreams. They’re designed to give you scented encouragement to face a new day feeling renewed, and can actually be used on all fabrics. So, as well as spraying your bed linen, you can also spritz your coat, your scarf, even the inside of your car. Fragrance should be enjoyed, and our Pillow Mists give you the chance to be extravagant without breaking the bank.

Shop our Pillow Mists (48 €)

The Scented Stem diffuser

We all want to be surrounded by a comforting and familiar scent, and this is where our revolutionary Scented Stem diffuser truly comes into its own (5 fragrances available).

It’s made of reusable porous Limoges porcelain, replacing the usual reeds, and we use a slow-evaporation oil instead of alcohol. What does this mean? It means you get at least three months of scent! And, once it’s finished, you can simply order a fragrance refill… so it’s great for the planet as well as being great for you.

Shop our Scented Stem (100 €)

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