A history of female perfumers

As the world celebrates the International Day of Women & Girls in Science on February 11th, we’re taking this opportunity to celebrate some of the most successful female perfumers throughout history.

Germaine Cellier

Germaine Cellier (1909-1976) created her first fragrances around the end of World War II and wanted to produce vibrant and youthful aromas. Bandit, released in 1944, had a leathery scent thanks to the inclusion of 1% isobutyl quinoline.

In Vent Vert, her bold use of fragrance ingredients continued with a lavish 8% bitter galbanum, and Cellier’s fingerprints can be seen to this day in aroma categories including verdant florals and green leathers.

Josephine Catapano

Josephine Catapano (1918-2012) is considered one of America’s first significant female perfumers. Interestingly, she is not associated with just one brand, but with many, and is credited with creating Youth Dew for Estee Lauder, Fidji for Guy Laroche and Norell for Norell.

Catapano was honoured several times during her career, with accolades that included the 1980 Cosmetic Career Women’s Award and a 1993 Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society of Perfumers.

Today’s perfumers

Ruth Mastenbroek

Ruth Mastenbroek is a multinational success story in perfume, with childhood years spent in England and the US, a university education in Chemistry at Oxford and classical perfume training in the Grasse region of France.

She later worked at Naarden International in the UK and Netherlands – now a part of the perfume giant Givaudan – before in 2003 she both launched her own company, Fragosmic Ltd, and also became president of the British Society of Perfumers.

Patricia de Nicolai

Patricia de Nicolai is one of the great success stories of recent decades. Her great-grandfather, Pierre Guerlain, established the family perfume dynasty in the mid-19th century. The Guerlain brand becomes the official supplier of European courts.

In the late 1980s de Nicolai established her own line of perfumes with her husband Jean-Louis Michau. Awards followed – first the Prix International du jeune Parfumeur Createur from the Société Française des Parfumeurs in 1988, and then the Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur making de Nicolai a knight in 2008.

Sarah McCartney

Sarah McCartney started her career in marketing. Over the course of 14 years as head writer at Lush, she read more than 200 books about aroma ingredients such as essential oils. During that period, Lush grew from four shops to over 700.

In 2011, McCartney launched 4160Tuesdays, originally as a project to produce real-world versions of perfumes she had ‘created’ in her contemporary fiction novel: The Scent of Possibility. Now the London-based artisan perfumery produces short runs of 50-200 bottles of an ever-changing collection of signature scents.

Zanos supplies quality essential oils and aroma chemicals to registered manufacturers. We are happy to help you find what you are looking for. Email webenquiries@zanos.co.uk or speak to our Sales Specialists on 01565 755899.