Women who have made history in perfumery

In commemoration of International Women’s Day, we would like to introduce you to the great women perfumers who marked a before and after in the history of perfumery.

To talk about the first woman perfumer in history, we go back to 1200 BC in Babylon. She was Taputti-Belatekallim, a palace counsellor who ran the cosmetics laboratory of the Royal Palace. The surviving records state that Taputti invented her own stills and developed distillation techniques. He collected plants, fruits and flowers from which he made mixtures. In this way, Taputti created the first perfume in history.

This time, we are talking about Gabrielle Chanel, better known as Coco Chanel. We are now in Saumur in 1883, the place and date of birth of this pioneering woman who broke with the dictates of her time and contributed to changing the history of women. Although she was not the creator of her fragrances, it is true that she guided perfumer Ernest Beaux in the creation of the world’s most legendary fragrance, Chanel No. 5. She was also the first woman to put her name to a perfume.

We now move to Bordeaux in 1909 to talk about Germaine Cellier, a perfumer and author of legendary scents such as Vent Vert, Bandit or de Fracas. Germaine is considered an innovative woman who worked in the perfumery industry after the Second World War. This was a time when the industry was only open to men. Officially, Germaine is included in the list of the best perfumers in history.

Finally, we talk about Carolina Herrera, born in Caracas in 1939. Although her name resonates on the catwalks as a historical milestone in fashion, Carolina also made her debut in the perfume industry, becoming an iconic woman in the sector. In 1988 she launched her first perfume “Carolina Herrera”.

On 8 March, International Women’s Day, we cannot forget all the women whose lifestyle, work and vision of the world have marked the course of history up to the present day. Happy day to all of them.