Love has its Perfumes

Everything has started with the magical encounter between two persons on the streets of Paris… An encounter between two cultures, two continents, two passions, two souls… 

• What is your histories and backgrounds?

I like to think myself as a world citizen. I grew-up in Romania in the beautiful Carpathian Mountains region and specific circumstances brought me to New York City when I was still a teenager. Here, I finished my superior studies and entered the beauty industry, reaching high-level management and holding Top Executive positions for most respected companies in the field. After several years down the road, I had the chance to come to Europe to experience and get acquainted with the French industry and its « savoir-faire ». And this is the moment where I’ve unexpectedly met Julien. This “coup de 

foudre” has completely changed my life, as I left Manhattan for Paris and nine months after our first encounter we were married! A new life stage has begun here, and, after few years spent working with two of the most prestigious fragrance companies, I decided that the time was perfect to launch my own, this being something I always wanted. Julien’s portrait and experience are quite different. Parisian-born and travel enthusiast, he was drawn to the scientific field, where he started his professional career as a neuroscientist, specializing in the research on the sensorial mechanisms of the brain. He quits the scientific field after several years in order to dedicate his career to new technologies and communication and founds different communication companies specialized in the scientific field. And, when the JUL ET MAD Paris becomes a reality, he naturally joins this fantastic adventure, as co-founder and co-owner, and dedicates all his time and energy to this fascinating and exciting industry, although new to him. But his passion and curiosity allowed him to fast become a specialist in the field, coupled with his entrepreneurial background, which greatly contributed to the actual success of JUL ET MAD Paris. 

• Had there always been a interest in fragrance or was it something that developed over time?

I was always naturally drawn by the fragrance industry and the magic and mystery behind every olfactory composition. This is the reason why I dedicated my superior studies and my professional career to the beauty industry, without hesitation. During my 15 years as an executive in the industry, I had the unique chance to “experiment” both, fragrances and cosmetics. But I always came back to perfumes, as I understood them better, as I felt a real connection and fulfillment whenever in contact with them. And this is how JUL ET MAD Paris was born… a natural step, allowing me to put forward the best of my acquired knowledge and experience through the years. I am very aware and I actually feel very lucky to have the opportunity of transforming this instinctive passion into my professional career. 

• Are there any scents that last in your memories from your childhood? 

I had the chance to grow up in a very small town surrounded by mountains and magnificent forests. Naturally, in such places we are always surrounded by wonderful and rich scents offered by the splendor of nature, and always changing with every season. I was particularly attracted to the smell of the freshly cut grass in the springtime, the heavenly-smelling hey mixed with dried wild flowers in the summer or the impregnating, addictive fragrance of humid oak leaves in the fall… But, the first actual perfume I fell in love with and, in my opinion not yet matched today, was my great-grandmother’s scent, a 1930s composition with a predominant note of iris, made especially for her by a local « druggist », which she kept and wore all her life… and which I dream recreate one day…

• What is the story of how you both met and the creation of the scent

At some point in my career I had to go to France and, before I realized what’s happening, I fell in love with a young, very handsome Parisian. It was love at first sight at this famous café terrace in St. Germain-des-Près.  This amazing and fortunate encounter completely changed our lives, as only few weeks later I decided to leave everything behind and move to France. The perfume “Terrasse à St-Germain” evokes exactly what we felt at the time, is the essence itself of our “coup de foudre”. And this fragrance is maybe the one that, in our opinion, bears the perfection in its structure, scent and balance of composition. Dorothée Piot has truly understood the « essence » of our love and, with her creative genius and extraordinary talent, she managed to transpose this into a fragrance. And its splendour and perfection was also recognized by the industry, when it was awarded by the Fragrance Foundation in NYC with the FiFi Awards prize for the Indie Category only few month after its launch. 

• How has the theme of love effected or help to craft the brand?

The idea of telling our story through fragrances came very naturally, as the brand JUL ET MAD itself is all about passion and celebration of life. We feel so lucky our two souls succeeded in meeting and recognizing each other, regardless the distance, the culture, the language, and we are amazed to see how our romance gives strength and belief to people around us. Moreover, every time we were asked how we met and after telling our story, the reaction was the same: “This is so beautiful, you should write a book!” So, what better way to tell our story, than by simply replacing the words with fragrant notes? 

• How do your channel your creativity?

Inspiration is all around us! From a walk in a park, to a most romantic city, to a beautiful painting, to the smell of a flower that simply surprises us, to a beautiful encounter, to a specific moment that marked as in a way or another… The choice is infinite!! Whatever the inspiration may be, as JUL ET MAD Paris is deeply attached to the French traditional perfumery era where every perfume was presented as a unique, rare work of art, our goal remains to create a Perfume Collection that will simply last over the years, elegant and extemporal, classic and modern at a time, as Love. Love and its beauty is not a question of fashion or trend, it’s simply ageless. 

• What did you want to bring different to the fragrance world?

There are several points that allow us to distinguish ourselves in today’s Artistic Perfumery Market. One main differentiating point is the JUL ET MAD Paris offer itself, developed in the respect for the French perfume tradition and know-how. No compromise was made in the choice of components, from the packaging to the formulae, which were specifically imagined with one objective: the renewal with the emotional creativity, free and instinctive, valorizing the originality, the inventiveness, and the quality. Another, very important point to be mentioned is the “completeness” of our offer, which clearly differentiates us from our competitors. Every JUL ET MAD Paris luxury case offer includes a perfume bottle which is naturally accompanied by its rechargeable Nomad Spray, which is filled and ready-to-use (and reusable), as we find it normal and essential to be able to have the favorite perfume on hand at all times. And last, but not least, what sets us apart is the concept itself and the beautiful love tale behind the brand, JUL (Julien) and MAD (Madalina) being real people behind real stories. We address our consumer directly, sharing beautiful and precious moments in our lives. Julien and I come from different cultures and backgrounds, and we are lucky to have lived and traveled in many different places, so there are many stories yet to be told. Every special moment, memory or life experience, can easily become an inspiration for a perfume, and we are eager to share as many as possible with our public. In fact, we like to think that our story can be anybody else’s. One can easily recognize himself in every story we tell, as, after all, JUL ET MAD is simply about celebrating people and life.  

• Finally is there anything else that you would like to share.

Definitely, one thing I cannot repeat enough, is to advise the potential clients to really take the time to test a fragrance, especially when searching for a new signature scent. And to always test it on the skin, as every person wears a perfume differently. This is especially true in artistic perfumery, where the concentration of natural raw materials is significantly higher than in mainstream perfumery. And, most important, never let anyone tell you what to wear. Choose a perfume because YOU like it and because it represents you, not because someone else recommends it.

Thank you very much