Molinard

Molinard was founded in 1849 in Grasse, France, by Hyacinthe Molinard, who established a small shop selling floral waters and Eaux de Cologne made from local flowers. The house quickly drew elite customers, including Queen Victoria, and expanded with single-flower scents like Jasmin and Rose in 1860, packaged in crystal bottles. In 1900, it built a factory in Grasse designed by Gustave Eiffel, and by 1920 shifted headquarters to Paris while retaining family control across five generations.

Molinard pioneered key innovations under perfumer Henri Bénard, launching Habanita in 1921 as the first feminine oriental fragrance featuring vetiver, originally as scented sachets for smoking women. That same year marked the debut of Concreted, the world's first solid perfume using natural flower waxes. Habanita remains a cornerstone, noted for its tobacco-like profile without actual tobacco, while the 2009 release of 160 commemorated 160 years of history by drawing on emblematic formulas.

Still family-run with no parent company, Molinard upholds Grasse distillation traditions, focusing on deep floral and oriental compositions that reflect its Provence roots and early 20th-century breakthroughs.