Bastille Parfums was founded at the beginning of 2020 by a young Parisian named Marie-Hortense Varin. She was inspired to start her own fragrance house when she noticed make-up and skincare brands were doing something perfumery was not. The years leading up to 2020 saw a surge in beauty consumers who used the internet to educate themselves on the formulations of their products. They wanted to know how their purchases could affect them personally and the environment at large; and skincare and makeup brands began to disclose their ingredient lists more readily to meet these new, more exacting demands of their clientele.
Perfumery, however, seemed unaffected by this shift, and in many ways it still is. Most perfume houses safeguard the specifics of their formulations, sharing only a cursory scent profile so that buyers have an idea of what the perfume smells like. Of course, it makes sense why luxury fragrance houses have constructed an air of mystery and secrecy around themselves – high-end perfumery is, after all, an art form, with each scent the result of rigorous craftsmanship from an expertly trained nose.
