How five perfumes from a so-called “tourist house” reminded me that craftsmanship doesn’t need a Michelin star price tag.
You can eat steak frites anywhere in Paris. It’s the city’s shorthand for comfort, tradition, and simple pleasure. But Café du Commerce serves it just right, the steak deeply seared with that smoky kiss of charcoal, the fries crisp, golden, and salted like someone actually cares. It’s not expensive, not showy. But it’s the place I return to, because every time, it’s exactly as it should be. Classic. Done well.
The other night, I had dinner at Lasserre. A white tablecloth, Michelin-rated, courtyard-roof-opens type of restaurant. The meal was exquisite. And yet? I felt the same joy I did at Café du Commerce.
That’s the lens through which I want to talk about Fragonard. For too long, it’s been dismissed as a “tourist perfumer,” the duty-free flacon you grab on your way out of Nice. But that’s a mistake. If you think craftsmanship can only be found at a three-figure price point, you’re missing what matters.
A Grasse-Born Institution
Fragonard was founded in 1926 in Grasse, the historic cradle of perfumery, by Eugène Fuchs. Named after Jean-Honoré Fragonard, the Rococo painter known for softness and sensuality, the brand still bottles its perfumes in the South of France today. Fragonard is family-owned and proudly so, now run by the great-granddaughters of the founder, preserving the same ethos across nearly a century.
Their production is vertically integrated. They own and operate their factories. They run museums. They compound, bottle, and label their own perfumes. And they sell a lot, €62 million in annual revenue and a reported €11 million in profit, all without investors or private equity fingerprints.
It’s honest, domestic perfume. Made with care, not campaigns.
What the Critics Miss
Luca Turin, who has rarely been accused of being sentimental, gave Fragonard’s L’Aventurier four stars, calling it a “modern masculine without a woody amber.” His point? It’s possible to create something refined, creative, and grounded in real skill without chasing the niche hype machine. Not every good perfume has to be elusive or expensive.
Fragonard is not a laboratory brand or a “cool girl” startup backed by seed funding. It is, like Café du Commerce, about execution. About consistency. About not disappointing.
My Five from France
I visited the Fragonard boutique in Eze, France not intending to buy anything, and left with five bottles. Each one delivers something different, light, pretty, wearable. None cost more than a weekday lunch in a fancy arrondissement. And yet they’ve all earned a place on my shelf, right next to my Chanels, Les Indemodables and Ormonde Jaynes.
Étoile
Fresh Floral Woody
Étoile opens like a chilled summer cocktail, with the zest of bergamot, a slice of apple, and a bite of ginger. But this isn’t just refreshing, it’s romantic. The heart blooms with creamy gardenia, lily of the valley, and jasmine, like a linen dress brushing against flowering hedges. The dry down lingers with soft amber and cedarwood, giving just enough structure to feel polished without trying too hard. Light, elegant, and quietly radiant, it’s a fragrance that feels like golden hour in a bottle.
Belle Chérie
Fruity Floral Woody
This feels like a walk through a spring market in Provence, woven with the shimmer of ripe fruit and white blossoms. You get a pop of tangerine and the crystalline sweetness of starfruit up top, quickly softened by jasmine, heliotrope, and lily of the valley. The base is warm and slightly nostalgic, sandalwood, tonka, and a soft touch of vanilla. It doesn’t try to shock or reinvent the wheel. It simply charms you. The kind of perfume that lingers on a cotton scarf and makes someone say, “You smell happy.”
Jasmin Perle de Thé
Green Floral Tea
This is jasmine with a breeze running through it. Clean, luminous, and refreshing, like sipping hot green tea in a sun-dappled Andalusian courtyard. The jasmine here isn’t the sticky, night-blooming kind. It’s airy, almost sheer, softened by the vegetal snap of green tea. It wears like silk organza, quiet but memorable. And like all Fragonard sprays, the golden aluminum bottle makes it feel like a secret treasure you toss into your tote, never worrying about sun or heat.
Héliotrope Gingembre
Soft Oriental Floral
This one’s a slow burn. It opens with the shimmer of fresh ginger, but never veers into sharpness. Instead, it warms into a plush heliotrope heart that’s powdery, almondy, and gently sweet. It smells like sun hitting silk, soft, spicy, and quietly hypnotic. The inspiration from Mughal gardens comes through in the mood: rich, serene, a little exotic.
Fragonard
Floral Woody Gourmand
This newest version feels like walking through a spring garden at golden hour. It opens with luminous notes of jasmine and orange blossom, moves through sunlit hyacinths and lily of the valley, and lands softly on cedarwood. It’s delicate but has presence, like a silk dress with weight. Housed in a golden refillable bottle, it feels more like a keepsake than a trend.
There’s no need to defend loving a good thing. You don’t have to apologize for choosing the café over the tasting menu if the meal fills you up. What matters is integrity. Fragonard offers you something real. Homemade. In-house. Unpretentious. Reliable. And that’s more than I can say for some brands selling steak frites at Michelin prices.
Don’t be fooled by imitators. Judge a perfume by how it’s made, and how it makes you feel.
Have you smelled Fragonard perfumes? What do you think?
Classification
Primary Category: Heritage
Secondary Tags: Family-Owned, Semi-Vertically Integrated, In-House Compounding and Bottling, Grasse-Based, Tourism-Focused, Accessible Luxury, Transparent Production
Leave a Reply