The scent of memories: French fragrance house Ormaie debuts at Escentials

Straits Times

08-05-2025

PARIS – In 1985, Madam Marie-Lise Jonak, then a 20-year-old model, met a French diver in Paris who worked in Singapore.
He swept her off her feet, and she soon found herself en route to the Republic on her first trip out of France, unable to speak English and filled with uncertainty.
On May 8, as Ormaie – the luxurious line of fragrances that Madam Jonak co-founded with her son Baptiste Bouygues – launches at multi-label beauty retailer Escentials in Singapore, the city takes on an even deeper meaning.
It is a career milestone she could never have imagined as a shy young woman stepping off the plane all those years ago.
Over lunch in March with The Straits Times at a brasserie in Paris' dynamic 9th arrondissement, where Ormaie's atelier is located, Madam Jonak reflects on arriving in Singapore and how the drive and dynamism in the city transformed her.
Now 59, what struck her the most, she said, was seeing 'many powerful women' pursuing interesting careers and supporting their families, something she said was less visible in the France she grew up in.
'By the time I went back to Paris at 28, I had travelled all over Asia, spoke a second language and was so much more secure. I picked up the phone and called the CEO of a company that I wanted to work at, which was not what anyone did back then,' she said, speaking in French-accented English with no trace of the Singaporean lilt she once had.
Her first job back in Paris was in a junior administrative role at the global consumer goods company Colgate-Palmolive.
While supporting various product development teams, she discovered she had an acute sense of smell and asked to transition to become a nose, with none of the usual prerequisites and just the confidence she had gained in Singapore.
She learnt on the job, eventually working on scents for various brands including Guerlain and Nina Ricci, and scaling the heights of her professions, earning FiFis (The Fragrance Foundation Awards) for her creations before starting Ormaie in 2018.
As a family, they lived and breathed fragrances, and for Mr Bouygues, 36, starting a fragrance company was something he was almost sure he would do. He recalled fond childhood memories of staying up late in his mother's laboratory with her colleagues 'because when you create fragrances, you need to try it on people'.
'I was so young and had no hair on my arms, so I was a great human blotter.'
Added Mr Bouygues, who started his career in luxury at Louis Vuitton and Givenchy: 'What's perfect when you work with your mother is that you share the same olfactory memories. I can tell her, 'That smells too much like the soap in grandma's house', and she'll know exactly what I'm talking about.'
At the heart of Ormaie are these personal memories of the founders distilled into 12 gender-free scents, ranging from floral to woody. There are also some that do not fall into clear categories, but have poetic qualities like 'the smell of a French classroom' in Papier Carbone.
The rose-patchouli blend of Yvonne pays tribute to Mr Bouygues' grandmother. Le Passant, a smoky lavender, evokes the longing for his father, who was often away for work. The scent 28° – a composition of jasmine, tuberose and orange blossom – brings to mind the summers in Asia and the South of France. And 18-12, named after Madam Jonak's birthdate, captures youth with a vibrant scent of sweet-smelling roses, almonds and cherries.
With a nostalgic twinkle in her eye, she described the patchouli-scented sarong she once wrapped around her son while living in Pattani, Thailand, now loaded in the candle Sarong.
Ormaie fragrance 18-12, named after founder Marie-Lise Jonak's birthdate, captures youth with a vibrant scent of sweet-smelling roses, almonds and cherries.
PHOTO: ORMAIE
Each fragrance is housed in a bottle that has been faceted 12 times to resemble a sundial, symbolising the long process of perfume creation. The caps have been sculptured from responsibly sourced beech wood in France into mid-century modern shapes, making each bottle exquisite and a work of art.
Its best-selling scent is Tableau Parisien, inspired by the elegant nonchalance of Parisian women and a former girlfriend of Mr Bouygues. 'The first time I met her, she completely ignored me,' he recalled.
Parisian vignettes depicted in the works of French-Swiss film-maker Jean-Luc Godard, American novelist Ernest Hemingway and French poet Charles Baudelaire, just a small part of Mr Bouygues' deep repository of artistic references, also helped him paint this special scent profile of Paris he wanted to portray.
'I translated the essence of it and (my mother) made something exceptional. It has a femininity from the tuberose and spice from cloves and cinnamon – which to me is the nonchalance – and a beautiful tobacco that brings elegance,' said Mr Bouygues.
Ormaie's best-selling scent Tableau Parisien.
PHOTO: ORMAIE
Tableau Parisien is also noteworthy because the founders say that with its special mix of sensual and spicy notes, they have created a unique accord, or a new fragrance profile, that will influence future scents in the industry.
Ormaie's fragrance collection, with prices ranging from $165 to $540, is available at Escentials stores in Paragon and Ion Orchard, as well as on escentials.com
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