The vegetable garden isn t the usual source of inspiration when it comes to perfume but for Ramdane Touhami and Victoire de Taillac the intensely creative husband and...
Photography courtesy of L’Officine Universelle Buly.
...wife duo behind Paris based beauty brand L’Officine Universelle Buly humble vegetables from beetroots to sweet potatoes are central to Les Jardin Francais a new collection of six fragrances and body products
Inspired in part by the plant hunters of the 18th and 19th century and fueled by their own vegetable garden at Victoire’s family property in southwest France, the collection transforms familiar vegetables into otherworldly scents.
Victoire at her family’s chateau in the Gers, in the southwest of France.
Victoire meanwhile worked for the cult boutique Colette before the couple later joined forces first to create the niche perfume consultancy Parfumerie Générale and then later to reinvent Buly whose stores...
...are a 19th century inspired treasure trove of potions and beauty essentials including water based scents in porcelain bottles exquisite lip balms in octagonal monogrammed cases and scented candles in marble jars
Victoire harvesting in her vegetable garden. Her wake-up call to the potential of using vegetables as the inspiration for a collection of scents was her own potager at her family home in Gascony, in southwest France.
Fruit and vegetables wait to be prepared in the chateau’s exquisite tiled kitchen. Ramdane had been thinking about doing vegetable-inspired fragrances for a while, says Victoire, but the catalyst was a 19th-century collection of seeds that a dealer friend in Paris found for them.
The beautifully packaged fragrances, body milk, and body oil of the Les Jardins Francais collection.
Victoire walks back to the house with her harvest. The sweeter scents include the earthy and tangy Iraqi Beetroot and Egyptian Rhubarb; uplifting and fruity Scandinavian Redcurrant and Peruvian Tomato; and the gourmand Caribbean Sweet Potato and Afghan Carrot that combines spices and vetiver.
Like many of the area’s grand and ancient properties, the chateau is not overly landscaped, making the most of the sweeping countryside views. Victoire has been visiting the house for family vacations since she was a small child.
The Gers is not only an incredibly convivial region, but it is centered around food and local produce and people are passionate about growing seasonally and in tune with the land.
More old roses clamber up the facade of the stone house.