Esxence 2026 was a hazy memory as the taxi dropped me at my doorstep back in Paris. Thanks to the hundreds of sprayed blotter cards tucked into a notebook in my handbag, I’m sure I left a fragrant sillage behind me as I alighted to the sweet and natural smell of linden trees in bloom wafting over from the Champs de Mars. Oh yes, it is June now, and that delicious, unmistakable scent of the blossoming trees welcomed me home.

It had been a whirlwind: from heatwave to Biblical deluge, from quiet conversations to pulsating perfume stands, from humble perfumers to ostentatious influencers, there’s something for everyone at Esxence.

This year I was tasked with managing six workshops so my time to visit booths was limited. Consequently, I called on a few friends and colleagues to be my “army of noses in the field”, and they have kindly reported back with their picks for the “best in show”.

Scentsational

Glenn Davis aka @Mrcologne76 called out Regalien’s Agora: Golden Horn by perfumer Honorine Blanc. This scent is described as a rich spicy explosion of saffron and black pepper inspired by the moment the sun sets on the Bosphorus.

Although launched in 2024, he also was impressed by My Clementine by Aphorismes by Dominique Ropion, a vivid citrus scent appreciated for its sparkling effervescent quality as well as its tenacity.

Young fragrance enthusiast and brand agent @ZaScentist spoke highly of the Bangladeshi brand Shekor’s Ashar. “A breathtaking and challenging interpretation of Lily of the Valley, done right. The opening feels like the first ray of sunlight after the monsoon. The citrus notes gradually fade into a gigantic yet delicate lily-of-the-valley accord, accented by green tea facets. It dries down into an animalic chypre base, an obvious testament to Sultan Pasha’s love for classical perfumery.”

He also raved about Rubini’s L’Eau Très Mer. “A beautiful take on the aquatic genre: a contemplative gaze across the ocean before diving back into its depths. Salt, pipe tobacco, and rum are softly woven together with an uncanny wetsuit accord. I’m genuinely excited by the direction Rubini is taking, and by the future releases I had the chance to smell. Cristiano Canali is a genius.”

New Discoveries

Brooke Belldon, founder and director of Sainte Cellier was equally enthusiastic about the new launch from Rubini. She also remarked, “Esxence wouldn’t be Esxence for me without making some new discoveries. A real highlight was Créateur Olfactif from Geneva, who debuted their first perfume collection at Esxence. Storytelling is a word we often hear thrown around, but when done well, it truly works. The brand’s founder and perfumer, Mustafa Moneir, has created a remarkably assured aesthetic language, translating history and personal experience into a very accomplished collection of scents. I am very excited by what he’s created.”

Brooke had been one of my panelists on the Slow Perfumery workshop*. We made time to visit a few booths together including DanLo, a Taiwanese brand who’s Grounded Hills was an Art and Olfaction Award finalist. In this fragrance, notes of tea, toasted rice and nuts nurture and soothe, leaving the sensation of being transported to a mountain aerie. Brooke commented that she is very interested in the perfumery coming out of East Asia at this moment. “DanLo’s five perfumes, composed by Taiwanese perfumer Kaiwei, translate local flavours, treats and everyday rituals into scent with real charm and precision. These are very confident perfumes, elevating the gourmand category without chasing pre-existing trends.”

I was pleased to hear that another one of her top picks was a brand I introduced her to, and one that had participated on my Vintage fragrance panel**: Farina 1709. “I love that Louise Farina, ninth generation from the original perfumer, Johann Maria Farina, has approached the rejuvenation of the brand with such energy. The perfumes retain that feeling of deep classicism, translated in a way that feels seamless for modern fragrance lovers. The impressionistic Neroli après la pluie and the joyful Mandarine Bonheur were standouts for me.” I had been at the launch event for the new extrait collection (more on that in a future article), and am also a big fan of Mandarine Bonheur, a fragrance that is pure happiness in a bottle.

A Fresh Approach

Staying in the fresh category, shall we talk about Let’s Pretend from Etat Libre d’Orange? Brand founder Etienne de Swardt told me the name came from an interview with actor Alec Guinness in which he likened his profession to pretending. I quite enjoyed this feel-good fragrance which evolves over time, revealing delicate peach notes in the heart. Independent critic and Esxence panelist Persolaise praised the new release, commenting in a video that, “it’s a lighter composition, but it’s more than merely pleasant. There’s a mandarin type of freshness but you also get a feeling of heavier notes, like the saffron, but they have been lightened up. I am taken with it, I think it’s intriguing.” After 20 years, Etat Libre d’Orange, he observes, is still able to straddle a fine line wherein “artistic achievement and artistic cleverness doesn’t have to be exclusive to commercialism.”

I am also not alone in my appreciation for the new Jacques Fath fragrance, Le 12 Victor Hugo, which takes its name from the Maison’s boutique address. Creative Director Rania Naim and Master Perfumer Jean-Christophe Hérault have paired up again on this aromatic, leathery composition in which smoky lavender and warm Tonka Bean play starring roles. The opening, graced by Bergamot, is fresh and luminous while Birch Tar provides a smoky, sensuous finish. Several Fragrantica contributors including Sophie Normand and Elena Prokofeva were equally taken with this new release.

A Standout Scent

There was one fragrance that almost everyone on my team of sniffers lauded, and it’s one I never got to smell: Neela Vermeire Creations Neith. Funny, Neela participated on my Slow Perfumery panel, but she never mentioned the fragrance to me. After Esxence I asked her about it and she said, true to the process of slow perfumery, she wasn’t sure it would be ready to show!

A quick scroll through Fragrantica shows that many of the writers were also smitten with this new scent. Alena Lavault called it “a very powerful olfactory statement that you admire with fascination, like a work of art.” Persolaise told me it was a standout for him and he even made a post-Esxence video about the fragrance in which he stated “This is dark, mysterious, intriguing, perhaps even forbidding. You feel trapped by the opening of this perfume. This is an extrait de parfum and as it develops it brings you out of the darkness, and it becomes softer and gentler. The myrrh notes becomes sort of powdery and balsamic, and it actually ends up being quite heartbreaking. This is a long game type perfume, one to spray and allow to develop over time before evaluated.”

@ZaScentist gave me a very visual description. “To me, Neith is the image of rays of light piercing through dark clouds. It begins in shadow and gradually reveals its brightness, like a Caravaggio painting emerging from darkness, or flowers blossoming after a long winter. There is a sense of revelation throughout the composition, a movement from obscurity to radiance that feels both deeply personal and profoundly beautiful.”

I’ll definitely be making a short pilgrimage to Neela’s boutique to experience her latest for myself!

The Risk-Taker

Since returning from Esxence I’ve seen plenty of comments decrying the lack of olfactive diversity or artisan perfumery seen at the show. All the more reason to highlight a true original who isn’t afraid to take creative risks: Christopher Chong.

Here is a Creative Director who doesn’t shy away from provoking, from challenging, from destabilizing and shaking up the status quo. In his latest undertaking he is working for Italian fragrance brand Casati which is inspired by the Marchesa Luisa Casati, an eccentric character known as much for her kohl-rimmed eyes as her collection of exotic pets. Christopher spoke with admiration about the brand’s muse: “What makes her endlessly compelling to me is not only her theatricality, but her willingness to become unforgettable at any cost. She cultivated mystery obsessively, understanding that allure often lives inside contradiction and excess rather than perfection or restraint. There was always something spectral, melancholic, almost haunted about her glamour - and that emotional ambiguity is what gave it permanence.”

The new scent, Primo Piano, is the product of Christopher’s association with perfumer Karine Vinchon Spehner, someone he has known for nearly 20 years. Categorized as an Oriental Floral, I was intrigued by the Poison Accord among the top notes. I asked Christopher for more details. “The poison accord is a mix of acidic green notes, such as galbanum and zest bitter grapefruit accord. It’s Karine’s secret and this is all she will disclose.”

Indeed the scent is intoxicating with Grasse tuberose and Ylang Ylang in the heart. This is not a fragrance for wallflowers but rather a confident individual who is ready to move away from the glut of gourmands, to go forth and be different. Is it a risky fragrance?

I wonder if the people calling for unique creations had a chance to smell this one?

The Bounty of Brands

While making the rounds I received very positive feedback from several brands. The team at Free Yourself, Jeff Miller and Todd Thurman commented, “Milan has a way of putting craft, conversation, and global perfume culture in the same room.” Likewise, Emre Akat of Vertus remarked on the value of this show for his brand’s future. “For us, Esxence was not only a trade fair. It was a stage to express the evolution of Vertus: deeper, clearer and more connected to the identity we are building.”

During the preparation for our panel discussion Brooke said to me “I feel there’s a lot of perfume but less perfumery.” I do feel it’s true, but I also feel there are true gems out there, still to be discovered. Esxence welcomed over 400 brands this year – many more than humanly possible to see and evaluate in a four day period. How many booths did you visit? How many brands would you still like to test? It’s a never ending journey of experimentation, but isn’t that part of what we love about our industry? We see scents coming from new lands, we see new ingredients, we see a new audience that’s growing and that’s more sophisticated, more educated and more demanding than ever before. Of course there will be brands who copy others but there will also be those with integrity and true vision who will rise above the common to put forth an olfactory creation that makes us stand up and take notice.

Let’s see who rises to the occasion when we meet in Milan in February 2027.

See all the workshops on the official Esxence YouTube channel!

https://www.youtube.com/@esxenceofficial

Here are the links to those mentioned in the article:

*Slow Perfumery Panel Discussion: Click here to view in replay

Beyond the Launch Frenzy: The Emergence of Slow Perfumery

**Gen Z & their love for Vintage Brands: Click here to view in replay

The New Vintage Movement: When Genz Z Rediscovers Heritage Brands