All or nothing…. It was always obvious to Caroline Dumur that she would one day become a perfumer. Passion, although the word is not quite strong enough… had always been there but it was perfume more than anything else that she was fascinated by. As vital to her as the air that brings them to life. A very singular path carved out by force of talent and determination.
From the scented memories of maternal and family surroundings, Caroline cultivated her sense of smell. The setting was perfect and full of promise: her grandparents’ farm and garden in Picardy, the atmosphere of Northern France where the smells of flowers, sweet waffles, Maroilles cheese, farm animals and hay were all part of her daily life.
As for perfume, the women around her were enveloped in Houbigant’s mythical Quelques Fleurs and the younger generation with Chanel N°19, Jungle or Montana. To seize the moment and forever remember, she absorbed every one of these olfactive impressions.
Stories were woven around the scents. Through the influence of her parents, both editors, she consulted the biographies of master perfumers, the adventures of olfactive raw material collectors and the history of perfumery going back to Antiquity. From that moment on, no other career was possible other than as a creator of perfumes.
A career counselor showed her the best way to turn this vocation into a career: ISIPCA. High school served as the entry point with a baccalaureate in Laboratory Sciences and Technologies, an Advanced Technician Diploma and then a chemistry degree majoring in fragrance and flavors. Caroline then went to ISIPCA to do a Master’s Degree
For Caroline, fragrance is the accomplishment of an idea. Made from the instinctive association of different materials, each composition carries the imprint of its creator. Her predilection for certain materials serves as her main inspiration, incens rose and aldehyde, for example stimulate her fertile imagination. Caroline Dumur is not afraid of a challenge. From her passage at LMR, she still remembers the warm, freshly distilled materials, something she speaks of with delight. Now armed with experience, the young creator has gained in maturity but remains as dauntless as ever. She does not shy away from excessive, dark and mysterious associations. Like different colors, materials fill her compositions to bring forth emotions and feelings. Fond of quoting Ingres, whom she greatly admires, she loves the way he works with textures, his liberty of style that gives way to the real, the beautiful, it is only a question of interpretation, of doing things your way and using your own perceptions.
