by Alice-Claudia Gherman, photo: archive Jul et Mad și Facebook archive Mădălina Stoica-Blanchard


What niche perfume do you choose? One that evokes memories from your childhood or the memory(memories) of your first love. One that carries the scent of the lime-tree alleys you once wandered, or the soft perfume of acacia blossoms from your grandparents’ garden. Or maybe you’re drawn to a bold fragrance — one that reflects the strength of your character. Regardless of what you choose, when you say niche perfume, you mean a unique perfume, just as unique as you are. And say something else!(You want to make a statement). That you don't let yourself be influenced by trends, by the opinions of others because you have found your own path. Just as the "Jul et Mad Paris" perfumes found their own path in the universe full of subtle aromas of international perfumery.


A perfume born of love


Why "Jul et Mad Paris"? Because the story behind this brand is an extremely interesting one - especially for us, Romanians - as are the perfumes created under this name.

"Jul et Mad Paris" was born out of love. It all happened right in Paris, around 2004 (as if fate could arrange things differently!). There, the Romanian Mădălina Stoica met the love of her life - Julien Blanchard. She was a young woman who had graduated from the "Cosmetics and Fragrances Marketing & Management" program (a program that trains specialists in the field of perfumes and which has among its graduates famous names such as Calvin Klein or Carolina Herrera), at the Fashion Institute of Technology at the State University of New York.

He was a young neurobiologist, entrepreneur and founder of various companies. Over time, their beautiful love story turned into something extremely serious in terms of both their personal and professional lives. These were the beginnings of “Jul et Mad Paris”, a name, that is actually an abbreviation of “Julien and Mădălina... Paris” and which indicates the involvement of Julien and Mădălina Stoica-Blanchard in the wonderful art and industry of perfumery.


“Jul et Mad Paris” - beginnings


The first perfume created under the brand “Jul et Mad Paris” (a brand born and invented in Paris) was called “Stilettos on Lex”, and was inspired by New York, the city that opened Mădălina’s appetite for the perfume industry, when she was a student and worked as a freelancer for Barney’s. Although the perfumes of the house Jul et Mad Paris are created by professional perfumers, not by Mădălina or Julien Blanchard, who oversee the business side. The creative process is deeply collaborative. The brand works with renowned perfumers such as Luca Maffei, Dorothée Piot, Cécile Zarokian, Stéphanie Bakouche, Sidonie Lancesseur, among others, and the Blanchards give them full creative freedom and the necessary budget to craft their olfactory masterpieces. Nevertheless, the final decision on whether a perfume is launched always rests with Mădălina and Julien Blanchard.


"Stilettos on Lex", which would translate as "High Heels on Lex" (a reference to Lexington Avenue - a famous boulevard in New York - editor's note), immediately sparked the interest of a public seeking unique, high-quality perfumes. "Stilettos on lex" is a perfume dedicated to feminine elegance, which is infused with timeless floral notes. Since its launch, this perfume has inspired an entire collection added over time under the Jul et Mad Paris umbrella.

The “Les Classiquies” Collection - from “Terrasse à St-Germain” to “Histoire d’Amour 2.0”

And, if New York was the city that inspired the first perfume, it was the “City of Lights and Love” that brought them international recognition, inspiring Mădălina Stoica and her husband Julien Blanchard to create the “Terrasse à St-Germain” perfume, a perfume that perfectly reflects the idea of ​​a Parisian “Coup de foudre” or “Love at first sight”, the otherwise real story experienced by Mădălina in Paris, together with Julien Blanchard on the terrace of a café.

“Terrasse à St-Germain” inscribed the “Jul et Mad Paris” brand in the starry sky of excellence in world perfumery and brought it the prestigious FiFi Awards 2022, in the Indie Fragrance of the Year category, awarded by the Fragrance Foundation in New York. Nicknamed the “Oscars of the perfume industry”, these awards have been a recognition of the quality and uniqueness of the work of those working in the perfume industry since 1973.

But “Stilettos on Lex” and “Terrasse à St-Germain” were just two of the perfumes in the collection called “Les Classiquies”, followed by “Amour de Palazzo”, “Aqua Sextius”, “Secrets du Paradis Rouge”, “Stairway to Heaven”. The most recent addition to the collection is “Histoire d’Amour 2.0”.


Each perfume in the collection continued to tell the love story of the couple Juliet and Mădălina Blachard, practically “Les Classiquies” represents a kind of feuilleton written not with ink or toner, but with perfume notes from the “Jul et Mad Paris” brand. The latest perfume “Histoire d’Amour 2.0” is intended to be an ode to unconditional and long-lasting love, an ode in accords of Oud wood, notes of amber, musk and powder.

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Between "Les "White" and "Les Essentiels"


If "Les Classiquies" was inspired by the real story of the Mădălina Stoica-Juliet Blanchard cup, the next collection "Les «White»" represents a portrait of the founders of the "Jul et Mad Paris" brand which, through perfumes ("NEA", "NIN-SHAR", "GARUDA", "FUGIT AMOR" or "CALISTO", the last in the range) speaks of their passion for art, history, travel and exceptional scents that take you through history and among different works of art, from the Hanging Gardens of Semiramis to the palaces of Byzantium, and from the Hindu temples of Angkor Wat in the middle of the Cambodian jungle to the palaces of ladies from the Middle Ages. By the way! The name of the "Les «White»" collection also comes from the family name of the owners of "Jul et Mad Paris" - Blanchard. "Blanche" means "white", and friends call the two "The Whites" or "Les «White»". In other words, the Blanchards tell the world about themselves through their perfumes.


In addition to that, the perfume "NÉA" added yet another jewel to the diadem of the "Jul et Mad Paris" house by winning, in 2016,  the "First Prize for Excellence in Perfumery" awarded by the Institute of Art and Olfaction in Los Angeles.


The last collection, but by no means the least- "Les Essentiels", launched in 2022 - offers lovers of rare perfumes, a collection of perfumes through which Julien and Mădălina seek to revisit the origins of niche perfumery and fundamental ingredients of their house's perfumes. Perfumer Luca Maffei worked on "Les Essentiels" by creating six perfumes and an "aroma enhancer" called "Revelo". This is how "Cédrat Gingembre", "Bergamote Twist", "Lys Nobilis", "Noisette Iris", "Ganja Oud" and "Vétiver Cuir" were born. The story of the house ‘Jul et Mad Paris’ continues and, who knows, what new fragrant tales the owners’ recent trip to the Far East will inspire.

”Our fragrances speak to our customers.” 

Photo Mădălina Stoica-Blanchard

The CEO and co-founder of Jul et Mad, Ms. Mădălina Stoica-Blanchard, although on a tour of Southeast Asia, was kind enough to answer a few simple questions about the famous perfume brand she co-created.

You are awarded the Fifi Awards, presented by the Fragrance Foundation in New York, you are a niche brand, but one with world fame, what makes you so unique? What is the ingredient of your success?


I could not point out a particular „ingredient” for success. It is, I think, a combination of factors; like having a solid professional background and experience in the field, staying true to your beliefs, having a long-term strategy and following it no matter what, being genuine, and accepting no compromises when it comes to the making of the final product we offer. And being an independent business, we have the total freedom to do so, without any financial or creative constrains.


We also strive to be real ambassadors of the authentic French traditional perfumery, while bringing innovation to the industry. For instance, one of our best-sellers, NÉA, the winner of the Art and Olfaction Awards in 2016 in Los Angeles, introduced to the industry a new category of gourmand fragrances. Another example is REVELO, a perfume base and amplifier, unique on the market, that stabilizes, amplifies and sublimates one’s favorite perfume.  It can also be used alone, as it is a beautiful, very clean and subtle musk-accord.

 

Why do people buy a Jul et Mad perfume over another luxury perfume brand?


Our fragrances speak to our customers. Every creation has a real-life story behind it, which makes it very easy for people to identify with. 


Another aspect that makes us different from the other competitors, besides the fact that we are never following marketing trends, is that we are real people behind real stories, which inspire each creation... We NEVER buy a formula from a catalog, we are real creators. This characteristic is also observed in the presentation of our fragrances, every detail of the packaging being conceived and designed by Julien and I, also in line with the love story and the couple.

 

What do Jul et Mad perfumes contain that is different from other perfumes similar in prestige and niche?


Besides the fact that we always strive to bring novelty and originality to the market, we always offer the best: the fragrance ingredients, the quality and originality of the scents, their concentration, the presentation. Also, we innovate in terms of formulations, using new ingredients to the market. For example, Stairway to Heaven, our worldwide Best-Seller, contains a molecule that smells like gun powder, called Dynamone; which, in this fragrance, reproduces the scent of mountain rocks covered by snow.