Mathieu Nardin | Perfumer

A Grasse material heritage, explored from a fresh angle

Mathieu Nardin was born in Grasse and developed an early connection with the natural materials at the heart of the region’s fragrance industry. His professional education continued through work at Robertet and Mane.

His approach combines respect for an ingredient with an interest in revealing a less familiar side of it. Osmanthus Absolu for Essential Parfums explores the flower’s fruity and leathery facets alongside the smoky character of black tea.

For a 2026 conversation with Essential Parfums, Nardin chose the François-Tillequin Museum at Paris’s Faculty of Pharmacy, surrounded by preserved roots, seeds, flowers, bark and resins. The setting reflects his continuing curiosity about the natural world and its material history. His practice connects that close attention to ingredients with contemporary composition, finding a way for a familiar raw material to become the centre of a distinct fragrance idea.