Molinard

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History of the house

Molinard describes itself as an independent, family-run house now in its fifth generation. Its story begins in 1849, when Hyacinthe Molinard opened a shop selling eaux de toilette and apothecary elixirs in the heart of Grasse (France). In 1900 Albert Sittler partnered with him and moved the business into the Bastide Molinard, and the same family has led the house ever since: Albert Sittler, Henri Bénard, Pierre Lerouge-Bénard, Jean-Pierre Lerouge-Bénard and today Célia Lerouge-Bénard.

The early business sold distilled floral waters (rose, orange blossom, lavender) to the British and Russian aristocracy visiting the French Riviera. Queen Victoria became a regular client during her stays on the Riviera in the 1880s and 1890s, and the British royal endorsement helped Molinard reach European high society.

In 1921, Molinard released Habanita, originally a fragrance designed to scent cigarettes before being repositioned as a personal perfume. The composition combined galbanum, lavender, heliotrope, jasmine, rose, patchouli, vetiver, opoponax, amber and vanilla. Habanita predated Guerlain's Shalimar (1925) by four years and is one of the earliest mainstream oriental perfumes marketed to women. The bottle was designed by René Lalique and features four nude bathers in low relief. Habanita has remained in continuous production since 1921, a rare feat in French perfumery.

The historic Bastide Molinard at 60 Boulevard Victor Hugo in Grasse is open to the public year-round and operates as a working perfume museum. Visitors can see the nineteenth-century distillation copper stills, the original Lalique Habanita bottles, and take part in the paid "Create Your Own Perfume" workshop. Molinard helped popularize this customer experience format in the early 2000s.

The house sells through its own boutiques in Grasse, Cannes, Nice and Paris, through its official website and through a network of specialist retailers.

Today the house sorts its personal fragrances into several lines around the Habanita pillar, the Collection Icônes, the Collection Matières, the Collection Personnelle and the Collection Privée, which work as catalog groupings rather than distinct editorial ranges.

Notable perfumes

The Molinard catalog covers 175 years of Grasse perfumery. The selection below pulls out the historic milestones and the contemporary compositions most representative of the house. Older compositions follow the pre-1950 Grasse convention of not crediting the in-house perfumer by name.

Olfactory signature

Molinard runs two parallel olfactory tracks. The first, inherited from the Grasse tradition, focuses on pure floral soliflores distilled on site: rose, orange blossom, lavender, jasmine. The second track, opened by Habanita in 1921, deploys an amber tobacco-vanilla register that was revolutionary at launch.

Habanita is the clearest reference point. The 1921 composition has been reformulated several times to comply with successive IFRA standards, particularly on coumarin and oakmoss limits, but retains its galbanum-jasmine-vanilla spine. The fragrance stands as an early example of the modern oriental category, alongside Guerlain's Shalimar and Caron's Tabac Blond from the same era.

Three traits define the house:

• Continuous family ownership, five generations of the same family since 1900, in a house that has stayed independent.
• Grasse-anchored sourcing, on-site distillation and direct access to centifolia rose, jasmine grandiflorum and Provence lavender fields.
• Dual register, heritage signature scents alongside accessible soliflore colognes and the customer-facing workshop business at the manufacture-museum.

Key characteristics

Frequently asked questions

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