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Journal · House · 1 min

Initio, the science of attraction

A Paris house built on an old idea and a modern claim: that fragrance is chemistry between people, and that a perfume can be composed to work on the person standing next to you.

4 September 2026

Initio Parfums Privés takes attraction seriously. The house was founded in Paris on the premise that scent acts on people below the level of thought, and its fragrances are composed with that effect in mind: warm, close to the skin, and built to be noticed by someone rather than everyone.

Side Effect is the one that proves it, a tobacco and vanilla composition with rum in the opening that people lean towards without knowing why. Oud for Greatness is oud with saffron and lavender, one of the most successful modern ouds in the category. Rehab is lavender and tobacco and a great deal of warmth. Psychedelic Love is rose and heliotrope. Wild Rush is the brightest of them.

The character of the house

Seductive, in the plain sense of the word. These are evening fragrances, composed for close range, and they do what they say.

Why Stacey admires it

Because it is honest about what perfume is for, and because when a guest asks for something that will be noticed, this is a house she can reach for without hesitation.

Houses and perfumers in the journal are written about as subjects of admiration. The houses carried in Double Bay will be announced when the boutique opens.


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