Initio Parfums Privés

Initio Parfums Privés is a French house launched in 2015 on the idea of “functional perfumery” — fragrances composed to act on mood and confidence, not only to smell good. Its range is built from high doses of a few assertive materials, most famously oud, and it is one of the strongest-projecting lines in modern niche perfumery. Redolia Perfumery carries 17 Initio fragrances at our Somerville, New Jersey boutique, all in 90 ml, priced from $410 to $435.

Who makes Initio Parfums Privés

Initio launched in 2015 and describes itself as a pioneer in functional fragrance, pairing traditional perfumery with materials it says are chosen for their effect on the wearer. It is a French olfactory label and is owned by Advent International. The range is organised into four collections — Carnal Blends, Hedonist, The Black Gold Project and The Absolutes — which the house intends to be worn alone or layered over one another.

Established perfumers compose for the house. Among the fragrances we carry, Alberto Morillas composed Blessed Baraka, Alexandra Kosinski composed Absolute Aphrodisiac, and Maurice Roucel worked with Pierre-Constantin Guéros on Addictive Vibration.

One honest note on the marketing, since it is the first thing people ask about. Initio's materials and the mood language around them are a positioning concept and a well-made one; they are not a demonstrated pharmacological effect, and nothing in the line will do anything to anyone but you. Buy these because they smell remarkable and last, not because of a claim about anyone else's behaviour.

What Initio smells like

Dense, dark and sweet, with very little of the airy top-note stage other houses open with. Most of the range puts you straight into the heart: oud, saffron, vanilla, musk, amber and resins at concentrations that read almost syrupy in the first ten minutes before they settle. Longevity is the house's strongest suit — a daytime application is often still clearly present the next morning, and the Extraits more so.

Across our 17 the centre of gravity is amber and woods. The Oud quartet — Oud for Greatness, Oud for Greatness Neo, Oud for Happiness and Oud for Grace — is the house at its most recognisable: real oud character softened with lavender, patchouli and sweetness rather than the medicinal, barnyard oud of traditional Middle Eastern perfumery. Around them sit the sweeter, more gourmand readings (Sugar Blast, Narcotic Delight, Addictive Vibration, Lift Me Up), the musks (Musk Therapy, Power Self), the spiced ambers (Absolute Aphrodisiac, Blessed Baraka, Paragon, Can't Get Enough) and two outliers in Wild Rush, an aromatic fougere, and Rehab, a drier woody-aromatic.

The Initio fragrances we carry

All 90 ml. The house uses both Eau de Parfum and Extrait de Parfum; the Extraits here are the denser, longer-wearing versions, not lighter flankers.

• Oud for Greatness — $435. Oud, lavender and patchouli; the house signature and the one to smell first.
• Oud for Greatness Neo — aromatic spicy, $435. Oud for Happiness — woody spicy, $435. Oud for Grace — amber woody, $435.
• Absolute Aphrodisiac — amber spicy, $410. Blessed Baraka — amber, $410. Addictive Vibration — floral, $410.
• Atomic Rose — amber floral, $420. Narcotic Delight — amber vanilla, $420. Sugar Blast — amber vanilla, $420.
• Can't Get Enough — woody spicy, $420. Wild Rush — aromatic fougere, $420.
• Lift Me Up — amber floral Extrait, $430. Musk Therapy — woody floral musk Extrait, $430. Power Self — floral woody musk Extrait, $430. Paragon — woody spicy Extrait, $430. Rehab — woody aromatic Extrait, $430.

How to choose an Initio perfume

Decide first whether you want the oud or not, because it divides the line. If you do, Oud for Greatness is the reference and the rest of the quartet are variations on it: Neo is greener and more aromatic, Happiness warmer and spicier, Grace softer and more amber. If oud is not for you, the musks are the easiest entry — Musk Therapy and Power Self are the two in this range you could wear to an office without clearing it.

For evening and cold weather, the sweeter side of the house works well: Narcotic Delight and Sugar Blast are frankly gourmand, Atomic Rose puts a rose over the amber. Absolute Aphrodisiac and Blessed Baraka sit in between, spiced and resinous. Wild Rush is the one summer-capable fragrance in our Initio range.

Whatever you pick, start with one spray. These are among the most concentrated fragrances we stock, and the most common mistake with Initio is applying it like a designer eau de toilette.

Try Initio at our Somerville scent bar

We keep Initio at the boutique rather than shipping it, so the full range is on the scent bar at 92 West Main Street in Somerville, New Jersey. This is a house that genuinely needs to be tried on skin: the opening ten minutes of most of the line are not representative of what you will be wearing an hour later, and paper strips flatter them in a way that leads to expensive mistakes. Come in, wear one, and let it develop.

Initio questions we hear

Is the oud real? Oud character in modern perfumery is usually a blend of natural oud and reconstructions, and Initio's is a polished, sweetened reading rather than the raw, animalic oud of traditional attars. If you have only met oud through Initio, a traditional oud will surprise you.

Can I layer them? Yes — the house designs for it, and the Absolutes in particular are meant to be worn over other fragrances. Layer sparingly; both halves of the pair are already strong.

Why is it so expensive for 90 ml? Concentration and materials. On a per-wear basis Initio works out closer to its peers than the sticker suggests, because one spray goes where three of something else would.

Eau de Parfum or Extrait? The Extraits are denser and last longer but lose some of the brightness. Try both on skin before deciding; they are not interchangeable.