Les Soeurs de Noé

Les Soeurs de Noé is a niche perfume house created by Nadia Benaisa, who built it around the scents and memories of a childhood split between Belgium and Morocco. Its fragrances are sold as Eaux de Parfum, composed by perfumer Jérôme Epinette, produced in France and presented in bottles designed by Pierre Dinand. The name translates as "The Sisters of Noé" and is a tribute to the founder's children [2].

The house sits between two national identities. It describes its work as "French perfumery crafted to make emotions stay" [1], and its fragrances are made in France, while the perfume database Parfumo lists it as a Belgian line [10]. Its catalogue had grown to 17 perfumes by 2024, and the brand remains active, with points of sale on several continents.

Benaisa grew up in Belgium but spent childhood holidays with her grandfather in Tangier, the Moroccan port city. In an interview with the London department store Liberty, she traced her interest in fragrance to his house and garden, where the air carried jasmine, rose, orange blossom, olive trees and fig trees [9]. Parfumo's brand profile likewise recalls the warm sun and the vivid colours of her grandfather's garden as memories she wants to capture in her perfumes.

The interview also describes a turning point. After graduating from university, Benaisa lost both of her parents in an accident. She told Liberty that she returned to Morocco several times afterwards and that its familiar scents helped her reconnect with them and find a sense of balance. She has described the brand as a way to share the memories and emotions of her life through perfume, with each scent drawing on her holidays in Morocco and her later experiences.

Her three children gave the house its name. Benaisa has said they were a major source of motivation and gave her the energy to pursue the project, and that the name symbolises the future while honouring the past. The company's own account puts it more briefly: the house was "born from a desire to translate emotion into fragrance," with Belgian roots, Moroccan memories and French craftsmanship as its three reference points.

Liberty conducted its interview with Benaisa at her home in Brussels. Retailer product pages give a Belgian manufacturer address for the company. The French side of the identity comes through production and positioning rather than location: the brand's tagline, its "Made in France" label and its French creative partners.

The earliest perfumes credited to the house on Parfumo date from 2019 [10]. That first group comprised Mitsio Vanille, Jardin de Macarons, Bohemian Absinthe, Amazing Jade and Oud Rose. Call Me Iris followed in 2021. Citrus Poetry, Saffron Flower and Nomad Soul appeared in 2022, and Clandestine Rendez-vous, Midnight Call and Cuir Noir in 2023.

The largest single year of releases was 2024, which brought Red Berries Elixir, Cherry Blush, Pear Addiction, Forbidden Nectar and Neon Splash. Two of them, Pear Addiction and Red Berries Elixir, are now among the four perfumes the house labels as best sellers, alongside Citrus Poetry and the 2019 Oud Rose.

The creative team has also changed over time. Liberty, Parfumo and the German niche retailer Aus Liebe zum Duft all credit the perfumes to two perfumers, Jérôme Epinette and Pierre Wulff, whom Liberty calls "New York perfumers" [11]. The brand's current website names only Epinette, describing him as Master Perfumer at Robertet [7].

Les Soeurs de Noé frames its fragrances around feeling rather than identity. Its "Our Story" page carries the line "A Maison for what you feel" and states the house's guiding idea plainly: "We do not create fragrances to say who you are. We create them to reveal what you feel." According to the company, each perfume is meant to capture an emotion, a memory or "the invisible parts of ourselves we choose to reveal."

A second theme runs through the founder's interviews: a link between East and West. Benaisa has said the Eastern side shows in scents drawn from Moroccan memories, such as jasmine, rose and orange blossom. The Western side, in her account, lies in elegant design and French craftsmanship. Parfumo describes the same idea as a direct connection between the Orient and the West, with each fragrance telling its own scented story.

The way the house sells its perfumes reflects this emotional framing. On its homepage, each best seller is paired with a mood, a moment and an effect. Pear Addiction is labelled "Feel Desired," Citrus Poetry "Feel Radiant," Oud Rose "Feel Exceptional" and Red Berries Elixir "Feel Joyful." The site also offers a quiz that suggests a scent based on the visitor's answers.

In a journal article on what "Made in France" means to the house, Benaisa describes how a fragrance takes shape. It starts with a feeling, a place or a memory, which becomes a written brief covering colours, textures and atmospheres. The perfumer then translates that brief into a composition, which is evaluated and refined until, in her words, "the emotion and the composition begin to feel like the same thing."

The range is organised into a Signature Collection, a Ruby Collection and a Gold Collection, with travel sizes, a discovery set and a build-your-own sample box. According to the company, all of its fragrances are made at Eau de Parfum concentration for an intense and long-lasting effect.

Production involves Robertet, a fragrance and raw-materials company the brand journal describes as founded in Grasse in 1850. The brand says its perfumes are created in collaboration with Robertet and contain more than 85% ingredients of natural origin [7]. Benaisa told Liberty that she works closely with the company, which she called a supplier of natural raw ingredients. The journal adds that the house does not treat naturalness as a competition, since modern perfumery also draws on contemporary fragrance molecules.

Mitsio Vanille, one of the first five releases, has its own origin story. Benaisa told Liberty it was inspired by a trip to Madagascar, where she and her husband joined an association that builds schools in villages; the scent of natural vanilla around the village stayed with her [9]. Aus Liebe zum Duft lists its notes as bergamot, freesia and ambrette, a heart of vanilla, orchid and lilac, and a base of vanilla, musk and driftwood.

Vanilla, pear, red berries and cherry recur across the later range, in Mitsio Vanille, Pear Addiction, Red Berries Elixir and Cherry Blush. Benaisa has named the Ruby collection as the one that stands out for her, saying its deep red colour and red-fruit notes recall the passion and joy of Moroccan summers. On Parfumo, Citrus Poetry is the most-rated of the house's perfumes.

The bottles are a central part of the house's look. Parfumo reports that they were designed by the Parisian designer Pierre Dinand, with colours inspired by jewellery he presented to a fashion designer in 1977 [10]. The cap, shaped like a blue pearl, is described as a tribute to the Moroccan horizon, the sky over Tangier and the indigo of the Villa Majorelle in Marrakech. Parfumo credits the logo to Thierry Fétiveau.

The company describes all of its fragrances as vegan and cruelty-free [5]. No third-party certifications for these claims are documented. Its sustainability page lists four commitments: ingredients, responsible sourcing, packaging and French manufacturing.

On packaging, the brand states that it uses a glass bottle, a recyclable Bakelite cap with a double magnet, a rigid cardboard box and no plastic [3]. Parfumo adds that the house keeps close relationships with local growers to source botanical raw materials. The company presents its partnership with Robertet in similar terms. Aus Liebe zum Duft, in its brand description, credits Robertet with a high level of transparency and traceability in its ingredient supply chain.

Liberty London profiled Benaisa in its "Meet the Makers" series, in a feature by Harriet Brown that recounts the brand's origins in her own words. The feature appears on the retailer's website alongside the perfumes it sells.

The company's homepage quotes press praise under the heading "Trusted by Editors." It attributes the line "Best modern vanilla perfume" to Vogue, in reference to Mitsio Vanille [1]. It also quotes Grazia as saying of Bohemian Absinthe, "You're sure to make a lasting impression." A further Grazia quote on Oud Rose notes that it features Epinette's favourite Centifolia rose.

Les Soeurs de Noé is active. Its website runs an online shop in English and French with worldwide shipping. A store locator lists 60 points of sale worldwide, described as Maisons, perfumeries and partners [6]. Its most recent visible activity is a long journal article by Benaisa on French perfume production, dated 29 September 2026.