Jean-Claude Ellena - Perfumer
Perfumer Jean-Claude Ellena
Jean-Claude Ellena is a fine fragrance perfumer who works for Hermes. He was born on April 7, 1947 in Grasse, France and worked as a perfume apprentice at age 16 with his father at the Antoine Chiris factory. In 1968 he studied at the Givaudan perfume school. We has worked as a perfumer at Givaudan in Dübendorf, Switzerland, Harmann & Reimer (now Symrise) in Nördlingen, Germany, and in 2004 joined Hermès as their in house perfumer. His father, Peter Ellena was a perfumer for Chiris, his brother, Bernard Ellena, and daughter Celine Ellena are also perfumers. Learn more
Latest Fragrance Creations
All Perfumes created by Jean-Claude Ellena
Colonia Assoluta - 2003 (with Bertrand Duchaufour)
Colonia Assoluta Edizione Riviera - 2007
Dia Pour Femme - 2002
Rumba - 1988 (with Ron Winnegrad) / Ted Lapidus
Eau Parfumee au The Vert - 1992
Eau Parfumee au The Vert Extreme - 1996
Declaration - 1998
Christian Lacroix
Bazar - 2002 (with Bertrand Duchaufour and Emilie Copperman)
Decleor
Aromatic - 1999
Angliques Sous La Pluie - 2000
Bigarade Concentree - 2002
Cologne Bigarage - 2001
L'Eau d'Hiver - 2003
Rose & Cuir - 2019
Emporio Armani Night - 2003 (with Lucas Sieuzac)
24 Faubourg Eau Delicate - 2003
Bel Ami - 1986
Bel Ami Vetiver - 2013
Caleche Eau Delicate - 2003
Caleche Extrait de Parfum - 2008
Caleche Fleurs de Mediterranee - 2003
Doblis - 2004
Eau Claire des Merveilles - 2010
Eau d'Orange Verte - 2009
Eau de Gentiane Blanche - 2009
Eau de Ginza - 2006
Eau de Mandarine Ambree - 2013
Eau de Narcisse Bleu - 2013
Eau de Neroli Dore - 2016
Eau de Pamplemousse Rose - 2009
Elixir des Merveilles - 2006
Elixir des Merveilles Calligraphie - 2018
Equipage Geranium - 2015
Hermessence Ambre Narguile - 2004
Hermessence Brin de Reglisse - 2007
Hermessence Cuir d'Ange - 2014
Hermessence Epice Marine - 2013
Hermessence Iris Ukiyoe - 2010
Hermessence Muguet Porcelain - 2016
Hermessence Osmanthe Yunnan - 2005
Hermessence Paprika Brasil - 2006
Hermessence Poivre Samarcande - 2004
Hermessence Rose Ikebana - 2004
Hermessence Santal Massoia - 2011
Hermessence Vanille Galante - 2009
Hermessence Vetiver Tonka - 2004
Jour d'Hermes - 2013
Jour d'Hermes Absolu - 2014
Jour d'Hermes Extrait de Parfum - 2013
Jour d'Hermes Gardenia - 2015
Kelly Caleche - 2007
Kelly Caleche Eau de Parfum - 2009
Kelly Caleche Extrait - 2008
L'Ambre des Merveilles - 2012
L'Ambre des Merveilles Calligraphie - 2016
Le Jardin de Monsieur Li - 2015
Parfum des Merveilles - 2005 and 2006
Rocabar - 1998 (with Bernard Bourgeois and Gilles Romey)
Rose Amazone - 2014
Terre d'Hermes - 2006
Terre d'Hermes Eau Tres Fraiche - 2014
Terre d'Hermes Flacon H - 2014, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020
Terre d'Hermes Parfum - 2009
Un Jardin Apres La Mousson - 2008
Un Jardin en Mediterranee - 2003
Un Jardin Sur Le Nil - 2005
Un Jardin Sur Le Toit - 2011
Voyage d'Hermes - 2010
Essence Rare - 2018
Jean-Claude Jitrois
Jitrois - 1988
Korres
White Tea Bergamot Freesia - 2011
Ambre Extreme - 2001
Bois Farine - 2003
L'Eau d'Ambre - 1978
L'Eau du Navigateur - 1979
La Haie Fleurie de Harmeau - 1982
Laboratorio Olfattivo
Baliflora - 2019
Tuberosis - 2019
Eau de Lalique - (with Emilie Copperman)
Laura Ashley
L'Eau by Laura Ashley
Le Couvent des Minimes
Aqua Imperi - 2019
Aqua Majestae - 2019
Aqua Minimes - 2019
Aqua Mysteri - 2019
Aqua Numphae - 2019
Aqua Paradisi - 2019
Aqua Sacrae - 2019
Aqua Solis - 2019
Hattai - 2019
Heliaca - 2019
Lysandra - 2019
Nubica - 2019
Saiga - 2019
Solano - 2019
Lily Prune
Sublime Vanilla - 2001
Lothantique
Songe de Sannes - 2019
Paul & Joe
Blanc - 2003
Perris Monte Carlo
Jasmin de Pays - 2019
Rose de Mai - 2019
Rochas
Globe - 1990
Eau de Campagne - 1974
The Different Company
Bergemote
Bois d'Iris - 2000
Divine Bergamote - 2003
Osmanthus
Rose Poivree
Ulric de Varens
Eau de Varens No.2 - 1997
Blue Lagoon (with Christophe Raynaud)
Rectoverso Mystery Secret - 2001
Rectoverso Sun Sea - 2000
UDV For for Men - 2000
First - 1976
Miss Arpels - 1994
In Love Again - 1998
In Love Again Edition Fleur de la Passion - 2005
Jean-Claude Ellena - about the perfumer
Articles featuring Jean-Claude Ellena:
Art of Glass - "In 1992, Jean-Claude Ellena told me he wanted to play with a green tea note for Bulgari Eau Parfumee au The Vert," says Thierry De Baschmakoff, the Grasse-born designer who's been developing packaging for top fashion and beauty brands for more than 25 years. "That was the first and the last time I actually knew what was going inside the bottle I was making."
(Schaffner, Liana. "Art of Glass." Allure Feb. 2020: 80-85)
Going Rogue - Francis Kurkdjian, a rogue perfumer himself, explores the world of professional "noses" that think outside the box - and because of that have brought us some of the world's most celebrated fragrances.
(Kurkdjian, Francis. "The Fragrance Pro: Going Rogue." Allure Mar. 2017: 82)
The Descendants - When you grow up in a family of perfumers, just about every memory evokes a symphony of scent.
(Bachrach, Judy. "The Descendants." Allure May 2012: 253-255, 271)
Books by Jean-Claude Ellena:
Le Parfum - Presses Universitaires de France (Sept. 2007)
By Jean-Claude Ellena
Rizzoli Ex Libris (Jan. 22, 2013)
List Price: $24.95
On The Nose: Hermes perfumer Jean-Claude Ellena muses on the world of scent and where he finds inspiration for the fragrances he creates.
Q&A from Allure Magazine March 2013 issue.
Do you smell your own perfume on other people?
"I once sat next to a woman who smelled strongly of cigarettes and also of First [his perfume for Van Cleef & Arpels]. They were parallel scents -- not necessarily agreeable, but I accept it."
Does scent ever influence your opinion of a person?
"There are odors that influence me enormously. Alcohol. Of course I detect that at once, and along with that, understand the melancholy, the unhappiness of a person I meet. I am not talking about a little alcohol, but the smell of habitual dependency."
Are there any fragrances that give you a false impression of someone?
"Yes, very strong perfume. That may lead me to believe the wearer is a very strong woman with a strong personality. However, that may not be necessarily true. The perfume defines the woman at first, but sometimes that really isn't her."
Can perfume make a woman more attractive that she really is?
"Perfume is an artifice, like lipstick or a new dress, except unlike lipstick, it's an invisible artifice. It's all a very subtle game that can make a man thing, I am attracted, or, There's too much character in her, I need to distance myself. It's a game men and women play, and they don't even know what they are doing."
(Bachrach, Judy. "Insider's Guide: On the Nose." Allure Mar. 2013: 120)
Check out the Perfumers (the nose) behind the fragrances