JOUISSANCE PARFUMS

Diary

†

Subversive scents inspired by the books we read beneath the sheets.

'Jouissance' is an erotic, mystical abundance – the source of female creative power.

1954

La Bague D'O

A journey by car to an unknown destination, the leisurely pleasure of ritualistic dressing, sacred submission, the candy wrapper shine of glossy fashion photographs, purple welts that take weeks to heal, a masked ball and the iron ring on your third finger...

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1968

En Plein Air

Grass imprints on bare skin, underwear clutched in one hand, the soft touch of a stranger’s lips, Rohmer movies at La Cinematheque Française, the hedonistic thrill of cruising, typewriter keys cataloguing a litany of explicit details and the witching hour spent somewhere secret...

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1931

Les Cahiers Secrets

Artist expats in Paris, erotic journal entries, odysseys of self discovery, the small but sensual luxuries of good coffee, silk stockings, rugs and tapestries, skin so luminous it glows in the dark, quick and intense female friendships and the subversive power of women’s language...

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Increasingly numbed by the virtual world, we seek the pleasures of the flesh.

II.

A Note on Jouissance

Jouissance was born in the pages of the books we read beneath the sheets. Even today, stories such as Histoire d’O and the diaries of Anaïs Nin still manage to discompose and arouse readers thanks to their radical complexity. Our scents are inspired by the female artists, writers and fictional characters who taught us to fantasise and to desire. In homage to them, our approach is inspired by the specificity of women's language, art and creativity.

‘Jouissance’ is a complex concept meaning to transgress the limits imposed on pleasure, and linked to femininity because of women’s capacity for experiencing surplus enjoyment. French feminist writer Hélène Cixous thinks of it as an erotic, mystical abundance – the source of female creative power.

Just like our inspirations, our fragrances are transgressive.

The Collected Works

Discover our debut collection — EN PLEIN AIR, LA BAGUE D'O and LES CAHIERS SECRETS.

Index

JOUISSANCE IN THE PRESS

Little details, all carefully attended to, create a cohesive presence catering to the intersection between a very modern post-coquette girlblogging clientele and the overindulgent, highly aestheticized women’s erotic literature predating mid-20th century feminist psychoanalysis. Finally, a niche perfume house for young women who liberally describe situations as ‘Kafkaesque’ and have notifications enabled for the Anaïs Nin Twitter bot.

Audrey Robinovitz

Haloscope

I love a fragrance house that tells a story through its scents and Jouissance embodies this ideal completely. Currently, the brand has three fragrances on offer, each inspired by the books of three erotic writers. Of them all, Les Cahiers Secrets is my favourite, blending together spicy cumin, white florals and musk notes, it’s powdery yet possesses an unexpected twist.

Jazzria Harris

Marie Claire

Jouissance, in the theoretical sense, aptly describes what it feels like to experience the creations of Jouissance, the brand. Les Cahiers Secrets, based on the writings of Anaïs Nin, is, at open, so vulgar you can’t stop sniffing it. Powdery orris and fresh lilies are rudely interspersed with whiffs of sweaty cumin and animalic musk. It’s clean and dirty, gorgeous and sordid all at once.

Alexandra Pauly

Highsnobiety

...while we’re warned never to judge a book by its cover, we should also perhaps avoid judging Jouissance by the innocent connotations of its pale pink, silk-lined box which belies the subversive undercurrent at the heart of its creation.

Emily Dinsdale

Dazed Beauty

The brilliance of Jouissance perfumes however is not just in their scent, but in how they promote female authors that have been cast to the literary shadows thanks to their celebration of female eroticism.

Madeleine Rothery

AnOther

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