The Story
Why it exists.
Choux Choux arrived in 2024 from Liis, the California house founded by two friends who spent a decade building toward something they couldn't rush. The name is a term of endearment, the kind whispered in French kitchens to someone you can't help but adore. Perfumer Jérôme Epinette translated that into a fragrance that feels like a treat pulled fresh from the oven: warm, sweet, and just close enough to feel personal. It was made to be worn with the volume turned down, which is exactly the point.
If this were a song
Community picks
La Belle et la Bête
Anaïs Demoustier
The Beginning
Choux Choux arrived in 2024 from Liis, the California house founded by two friends who spent a decade building toward something they couldn't rush. The name is a term of endearment, the kind whispered in French kitchens to someone you can't help but adore. Perfumer Jérôme Epinette translated that into a fragrance that feels like a treat pulled fresh from the oven: warm, sweet, and just close enough to feel personal. It was made to be worn with the volume turned down, which is exactly the point.
The salted caramel and salt combination is the structural surprise here. Most gourmand fragrances lean hard into sweetness, but this one cuts the sugar with something mineral and unexpected, like the edge of a caramel square scraped against your teeth. The sandalwood base doesn't announce itself so much as it anchors everything that came before, keeping the pastry-shop whimsy from floating away entirely. It's a balancing act that requires restraint, and Epinette's classical training shows in the proportions.
The Evolution
The opening arrives crisp. Lemon zest and whipped cream hit the skin together, the citrus reading clean for about twenty minutes before it softens into something rounder. This is the bright phase, the one that makes people reach for the word 'fluffy.' Then the caramel comes forward, not syrupy but saline, the salt keeping it from going flat. Sandalwood moves underneath almost immediately, and that's where the fragrance decides what it wants to be. The drydown is where it earns its keep. Cocoa and mocha arrive around the two-hour mark, blending into the sandalwood until you can't easily separate them. The result is warm, skin-adjacent, and present for most of a workday on most people, though the projection remains intimate throughout.
Cultural Impact
Choux Choux found its audience fast. Released in 2024, it earned a finalist nomination for Indie Fragrance of the Year at The Fragrance Foundation Awards 2025, standing out in a crowded gourmand category for its restraint rather than its volume. Wearers describe it as the scent of someone who walks in and doesn't need to announce themselves. The lemon-forward opening has drawn comparisons to cleaner, simpler lemon fragrances, but the salted caramel and sandalwood drydown give it a complexity that rewards wearing it for a full day.
The House
USA · Est. 2020
Liis is a California-based niche fragrance house co-founded by Alissa Sullivan and Leslie, two friends who spent a decade building their creative partnership before launching their debut collection in 2020. The brand takes its name from their shared middle name Lisi, a detail that speaks to the personal intimacy woven into every aspect of the house. Liis makes eau de parfum designed for proximity rather than projection, scents that reveal themselves to those standing close rather than announcing arrival across a room. The collection spans woody, floral, and aquatic compositions, each developed with a restrained hand that prioritizes nuance over spectacle. Based in California, the house operates with the calm confidence of makers who understand exactly what they are doing and why.
If this were a song
Community picks
This fragrance sounds like the moment after a busy morning, when the kitchen finally quiets down and there's still something sweet on the counter. It has the warmth of a small café and the quiet confidence of someone who doesn't need to fill the silence. The lemon opening is crisp, like a bright chord; the caramel and salt underneath add a minor key complexity that keeps it interesting. The sandalwood drydown settles into something long and unhurried, like a song that fades instead of ending.
La Belle et la Bête
Anaïs Demoustier
