Dominique Moellhausen
Dominique Margarita Moellhausen entered the world in Milan on March 9, 1992, the daughter of a Paraguayan mother with Dutch roots and a German father. A childhood steeped in languages, music and the scent of her mother’s kitchen sparked an early belief that fragrance speaks across borders. After finishing high school, she earned a place at the Grasse Institute of Perfumery, where seven years of chemistry, raw material study and formulation sharpened her technical eye. In 2015 she returned to Italy and joined the family‑run house Moellhausen as a junior nose. Her instinct for balance and her willingness to experiment earned her rapid promotions; by 2018 she held the title of Perfumer, and in 2020 the company appointed her Deputy Head of R&D. That same year the Beautyworld Middle East jury named her Perfumer of the Year, a distinction she repeated in 2023. Today she guides a team of creators, translating cultural narratives into scent while keeping a foot in the laboratory and another in the market.
The hits
Notable creations
The signature
How Dominique composes
Dominique favors a clean, structural approach that starts with a strong backbone of natural absolutes. She often builds around citrus or green top accords, then layers heart notes of floral or spice that echo her multicultural upbringing. Base notes of amber, vetiver or aged woods provide depth, while occasional synthetic accents add precision. In the lab she experiments with micro‑encapsulation to release scent over time, and she prefers sourcing ingredients that tell a story of place.
Philosophy
What drives Dominique
Dominique treats perfume as a universal language, a code that can translate emotion, memory and identity without translation. She listens first: a story, a place, a feeling, then extracts its essence in accord with the chemistry of the ingredients. Her work aims to bridge continents, weaving together notes that recall a South American sunrise and a European night market in the same breath. She believes a fragrance should invite conversation, not dictate it, and that authenticity wins over trend.
The houses
Maisons Dominique composes for
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