Heritage
A house, in its own words
The story of Les Abstraits begins on a modest YouTube channel called U Smells Good, where Eugen shared fragrance reviews and personal reflections. In late 2021, Eugen announced a partnership with Antoine Lie, a perfumer whose résumé includes Comme Des Garçons Wonderwood and the Eris Parfums line. The collaboration was framed as an experiment: could a digital personality and an established nose co‑author a perfume house that treats each bottle as a visual essay? Their first public offering, Belle Âme, arrived in spring 2022 and was presented through a series of short videos that explained the scent’s structure in plain language. Later that year, La Douleur Exquise followed, expanding the brand’s palette toward darker, more introspective accords. 2023 saw the release of Des Cendres, a composition that blended smoky woods with a whisper of incense, and the brand used the launch to host a pop‑up tasting in Paris, inviting fans to experience the fragrance in a gallery‑like setting. In 2025 the house introduced Philosopher’s Walk, a scent that references the act of wandering through ideas as much as through a park. Each release has been accompanied by a modest press kit and a handful of editorial reviews, allowing the house to build a reputation rooted in transparent storytelling rather than mass‑market hype. While the brand does not claim a long lineage, its founders have deliberately anchored Les Abstraits in the tradition of French perfumery by sourcing ingredients from established suppliers in Grasse and by adhering to the rigorous testing standards common to the industry. The house’s evolution reflects a blend of digital culture and classic craftsmanship, a hybrid that continues to attract a niche audience of scent‑savvy collectors. Les Abstraits frames perfume as a medium for philosophical inquiry rather than pure decoration. The brand’s tagline, "Contemplating the art of life through the world of perfumes," appears on its Instagram profile and guides every creative decision. Eugen describes the house as a space where scent becomes a visual metaphor for emotions, memories and ideas. Antoine Lie contributes a technical vocabulary that translates those abstractions into olfactory language, using accords that can be read like sentences. The house avoids generic claims of luxury; instead it emphasizes honesty, inviting wearers to question why a particular note resonates. Sustainability is addressed through selective sourcing rather than broad statements: the brand prefers natural absolutes from Grasse when they meet quality thresholds, but it does not shy away from synthetics that provide stability or nuance. Transparency is a core value: each launch is accompanied by a short video where the creators explain the inspiration, the ingredient hierarchy and the intended mood. This educational approach reflects a belief that fragrance should be accessible to the mind as well as the skin, encouraging consumers to develop a personal vocabulary for scent.