401 Prune VeloursGourmand Woody Eau de Parfum

401 Prune Velours by Bon Parfumeur is a gourmand, woody, and vanilla niche eau de parfum, unisex, created by perfumer Nathalie Koobus. This fragrance was previously called 401 Cedar - Candied Plum - Vanilla.

A house where the number indicates the olfactory family

Bon Parfumeur is a Parisian house founded in 2017 by Ludovic Bonneton, a passionate collector who became artistic director. The project was born from two things: his return from Colombia, where he lived surrounded by the scents of cocoa, coffee, and tropical flowers, and his meeting with the great perfumer Raymond Chaillan, who showed him that perfume could be described through the five senses rather than through words. Its distinctive feature lies in its numbering system, which is far from arbitrary: the first digit indicates the olfactory family, while the following two indicate the fragrance's rank within that family. The creations are designed from the outset to be mixed and layered — the Mix & Match principle. Each fragrance is entrusted to a different perfumer and is born from a precise image brought to the studio by Bonneton. Everything is made in France.

An opening of cypress, elemi, and bergamot

The cypress opens aromatically and slightly spicy, with a touch of génépi. The elemi brings its citrusy and peppery resin, while the bergamot adds its sparkling quality. A lively and resinous start before the sweetness.

A heart of plum, cinnamon leaf, and incense

The plum arrives velvety, sweet, and distinctly syrupy — it is the star ingredient of the fragrance. The cinnamon leaf, milder than the bark, warms it up, and the incense brings a camphorous and peppery facet that prevents the fruit from becoming cloying.

A base of labdanum, vanilla, and cedar

The labdanum brings its leathery and woody resin, the vanilla its addictive roundness, and the cedar its dry wood — like that of a sharpened pencil. The trail is warm, liqueur-like, and long-lasting.

The house's signature touch

The scent of the backstage, not the show. Ludovic Bonneton provides the image: "I wanted to recreate the effervescent atmosphere of an evening at the Opéra Garnier in this fragrance. The syrupy plum or the varnished parquet of the backstage." And it is indeed the setting that the formula captures in the bottle, not the music: the velvet of the seats in the fleshy plum of the title, the varnished parquet in the dry cedar of the base, and the incense for the air of a hall before the curtain rises. The perfumer summarizes her method: "We wanted a gourmand fragrance centered around the plum, caressed by an oriental accord." It is one of the house's historic bestsellers.

For whom, and for what occasions?

Gourmand, woody, and vanilla, this eau de parfum is for those who love candied fruits set against dry wood, without sugary heaviness. It gives its best from autumn to winter, in the evening, and is equally well suited for both women and men.

With 401 Prune Velours Bon Parfumeur, Nathalie Koobus captures an evening at the Opéra Garnier in a bottle.