Rarely a perfume hit the smell of orange blossoms, mixed with lemon blossoms and bitter orange blossoms, so perfectly and pure as “Secret du Nil” by brand NECTAR OLFACTIF. Spraying the perfume gives the impression of walking into a room where small sensitive citrus trees were supposed to hibernate in a colder climate country, but somebody opened the heating and they started to blossom. Not healthy for the little tree, but magnificent for the beholder.
Orange blossoms smell very different from oranges, be it their peel, their juice or their overall scent. Orange blossoms have a certain bitterness that can smell brittle in perfumes, like of a century ago. Not so in “Secret du Nil”, which is an engulfing scent with lots of warmth.
It is a coincidence, but “Secret du Nil” by NECTAR OLFACTIF also features Egypt in its name, as did Boucheron’s “Ambre d’Alexandrie”. The latter perfume is fruitier with the pear in high esteem. “Secret du Nil” is sweet and creamy, more floral over all.
The fragrance is clear and persistent in its presence. According to the NECTAR OLFACTIF website, the following scent notes are combined in “Secret du Nil”: bergamot, bitter orange, bitter almond, orange tree, neroli, toasted almond, honey, vanilla, icing sugar, cedar, and musk.
To me the full scent of a blossoming orange or neroli tree is by far the strongest. In addition, there are almonds and icing sugar. The smell and taste of honey from citrus trees is indeed there, although something not too obvious.
The perfume is very wholesome and healthy. Is has a calming note and brings summer and sunshine to the wearer, without being intrusive or overpowering. The perfume is elegant; it shows the richness of simplicity, if the base is exceptional quality.
The colour of the scent is white; but the white is dotted with yellow orange pistils, as we know it from the orange blossoms.
Sidonie Lancesseur is the nose behind “Secret du Nil”. She works for the company Robertet, which had been chosen by David Perrin, the founder of NECTAR OLFACTIF, as his partner in creating the perfumes of his brand. To be exact, for the first 4 perfumes made in 2024. “Secret du Nil” is one of them. Robertet was founded 1850 in Grasse and is still in the founding family Maubert’s property. Robertet has done quite some acquisitions of other industry players over the last years and grown significantly internationally. They are still famous for their natural ingredients.
David Perrin has, according to all the information available in the internet (interviews and his website), worked for a long time in the niche perfume business. During that time, he not only became a collector himself, but he decided to found his own brand and did so in the 2020s. The 6 perfumes of his brand NECTAR OLFACTIF have all been created in 2024 and 2025.
One pretty unusual feature for someone who newly founded his first brand is that he founded 2 brands at the same time. The remarkable perfumes by brand Sensatio are also David Perrin’s and his brother’s Sacha. There are also 6 scents available right now and they were also brought to the market in 2024 and 2025. The concepts of the perfume brands follow very different rules, though.
NECTAR OLFACTIF, as David Perrin describes, is based on the admiration for bees and their part in keeping nature in balance. The beautiful bottles of NECTAR OLFACTIF show this really well. The dark yellow colour is supplemented by gold and the cap-form of a honeycomb. The round seal in the middle of the front side of the bottle shows a delicate pattern depicting bees and leaves, as far as I can recognize it. The packaging is in a deep saturated green.
The fragrance is special and calming. When I ordered “Secret du Nil”, I ordered another one of the NECTAR OLFACTIF line as well. The perfume shop made a mistake and sent me twice “Secret du Nil”. I decided that I would simply keep the 2 bottles. Having “Secret du Nil” at home twice feels quite ok. By now I also bought “Supreme Nectar”, and probably the other 2 from 2024 will follow.
The way David Perrin plays with his main ingredients, honey, sunlight, nature, and sweetness makes owning more perfumes of the collection an obvious target. The whole concept of nectar and honey is nourishing and something to remember positively. The 2 new perfumes from 2025 differ slightly in concept and also in using only the company Robertet’s perfumers. Probably with the 2 fragrances “Cerana” and “Ambre Cristal” it makes sense to test first before buying them, but the 2024 line is a safe buy from my point of view.
There is an air of restraint and elegance in NECTAR OLFACTIF’s fragrances that is really niche and far away from putting profit in the centre.
Hopefully the brand will thrive and develop over time more perfumes that stay true to their heritage and to the concept of honey, bees, and nature’s beauty.