Quentin Roussel
A Dubai-based Expressions Parfumées perfumer turning cultures and landscapes into storied scents.
About Quentin Roussel
Quentin Roussel is a perfumer with Expressions Parfumées, the Grasse-based fragrance company, working from its team in Dubai. Much of his published work draws on Emirati history and achievement, and he shares the credit with Gérald Ghislain on Histoires de Parfums' *Sold Out!*.
Career
A graduate of the École Supérieure du Parfum in Paris, Roussel built his grounding at major houses including Givaudan, Firmenich and Symrise. Along the way he worked across evaluation, laboratory and marketing roles, then joined the Dubai perfumers' team with seven years in the industry behind him. In early 2026, *ParfumPlus Magazine Arabia* profiled his approach and his sensitivity to raw materials.
Creative Style & Philosophy
For Roussel, perfume exists to say what words cannot. Cosmopolitan by temperament, he draws on travel, turning the cultures and landscapes he encounters into compositions that each carry a story and an emotion. He is still fascinated by how raw materials combine, and by the way a balanced blend can stir feeling and bring back cherished memories.
Signature Works
- *Jaywan* (GHAFF) — Named for a treasured pearl, it honours the UAE's pearl-diving heritage. It moves from sea salt, white pepper and coconut water through cashmere wood and tuberose to oud and an ambergris accord.
- *Délice* (GHAFF) — A gourmand inspired by the UAE's Hope Probe mission to Mars and by the caramel-and-honey sweetness of the chocolate bar that shares the planet's name. Caramel, cinnamon bark and cognac lead into honey and myrrh, then settle on Indian sandalwood and vanilla.
