Marleen M. is part of the Puredistance team and she creates watercolor illustrations and portraits that are used for promotional materials and social media. 

Marleen: “Since I was young I was always drawing in my spare time, and also during classtime when the teacher was not paying attention to me. Today I am really happy to work for a company where my art perfectly fits. I try to translate the deeper and finer emotions I feel into the portraits I make. I would describe my style as: feminine, romantic and melancholic.”

For Puredistance Marleen’s art is invaluable. With her unique style she illustrates the world of Puredistance in a way which in every respect conveys its timeless beauty. Below some illustrations she has made for us.

Marleen about Puredistance No.12: “It is a perfume that is hard to put into words. When I first smelled it, it was something I had never smelled before. To me it is feminine, soft, natural and refeshing. It has so many different layers that you just want to keep on smelling it.

For the Illustration of No.12 I tried to bring out the layered, natural tones of the perfume and do justice to its classic nature. Since I really think with the creation of No.12 Nathalie has reinvented the magic of vintage perfumery.”

This Photo-story would not be complete without a beautiful self portrait of Marleen and some pictures Jan Ewoud has taken of her over the past 10 years. (And if you are interested in a portrait by Marleen yourself, you can directly contact her at portraits@marleenm.com – she can work from a photo).

This is what Nathalie wrote to us:

“Everything started after smelling Opium at sixteen: it was 

a revelation, a vocation. I began studying perfumes in Grasse 
 and continued in New York City.

A beautiful time where I enjoyed success in the 90’s. Today I am an independent perfumer with a small lab in Montmartre. More than ever creating perfumes is a way for me to express feelings.

Three years ago I met Lana, who has the most beautiful perfume store in Zagreb. She introduced me to Puredistance. Jan Ewoud invited me to visit him in the North of the Netherlands in his special church office. I sat down with his team and his family, and showed them several of my creations.

They loved one scent in particular, a scent I had named ‘Taffeta’.
This perfume, now named No.12, is the idealised elegance side of 

a woman, the smell of a voluptuous elixir. A blend of narcissus, jasmin and osmanthus absolute with orris butter and precious rose oil. This luxury floral bouquet is deep and sensual with patchouli and Chypre facets.”

During the years Jan Ewoud and I worked on perfecting the concept of No.12 I learnt we not only shared a mutual love for this perfume, but we also both highly value trust, sincerity and beauty. It was the start of a new adventure for me.”

The story of Puredistance started in 2002 with the concept of Puredistance I – the signature scent of Annie Buzantian. And with the launch of No. 12 – almost 20 years later – we have come full circle. A circle filled with many beautiful stories. The story of No.12 is one of them. 

In 2018, the 5th. of June, I received an email from Lana in Zagreb. She is a dear friend and represents Puredistance in the Balkans. She told me the well-known Parisian perfumer Nathalie Feisthauer would like to create a perfume for Puredistance. The next day I called Nathalie and asked her to come over to our headquarters in Groningen for a first meeting.

July 9, Nathalie stepped off the train in Groningen and I drove her to our old ‘church’ in the heart of Groningen. She was welcomed by our team and in the afternoon we sat around the table smelling 11 different scents Nathalie had made. While smelling the first one – labeled ‘Gold Taffeta’ and described as a “a sophisticated and rich Chypre note” – Nele and I instantly looked at each other, and our eyes exchanged the same message: “I LOVE THIS PERFUME!”. Although the 10 remaining fragrances were also given our full attention, it was Taffeta that left an indelible emotion.

August 12, I wrote to Nathalie: ‘ From all the perfumes you have shown us, Taffeta left an emotional imprint on my scent memory that is lasting. I cannot forget it. So we tried it again and again and found it to be equally beautiful as the first time. To me it is 100% Puredistance. Long lasting, rich, different, stylish, special and full of character. But it is NOT GOLD to me (at that time we were still looking for a perfume who could create Puredistance GOLD for us). Therefore I propose to you to forget about Puredistance GOLD and use Taffeta for the last Puredistance Perfume in our collection of 12. The name will be ‘Puredistance No. 12’.

The idea behind is that we started with Puredistance 1, which was the signature scent of Annie Buzantian. Now we complete the collection of 12 perfumes with no. 12, which is more or less your signature scent, or dreamscent, or whatever you want to call it, since you told me you have been envisaging this scent very clearly in your mind and then, after a long time, matched this dream perfectly, one-to-one, in reality. Which never happened this way with other perfume ideas.

So this is a unique perfume to you and a beautiful story to tell. And in line with our first perfume. To me a grand and great and beautiful way to complete the MAGNIFICENT XII COLLECTION (this will be the name of our collection of perfumes).

The way I see it now is to launch Puredistance No. 12 late 2020. I hope I have not disturbed your holidays with this message, but I thought better write you now before you give Taffeta to someone else 🙂

Kind Regards, Jan Ewoud Vos ‘

And so Taffeta became Puredistance No.12. A perfume Nathalie has dreamed of for many years and with the creation of No. 12 this dream has come true. A grand perfume that wraps around you like a cashmere veil, leaving a feminine, mysterious trail. 

A perfume like no other, in many ways timeless and hard to describe with words. I feel that Nathalie has perfectly captured the universal harmony, the timelessness and the magic of the concept of ’12′ in her creation.

If you want read more about No.12, Nathalie Feisthaur and the Magnificent 12 Collection, click here for the PDF with all information.