Nissaba is a new Haute Parfumerie brand creating exceptional fragrances in an totally innovative way.

The brand’s approach to fragrance creation follows an innovative path that has never been tried before. It starts with the combination of natural extracts from one single origin, selected amongst the most precious terroirs for the perfumer's palette. This approach is a reversal from the classic creative process in perfumery, which would normally begin with a marketing idea or a consumer target, and then move on to the selection of ingredients for formulation. 

Inspiring and new ways for perfumers to express their talent.

By starting with a set list of natural extracts from one single region, perfumers have been able to express their creativity in a fresh way, associating natural extracts that are not usually combined in traditional perfumery patterns.  They found this approach surprising, interesting and fun. Then, they got hooked by the pursuit of a global atmosphere, exploring the best possible combination of local ingredients. The brand was also keen to give perfumers a total freedom to develop the fragrances: no budget limit for ingredients, large dosages, no benchmarks against existing products, no consumer testing, no predefined gender, no predefined olfactory classification, and a high concentration for a eau de parfum.  The finalization of fragrances consisted in finding a global harmony incorporating this highly dosed "ingredient" core into a multifaceted global accord, resulting in unique and distinctive perfumes.  In the end, each fragrance is meant to be an authentic incarnation of the soils of these lands around the world where aromatic plants flourish.

The first Nissaba collection celebrates nature across five continents.

The fragrance development process resulted in a first collection of five fragrances, representing five origins in five different continents, each of them incorporating the finest natural extracts of their region.
•    Chaco: A tea accord with the freshness of a Cologne – see : vimeo.com/762352402
•    Sulawesi: A multi-sensory blend of earth, wood and spices - vimeo.com/762354953
•    Grande Ile: A spicy, sensual and comforting amber - vimeo.com/762353186
•    Provence: A rich and aromatic Provencal bouquet - vimeo.com/762354093
•    Tierra Maya: A luminous and addictive woody amber - vimeo.com/762354093
A brand born with a Purpose: to make a positive impact for the harvesting communities.

Nissaba was born from the encounter of two former perfumery veterans who wanted to contribute with an innovative and impactful approach to the world of niche perfumery. Sébastien Tissot, following 20 years of experience as head of sustainable sourcing and sustainability projects for the Firmenich Group, envisioned a fragrance brand with an authentic engagement that would be as ethical as can be. The idea has taken a long time to come to fruition, finding every ideal partner to help achieve this goal.  It was in September 2021 that Sébastien's path crossed that of Éric Stucky de Quay. After 15 years in the perfume industry at L'Oréal with senior management responsibilities in Paris head office, Eric wanted to put his knowledge at the service of a project with an impact, designed as ecologically as possible and with strong values. The inspiration behind Nissaba was the founders' desire to be part of the global positive impact brand movement.  To make this possible, the business is committing 5% of its earnings to support youth in the harvesting communities in implementing advanced farming practices in local projects where aromatic plants are cultivated.  


Nissaba is already involved with two impact projects.

Nissaba projects are implemented in partnership with local agricultural schools, linking graduated students and farmers around the schools. The first project is in Madagascar, involving a vocational school for the youth, established in the heart of the SAVA region where vanilla is grown. The objective is to financially support graduated students to implement the practices they have learned with a focus on agroforestry and polyculture. The second project is in Eastern Paraguay, in partnership with a Foundation that runs a school in the Mbaracayu forest, a biosphere reserve surrounded by small maté and petitgrain farms. The project aims at the sustainable cultivation of these cash crops with integrated and regenerative agricultural practices, also combining food crops and agroforestry.

The name Nissaba was chosen as it perfectly encapsulates the social Purpose of the brand.

These partnerships with agriculture schools have inspired the choice of name Nissaba for the brand. Agriculture, writing and schools were all invented in Mesopotamia. Nissaba is one of the oldest attested Sumerian deities, and an important goddess throughout many periods of Mesopotamian history. Originally the goddess of grain, She became later the goddess of writing. The first schools in the world praised her, because by inventing the writing she made the transmission of human knowledge possible.

Nissaba brings advanced sustainability practices in the world of niche fragrances

Starting from a blank page, Nissaba founders made clear choices from the start to minimize the environmental footprint of the final products. First, they made a radical choice to have a glass bottle with an optimal weight versus capacity ratio. This leads to a carbon footprint reduction of about 50% compared to a traditional perfume bottle, usually made of very thick glass in line with the codes of classic luxury.  The cap is made with FSC-certified wood, without plastic or metal inserts.  Nissaba has the first fragrance bottle without paper label and is using instead laser engraving.   All components and final products are procured within a few hundred kilometers from Geneva, Switzerland, Nissaba ‘s home base.  In coherence, bottles are refillable in-store, offering consumers options to minimize further their environmental impact.  

To go even further, Nissaba impact projects at origin incorporate an agroforestry element, resulting in tree plantations being taken care by local farmers sponsored by the brand. This 'insetting' approach leads to further reduce the brand's overall carbon footprint.

For the perfume itself, formulas are developed based on a requirement of at least 90% natural origin.   The alcohol used in the formula, which is the main ingredient by volume as in any fragrance, is organically certified.  The brand has also made a conscious decision to exclude the most controversial ingredients from its formulas, meeting the most stringent standards of the market. The full list of these ingredients is disclosed on the brand's website.

The global brand plateform approach was awarded by a FIFI AWARD in 2023

In June 2023, Nissaba was awarded by the Fragrance foundation France for its overall pioneering brand approach, with a FIFI AWARD called ‘Innovation Responsible, Espoirs de la Parfumerie’. The award was granted by a jury of 12 people who are sustainability experts.

Distribution

Nissaba was launched only recently, in November 2022. However the brand is already distributed in 10 countries, including prestigious locations such as Selfridges UK, Printemps Haussmann Paris, Bongenie Grieder Geneva, Babassu Amsterdam, Missala Warsaw, ScentRoom Hollywood LA. The brand is not yet distributed in Italy.

For more information 

contact : [email protected]
sebastien tissot +41 79 320 1674
www.nissaba.com
https://www.instagram.com/nissaba.fragrances/
https://vimeo.com/762586768