A blank slate is often the best canvas for a new idea. Ex Nihilo, which derives its name for the Latin expression for “created out of nothing,” delivers a personalized, modern, luxury approach to fragrance, “inspired by both the creative avant-garde and the French spirit of pure refinement.” Offering carte blanche to the noses it works with, the house has achieved smash success in a short period of time. To date, the brand has launched 50 perfumes and generates $60 million in annual sales, with stockists including Harrods and Galeries Lafayette as part of its roughly 300 points of sale.Sylvie Loday (an engineer by trade and former Global Account Manager at Givaudan, the company whose perfumers Ex Nihilo creates fragrances with), Olivier Royère (who worked as a banker prior to co-founding the brand), and Benoît Verdier (an ex Marketing Communications Director at Enies Group) are the brains behind the brand. Verdier met Royère on the benches of research university Sciences Po, and the duo become friends with Loday soon thereafter, and as self-proclaimed fragrance heads, making a collective decision to leave their jobs behind for an entrepreneurial perfume adventure in 2013. Their first store opened on the prestigious Rue Saint-Honoré, an eye-catching retail entry for a newcomer brand.Blue Talisman is the newest addition to its lineup. Launched in honor of the brand’s decade in business, the fruity citrus scent crafted by Jordi Fernández contains notes of mandarin, ginger, pear, orange blossom, and Ambrofix.