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Henri Alméras was a painter and writer in addition to being a master perfumer.
Alméras created a number of fragrances for Paul Poiret's Parfums de Rosine, among them Le Fruit Defendu (Forbidden Fruit). When Paul Poiret's business failed in 1925 and Parfums de Rosine came to an end, Henri Alméras became Jean Patou's perfumer.
In 1925, Patou lanuched three of Henri Alméras's creations: Amour Amour, Que Sais-Je?, and Adieu Sagesse. This was the beginning of a long lasting relationship which included Patou's famous Joy — the world's costliest perfume — created by Alméras.
Henri Alméras continued to create fragrances for Patou after the founder's death, helping to keep alive a business which is now owned by Proctor & Gamble.
The story is told (by Guy Robert to Luca Turin to Octavian) that the formula for Jacques Guerlain's Shalimar came very close to that of a fragrance Henri Alméras had created many years earlier for Parfums de Rosine.
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