April 2026 - Ashley Santiago from French Cowboy
Fragrance lately
In conversation with Ashley Santiago from French Cowboy
Please introduce yourself in 3 sentences:
My name is Ashley Santiago, I’m a perfumer from California. I have been working at Givaudan in Paris for the past seven years. I work on Fine Fragrances for many different brands, as well as owning my own niche fragrance brand, French Cowboy.
How did you start out in the fragrance industry and what is the story behind French Cowboy?
I’ve been in the fragrance industry for over ten years. I started working in the industry in university as a sales associate at Ministry of Scent, a niche perfumery in San Francisco. While there I met two independent perfumers, Ineke Ruhland and Yosh Han, who were kind enough to train me in some fragrance basics. I worked there throughout my university years and over the summers when I visited back home. The team there is amazing. I was the second person to ever join the team, and the owner, Antonia Kohl, is now a dear friend and mentor. I don’t think I would be a perfumer today if it wasn’t for her.
From there I went to ISIPCA in 2016, then the Givaudan Perfumery School, and integrated into the Givaudan Fine Fragrance team in Paris about three years ago.
I always had a dream to launch a niche brand. I wanted to create something completely new, bringing together my experience and understanding of both the US and French fragrance cultures and markets.
During my training in France, I discovered the deep, almost obsessive passion the French have for fragrance. There is a true savoir-faire here that is so embedded in the culture and even the language. What I see in the US fragrance industry, on the other hand, is a greater willingness to take risks, whereas French perfumery tends to be more traditional. And that was it: the idea came to blend both sides, to merge my own two cultures—hence the name: French Cowboy. The “Cowboy” part is also an homage to my roots: my grandpa (as well as many others in my family) was a vaquero in Mexico.
Price point was also a key consideration for us. I have seen many brands with high price points, yet not necessarily much fragrance expertise behind them. On the other hand, you have interesting and cool brands with great fragrances at a price point under $100—maybe just presented in ‘simpler’ bottles. We wanted to democratise niche fragrance and haute parfumerie so it is accessible to everyone, especially younger audiences.
How do you create your fragrances?
I envision my fragrances by starting with specific notes that inspire me and my co-creators. Take Mezcal Chocolat created with Mathis Molinié. I had been wanting to create a mezcal fragrance forever. My family has agave plantations in Jalisco, where we’re from, and I had this mezcal accord inspired by that which I was sitting on for a while—one I loved but didn’t yet know how to use.
When I met with chef Mathis Molinié, he had this amazing mousse au chocolat. I created an accord inspired by it, and then showed him how it worked in combination with my mezcal accord. He was on board, and the fragrance came together very naturally.
Same with Pear Pavlova, which came together just as naturally—and quite quickly as well. I was working with professional dancer Allie Goodbun on that fragrance; she wanted fresh notes with longevity, but tended to shy away from gourmands. So instead of enveloping the fruity pear note with something sweet like vanilla, we went for a pavlova accord—which is my favourite dessert—creating a whipped, airy, not-too-sweet, fluffy musk accord, kind of symbolising the pavlova rather than interpreting it too literally.
I also love thinking of fragrances as stories—“who is going to wear them?”.
Any perfumer / artist / person you’d like to collaborate with on a fragrance?
Without a doubt, fashion designer Willy Chavarria. As a fellow Mexican-American, I find him so inspiring. I own a couple pieces of his, and just love the authenticity. I would be so honoured to create a fragrance for his brand if he ever decides to do one.
Favourite ingredient / aroma?
Always vanilla. I am obsessed with vanilla. I did my thesis on it. I love that it’s actually indigenous to Mexico, yet has travelled so widely. The reason we have this association with French vanilla is because it was the French who figured out how to hand-pollinate vanilla (rather than bee pollination).
Our next fragrance is vanilla, and I’m so excited by it, because I have gone on the hunt for the perfect vanilla since I got into perfume so to have finally been able to create my own accord is amazing.
Any favourite perfume or one that has a particular memory you’d like to share?
Lalique Encre Noire. I have loved it forever, even speaking about it in my first YouTube video ever as my favourite perfume of all time. It actually happened to be the fragrance my husband was wearing on our first date—a sign!
What’s your first olfactory memory?
Probably the angel’s trumpets in my aunt’s garden. They grow all over in San Francisco and they smell so heady. The reason it also imprinted on me is because especially as a kid, they tell you not to play around them because they have toxic effects. The beauty of them, as well as the forbidden part of it, made it stick with me.
If you weren’t in the fragrance industry, which industry would you like to be in?
I think I would be a theatre actress. Or in fashion. I don’t know if I have the drawing skills to be a fashion designer, but an editor at a fashion magazine would be very dreamy as well.
If you could change anything in the industry, what would it be?
We still have ways to go in terms of better explaining to the public how fragrance is made. What I learned in the industry is just how safe it actually is. I think so many consumers are afraid when they see fragrance labels.
I wish there was a way to explain it—like in a documentary—that fragrance is much safer than one might think. To illustrate this with a little anecdote: sometimes I find a material I can no longer use in fragrance, yet it’s still used in food flavourings. It’s to say that if it’s safe enough for you to eat, it’s probably safe enough to be on your skin—at least in certain dosages. In science in general, the dose is very important.
Any upcoming project / launch you want to share?
We are launching two new fragrances for French Cowboy—a vanilla fragrance and a citrussy fig—perfect for summer!
Tune of the day: Mazzy Star - Fade into You
Fragrance of the day: I’m never perfumed when I work! But when I’m not, I usually wear Pear Pavlova
Order French Cowboy’s free samples
Red concrete, Jan 2026
- Flo