Fragrance house

Miguel Matos

Miguel Matos launched his own perfume brand in 2019 after working as a Fragrantica editor and experimenting independently. The brand developed from his transition from fragrance criticism and art writing into perfumery, with early work produced independently in Almada, Portugal. Perfumer-produced, small-batch, and personally authored, its scents begin with historical or traditional structures that are broken apart or twisted into deconstructed compositions. Its creative identity draws on vintage French perfumery, particularly chypre structures, while exploring emotion, beauty, innovation, contrast, and unexpected combinations of familiar and strange smells. Matos’s self-taught development received technical guidance from Christian Carbonnel, who invited him to collaborate with his laboratory; Sarah Baker was the first brand to publish one of his formulas. In 2023, Tabacco Smeraldo won the Artisan Category at the ninth Art and Olfaction Awards, with Matos credited as perfumer.