An Independent, Black-Woman-Owned Maison

I built SANCTUAIRE DE FLEURS because I wanted Black women’s stories to live in fragrance without asking permission.

Not as inspiration borrowed for beauty. Not as a mood. Not as a passing reference. As the reason the parfum exists.

That conviction outlasted my years in corporate America. In March 2026, The Wall Street Journal told my story in its national report on Black women leaving corporate life to build enterprises of their own.

I am Serene B. Hollingsworth. Fragrance lovers call me Serene B. I am Parfumeuse de Vérité, Perfumer of Truth: writer, perfumer, creative director, and founder of SANCTUAIRE DE FLEURS. I am the nose behind every fragrance in this Maison. I write every story and compose every parfum from the lived experiences of Black women and the cultural memory we carry. Each fragrance begins there: with her life, her becoming, her grief, her softness, her power, her joy, her survival, and her inheritance.

Black women are the origin of this work, but the Maison holds the fullness of the lives entwined with ours. Black men’s stories belong here with intention and authority, not at the edges of the Maison. My mother, father, aunts, brothers, daughters, and the generations before and after me live within this work. In this Maison, we are one. Our stories are powerful, and they belong beside one another.

Legacy Worn in Fragrance is not a slogan. It is the truth of this Maison.

Many compositions are worn across gender, because fragrance meets the wearer before it meets a category.

This Maison is also testimony. I am here because of YESHUA’s sacrifice on the cross and because the grace, mercy, and favor of YHWH have carried me. My faith is not decoration placed around the work. It is the ground beneath it, and I am free to name that truth fully.

My authorship extends beyond the bottle. I write, compose, publish, and direct the visual world of the Maison. Through visual art, correspondence, literature, and FRAGRANCE PERSPECTIVES, I carry these stories into forms that can be worn, held, read, and remembered.

The fragrances are Parfums Absolus, composed at 30% concentration. They are not meant to be rushed. The first spray is only the door opening. Give the fragrance time. Let it settle into skin, warmth, movement, and memory. What arrives boldly may become intimate. What feels beautiful at first may become something you understand hours later.

I do not compose to disappear into sameness. I do not believe parfum requires silence, imitation, or politeness. Beauty can have edge. Fragrance can carry tension. A woman can be soft and still enter the room with authority.

This Maison is for those who want more than beautiful objects. It is for those who understand fragrance, art, and writing as story, presence, language, and legacy.

You may not find yourself in every story. That is part of the truth. But you are welcome to enter, listen, wear, read, and witness what our stories become when they are given form without compromise.

Welcome to SANCTUAIRE DE FLEURS, A Maison.

Legacy Worn in Fragrance.

With reverence,

Serene B. Hollingsworth
Parfumeuse de Vérité
Founder, SANCTUAIRE DE FLEURS