I had one of the most interesting hours of my life last week when I met Roja Dove who is one of the most famous perfume-makers and "noses" in the industry. This man knows everything that there is to know about the history, psychology and creation of scent.
We met in the Roja Dove perfume room at Harrods which is wonderfully luxurious and filled with rare and famous scents, many of which date back to the 1930s and tell a fascinating story.
I sat on a plush velvet sofa and instantly warmed to Roja when he turned up. He was wearing a flamboyant beige shirt which was covered in images from "Superman" and had a great energy about him. After talking about his cat Missy (so called because he knew she'd grow up to be a madame)we turned to the subject of perfume. His passion for the subject was effervescent. As his eyes sparkled and he regaled stories and facts I was totally enchanted and engrossed.
Roja's passion for perfume was inspired by his mother's handbag. He saw it as a secret world filled with mysterious fragrances that combined to produce his first impression of a woman. He believes that the scents we love and hate all root from memories and experiences, most of which are created in the first ten years of our life.
My hour with Roja involved finding my perfect scent by going through a process of elimination. First we discovered that the family of fragrance that I love is chypre based. I am not to my surprise a floral girl!
After this discovery my nose was taken on a journey through the history of some of the most impressive Chypre based perfumes in the world. Each time I smelt one I was not told what the perfume wasas Roja believes that marketing and names can strongly influence a woman's choice of scent. Instead I was asked merely to give an instant reaction from the heart. I compared my reaction to two scents at a time, returning my least favourite tester to Roja as I went. It was at this point that he revealed what the perfume I had handed back actually was.
In the end my two favourites were actually ones that Roja had created himself. They were part of a very special collection that he made for women who can't afford to have a totally bespoke perfume made but who want to smell different and "one off". There are only fifty bottles of each one in existence and they cost £1000 each. While this is a lot of money, these fragrances are a total world apart from your average scent. The ingredients are rare, immaculately layered and each perfume has taken years to perfect.
If you want to explore the world of Roja Dove and try a slighly more affordable (it retails at £495) but absolutely stunning perfume then I recommend that you head to Harrods and try his Aoud. It is one of the most incredible perfumes I have ever smelt. Even more affordable are his range of perfumes which have such enigmatic names as "Enslaved" and "Scandal". Each one tells a great story and will be unlike anything you have experienced in the fragrance world.
click below to discover more about Roja Dove's fragrances:
http://www.rojadove.com/#/intro
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