Roja Dove Haute Parfumerie
Posted by ritaglh on Dec 12, 2007
I know a place where glamour and beauty still exist. This hidden chamber on the fifth floor in Harrods is accessible from the Egyptian escalators. I have lost count of the number of times I have been there to shimmer and indulge in luxury. I have never been there and not received a wonderful reception and erudite service. Each guest I have brought there has been impressed and cooed and purred. My mother found her dream fragrance there, Le Dix, a sublime perfume concentrate and they have the last 65 bottles in the world.
Lo and behold, yesterday I met the man in person, and even if I hadn’t seen him before, I would know it was him as he has the aura of a superstar. My guess is he was wearing a silk Versace chemise in Gold and black which matched the black lacquered furnishings. If you are lucky you may also meet him, but if you want a “voyage of discovery” to find your signature fragrance you can book a personal appointment with him. He is the most quoted expert on perfume fragrance in the world, and had I not been overawed I may have been able to remember exactly what he said.
I fear I may have made some inane comment about perfume but he delightfully responded by sharing something about cleaning his house recently and being able to recognise scents in his cleaning liquid that smelt like certain perfumes, and like a wine expert hinted at the nuances and subtleties. (I was left wondering what cleaning fluid he uses, mine just smells like lemons.) He has put all his perfume wisdom to some more good use and created some gorgeous perfumes of his own, which just have to be smelled to be believed.
Lucky Londoners will be able to hear him give a talk on Fragrance this Friday evening, 14 Dec at the V&A museum. Yes, yes, I will be there too, so come and say hello.
Musk, Ambergris and Aloes
Posted by ritaglh on Dec 11, 2007
Al Qurashi
For weeks now I have been checking the progress of this new fragrance shop in Knightsbridge. The doors were covered in paper, but tauntingly a sliver of the opulence, chandeliers and glass shelves, were still visible. Finally, they opened their doors three days ago and with excited anticipation I stepped into this Aladdins cave of exotic scents.
This shop exceeded my expectations. In row upon glorious row I peeked into bottles, lingering and deeply inhaling 30 year old vintage ouds, and scents made for royalty. Thick black unguents of musk and ambergris in this bazaar extravaganza. I had brought a guest to accompany me on this journey. She doesn’t even like perfume, nor does she own a bottle. However, today she discovered several scents she liked and vowed to purchase. Having never smelled scents sans alcohol, she thought fragrance gave her a headache, but these oils left her unaffected. While we were there a shop manager from an unamed perfume company confessed her favourites and most recent purchases.
They do some perfume with alcohol too, their Taif Rose one is exquisite, fresh, fruity with luscious blooms. But if you venture here, you can choose from numerous faceted crystal bottles or their standard bottles starting from 3ml and fill them with pungent oils. We were offered a soft couch to sit and discuss our favourites and refresh our noses with coffee beans. The senior sales consultant, Migena is extremely knowledgeable about the ingredients and happily waxes lyrical about the beautiful treasures. Even the names of the perfumes are sheer poetry.
Try their aloes incense, little brown truffles of wood and resins which can be burnt for purification and ambiance. In the glass cabinets there are large chips of oud. I am going back for Al Hay, (life) and at £25 for 3ml I consider this a bargain. The oils are so intense that only a drop on each wrist suffices for the day. But if your wallet is full, try some of the royalty collections at a couple hundred quid and rising. Mind you, the smelling is for free….. Not to be missed are the musks at the back left corner of the shop and the collections of ouds from around the globe.