Fragrance Du Bois by Cache Journal

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CONTENTS TOP NOTES 14: JOVOY JOY Fragrance Du Bois debuts at the iconic Paris store 22: TAKEN FOR GRANTED Award-winning actor Richard E. Grant on his new perfume 29: START UP TV presenter Paula Malai Ali finishes our sentences

MIDDLE NOTES 36: GRASSE IS GREENER A postcard from the fragrantly French town 38: MASTER OF HIS CRAFT Olivier Pescheux on the joys of working with Oud 44: SEVEN HEAVEN Why iconic Oud forerunner M7 was ahead of its time 50: SCHOOL'S IN News of Asia Plantation Capital’s education drive in Sri Lanka 52: MEET AND GREET Faces of the fragrance industry on how to balance work and play

BASE NOTES 56: TO DI FOR Di Lawrence on the pros and cons of a personalised perfume 60: BRAND FOCUS We delve inside the French brand Alexandre.J 64: CHINA IN YOUR HAND We report on China’s insatiable desire for Oud 70: B OOK MARK Why The Perfume Garden is more miss than hit

FINISHING NOTES 74: THE CAR'S THE STAR News of a forthcoming, limited edition Oud-mobile 78: FRESH LOOK We showcase the latest Oud fragrances hitting the market 80: OUD DIRECTORY Fragrance Du Bois’ definitive list of Oud fragrances 90: FANTASY FEAST Step up to the hot plate and reveal your ideal dinner guests 8

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Editor-AT-LARGE Andrew Leci Editor Richard Lenton Creative Director Jonnie Swarbrick PRODUCTION STEPHANIE LAM RESEARCH ANALYST DANI NASR Business Manager SHELLY LOW Marketing Executive Samantha Tham STYLING DIRECTOR NICOLA PARKER technical support philip zhou Printed by Ho Printing Singapore Pte Ltd Published by CACHE JOURNAL LTD Fragrance du bois journal Towers Point Wheelhouse Road Rugeley, WS15 1UN United Kingdom T: (65) 6222 3386 For advertising sales and marketing please contact:samantha@cachejournal.com For editorial please contact Richard Lenton: richard@cachejournal.com For letters and feedback please email: letters@cachejournal.com

Fragrance Du Bois has taken every reasonable care to ensure the accuracy and objectivity of the information contained in this publication, but accepts no responsibility for the content of advertisements published, and no liability for mistake, misprint, omission, typographical error, loss or damage suffered as a result of relying wholly or in part on the content of advertising or editorial published herein. Fragrance Du Bois magazine reserves the right to refuse any advertisement or advertorial for any reason. All artwork designed by Fragrance Du Bois magazine or any part of this publication may not be reproduced in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by means â&#x20AC;&#x201C; graphical, electronic or mechanical, photocopying, recording, taping etc â&#x20AC;&#x201C; without prior permission in writing from the publishers.

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ith so much going on in the world of Oud perfumery, and in particular at Fragrance Du Bois, it’s difficult to know where to start. Actually, no it’s not… Paris. The fragrant centre of the world. In fact, scrap that; the universe. It was in Paris in February of this year when our ‘niche’ brand went mainstream, hitting the shelves with no little fanfare at Jovoy’s famous Rue de Castiglione address. This event rubber-stamped what we, and fragrance connoisseurs, have long since known – that our unique products deserve to stand proudly alongside the industry’s most iconic brands. I must confess that I’d never worn Oud until I began working for Fragrance Du Bois. It’s now difficult to imagine wearing anything else; in fact, by contrast, my previous collection of eaux de Cologne were so bland, that a mirror would probably forget to reflect them. What sets us apart is the use of the highest quality, sustainable Oud in all our fragrances. Oud is the 21st Century ingredient of choice, and the perfume world simply cannot get enough of it right now. The Oud industry is estimated to be worth between US$8 billion and US$12 billion per annum, and that figure is rising. Meanwhile, the global fragrance industry is also

accelerating rapidly from its current valuation of US$40 billion, and it's Oud perfumes that are gobbling up market share at a much faster rate than any other fragrance sector. One of the main reasons for that is China; a nation that’s been using Oud for a variety of purposes for centuries, but one that now recognises its unmistakable fragrant qualities. We delve deep into China’s insatiable lust for Oud on page 64. Di Lawrence discusses the many pros and fleeting cons of developing one's own personalised fragrance on page 56, and we fondly remember the forerunner of the Oud boom in the Western world on page 44; yes, lest we forget, Yves Saint Laurent’s legendary M7. For those of a nervous disposition, we won’t be reproducing the full frontal advert. Our Oud Directory has also been updated following another glut of new releases in recent weeks. At the current rate of growth, the Directory will fill a hundred pages this time next year. Enjoy the issue.

Richard

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TOP NOTES Jasminum Sambac. Oil on canvas. J Swarbrick. 2016

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29.02.16

Fragrance Du Bois launches at the famous Jovoy store in Paris

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12.11.15

French Chamber of Commerce fragrance profiling, at Fragrance Du Bois, Singapore

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Brand Director, Nicola Parker, on the latest developments at Fragrance Du Bois Dateline…Paris. What an amazing time it is to be involved with Fragrance Du Bois, after we stamped our mark on the international scene by debuting in Europe at the house of Jovoy. It was such a privilege to actually be there in Paris for such a landmark day in the company’s history. Affectionately known as the ‘embassy of rare perfumes’, Jovoy is extremely particular about the brands and products that it stocks and gives a platform to, so introducing FDB to coincide with their fourth anniversary is a real feather in our cap. When we started Fragrance Du Bois only a few years ago, I dreamed of having a presence in Paris for our products. That dream has now come true, and I, personally, am beyond excited.

Jovoy’s dedication to the highest quality fragrances, created by the world’s most innovative perfumers, has always been unwavering. And Fragrance Du Bois’ range of products can now rightly take its place among the rare and exclusive items that are perfectly aligned with the Jovoy ethos; quality, exclusivity and creativity. The collaboration is only the beginning of a planned ongoing partnership between the two brands. Our values are all shared ones, and we are very proud to have secured this partnership, which I see as a meeting of minds and a coming together of cultures – with Fragrance Du Bois having its roots in Asia, and Jovoy representing the finest, most respected traditions of French perfumery. Jovoy also represents everything we believe in as a brand, and the partnership is a testament to what we have achieved as a company. This has been a team effort; all the way from the plantation workers and managers at Asia Plantation Capital who take such good care of

our Aquilaria trees, through to our Scientific Advisory Board that makes sure that our Oud is of the highest quality, on to the personnel at our distilleries, and finally to our brilliant team of perfumers who create our magnificent fragrances. The trip to Paris was also a real treat as we got to hear Jovoy founder François Hénin say such amazing things about us as a brand. He told guests: “At Jovoy we have very specific values. Quality is key, but we are also looking for something a little bit different. The global fragrance market has become somewhat generic in recent years, and we pride ourselves on encouraging those brands that show originality – extra creativity, if you like. “We’re delighted to be able to debut Fragrance Du Bois in Paris at our ‘embassy’, as we share the same ethos. All products must use the finest ingredients, sustainably produced, and blended into exquisite formulations that stimulate and inspire.” Here’s to a long and successful partnership.

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“At Jovoy we have very specific values. Quality is key, but we are also looking for something a little bit different. The global fragrance market has become somewhat generic in recent years, and we pride ourselves on encouraging those brands that show originality – extra creativity, if you like.” 21

Taken for Granted

How iconic actor Richard E. Grant switched from films to fragrances

In our debut issue of Fragrance Du Bois magazine, we pontificated at length about the flood of cheap, nasty ‘celebrity’ scents that have infiltrated the perfume market over the past couple of decades. In issue two, we’re going to backtrack. Well, ever so slightly. After a 30-year acting career, Richard E. Grant’s lifelong perfume obsession led him to create a unisex scent, Jack, in 2014. That same year, Jack was Liberty’s third bestseller, and went on to win a Power Perfume award from Cosmopolitan magazine, and Best 22

New Independent British Fragrance at the perfume Oscars, ‘The Fifis’.

The Withnail and I actor told high50.com: “When I was a boy (growing up in Swaziland) I wanted to buy a perfume for someone I had a mad crush on, but I couldn’t afford it on my pocket money. So I took all the gardenia and rose petals I could steal from my parents' garden, boiled them with sugar water in jam jars, and buried them in the ground. Two weeks later they turned out to be stink bombs. “Four and half decades later I was on holiday and a fellow house guest, Anya Hindmarch, saw me sniffing and smelling everything in sight. She said, ‘Are you going to do something about that?’ So I said, ‘What, psychiatrically?’ And she said, ‘No, are you going to make a perfume?’

“I told her that had been my secret dream, so she put me in touch with some people in London. I then met Katherine Mitchell, who I’d been introduced to by perfumer Roja Dove, and things started moving. “I used my friends to blind test and take notes on every variation we made. I also worked with a team at Liberty, where I tested it and eventually got down to two favourites. One morning I mixed the two together and that was it, an epiphany that was exactly what I had dreamed of.” Grant has now launched the second scent in his range, called Jack Covent Garden, while another, Jack Piccadilly – which Grant says “is like petrol, patchouli and bergamot, and smells just like sex” – is due for release later this year.

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BIG IS BEAUTIFUL As a decade, the 1980s is much-maligned in some quarters. Granted, the worldwide political upheaval that saw the Cold War almost morph into World War III was more than a touch scary, but in terms of popular culture and fashion, it’s difficult to deny that it was an exciting, innovative time. Of course there were mistakes – Dynasty inspired shoulder pads, bubble gum pop music and dodgy perms to name just three – but there was a real sense of adventure. In the perfume world, big and bold aromas were the order of the day. When a woman walked in the room, she left a fragrant impression – good or bad. Now, after far too many years in the wilderness, those big, individual fragrances are back; led of course by Oud and other Middle Eastern influences. Actress and former fragrance shop worker, Anna Young, told the New York Times: “People are trying to move out of big-box-store uniformity. And they look for that everywhere, even in scents. It is an invisible expression of self. “I love wearing Oud. For one thing, it’s inherently androgynous. Women are as interested in it as men, which feels very modern for where we are at with gender dynamics. “Also, the name sounds like wood, but it also sounds like some faraway Middle Eastern fantasy. It has a mystical, magical allure.” Myriam Badault, the creative director of French perfume house Diptyque, who introduced its first Oud scent, Oud Palao, in October, added to the theme in the same newspaper article, calling Oud the ‘new patchouli’. “Strong, creative fragrances are back,” she said, “and we really feel that perfume experts are not looking anymore for clean and ‘me too’ products.” And so say all of us. 23

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“Until I was a teenager, I used red pokeberries for lipstick and a burnt matchstick for eyeliner. I used honeysuckle for perfume.” Dolly Parton 24

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The Esxence of Quality Fragrance Du Bois caught the attention of perfume lovers from all over the globe at its second appearance at Esxence, the world’s foremost luxury perfume trade show, which was held in Milan. The niche perfume house launched multiple new products, including APC Essentials – a new division of the Group dedicated to working with large and small companies to supply them with their own naturally sourced and grown products. “This complements another of our initiatives, L’Essence Du Bois, which takes the form of an exclusive journey through the 52 essences of nature found in all fine fragrances,” said Gary Crates, European CEO of Fragrance Du Bois.

“We are also introducing a range of hand-made, bespoke, artisanal boxes that can be selected and customised for each of our fragrances, as well as a range of exquisite hand-made crystal bottles for our pure Oud oils, designed by the eminent creators of luxury crystalware, Cristal De Paris. “We've also entered into a design collaboration with Swarovski for Fragrance Du Bois’ Shades and Privé ranges of fine fragrances, featuring a selection of bejewelled caps that can be carefully chosen by clients and tailored to their preference of the perfumes in all our boutiques.”

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ALL ROADS LEAD TO AFRICA Niche perfume label Roads has unveiled a quartet of fragrances inspired by Africa, including an ambitious number called Big Sky, which contains naturally derived Oud. As well as Oud, Big Sky boasts notes of zesty citrus, lemon and orange flower, and an earthy mix of patchouli, papyrus, and myrrh. Roads is the brainchild of Irish businesswoman and entrepreneur, Danielle Ryan. As well as a range of niche eaux de parfum, the brand also has a publishing and entertainment arm – producing high-end books specialising in art, photography and culture, and a film production company. Their other fragrances inspired by Africa include I Am Dance, which contains hints of mandarin, pineapple and lavadin, and falls back on a woody heart. Past|Present is a fragrance that contains bergamot, smoked black tea and jasmine, with brooding tonka bean in its base. And finally there’s Afropolis – a combination of gin, spearmint, oakmoss, iris, ebony woods and amber.

FESTIVAL

CHEER Omani fragrances, including Oud, were captivating visitors at the 2016 Muscat Festival. Visitors to the Heritage Village at the Al Amerat Park were welcomed by traditional fragrances of Oman – the demand for which is growing as fragrance lovers become more accustomed to their unique scent profiles. “People are very keen to buy perfumes and other items,” an Omani trader told the Times of Oman. “I have been dealing with these products for more than two decades, and at the Muscat Festival from its very beginning,” said another trader. “What is amazing for me is that more youngsters are getting fascinated with the smell of Oud and attar (Omani perfumes), and luckily we are having good business here.”

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DEAL BANKED

COLOUR & CREED

Fragrance Du Bois has signed a one-year partnership agreement with Dukascopy Bank SA, the organisers of the Geneva Forex Events at the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues in Switzerland.

The house of Creed has launched a new perfume that it believes is the embodiment of the ‘little red dress’. “Royal Princess Oud is inspired by over 20 volumes of sketch books, revealing a time when the Creeds were steeped in men’s and women’s tailoring in London. It marks the first scent born from a century of the family’s couturier history,” said a Creed spokesperson. “From high tea to grand balls, this enchanting scent is like a modern day little red dress. Royal Princess Oud is perfect for the woman with a passion for life who is seductive and captivating.” Expect top notes of bitter Sicilian bergamot, rose and sweet violet, followed by a heart of jasmine, vanilla, patchouli and iris from Tuscany, and base notes of Mysore sandalwood, styrax and benjoin Siam – a sweet gum resin from Thailand.

The Geneva Forex Event is a series of monthly meetings that brings together financiers and other key players in Geneva’s financial sector. The events offer the perfect opportunity to combine glamour, luxury and business in an informal and yet convivial setting. The concept is to facilitate regular get-togethers that allow participants to keep up with and/or stay ahead of business trends, and establish privileged professional relationships in a relaxed atmosphere. Asia Plantation Capital (APC) was delighted to be able to support the perfume brand at its Geneva launch, and help promote its sustainable plantations that produce such a wide and fascinating variety of end products. The launch event was held on Thursday February 4, and was attended by Gary Crates – CEO Europe, the APC Group SA. “We are delighted to have the opportunity to make new contacts, and at the same time support our partner company,” said Crates. “Fragrance Du Bois has just made its European debut with a launch at the Jovoy boutique in Paris, and this will be followed up by other openings in Europe in the near future. “The entire range of Fragrance Du Bois perfumes contains 100% pure and sustainable Oud oil that we produce, so we are very pleased to be a part of such an auspicious event.” 27

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13.11.15

Launching of new BMW Series 7. The Banjaran Hot Spring Retreat House

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I’VE STARTED, SO YOU’LL FINISH Brunei born television presenter and actress, Paula Malai Ali, finishes the sentences that we start

My childhood heroes were… Wonder Woman and the Bionic Woman. I also really liked Muhammad Ali and genuinely thought he was my uncle because we had the same surname. I would drink Capri Sonne because back in the 80s his face was all over the packets. I hate Capri Sonne. My first job was… As a production assistant with a theatre company in Singapore called Act 3, specialising in theatre for young people. I ironed costumes, cleaned out the make-up box, made props and acted as Cinderella, The Little Match Girl and was one of the Three Little Pigs, among other stellar roles. I was 18. I’m not very good at… Wrapping presents. And I don't know how to do the cool ‘turn around in the pool under water’ when you reach the end of your lap. The most exciting trip I’ve ever been on was… My first trip to New York, which was also the first time I'd ever been to the States. Everything was so exciting and just like it was in the movies. The yellow cabs, Rockefeller Centre, Broadway – I was dizzy with the energy. I remember walking through Manhattan in a dress I had just bought. I thought I looked sensational. Until two girls walked by and said, "nice 20 dollar dress". I was mortified. (It was actually $19.99.) I get up… Fumble for my glasses. Look in the mirror and hope I have magically un-aged overnight. Devour a cup of coffee and brace myself for my five-year old to once again tell me he wants a ‘cheeky’ day off school.

The last time I had butterflies in my stomach was when… I hosted a press event in India for Usain Bolt. Interviewing anyone you don't know is always a gamble – the pressure is magnified when you do it in front of journalists.

I hate it when… People don't look me in the eye when they’re talking to me. I literally want to walk away. And when people use the word ‘epic’. And people who take selfies. The vanity makes me cringe deep in my bones.

The last person I phoned was… My twin sister. She didn't answer. She never answers.

The secret to happiness is… Living in the moment. I have yet to master it.

My proudest moment was… Giving birth and not having an epidural. I felt like a warrior. Who really, really wanted an epidural.

ALL TIME FRAVOURITE SCENT

I get most scared when… I'm flying. And about to go live on TV. And when someone drives too fast. And when I'm forced to go on a rollercoaster… should I continue? I'm a scaredy cat.

“The new Chanel No.5. It’s pretty and fresh. Like babies and buttercups with a great whoosh of grown up sophistication.”

My biggest failure was… Not learning to speak Malay properly when I lived and started my career in Kuala Lumpur. The last thing I posted on social media was… A picture of a friend and I wearing ponchos in the rain. Not the cool ponchos. The ones that look like plastic bags. Because they are. The most famous person I’ve met is… Beyoncé. It was also a thrill meeting Superman – Henry Cavill. My first love was… A young boy who was my Nanna's neighbour in Birmingham (UK). His name was Tommy. He tried to kiss me, but I ran away crying. Actually, I was wearing rollerskates so I skated away. Most. Awkward. Escape. Ever. I was seven years old.

FAVOURITE OUD FRAGRANCE “Oud is quite new to me, but I really like Fragrance Du Bois' Oud Jaune Intense.”

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As marketing ideas go, informing customers that they could potentially smell like their dead grandmother doesn’t sound like the most commercially savvy of suggestions from a fragrance brand. However, French biotech company Kalain has begun sales of what it’s calling ‘olfactory links to the dead’. For US$609, you can bottle the smell of the recently departed, whether it’s a relative, a friend, or even a pet. Although maybe you’d have to have a rethink if you’d been actively domesticating skunks for the past few years. Company founder Katia Apalategui – a 50-something former insurance sales person – came up with the idea for Kalain during the final stages of her father’s life eight years ago. Using a piece of a dead person’s clothing, she now claims to have discovered a way to perfectly recreate their scent, after working at length with the macromolecular organic chemistry department at the University of Le Havre in France. “With smell, you can really close your eyes and feel like you are with them,” said Florian Rabeau, who runs Kalain with his mother Katia, in an interview with fusion.net. “If you give us clothes really soaked with the smell of your father, you will get exactly the same smell in a perfume. Almost 100% sure.”

Blood Thirsty A blood donation drive is just one example of how local communities are benefiting from Fragrance Du Bois’ sustainability initiatives Ethical business practices, sustainability and the idea of giving something back, are concepts that many organisations pay lip service to, without actively following through. However, that’s not an accusation you can throw at Asia Plantation Capital (APC) – the company that provides 100% natural, pure, sustainably sourced Oud to Fragrance Du Bois. APC works closely with the local communities in and around which the company operates, by providing investment as well as social and cultural support. One of the communities benefiting is the Kathiran Kattu Estate – a plantation situated in rural Sri Lanka. It recently held its annual blood donation drive at the Sri Bodhimalu Temple Hall in Puttalam, in celebration of one of its plantation’s fifth anniversaries. And once again APC was heavily involved. Held in conjunction with the Puttalam General Hospital medical team, each donor donated a pint of blood, and the turnout for the drive hit record numbers – even including members of the Sri Lankan police force. 30

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Model Perfumer

A jazz-loving, dandified model is the accidental perfume maker behind Vilhelm Parfumerie – a fragrance house that is hoping to take New York by storm after establishing itself in Sweden and Paris. Jan Ahlgren became obsessed with the process of fragrance making after approaching the famed perfume house Robertet to scent his leathers. “The power with which a scent can conjure up all sorts of emotions and tell a tale was really intoxicating to me,” Ahlgren told Vanity Fair. Of his eight creations thus far, Smoke Show is the most interesting to those of us who preach at the altar of Oud. As a jazz-lover, he’s created Smoke Show as a homage to a night of smoky rooms and spotlights, with an air of mystique. It contains notes of pink pepper and saffron at the top, with rose oil and leather in the middle, all wrapped in vetiver, cedarwood, and Oud. Vilhelm perfumes can be found in Barneys of New York, Colette in Paris and Liberty in London. 31

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Introducing... Sospiro – a bespoke fragrance inspired by classical music that’s now available in Fragrance Du Bois boutiques Sospiro is a luxury fragrance house that draws inspiration from a creative marriage between Italy and the Middle East. Focused on integrating fragrant imagery from a rich and colourful heritage that inspires the imagination and touches the senses, their 15 perfumes collection – divided into two chapters plus a recently  released special edition – offers a graceful balance of the old and the new. Focusing on an artistic approach to creating a truly sophisticated and fragrant experience, Sospiro perfumes are created by internationally recognised perfumers throughout Europe. Appealing to the most discerning of perfume collectors, each creation uses only the finest and rarest ingredients, and is inspired by classical music terms that underline the character and performance of the scent itself. Unique and inspiring notes ranging from bright citrus to floral arrangements are weaved together to create a truly harmonious perfume blend. Each finely crafted collection of scents pays homage to a long and prized Italian heritage of perfume making, while adding a twist to each scent – the addition of prized Oud. The luxurious compositions of each scent bring to mind a bygone era of epic trade routes and fabled seas, crossed by those who were inspired to discover something new.

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MIDDLE NOTES Iris Germanica. Oil on canvas. J Swarbrick. 2016

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We visit the town in the French Riviera that’s recognised as the world’s capital of perfume Disciples of Chanel No. 5 probably think that Grasse’s status as the world’s epicentre of the perfume industry is purely down to the fact that Gabrielle Chanel created the iconic fragrance there. However, there’s much, much more to the story. Grasse, of course, is where master perfumers are trained in their art, and it’s also the place where nearly three-quarters of France’s natural aromas are produced, thanks to the town’s amazing warm and wet microclimate, which allows the flower farming industry to flourish. The first thing visitors to Grasse notice – apart from the vibrant street art, pastel buildings, and incredible views across the French Riviera – is the overpowering smell of jasmine. However, refuge can be sought in the International Museum of Perfume, where visitors can smell the individual scents that are used to create some of the world’s most iconic fragrances. Grasse wasn’t always a hotbed for the perfume industry. Way back in the 12th Century, the town was renowned for its leather tanning; supplying leather to nearby Italian cities such as Pisa and Genoa. However, production techniques at the time caused leather products to smell rather unpleasant, and so, at the behest of the Royal Court and high society, came the rise of scented leather gloves. ‘Glovers Perfumers’, who cleverly extracted flowers to make top quality scented gloves, became highly sought after, and Grasse was at the forefront of the industry. However, the town soon faced stiff competition for leather from Nice, which gradually increased its production and market share, marginalising the operation in Grasse in the process. With the demand for scented leather gloves from Grasse decreasing, townsfolk were forced to innovate. They continued to adopt the processes of extracting aromatics from rare flowers, but instead used these skills and scents to make perfumes. Nearly a thousand years later, it’s hard to imagine that the Grasse is greener anywhere else.

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Master Perfumer Olivier Pescheux on being inspired by Paris, the joys of working with Oud, and the fragrant masterpiece that he would love to have created In the past couple of decades, famed Master Perfumer, Olivier Pescheux, has been instrumental in creating some of the world’s finest fragrances. The proud Frenchman graduated from the ISIPCA school in Versailles back in 1990, before moving to Bangkok to work for Payan Bertrand. He returned to his native Paris in 1992, and worked for Annick Goutal, and latterly the Kao Corporation, before joining Givaudan in 1998. Among his most enchanting creations is Fragrance Du Bois’ Oud Vert Intense, which features fresh top notes that surrender to a complex and seductive undertone.

Released in 2013, the fragrance opens with elements of Mediterranean bergamot, Madagascan ginger and Sri Lankan cardamom, which blend perfectly with the aromatic heart of coriander seeds, captivating nutmeg and a dash of green geranium, on a base in which smoky Oud melds with vetiver, cedar and musk. We caught up with the 2010 International Fragrance Prize (formerly the Prix François Coty) winner to discover more about his life and inspirations.

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Where were you born? Any childhood olfactive memories?

If you weren’t a Master Perfumer, what do you think you would be?

I was born in Paris, I am 100% Parisian. I have many olfactive memories, and the strongest one is probably the scent of the hot bread coming out of the bakery near the home where I used to live with my parents. I also remember the scent of the lily of the valley in May, and the specific odour of the nearby vineyard in summer time.

A cook or an oenologist. I’m really into wine.

Why and when did you decide to become a perfumer?

If you could only drink one more bottle of wine in your life (horrible thought I know…), what would it be?

I was 10 years old when I watched the French movie Le Sauvage, starring Yves Montand and Catherine Deneuve. As you can probably guess, it is a love story, but Mr Montand is playing a perfumer: he is smelling flowers and paper blotters and writing a perfume formula. I said to my mother, “it is magic, I want to do that.” And she answered: “it is probably not so easy.” By chance I reached my dream. I’m sure there was much more to it than chance, but we admire your modesty, Olivier. What are the qualities and characteristics that a Master Perfumer needs to possess? The main quality is to have a lot of imagination and to be able to stick to ‘l’air du temps’. What makes a truly great fragrance? A unique signature and a strong trail. What was the first fragrance you bought? I remember it very well because I was 16, and I bought a bottle of Eau Sauvage by Dior.

How long have you been into wine? Are you a collector? Concerning wine I consider myself a real non-professional. I buy wine, but I am not a collector.

If I had to choose one bottle it would be for sure a Moulis en Médoc designation like Chateau Chasse-Spleen (2009 would be great). I can’t explain why, but I like the taste of this wine – the balance of the flavours, the lingering in the mouth maybe. It is not the most expensive within Bordeaux, but it is my favourite. When creating a fragrance, do you ever get it wrong? Always. That’s why it takes so long to finally create a fragrance that is well balanced and with a strong signature.

“Fragrance is a creative idea. To preserve its strength and

Which fragrance do you wish you’d created? No doubt: Eau Sauvage. A masterpiece.

authenticity, the idea must be

What makes Eau Sauvage so special?

translated with precision and

Eau Sauvage by Dior is a piece of art. It is the symbol of elegance, the perfect dosage between the raw materials, and the finest choice of ingredients. Few perfumes reach this level of perfection.

definition. The challenge is to find the right balance between creativity

What do you do when the person you meet is wearing a terrible fragrance? If I don’t know it, or if I can’t find the name of the fragrance, then I ask for it.

and accessibility.”

Which fragrance took the longest to create?

OLIVIER PESCHEUX

It is always a long process, but I would say that One Million took a long time.

What makes working with Oud such a special experience?

Why did One Million take so long to create?

Oud is so very special. It is fascinating; rich, dark, deep, animalic. We love it, yet we hate it at the same time.

The creation of One Million was a long process because the objective was very ambitious: create the most innovative fragrance from the last 10 years. It was a real challenge.

Why do you say “we love and hate” Oud?

Can the ‘art of the perfumer’ be taught?

We love Oud because the scent is so unique and special that it is fascinating. Yet we hate it because some facets are dirty and animalic, and almost disgusting. It shows that our brain is fighting between a deep animalic root, and our education that bans bad smells.

I don’t consider myself as an artist, but more like a craftsman. So, as with all jobs, it can be taught, but there is no guarantee that you will become a good perfumer.

But you wouldn’t argue when people say that Oud is the ‘fragrance of the  21st Century’?  Oud is the main contribution from the Middle East to the world of perfumery. This material has been used for centuries in the Middle East (even in Japan for the KODO), and, at the beginning of the 21st Century, it is finally here as a global phenomenon. What are the similarities between a Master Perfumer and a top chef? The capacity to imagine the final result by mixing different materials. Writing a perfume formula is like writing a recipe. The sense of detail and precision is immense. 40

Jean-Claude Ellena once said, “I smell with my brain.” What did he mean? It means that the nose is only the tool to evaluate the perfume – the ideas come from the brain and not from the nose. How many ingredients should a fragrance contain? The main rule in perfumery is: there are no rules. So the number of ingredients is not a question.

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Where do you stand on the ‘natural versus chemical’ debate in the composition of a perfume?  Perfumers need both. Creating with only natural materials will not bring innovation. Thanks to chemistry, perfumers can be more creative and enrich the palette. Is there a difference between a nighttime scent and a daytime scent? Usually daytime scents are lighter, but once again no rule. Who do you look up to within the industry? Every day I am impressed by the talent of my colleagues at Givaudan and at the competition. It is a real challenge to compete with such talented people. Can you talk a little bit about ‘seasonal scents’ and how we can best adjust our perfume style?  People need to feel comfortable with the fragrance they wear. In Europe, cologne, fresh waters, sparkling and light fragrances are preferred in summer time. In the Moyen-Orient (Middle East), and maybe because of air conditioning, fragrances need to be stronger. A date will probably require a more sensual fragrance. Sport will ask for a clean, fresh fragrance. Do you read blogs or critiques of your fragrances? I can’t be a judge and also be part of the game. What is the best way to apply perfume? You know the answer: no rules! On skin if you prefer this way, or on clothes if it is your choice. Of all your creations, do you have a personal favourite? Can you ask a father which is his favourite kid? It is a difficult question, but I am particularly proud of Oud Vert Intense because I had the opportunity to use real, excellent grade Oud. I’m also very proud of One Million, because it is one of the market leaders around the world. How do you remain inspired and what has been the biggest influence on your career so far? I try to be open to the trends in art, music, lifestyle, movies etc. My biggest influences by far are the ideas brought by the niche perfumes. This segment is very creative and a real source of inspiration. When does the nose get tired? How many fragrances can you really smell? I realise my nose is tired when I smell a blotter with no reaction (I ask myself, what am I smelling?). It means I need to rest and maybe to stop for the day. The capacity to smell is totally given by your physical condition – if you’re tired and sleepy then it will be a real struggle. A good day is when I can smell from 9am to 6pm, but I need to have some breaks during that time. What advice would you give to someone looking to follow in your career footsteps? Be patient, work hard, and try again and again to reach the ultimate scent. If you had the day off right now (or weren’t answering these questions...) what would you be doing? I would love to walk around Paris, my city.

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Why YSL’s iconic Oud fragrance, M7, was way ahead of its time Business history is rich with tales of pioneering companies that have

However, the site was infuriatingly slow and unreliable, and behind

remained at the very top of their particular sector after blazing that

the scenes personality clashes between a wide variety of venture capi-

initial trail.

talists saw their progress grind to a halt. Friendster remained popular

For instance, the likes of Coca-Cola and Levi Strauss are still the

in Asia until 2012, but was finally shut down last year.

best selling and most profitable brands in the fizzy drink and denim

Who remembers Vodaphone’s Palm Treo? The product was the first

sectors respectively – their name familiarity crucial in securing repeat

ever smartphone, but the company behind the innovation was unable

business and new custom.

to move swiftly enough to reduce the sheer heft and weight of the

The competitive advantages are significant for the pioneer, but what happens when a company hits the marketplace too early? Just over a decade ago, Friendster was the most exciting website in the world – the first genuine social media site that pre-dated both MySpace and Facebook, and one that garnered over three million users in its first few months.

product in future editions, and was soon overtaken by the revolutionary Apple iPhone in 2007. Going much further back, the Sony Betamax was technically a much better product than VHS, but its failure to introduce tapes that played and recorded for longer than an hour saw it swiftly become obsolete.

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So what have these albeit rather interesting corporate tales of woe got to do with a fragrance magazine devoted to Oud, I hear you cry? Well, even though Oud has been used for various purposes in the Middle East for centuries, the first Oud fragrance to truly make a move in the Western market was a product that’s still posthumously revered by the Perfumeratti – despite the fact that, at the time it was around, it failed to capture the attention of the perfume buying public. In the right way, anyway. The product in question, of course, is the iconic Yves Saint Laurent creation, M7, which careered at breakneck speed into a startled marketplace in 2002, accompanied by a very risqué advertising campaign that featured a significantly hirsute and fully-nude male model.

love it or hate it; there’s no in-between.” Customer reviews seemed to confirm the theory that M7 was singularly incapable of finding any middle ground – it was the archetypal Marmite fragrance. A review on Fragrantica read: “I just received my package by FedEx and tried it on. I must confess, I don’t think highly of it; it does not impart an impression that it is a fragrance. It, as so many have said, smells of cough syrup or a medicated pancake syrup. It causes headaches and it is also very nauseatingly repulsive.” An anonymous critique, that appeared on the Kafkaesque website, demonstrated that even die-hard perfume lovers were really struggling to understand this pioneering new kid on the block, and that reviewing the scent conjured up as many questions as it did answers.

Although the launch of M7 was little more than a decade ago, the fragrance landscape at the time was markedly different. This was an era, lest we forget, in which the ‘clean fresh’ style that took hold in the early 1990s firmly ruled the perfume roost.

This, then, was the fragrance landscape when YSL laid down its revolutionary Oud marker in 2002, in much the same way that the intrepid Roald Amundsen stuck the Norwegian flag in the middle of the South Pole nearly a century earlier (okay, I’m massively over-egging the pudding, but you get my drift). Not only was M7 the first mainstream Oud fragrance to hit the Western market, but it was also anything but a mild and subtle introduction to the intoxicating scent of liquid gold. M7 was complicated and complex, aggressive and confusing. One Thousand Notes described it as: “A smoky, incensey, bristly, growling thing. You’ll either 46

YSL’s team, headed up by none other than Tom Ford, put Oud at the epicentre of M7 as part of a huge commercial release – the product took pride of place on every major department store counter across America and Europe. Everyone involved with M7 was soaring with ambition and confident of success, so the fact that it bombed on a purely commercial level was a massive disappointment. Mark Behnke, Managing Editor of fragrance website CaFleureBon, picked M7 apart thus: “M7 does start with a classic citrus opening of bergamot and orange. A bit of rosemary is also present to give the early stages of M7 an almost classic cologne feeling. “The Oud arrives almost immediately after that cologne opening resolves itself, and it takes M7 to a different place. “(But) what is especially interesting is that the creative team didn’t attempt to remove the quirkier, less pleasant character of the Oud itself. All of the adjectives we use to describe Oud were on display; medicinal, leathery, resinous, ‘smells like band-aids’, but it was placed on an intelligently chosen group of notes to give it a velvet pillow to lie upon.

If Issey Miyake’s Eau d’Issey was a forerunner for the title of Clean Fresh King at the dawn of the 90s, then it was soon succeeded by Acqua di Gio, whose ascension to the throne precipitated a swift opening of the floodgates. Davidoff ’s Blue Water was another clean fragrance favoured by fans of bland aquatic scents, but it was still far superior to the plethora of cheap imitations that quickly followed that were so synthetically clean that they literally smelled of laundry detergent.

just how M7 stirred passions among those who dared to spray and splash. However, the desire to wander around rainy Paris dressed in a trenchcoat is a fundamentally niche yearning, and certainly not aligned to YSL’s ambition to hit the mainstream with Oud.

It read: “Weirdly intoxicating. Medicinal yes, perhaps smoky as well? Like dousing a campfire with some antibiotic perhaps, but not in a bad way. “After some time, the incense came out, but not in a strong, pungent way that would nauseate one. It does still smell medicinal, but in a more intriguing and less abrasive way. Like a clean band-aid or like gauze with a mild ointment on it. But less potent and unpleasant. I’ve read some comments that liken it to a hospital, but I think that does it a disservice. “Someone described M7 as both hypnotic and comforting, and I utterly agree. I am totally under its spell. It’s definitely for cool/cold weather. M7 makes me want to mysteriously wander the streets of Paris on a cold, rainy day while wearing a trenchcoat.” The latter part of the above review illustrates

“Vetiver is used to enhance the woodier facets of Oud early on, and then slowly but surely the quirkier medicinal aspects begin to peek out. The creators very cleverly don’t allow that stage to linger long as they use sweet myrrh to bring the focus over to the less challenging resinous quality of Oud, and it is in that combination of myrrh and Oud where the heart of M7 beats. “Labdanum, amber, and musk all support that heart and keep it beating strongly until it fades away. “M7 has overnight longevity and above average sillage, and I know when I first smelled it, it was so different and amazing it took me all of 24 hours to return and buy a bottle. At that point in 2002, there was nothing like it to be found anywhere else.” Behnke’s retrospective 2013 blog proves that hindsight has been kind to M7.

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He added: “It was a resounding failure at the time, although it would probably be very popular if it were introduced today due to the current market’s new familiarity with Oud. “It was apparently too much, too soon, as it was a very powerful fragrance, but it has a cult following to this day, due in part to its provocative ad campaign.”

But the reaction to a naked, hairy male as the poster boy for a style of fragrance that almost nobody in the Western hemisphere had ever encountered before, was just one of the many nails in M7’s coffin.

Ah… the ad campaign.

Soon after the product’s launch, a review of the advert in UK newspaper the Sunday Herald attempted light-hearted amusement, yet its tone was unmistakably one riddled with panic and fear.

Most magazines outside of France refused to run the advert in all its full frontal naked glory; instead opting for a more acceptable above-the-chest close-up.

Respected fragrance expert, Kafkaesque, observed: “If that was the British reaction, one cannot begin to fathom what the American one would have been!

One thing that can be said for the advert is that there was no ambiguity about who the scent was for – although a few hardy women continue to espouse the virtues of wearing M7, this was most certainly a male fragrance.

“Of course, that would have required the full advert being shown here in America, and that would have been highly unlikely given the puritanical mores (the lingering effects of Janet Jackson’s ‘Nipplegate’ are still not over).

“How did M7 have a chance to make it, and to introduce the mainstream, soccer dad world to Oud? It didn’t. Not a chance in hell. Even if the perfume notes hadn’t made it too alien for the time (mandrake root?), that ad simply sealed its doom. “The bottom line is, M7 arrived too early to really have a chance against the powerful trend of ‘fresh clean’ fragrances – especially as it was launched during the reign of Acqua di Gio. When people wanted an alternative to that they opted for the new gourmand style that still dominates, now possibly even more than the ‘clean fresh’ aesthetic. “What it did do was open a door that has now become a flood of Oud. But in 2002, it was a bit of a perfect storm situation for M7.”

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How a school in Sri Lanka is benefitting from Asia Plantation Capital’s commitment to ethical business

Asia Plantation Capital (APC) – the company that provides 100% natural, pure, sustainably sourced Oud to Fragrance Du Bois – continues to ramp up its support for local communities in which it operates. At the end of last year, senior staff and APC investors once again visited Morapathawa Primary School in Sri Lanka – a school consisting of 36 junior pupils, which APC has supported for the last six years. Barry Rawlinson, Chief Executive Officer of APC, led the drive to provide pupils with much needed stationery, bags and water bottles. “In developing countries such as Sri Lanka,” said Rawlinson, “it is easy to simply make provisions in monetary terms. At Asia Plantation Capital, we believe that we can all play our part in contributing to society by investing in the community. “Holistic sustainability in Asia Plantation Capital embodies equal care and encouragement given to all members of staff; from top management all the way through to plantation workers and their families. “Most of the students at this school are living below the poverty line, and in order to create a lasting impact on the sustainability of society, the health and wellbeing of the local population and its future generations is essential and needs to be addressed. I believe that handing gifts to the children personally goes a very long way. “On behalf of the company, I would like to thank all our donors and staff for their kind donations and their tireless efforts in organising the event.” Mr Satianathan, a valued APC client, and former school principal in Singapore, added: “It is always a pleasure to be able to help out. “A smile from these children is priceless, and a small gift to them is of significance when it comes to improving their livelihoods. I am very proud to be a client of APC – not many companies actually practise sustainability to the core – and I am extremely glad to be able to be a part of this event.” The level of poverty in Sri Lanka is decreasing, but remains an issue. APC has pledged to continue its support in the years ahead, with plans to supply new bicycles, computers, fans and other essential educational supplies this year and beyond.

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Balancing work and play is always tough when you're at the forefront of a vibrant brand in the ultra-competitive world of high-end perfumery. We meet Fragrance Du Bois’ Brand & Retail Manager, Clotilde Antoine, to discover how she juggles her time What is your role at FDB and what does it entail?

What do you usually wear for work?

My job title depicts two main roles, but in reality I am doing so much more than that. My main roles are to manage my sales team in Singapore, oversee other outlets in the region at times, and to participate in the development of our retail network worldwide. Moreover, I am assisting my team with communications, events and product development. It’s a very versatile job, which is one of the reasons why I love it. I never do the same thing from day to day.

I would love to be a high heel kind of lady, but it’s just not for me, due to the fact that I have to be on the move all the time. I usually go for smart-casual outfits. Of course, if there’s an event which requires me to be dressed ‘properly’, I would make more effort to suit up for the occasion.

What time do you wake up? How much sleep do you generally get? I wake up at around 7am after a solid ten hours’ sleep. I like to wake up early before work in order to enjoy the cool morning air and to hit the gym. Before I started this job, I would go to the gym every day. It’s now much more difficult, but I try to go in the morning before work three times a week. What do you have for breakfast? I’m French, so I love sweetened delicacies. A routine breakfast is toast, fruits, juices and cereals. On Sundays, I’ll make crepes and cook brunch with my boyfriend.

What time to you get to work and how do you get there? I usually leave the house around 9.30; my boyfriend drops me at work and picks me up at night. He’s well trained! We’re also into cycling, which is very pleasant with the weather we have in Singapore – although not so great during monsoon season… My candy pink helmet seems to have won me lots of fans. What do you do after work? I always have dinner outside and then go home to relax with my partner. We are both very busy at work and it’s good to catch up and relax at night.

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Let’s wind the clock back – what did you want to be when you were at school? An architect, or certainly to work in design. However, when I started my bachelor’s degree in applied arts, I eventually realised that precision-based work and I were not in the same league, so I decided to take my career down a different path. I pursued visual communication and luxury management, but I like the fact that in my job I can still exercise my creativity. This is something I cannot live without. What was your first job? I was very lucky to start my career in retail at Chanel in Monaco, and then Paris. This was the experience of a lifetime; every day at work was a source of learning, and even though the pressure was high, it was a pleasurable and exciting feeling to go to work in the morning. What’s your secret to being productive? My notebook is my best friend, I don’t go anywhere without it. Inside is every detail of what I have to do, what has been done, what is on the way, and every meeting I have scheduled. I always clear my emails, computers and phones of what is not relevant to what I am doing. What advice would you give to someone aspiring to do what you do? You need to be daring and hardworking. When you stop finding excuses you can realise who you are, and what you are capable of doing. With a bit of commitment and dedication, it is not so hard to achieve your objectives.

Do you think you’ve got the work/life balance about right? When you’re in retail, your work sometimes has to spread into your personal life. However, from a general point of view, I think I manage pretty well. I can easily disconnect from work. What are your main hobbies? I love to go to art exhibitions, concerts or whatever is going on in town. If you want to get rid of me, leave me in an art bookshop, it will make my day. I love travelling, shopping, and exploring new places to eat. I do miss French gastronomy, and I am far from being a chef, hence why I am always looking for new places where I can satisfy my cravings. How good are you at keeping in touch with family and friends? Most of my friends are back in France, and I’m not as good as others at keeping up, but I will try to make a point to organise lunch gatherings with my friends here in Singapore. My family is my priority, so we keep in touch via Whatsapp every day, and I try to Skype with them on a regular basis. What music are you listening to at the moment? Depends on the time of the day. I am quite open music wise, but what really puts me in a good mood is old school music: Nat King Cole, Mel Carter, Eartha Kitt, Otis Redding, Billie Holiday. I like to listen to more commercial music on the radio also, but the artists today certainly aren’t in the same league as those who went before. How often do you take a holiday and where do you like to go? I don’t take many holidays; the must for me is to go back to France for Christmas and to travel to a new place that I have never been to once a year. If we fancy a weekend break, or if we have a birthday or occasion, then we would likely head to Indonesia.

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BASE NOTES Rosa Macdub. Oil on canvas. J Swarbrick. 2016

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Tripe carpaccio, a trip to the psychiatrist and an intensely personal perfumery creation. Di Lawrence is ready to rock her own individual fragrance. We think… In principle, I think that the idea of getting my very own perfume made for me by someone in the know who has taken the time to look into my eyes and by implication now knows the pathways to my soul – and by further implication and dint of perception now understands me better than I understand myself – is very cool. In reality, however, the prospect terrifies me – for some of the reasons suggested above, and for quite a lot more that will be expanded on below. Am I right to be trepidatious? Could there really be anything finer, more personal, more luxurious than having your very own fragrance, expertly crafted for you? Imagine the scene: posh cocktail party; all attendees resplendent in glad rags of varying hues and textures, all superbly tailored, each fashionista upholding his or her side of the bargain when it comes to the inherent dictates of the designer/wearer relationship. I’m sure I look good. I spent long enough getting ready and preparing myself for an important event – the requisite asses milk bath; exfoliation with the crumbs of some soon-to-be-endangered species of deep sea sponge; a tomato stem cell facial, followed by a cucumber wrap (although that was for my lunch). My clothes are stylish and understated – I am always understated, mostly because the kind of statement I would like to make wouldn’t be believed by anyone with a basic education or a sliver of urbanity. The conversation tinkles around the room as the men and women twinkle like stars, and I get buttonholed by some exquisite creature who looks as though she’s just stepped off the pages of Vogue – not the society section

(we all know how bad we can look after 5pm and rather too many Mimosas), but from an actual photoshoot. How do some people manage to look airbrushed in real life? “Darling, you look wonderful, and what’s that you’re wearing.” “Oh this...this…?” I gesture to my robe that resembles a kaftan and makes me look like an overfed koi, “I just threw it on. It’s from an up and coming Latvian designer called Latka Berzins. I think his design house is called De Riga, or something like that. I forget. You know how it is...” Obviously I trail off at this point, because I don’t know ‘how it is’, and she probably does. “No, I mean your fragrance,” she susurrates – both airbrushed and sounding like delicate leaves being tossed by a sirocco (I may be mixing my geographical metaphors here, but I would have been that unnerved). Is there no end to this person’s élan? “Ah…my fragrance,” I reply. “Well, that’s mine. It was made for me by someone with an extremely sensitive nose, who asked me lots of questions and then formulated an expression of his artistry for my delectation. And yours, obviously. But mostly mine.” I would have already said too much, and I know it. But there would truly be something faintly glorious about wearing a fragrance that no one else in the world was wearing. Or could be wearing. “I haven’t decided what to call it yet,” I say, trying to colour the monochrome silence that has ensued. “I was thinking Di Hard, or To Di For, but I realise it’s a bit self-indulgent.” “Unhappiness is the only self-indulgence worth mentioning,” says Nadine (I don’t know why I’ve called her that, it just feels right – slightly exotic but rooted in the

truth; sophisticated but not unapproachably so; stylish but not in your face ‘look at me!) She’s smart, beautiful, and smart; the whole package. I want to hate her (or at least resent her just a teensy bit), but I can’t. She’s too nice, as is the fragrance in which I am enveloped, and which is proving, if nothing else, a genuine (non-emergency) conversation topic. It’s the process of arriving at the end product that concerns me a little. As a child I was the embossy one in our family. It’s safe to say that I put the ‘boss’ in emboss, insisting that everything I owned carried my initials – ‘DHL’, as luck wouldn’t have it. Why my parents decided to give me ‘Helen’ as a middle name I can only guess at. There was no grandparent or even aunt to blame. Perhaps they were hoping that at some point in my life I actually might deliver. Everything I owned was labelled in one way or another, since I was the proprietorial sort, and had two brothers, either side of me in age, whose sole aim in life, it seemed, was

to dispossess, possess, and in some cases repossess that which had once been taken away from me and that I had somehow reclaimed. I was an acquisitive child – I am much less so as an adult – but there are a few possessions of which I am probably unduly proud and fiercely protective of, and I imagine that a bespoke perfume would be one of them. The cocktail party conversation would continue no doubt in this vein; “Your fragrance…it’s extraordinary,” says Nadine. She likes it. And I like her for liking it. And I like myself even more for knowing what I like and for liking what I know. Because, simply put, my personal fragrance works for me. Because, even more simply put, why wouldn’t it? It was made for me by someone who understands me, my moods, my character, my personality and even – if we liken the Master Perfumer’s art to a melange of sophistry and psychiatry – my hidden peccadilloes and

idiosyncracies. My fragrance was formulated by someone who knows me, and appreciates the manner in which I can complement myself, even allowing for the occasional moments of self-doubt and the bouts of low self-esteem that afflict all of us at one time or another. The process would have been an interesting one. I imagine it would be a bit like meeting a highly recommended psychiatrist for the first time. “Would you like me to lie down?” I would ask my Master Perfumer (whom I will name ‘Claude’) at the initial consultation. “Why? Are you tired?” he would retort. “Should I tell you about my mother and father?” I continue. “Why, are they interesting?” he would retort, again. And on it would go; the fencing duel of thrust and riposte, counter thrust and… counter riposte? I’m not sure. I have never fenced and

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never intend to – I don’t look good in white – although I do know that there is a ‘parry’ in the nomenclature somewhere.

Could there be anything finer, more personal, more luxurious than having your own fragrance, expertly crafted for you? Let’s just say that there would be lots of questions and possibly fewer answers (I don’t open up easily, even to people who are trying to help me – maybe especially to those interfering busybodies). Slowly but surely, however, Claude constructs the seemingly unconstructable – a perfume

that, first and foremost, smells divine. It also makes me feel good (about myself and the world around me), makes me feel right, and without getting too highfalutin about it, speaks to my soul. Nadine recognises something different, you see, and it was Claude who made it. Should either party actually exist, I would introduce them. Or would I? Probably not, is the answer. I don’t think I would want anyone else to go through the experience of having their very own fragrance created for them. I’m not being mean spirited I hope, but this one is mine, and it’s special, and it must never be commonplace. What’s the point in having something supremely individual if everyone else has one too, and has to accommodate a divergence in logic into the bargain? That, of course, is not at all the point of the exercise. Bespoke perfumes are individual to every person, and it’s almost impossible for any two to be alike. There will be some of the

same ingredients, naturally, but the endless permutations will ensure that each and every tailor-made fragrance will be different. I sought therapy once. I wasn’t honest, and, not surprisingly, the results were disappointing. After a few sessions I more or less decided that what I was trying to achieve was akin to a diner entering a restaurant, asking for recommendations from the waiter and refusing to reveal any food preferences whatsoever. It was never going to work, unless, that is, you’re someone for whom a dish of tripe carpaccio with a dandelion puree would come as a pleasant surprise. Somehow though, answering a few questions and establishing a profile to enable an artist to create magic doesn’t seem like such a bad fate. If Claude can create something that even people like Nadine can appreciate, I could be on to a winner.

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French brand Alexandre.J is hitting the right notes with its Oud creations When our esteemed panel of fragrance industry experts were debating which Oud perfumes should be included in our Top 100 in issue one of Fragrance Du Bois, there was much disagreement. Some fragrances completely polarised opinion, and led to heated exchanges. However, there was very little debate over the inclusion of Alexandre.J’s flagship fragrances: Rose Oud, and Zafeer Oud Vanille. In fact, there was none whatsoever; they entered the exclusive chart without a murmur of dissension, as though it was their divine right. So what makes this pair of fragrances special in a marketplace littered with so many outstanding scents? Rose and Oud is a classic perfumery combination. However, Alexandre.J Rose Oud somehow smells fresh and original with its spicy oriental tones. Early notes of sweet candied fruits make way for deep rose – beautifully balanced with rich, musky Oud and white woods accord. This is accompanied by saffron and a sweet note of patchouli, and its base of vanilla and ambery musks make it rich, deep and complex. Zafeer Oud Vanille is spice-laden oriental, but also boasts a unique tropical opening of leather and coconut, and a light floral heart of clove, tonka, and Oud – in fact it somehow treads that fine line between light, dark, gourmand and oriental quite beautifully, thanks to the rich vanilla Oud base. There’s no doubt that these two products are special, but what do we know about the brand and the man behind it?

Alexandre.J is a French designer obsessed with history, art, and luxury craftsmanship. In fact, his perfume bottles are as special as his Oud scents – handcrafted works of art in themselves. Each 100ml mother of pearl bottle for his Legacy products (White and Black) took over 200 hours to make, polish, enamel and inlay. Oh, and it was all done by hand. Alexandre.J describes the brand as being “an architect of materials and senses, making unusual use of exceptional materials, by sculpting them and pushing the limits of creation to give life to objects that arouse emotions.” He goes on to add: “Each creation explores a wide range of olfactory notes, ideally dosed for a unique design and composition. “The raw materials used are noble and valuable. As each of them reacts differently to heat, a slow development process is carried out to reach a perfect balance. “We never refuse a challenge or make compromises. The olfactory revelation alone counts.” There is real passion behind the products, of that there is no doubt. But where does the inspiration come from? “Everything is a source of inspiration,” he adds. “Travelling, meeting with a craftsman, discovering for the first time a sculpture, an exhibition – the idea is to transcribe feelings and visions into designs.

“Our fragrances are dedicated to all; everyone can find something he or she likes. “The wide range of fragrances offers a large choice to a demanding clientele.” Demanding clientele in a very demanding marketplace. Every year more than 3,000 fragrances are released, most of them on the mass market it has to be said, rather than the exclusive end that discerning readers of Fragrance Du Bois are concerned with. However, that sheer number still speaks volumes as to how competitive the marketplace is, and how difficult it must be as a relative new kid on the block (Alexandre.J launched its first product in 2012) to stand out. “Actually, it’s not difficult to stand out when you have strong concepts and products,” he argues. “Raising the awareness of a brand like ours? Yes, it’s quite difficult; indeed it is similar to communicating on jewellery – it must remain exclusive and selective. “Generally speaking, the industry wants a fast return on investment, and as a result only a few brands invest in outstanding packaging. This offers an opening. “The end consumers are used to buying minimalist labelled bottles at a high price, so the challenge was to educate them on getting an added value object.”

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One way Alexandre.J has worked on raising awareness and showing off its artistic flair is via its clever use of social media. “Community management is very important for us,” adds Alexandre. “We are using Facebook on a daily basis to share with our customers and partners all the exciting news related to the brand. “Instagram is used to highlight our creativity through beautiful visuals, and we also have a website that shows the universe of each creation. Digital is really important to us.” The fact that they have such a firm grip on the tiller regarding their approach to marketing and communications means that the brand’s popularity is really starting to grow – especially in Europe, which was initially a slow burner. “The brand was launched in the Middle East and eastern countries due to the fact that consumers there were already looking for original products, beautiful packaging and a luxury experience. “In addition, people were already educated to niche brands, which was not the case in Europe four years ago. “However, we are now noticing that things are moving in the right way. Alexandre.J is really appreciated in Italy, Germany, and France for instance, due to the uniqueness of our creations.”

There’s little doubt that their Oud perfumes are original creations, but which products from his 22-strong fragrance base does Alexandre rate as the best? “As you may know, we do have two lines of perfume – one selective and one more exclusive," he adds. “If I had to pick one perfume among each line I'd go for Morning Muscs, which takes you on a journey for the mind and the body. It’s a suitable-for-all fragrance, dressed in beautiful and modern packaging. “However, Legacy is our masterpiece, made of mother of pearl, which requires 200 hours of work and 160 pieces of mother of pearl.” The brand has made giant strides since launching its first product in 2012. But what kind of Legacy will it leave? “In five years’ time, I imagine a bespoke world where everyone will be able to create the perfume that fits oneself the most. “The perfume itself will be different, using bio-ethic and environmentally friendly components. “The sensorial marketing will wipe out the operational to reinforce the experience. “Alexandre.J wants to build a full universe of products; the real pleasure is to explore different artistic areas, so it’s also safe to assume that there will be product diversification along the way.”

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“Actually, it’s not difficult to stand out when you have strong concepts and products.”

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Chinese Dynasty Oud has long been a culturally significant and precious commodity in China, but now demand for ‘liquid gold’ is growing to insatiable levels In the Beginning According to myth and legend, when Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden, they were allowed to take with them a branch from only one tree. That tree turned out to be the Aquilaria tree – also known as ‘agarwood’ and ‘aloeswood’ – and it should come as no surprise that the species has taken on a mysticism and reverence for many cultures ever since. Why, we ask ourselves, was that particular tree deemed to be so special? It’s mentioned in mankind’s oldest recorded texts – the Sanskrit Vedas – and is cited frequently in the Bible (testaments old and new), not to mention several Muslim scriptures. In one such, the Prophet Muhammad suggested that agarwood be a distinct item in paradise. He is written to have said, “The first group of people who will enter paradise will be glittering like the full moon, and those who will follow them will glitter like the most brilliant star in the sky. Their combs will be of gold, and their perspiration will smell like musk. The aloeswood will be used in their centres.” Heaven Scent Since the beginning of recorded history, and even before, agarwood (also known variously as aloeswood, gaharu, Oud and oudh) has

fascinated and delighted, engaged and uplifted a bewildering variety of different cultures and religious practitioners. Again it should come as no surprise that the species is revered and highly valued throughout the world. Not so much, perhaps, for the tree itself – it is light, not particularly resilient, and the wood itself has little practical value or use. But this remarkable species produces an inner heartwood, when infected by any number of stimuli – it could be insects, it could even be lightning – that, when distilled, creates a magical substance that is now the ingredient of choice in the modern world of perfumery, not to mention a very wide range of other uses both practical and ostensibly spiritual. There are a variety of reasons for this. Firstly, the distilled oil, known as Oud, gives a fragrance an extraordinary depth, not to mention a renowned longevity. It is an ingredient with which today’s Master Perfumers relish the opportunity of working – being the equivalent of the highest quality paint with the richest colour on a fine artist’s palette. The Art of Oud For perfumers who create masterpieces, there is no finer ingredient than Oud and, in some respects, no more challenging an ingredient with which to work. It is rich, complex and inordinately powerful, calling into play

the skills, expertise and imagination of the individuals capable of incorporating the substance into a harmonious melange. Those who accept the challenge, delight in the process, but with high quality Oud oil selling at in excess of US$100,000 per kilogramme, it’s not difficult to appreciate why an expert, delicate hand is required. The uses of Oud, however, go above (no pun intended) and beyond its deployment in the fragrance world, having become a material of considerable significance to a wide variety of cultures for multifarious reasons. For example, since time immemorial, Oud has been an important part of the way of life in China. It is, after all, one of the top ten ingredients in Chinese Traditional Medicine, and is also used in cultural and religious rites. Extremely wealthy Chinese used to have their coffins made out of agarwood, convinced of its spiritual value in death and the afterlife, as much as in the days when they drew breath. Up in Smoke With more than 65% of the Chinese population being either Buddhists or Taoists, the use of incense in China is widespread, and while sandalwood, musk and even amber are desirable materials, agarwood always sits at the top of every wish list. According to Trygve Harris, an aromatherapy expert, and founder of ‘Enfleurage’, “beyond 65

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“Prices have risen by approximately 20% year on year since the beginning of the century.”

a pleasant smell, a drop of agarwood essence will softly invade your lungs, your mind, your body and spirit.” Qi Whizz Agarwood is an essential element in 'feng shui', particularly with reference to 'Qi' – the essence of essence, if you will – meaning 'air' or 'breath'. It is the life force of a human being, our vital energy, and 'chen xiang' (as Oud is known in Chinese) energises Qi in the sense of smell. Woody, earthy, elemental, Oud speaks to our vestigial nature, conjuring the past and charting our evolution as species among so many other species since the beginning of time. Oud has been around since well before we were, and that seems to affect us in a subliminal, probably subconscious, but nevertheless powerful way. When Oud is burnt or used as incense, the smoke is rich and mildly intoxicating. The swirls and eddies of the visible suspension ascent to the heavens, which to many people reflects the spiritual conversation that connects the earthly world with the heavenly one. Keep Calm and Breathe In Oud is often associated with calmness, and at the same time can focus the mind and enhance alertness, which sounds counterintuitive. This may say more about Oud than we know. Somehow, this magical substance seems to delve into our innermost selves, seeking out what needs to be fixed or ameliorated; augmenting what’s already there and needs to be brought to the fore. While it should never be regarded as a panacea, despite its highly efficacious medicinal properties, it’s been clear to generations of people, across a wide variety of cultures and civilisations, that there’s something very special about the inner heartwood of the Aquilaria tree. So say billions of people around the world, not to mention the finest perfumers on earth who have the privilege of working with the ingredient in their formulations. In Demand While Oud has always been a part of Chinese culture, the economic development that has taken place recently in the world’s most populous country has had a significant effect on demand and supply. New wealth, an expanding middle class, and the startling increase in demand for luxury goods around the country, have contributed to a massive increase in demand for Oud in China since the year 2000. The ‘desire for conspicuous consumption’ has also led to an increase in demand, and while supply is very much finite, attendant price increases have been the order of the day.

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There are more rich Chinese than ever before, and the demand for Oud is ever-increasing, showing few if any signs of slowing down. Prices have risen by approximately 20% year on year since the beginning of the century, and many people are now viewing Oud and agarwood chips and sculptures as valued investments – guaranteed to rise in price with the paucity of supply, and exceptional items to have and to behold. Expertly worked sculptures and artefacts are now being treated as would a fine work of art, and are being bought and sold at similar price points. It’s not difficult to see why there is so much excitement about a substance that has been around since the beginning of time and the sources of which, until recently, had been on the brink of extinction. Trading Up It means that the argument for sustainable plantations that grow the trees that yield the wonderful Oud oil is increasing in both intensity and volume. Trade in Oud oil and its ancillary products has, over the years, been notoriously difficult to monitor and document, with its inherent value leading to the evolution of a significant black market trade. With this, unfortunately, comes indiscriminate logging, which accounts for the perilous state of the Aquilaria species. While it’s gratifying to note that ethical plantation companies (such as Asia Plantation Capital,

“The startling increase in demand for luxury goods around the country have contributed to a massive increase in demand for Oud.”

which now has operations on four continents and is blazing the trail in an ever-growing forum that preaches the values of sustainability and renewability) have stepped into the breach to address the situation, there remains plenty of work to be done. Fragrance Du Bois is delighted to be able to play its part in the ongoing operation to save the species and to ensure that there is future supply. The partnership with Asia Plantation Capital has borne considerable fruit, and Fragrance Du Bois (FDB) now owns its very own plantations, on which the 100% pure, natural Oud is produced. This has created a quite extraordinary business model, as there are few (if any) luxury fragrance houses that can boast such control over the constituent elements of its creations. FDB’s plantations are assiduously managed and its stock is carefully nurtured, with respect for the environment as well as the communities that work in and around the ongoing operations. It all amounts to everything that Fragrance Du Bois stands for, and provides a natty mantra that everyone involved with the company values and believes in; 'Luxury with a Conscience'. End Game Oud is incredibly valuable, but it’s also vitally important to take a long term view of an industry and a commodity that represents so much to so many people. Conservationists are taking a keen interest in the preservation of a valuable species, and businesses are beginning to recognise that opportunities exist – not purely to make money, but to put modern, ethical business practices into effect while also turning a profit. China is recognising the current situation with regard to the Aquilaria species, and has developed an agarwood induction mechanism to ensure that the few existing sources of Oud oil are properly managed, and produce the best possible yields.

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Ultimately, this will lead to the continued propagation of the species, with science lending a helping hand, and the industry getting back on its feet – bidding a not so fond farewell to the illegal loggers and black market traders who have ravaged supplies for longer than any of us care to remember. Helping Hand Chinese companies are planting and propagating in several areas around the country – Guangzhou, Zhongshan, Jiangmen, Enping, Huazhou and Lianjiang – to name but a few, although it will still be many years before the supply will even get close to satisfying the burgeoning demand. Fragrance Du Bois, working alongside Asia Plantation Capital to produce the pure, natural, high quality Oud oil that is such an important ingredient in all of its products, is achieving great success in Hong Kong, reintroducing the native species of Aquilaria Sinensis – that which produces the finest Oud oil – to its natural habitat and, according to one journalist, “putting the ‘hong’ back into Hong Kong.” Scent from Heaven ‘Hong Kong’, when translated from the Cantonese, means ‘fragrant harbour’, and it was thought that the name was given after sailors and seamen experienced the perfume of the Aquilaria tree on their way in and out of port. Sadly, the species was all but extinct from the territory prior to the intervention of Asia Plantation Capital. Working alongside Mr Chan Koon Wing – a third generation agarwood farmer, who owns the last remaining commercial agarwood plantation in the whole of Hong Kong – the species is recovering, and shows signs of being able to flourish once again in a part of the world where it was intended to be. Oud oil has not been produced in Hong Kong for more than a century, and illegal loggers have been known to visit plantations in the territory during the day – wounding the trees in the hope of developing the response to infection that produces Oud – before returning in the dead of night to cut down the trees for their inner treasure.

Taking Stock While the process is outlawed, and the tree species protected, it is perhaps an occupational hazard for a plantation owner whose stock is so valuable, but with laws and restrictions now in place, and the global clamour for ethical and sustainable practices becoming impossible to ignore, there are genuine hopes for the future of the species and indeed the industry both in Hong Kong and the rest of China. Fragrance Du Bois is certainly doing its bit in Hong Kong, working together with Chan Koon Wing to offer both moral support and the patented technologies that the company has evolved through years of research and development. It may take a little time, but it’s conceivable that with plantations flourishing once again in Hong Kong, some of the Oud produced there could be included in FDB’s future creations. Value Added The value of the global agarwood trade is almost impossible to quantify, but experts estimate that it is somewhere in the region of US$10 billion per annum. CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) placed the Aquilaria species on its endangered list at the end of the last century, and this has helped immeasurably in curtailing illegal practices. It also means that the products produced by companies conforming to the stringent regulations – thereby acquiring CITES approval and certification – are in even higher demand and scarcer supply. The global market for Oud and all its ancillary products is dynamic and ever-growing, with China being a great example of the attractiveness and desirability of this rare and valuable commodity. With rites and practices dating back thousands of years, that demand is only ever going to increase, while ethical companies in the industry strive to slake the thirst, meet the supply, and provide what’s needed in a sustainable manner. It’s not going to be easy. But, as they say, where there’s a will there’s a way, and as there does not seem to have been a drop off in the allure of, and the demand for Oud throughout history, known provenance (and quality, naturally) have become more important than ever before.

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The Perfume Garden Reviewer: Dominik Stanok

Civil war in Spain. Collapsing towers in Lower Manhattan. Skeletons buried in both closet and garden. Loves lost and found. Many family secrets. Historical romances seduce a loyal audience with dreamy tales of aching hearts stranded on a swirling mote in history. Kate Lord Brown’s The Perfume Garden embraces much across 300-plus pages. Too much. The story often sags under its own weight, flattening characters and crushing empathy for them. If written as a novella, or at least shorter by a third, this story could be compelling, potent, and even poetic, easily more precious and true to the promise of its title. Brown splits apart the historical and romantic into two stories seven decades apart: a drawn-out back story set in Spain’s 1930s civil war, and the main narrative wrapped around 9/11 in 2001. Linking the two storylines are an old grandma and an older villa. We toggle nonstop between these two storylines, back and forth for 60 out of 66 chapters. Only a deft hand can pull off this narrative structure, and there needs to be a reason to use it. The Perfume Garden lacks both. We open with Robert Capa, a reallife (and famous) photojournalist covering the Spanish Civil War. It’s a perfect set-up to foreshadow senses and memory, driving story and characters. Sight, after all, is the most infallible access to memories, particularly through photographs. But Brown’s Capa reveals little about photography 70

or memory or senses or anything. He’s a replaceable template. A shame, really, but a consequence of the ping-pong story structure; until one has ploughed through much of the book, identifying the story-critical characters is maddening.

top notes evaporated, Emma always thought of the earth, of picking flowers in a forest with her mother. The heart note of lily of the valley and jasmine melded perfectly with the base of sandalwood and musk... shy but surprisingly fierce.”

Shifting to the main storyline set in 2001, Emma Temple, primary protagonist and one of three partners in a top London perfumery, finds herself pregnant by Joe, another partner in the company. Joe has dumped Emma for Delilah, the business’s third partner, but now regrets it. Joe perishes in the collapse of New York’s World Trade Centre on 9/11, leaving two stirred but unfulfilled hearts.

When she died, Emma’s mother had left her a big chunk of the perfume company and a small box of after-I-die letters. “Follow your heart, Emma, follow your nose,” revealing to Emma that “to be alive is glorious, and people need to remember that, and to stop and smell the flowers.”

“Perfume, cosmetics, it all seems so pointless after 9/11,” sighs Emma. Her grandmother, the novel’s link between past and present, assures Emma that people need things “like perfume and poetry, music and art, more than ever during times like this.” Emma brightens. Scents are her joy.

So Emma escapes to Spain, 'the land of flowers and love'. There, near Valencia, is a broken-down villa her mother bought decades ago. Turns out, we learn in the forced march of historical back story, Emma’s grandmother stayed in it when she was a nurse for the anti-Franco Republicans, during the Spanish Civil War.

Of all our senses, smell is the most fleet-footed trigger of memory. Specifically, Brown tells us, perfume is “the key to our memories... it makes our heartstrings crack.” There we are. What could be the story’s top, middle, and base notes. Head and heart.

Unoccupied for decades, the villa is a fixer-upper. Emma converts an old shed into a flower shop for a blossom-selling street urchin she befriends. Emma names the shop The Perfume Garden. Bless. The reader can plead common sense and optimism for thinking that both street urchin and flower shop have narrative purpose. But they don’t. They evaporate from the pages soon after.

Emma’s mother once created a fragrance for Emma’s 18th birthday. “On her it smelt like rain in a garden at first, fresh and intoxicating, then, as the green

Emma’s future is clear: restore the villa and create artisanal fragrances. Luca, a dashing Spaniard, appears as a new love interest. Curiously, he often seems

neither interested nor interesting. Perhaps Luca needs his own bespoke fragrance. From her mother’s collection of essences, Emma concocts a perfume for Luca, whose fragrance straddles “a halfremembered melody she couldn’t sing, but would know instinctively the moment she heard it.” Blossom and citrus develop into deeper notes, while Emma imagines Luca’s windblown hair and molecular gymnastics as the fragrance evolves. It’s complicated. The “Morse code of her heart strong in her,” Emma pushes on. But Delilah, the company’s other partner back in London, parachutes into Emma’s life once again, convinced that Emma’s new baby – Joe’s spawn – should belong to her and not Emma. Don’t fret, the logic matters not. Delilah nicks the baby and brings the novel to a close in a contrived and sadly comical finale. Yes, we’ve mostly skipped over half the novel, the historical half of the historical romance. While the author’s approach to Spain’s civil war is informative and gives The Perfume Garden street-cred as a historical romance, it’s mostly back story about family secrets. If a fan of the genre, the thin character development and contrived plot points of The Perfume Garden won’t matter. Its length might, as it often feels like a forced march of anti-Franco Republicans across Spain’s northern mountains.

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Serving world-class brands with cutting edge, high quality and innovative packaging and display solutions.

www.eversun.hk, info@eversun.hk, +86 138 0250 2009

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FINISHING NOTES Gardenia Jasminoides. Oil on canvas. J Swarbrick. 2016

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Oud Edition One of the UK's leading car fashion houses has teamed up with Fragrance Du Bois and Range Rover to develop a limited edition bespoke vehicle for the fragrance houseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s select clients. The initial idea was to create a car solely for one of Fragrance Du Boisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; private, aristocratic clients. However, the project has since morphed into the limited edition series known as 'Oud Edition', which will be launched at the Monaco Grand Prix in May. See issue three of Fragrance Du Bois magazine for an exclusive story on this exciting partnership.

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DAVIDOFF Agar Blend 100 ML - 390 AED

Showcasing the latest Oud perfumes to hit the fragrance market

STRANGELOVE NYC

CLEAN

ODIN

meltmyheart

Suede Oud

00 Auriel

15 ML - USD 650

100 ML - USD 90

100 ML - USD 185

FRAGRANCE DU BOIS

BY KILIAN

ENDURANCE

LM PARFUMS

MONTALE

Royal Leather

Flamboyant

Scandinavian Crime

Tropical wood

50 ML - GBP 350

Price Unavailable

100 ML - USD 345

100 ML - EUR 120

VILHELM PARFUMERIE

PACO RABANNE

PARFUMS DE MARLY

AMOUAGE

1 Million Absolutely Gold

Akaster

Opus X

The Oud affair

100 ML - 70 GBP

125 ML - 215 GBP

100 ML - 235 GBP

100 ML - USD 145

YVES ROCHER

GOSH

Rose Oud

By Gosh

50 ML - EUR 69.80

100 ML - Price Unavailable

H&M

ROSENDO MATEU

The New Noir

NO 4 Saffron, Oud, Vanilla

50 ML - USD 9.70

HOUSE OF SILLAGE

AVON

N.001

Premiere Luxe Oud

Silver Oud

India Ink

Price Unavailable

60 ML - EUR 300

100 ML - USD 260

100 ML - Price Unavailable

MANOS GERAKINIS

60 ML - EUR 135

HERETIC PARFUMS

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Fragrance Du Bois has set out to create the world’s largest reference database of Oud perfumes and brands in this definitive directory. Enjoy perusing our A to Z listing, which you can also find on the Oudbook website, oudbook.com. This list is regularly updated. However, because new Oud perfumes and brands are entering the market on an almost daily basis, we may not be able to list them all here. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you know of a brand not listed, and we will be happy to add the product to the list. Also, if you are a brand owner or perfumer, please feel free to send us any details of your new ranges, or any information that you think may be useful.

Abdul Samad Al Qurashi AL BASHA BLEND ANTIK AGED AOUD SAFARI DHEN AL OUD SAFA AKABIR FOR MEN AL MOULOUK BLEND

BAKHOOR KHAS DAHN AL OUDH MOATTAQ

Al Aneeq Perfumes BAHRUL OUDH

ACLUS

Acqua di Parma COLONIA INTENSA OUD

Acqua di Venezia NOTTURNO RONDÒ

Aedes de Venustas IRIS NAZARENA

Affinessence PATCHOULI OUD

Aftelier OUD LUBAN SHISO

Agonist

ARABIAN ROSE BLACK CASHMERE PRIVÉ LEGEND

Al Fudhi BLACK OUDH

Accendis 0.2

Amorino

Amouage AJWAD

Al Haramain

AL MAS

ATTAR AL KAABA

AFRAH

ATTAR AL ZOUJAN

ASRAR

BLOOM

AYOON AL MAHA

DEHNAL OUDH ATEEQ

BADR AL BADOUR

DEHNAL OUDH KHOSSOSI QADEEM

BASMAH

DEHNAL OUDH MALIKI ATEEQ

EPIC MAN

DEHNAL OUDH SEUFI

EPIC WOMAN

Al Khayam HAREEM AL SULTAN

Al Musbah DEHAN OUDH MUKHALLATH GOLD

Al Rehab

INTERLUDE MAN INTERLUDE WOMAN JUBILATION XXV MAN MAWADDAH MOLOOK

ASEEL

OHOOD

AROOQ AL OUD

OPUS V

AROOQ AL DAHAB

OPUS VII

DARK SAPHIR

DEHN AL OUD

OPUS X

Nº 10 WHITE OUD

DEHN AMBER

OUDH AL KHALOUD

GUAPO

SALAMAH

SAAT SAFA

SHAMS AL DOHA

Aigner AIGNER N°1 INTENSE AIGNER Nº 1 OUD

Ajmal DAHN AL OUDH RAYSAN

ZAFEER OUD VANILLE

MIEL SAUVAGE

ROSE OUD

OUD DU JOUR

DAHN AL OUDH SHAMS DAHN AL OUDH WATANI

Alysonoldoini CRYSTAL OUD

MISK AL OUDH DAHN AL OUDH SAIF AL HIND DAHN AL OUDH MAYSAAM DAHN AL OUDH RABIA AL OMR DAHN AL OUDH THARWAAN 80

Amouroud

Alexandre.J

Alyssa Ashley OUD POUR ELLE OUD POUR LUI

Amordad VICTRESS

SAFRAN RARE

Annick Goutal 1001 OUDS

Antonio Visconti ALHAMBRA AKABA BOIS DE GAYAC

FRAGRANCE DU BOIS FLEUR DE NUIT

PRECIOUS AMBER

SAG HARBOR

OUD NOMADE

ROYAL SAFFRON

SHELTER ISLAND

OUD MAHARAJI

RUBY OUD

DUBAI - INDIGO

OUD MOHAVE

WHITE LEATHER

HARRODS AGARWOOD

Aquaflor AOUD

Ben Sherman BEN SHERMAN GOLD

Aquolina BLACK SUGAR

Benefit UNDER MY SPELL NOELLE

Arabian Oud WOODY

Bentley BENTLEY FOR MEN ABSOLUTE

SUPERIOR OUD WOOD MAJESTIC SPECIAL OUD

Aramis

Blackbird ZOLA JESUS TAIGA

HARRODS AGARWOOD PURE TOLA OIL HARRODS OUD PURE TOLA OIL PERFUME PURE TOLA OIL NEW YORK OUD PURE TOLA OIL NEW YORK AMBER PURE TOLA OIL

Brecourt

Blood Concept PH - BRIGHT OUDH

OUD 24 HOURS

AGARESSENCE OUD SANTAL

Boadicea the Victorious

OUD AL SULTAN

ALMAS

ROOH AL OUD

ARDENT

Armaf CLUB DE NUIT INTENSE

Atelier Cologne

EAU PARFUMEE AU THE NOIR

BLUE SAPPHIRE CHELSEA

Atkinsons

GREENWICH

OUD SAVE THE QUEEN

IMPERIAL INSPIRE

NEROLI OUD

INTRICATE

Axis

ETERNAL OUD EXTREME OUD GOLD OUD INCENSE OUD PEARL OUD

INQUISITIVE

BLACK ROSE

PREMIERE LUXE OUD

CRUEL INTENTIONS

ELABORATE

OUD SAVE THE KING

Avon

BLACK OUD

DOMINANT EMPRISE

PURE OUD ROSE OUD ROYAL LEATHER

JUBILEE

MUSK OUD

KING'S ROAD

Byblos

LEGEND

FUSION

MAYFAIR

AXIS OUD

Baldessarini SECRET MISSION

Baldi LAPISLAZZULI MALACHITE

Banana Republic WILDBLOOM

Bath & Body Works CITRON TWILIGHT WOODS

Bella Bellissima BLACK EBONY BLUE DIAMOND OUD

By Kilian AMBER OUD

COMPLEX

LAVENDER ON THE ROCKS

Au Pays de la Fleur d’Oranger

Bvlgari LAZULIA

GOLD LEATHER ROSE OMEYYADE

BLACK FLEECE (FOR WOMEN)

BAYSWATER CHARIOT

Atelier des Ors

Brooks Brothers

AZRAK

OUD SAPHIR

EMERALD OUD

HARRODS SWARVOSKI CRYSTAL OUD EDITION

MOTO OUD

PERFUME CALLIGRAPHY

Ard Al Zaafaran

HARRODS OUD PATCHOULI

Byredo

MONARCH

ACCORD OUD

NEMER

OUD IMMORTEL

PIONEER PROVOCATIVE VANQUISH

Calé Fragranze d’Autore PRELUDIO D’ORIENTE MISTERO

VICTORY

Bois 1920 COME IL SOLE ITRUK VENTO NEL VENTO

Bond No 9 BOND NO. 9 PERFUME MANHATTAN NEW YORK OUD

Calvin Klein ENCOUNTER

Carner Barcelona CUIRS

Carolina Herrera OUD COUTURE

Caron SECRET OUD

FRAGRANCE DU BOIS Cartier

Creed

EAU DE CARTIER ESSENCE DE BOIS

MILLESIME 1849

OUD & MUSC

ROYAL OUD

OUD & OUD

ROYAL PRINCESS OUD

OUD & ROSE

Elie Saab ESSENCE NO. 4 OUD

Endurance FLAMBOYANT

Cuarzo The Circle Cerruti

1881 BLACK

ALCHEMY

Ermenegildo Zegna INDONESIAN OUD

JUST GOLD

Cesare Paciotti ORIENTAL SUPREME FOR HIM

ORIENTALISSIME

SAPPHIRE

BELLE AU PARFUM DE OUD

Czech & Speake

Chabaud MYSTERIOUS OUD

Esteban

JUST WHITE GOLD

DARK ROSE

David Yurman

Chanticaelle

DAVID YURMAN LIMITED EDITION

KALIMANTAN

Davidoff

Charriol ROYAL PLATINUM

HOT WATER NIGHT

ROYAL WHITE

AGAR BLEND

Dear Rose

Chopard LA FAVORITE

OUD MALAKI

Detaille 1905

Christian Dior FAHRENHEIT ABSOLUTE

BOIS D'OUD

Diptyque

OUD ÉLIXIR PRÉCIEUX OUD PALAO

LEATHER OUD

Divine

OUD ISPAHAN

Clean

L’HOMME INFINI

Dolce & Gabbana

SUEDE OUD

Clive Christian

VELVET DESERT OUD VELVET TENDER OUD

C FOR MEN L FOR MEN

Dorin Paris

V FOR MEN

UN AIR D’ARABIE : OUD

Coach COACH ROSE D'OR

Dr. Gritti Dueto Parfums

AOUDA

Estevia Parfum OUD MUSK

Euphorium Brooklyn CILICE WALD

Eutopie NO. 3

Ex Nihilo OUD VENDÔME

Federico Mahora FM 605 FM 606 FM 607

Fendi FAN DI FENDI POUR HOMME ASSOLUTO

Ferrari FERRARI OUD ESSENCE RED POWER INTENSE

Florascent AQUA ORIENTALIS - BAHOU KYOTO EDITION - JINKO

CITY LOVE

Comptoir Sud Pacifique

WOOD MYSTIQUE

NOCTEM ARABS

WONDERWOOD DAPHNE

MODERN MUSE CHIC

D’Orsay AL-KIMIYA OUD ET BOIS

Comme des Garçons WONDEROUD

Estēe Lauder AMBER MYSTIQUE

Floris

CITY OUD HONEY OUD

UBER

EPICES SULTANES

Dunhill

Fortnum & Mason

NOMAOUD

ICON

AOUD DE NUIT

ICON ABSOLUTE

OUDH SENSUEL

LEATHER OUD

E99-EsAns

1707 NOIR

Fragrance Du Bois

OUDH INTENSE

MIAMI SUNSET

OUD JAUNE INTENSE

OUD INTENSE

OUD AL EBRAR

OUD ROSE INTENSE

SULTAN AL YASMINA

OUD VERT INTENSE

Costume National SOUL

Ed Hardy

LOVE AND LUCK FOR MEN

Crabtree & Evelyn NIGHT GARDEN: ASSAM OUDH

El Nabil

OUD ROUGE INTENSE OUD BLEU INTENSE OUD NOIR INTENSE

BLACK MANGO

OUD ORANGE INTENSE

OUD ROYAL

OUD VIOLET INTENSE SAHRAA OUD

FRAGRANCE DU BOIS LONDON OUD

Histoires de Parfums

Francesca Dell'Oro ENVOUTANT

DESERT FLOWERS LILY

PÉTROLEUM

Jo Loves

ROSAM

WHITE PLUMAGE

Franck Boclet

H&M THE NEW NOIR

LEATHER

House of Sillage

OUD

DIGNIFIED

François Delì SPICY AGARWOOD FRÉDÉRIC N°2

PASSION DE L’AMOUR

Hugh Parsons OXFORD STREET

Frederic Malle THE NIGHT

Hugo Boss BOSS : BOTTLED OUD

GAP

BOSS : DAMASK OUD

GAP ESTABLISHED 1969 FOR WOMEN GAP ESTABLISHED 1969 INSPIRE

Iceberg EAU DE ICEBERG 74 : OUD F C

Giorgio Armani ARMANI PRIVÉ - OUD ROYAL

Illamasqua FREAK

ARMANI PRIVÉ - CUIR NOIR

Givenchy EAUDEMOISELLE DE GIVENCHY BOIS DE OUD OUD FLAMBOYANT

GOSH BY GOSH

Grossmith SAFFRON ROSE

Gucci GUCCI OUD

Illuminum WHITE OUD

Guerlain OUD SENSUEL ROSE NACRÉE DU DESERT SANTAL ROYAL

Halston MAN AMBER

Harvey Prince BIG

Heeley PHOENICIA

Henri Bendel ROSE & OUD

Henry Jacques ROSE OUDH FABIEN ABSOLUTE

Heretic Parfums INDIA INK

Herr Von Eden

John Logan JUST OUDH

John Varvatos JOHN VARVATOS OUD

JŌvan INTENSE OUD

Jovoy JUS INTERDIT

Judith Williams ARABIAN OUD

Jul et Mad AMOUR DE PALAZZO

Juliette has a Gun

HINDI OUD

MIDNIGHT OUD

VETIVER OUD MAJESTIC OUD SCARLET OUD

ANOTHER OUD

Junaid Perfumes AL OUDH AL HINDI

ROSE OUD

DHAN OUD

INDIAN OUD

HAJAR OUD

TONKA OUD AXIS OUD

J.F. Schwarzlose Berlin RAUSCH

Jacoglu Paris OUD PRESTIGE

Jacomo OUD FOR MEN

Jacques Bogart CITY TOWER ONE MAN SHOW RUBY EDITION ONE MAN SHOW OUD EDITION

AGARWOUD

Jo Malone OUD & BERGAMOT

NIN-SHAR

BLACK OUD

INCC Parfums

INTENSE OUD

JO LOVES A SHOT OF OUD OVER MANGO

VELVET ROSE & OUD

N.001

Frédéric Haldimann

EUTERPE

DESERT FLOWERS DAHLIA

Jean Paul Dupont AMBRE ORIENTELE OUD MAJESTIQUE

Jean-Charles Brosseau OMBRE ORIENTALE

Jesus Del Pozo ARABIAN NIGHTS ARABIAN NIGHTS PRIVATE COLLECTION WOMAN ARABIAN NIGHTS WOMAN

Keiko Mecheri AMBRE MIRABILIS BAL DE ROSES CANYON DREAMS CUIR FAUVE GRAND'SOIRÉE TANGERI VETIVER VELOURS LOUKHOUM PARFUM DU SOIR

Kemi Blending Magic 'ILM TEMPEST

Kenzo MADLY KENZO OUD COLLECTION

Kerosene BLACKMAIL BROKEN THEORIES R’OUD ELEMENTS

Korres SAFFRON AMBER AGARWOOD CARDAMOM

Krigler OUD FOR HIGHNESS 75 83

FRAGRANCE DU BOIS OUD AZUR 75212 OUD SUMPTUOUS 75213

Les Liquides Imaginaires FORTIS - EAU DELÀ

ULTIMATE K’OUD 75214

L`Aromatica Perfume

Les Parfums du Soleil LES JARDINS DE SHÉRAZADE

ANIMUS

Liaison de Parfum La Collina Toscana

La Maison de la Vanille

Lisa Hoffman Beauty JAPANESE AGARWOOD

ROYAL OUD

Lise London La Prairie

A PERFECT GENTLEMAN

SILVER RAIN

LM Parfums Lalique

HOMMAGE À L’HOMME

Lancôme

HARD LEATHER MALEFIC TATTOO SCANDINAVIAN CRIME

L’AUTRE ÔUD

UNIQUE RUSSIA

OUD BOUQUET

L’Occitane OUD & ROSE

AMAZING LANG LANG FOR HIM

L'Antichambre L'OMBRE CACHÉE

L’Artisan Parfumeur AL OUDH

Lattafa 24 CARAT PURE GOLD ABSHERK AL DUR AL MAKNOON GOLD AL FURSAN AMEER AL OUDH JUST OUD JUST OUD BOULEVARD EDITION NIGHT OUD PURE OUDI / KHALIS OUDI RAGHBA RAGHBA WOOD INTENSE AMEER AL OUD 2

Laura Ashley EMMA (2013)

Lé Chameau GENESIS OUD MALAKI GENESIS GOLD

Le Galion AESTHETE

Le Labo

Loewe TRAS LA TORMENTA EN EL JARDÍN BOTÁNICO UN BALCÓN SOBRE EL PASEO DEL PRADO

Lolita Lempicka AU MASCULIN INTENSE

Lomani AB SPIRIT MILLIONAIRE BLACK ROSE AB SPIRIT MILLIONAIRE OUD GOURMAND CODE

Lorenzo Villoresi THESEUS

Louis Cardin CREDIBLE

Lubin GALAD

NO 6 - À LA CARTE

L’Erbolario LEGNI FRUTTATI 84

ART COLLECTION 103 EMIR N°7 LACE NIGHT AOUD NASREEN OSSWALD FOR MEN ROYAL ROSE AOUD

Madonna TRUTH OR DARE NAKED

Maison Francis Kurkdjian OUD OUD CASHMERE MOOD OUD SATIN MOOD OUD SILK MOOD OUD VELVET MOOD

Maison Incens FIGUE AOUDII

Maître Parfumeur et Gantier AMBRE DORÉ

Majda Bekkali J’AI FAIT UN RÊVE

Mancera ROSEAOUD & MUSK THE AOUD AOUD BLACK CANDY AOUD CAFÉ AOUD LINE AOUD S AOUD SANDROSES AOUD VANILLE

KORRIGAN

Lucky Scent UNTITLED #6 BY SUSANNE LANG

Lui Niche COUNT

Lush

AOUD VIOLET BLACK TO BLACK BLUE AOUD VOYAGE EN ARABIE BLACK INTENSIVE AOUD

THE SMELL OF FREEDOM

VOYAGE EN ARABIE GOLD INTENSIVE AOUD

SMELL OF FREEDOM PART THREE: OUDH HEART

VOYAGE EN ARABIE SILVER INTENSIVE AOUD

Lvnea Lengling

ARABIAN DIAMOND

SAND AOUD

INTENSE BLACK

ROSE 31 OUD 27

AOUD GOURMET

VANILLA AOUD

BLACK OUD

L’AUTRE OUD EN ROSE

Lang Lang

AOUD

ART COLLECTION 201

I DARE YOU

LOGGIA DEI MERCANTI

AOUD 3

DESERT NIGHT

M.Micallef AOUD 1 AOUD 2

WILD ROSE AOUD

Mandarina Duck MANDARINA DUCK MAN

Maison Dorin UN AIR D'ARABIE : OUD

FRAGRANCE DU BOIS Monotheme

Mansfield GEORGES FEGHALY - COUP DE FOUDRE

Manos Gerakinis SILVER OUD

Manuel Canovas BALLADE VERTE

Marc de la Morandière KOZMIC OUD

BLACK OUD

Morph KOLONAKI, 1977

ROSE OUD

My Perfumes Montale

DARK OUD

BLACK AOUD

MyParfum

CRYSTAL AOUD

ADLERHOLZ

DARK AOUD

Nabeel

GOLDEN AOUD

INSIJAM OIL PERFUME

HONEY AOUD

Marco Serussi MS OUD

MariaLux

Narciso Rodriguez

MOON AOUD

FOR HER AMBER MUSC

NEPAL AOUD

FOR HER DÉLICATE

ORANGE FLOWERS

Nasomatto

ARAMESH

ORIGINAL AOUD

YOURS DEEPLY

BLACK AFGANO

OUDMAZING

YOURS MADLY

DURO

RED AOUD

PARDON

Mauboussin MAUBOUSSIN ELIXIR POUR ELLE

Mazzolari

ROYAL OUD

Neela Vermeire Créations

SILVER AOUD

TRAYEE

STEAM AOUD

MOHUR

WHITE AOUD

OUD

Memo

Neil Morris Fragrances

WILD AOUD

AFRICAN LEATHER

TROPICAL WOOD

LALIBELA OUD

AOUD AMBER ROSE

IRISH OUD

AOUD AMBRE

LUXOR OUD

AOUD BLOSSOM

SHAMS OUD

AOUD CUIR D’ARABIE

Menditorosa

AOUD DAMASCUS

ALFA

AOUD EVER

AOUD FLOWERS

OMEGA

AOUD FOREST

Meo Fusciuni

AOUD GREEDY AOUD LAVENDER

NARCOTICO

Mercedes-Benz MERCEDES-BENZ LE PARFUM

Miller Harris LA FUMÉE ARABIE LA FUMÉE MAROC

Milton-Lloyd COLOUR ME OUD

Min New York DAHAB

Missala QESSENCE

Molinard CHER WOOD

Molton Brown MESMERISING OUDH ACCORD & GOLD

AOUD LEATHER AOUD LIME AOUD MELODY AOUD MUSK

OUDH OSMANTHUS

AOUD ORANGE AOUD PURPLE ROSE AOUD QUEEN ROSES AOUD RED FLOWERS AOUD ROSES PETALS AOUD SAFRAN AOUD SENSE

IZMIR LE PARFUM D'IDA SWOON TAJ

Nejma BOIS DE AOUD LE SOMPTUEUX THE OUD NEJMA 1 NEJMA 2 NEJMA 3 NEJMA 4

NEJMA 7

Nicolaï ROSE OUD AMBER OUD

Nobile 1942 VESPRI ORIENTALE

Odin 00 AURIEL

AOUD SHINY AOUD VELVET

Montana Moresque AL-ANDALUS

FLOWERS FOR MEN - GARDENIA

NEJMA 6

AOUD NIGHT

Mona di Orio

FETISH

NEJMA 5

AOUD NEPAL

OUD GRAPHITE

SHISUR

ASSAM

Oliver Durbano BLACK TOURMALINE

Oliver Sweeney ARGENTO

Organic Glam ORGANIC GLAM OUD ROSE OUD 85

FRAGRANCE DU BOIS Oriflame MIDNIGHT PEARL

HALFETI

Richard E Grant

LEVANTIUM

JACK

Perris Monte Carlo

Ormonde Jayne BLACK GOLD

BOIS D’OUD

NAWAB OF OUDH

OUD IMPERIAL

Oscar de la Renta EXTRAORDINARY

Oud Al Shams Oudh Al Anfar

Paco Rabanne

OUD DELICE

EMOTIONAL AOUD

OUD DE ROBERT PIGUET

SENSUAL AOUD

OUD DIVIN

Pierre Cardin

ROBERTO CAVALLI TIGER OUD

INNOVATION

ROBERTO CAVALLI OUD EDITION

Pineider

Rochas

Pino Silvestre

Roja Parfums

Pour Toujours KHAMSIN

Providence Perfume ROSE BOHÈME

ALHAMBRA

Radley London

BAHAMAS

RADLEY

JAMAICA

Ralph Lauren

NIGHT

Paolo Pecora ÉDITION 1: MILANO - MAGENTA ÉDITION 1: MILANO - SENATO

Papillon Artisan Perfumes ANUBIS

Parfumerie Berdoues OUD AL SAHRAA

Parfumerie Générale ISPARTA NO.26 L'EAU GUERRIÈRE NO.20

Parfums De Marly AKASTER

POLO SUPREME OUD

Ramón Molvizor ART & GOLD & PERFUME 5ELEMENTS

Ramon Monegal AGAR MUSK HAND IN HAND : ROSE & OUD

Rania J. T. HABANERO

Rare Device

AL WISAM DAY

ARMATEUR GOLD LIMITED EDITION DIPLOMATE INTENSE TRAVELLER EARTH

Paris Gallery BLEND OUD - HAYAK BLEND OUD - LAYLATY BLEND OUD - OUDALEMARAT BLEND OUD - ROUH AOUD BLEND OUD - SAHAR

Penhaligon’s AS SAWIRA 86

KHALTAT AL OUDH KHALTAT AL KHASA

RE Classified UNIVERSAL LOVE THE MAGIC LAMP PARTY ANIMAL

Régime des Fleurs OUD & WHITE MUSK

Reiss BLACK OUDH FOR MEN

Réminiscence OUD

SWEETIE AOUD AMBER AOUD AOUD CANDY AOUD FRUITY AOUD FORTNUM & MASON TAÏF AOUD MUSK AOUD H THE EXCLUSIVE AOUD

Royal Crown AL KIMIYA' HABANOS MUSK UBAR MY OUD OUD AL MELKA OUD JASMIN

OUD ASSAM

Rasasi

Paris Bleu

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES SPIRIT OF THE UNION

ABSOLUTE

BLACK CUBE

COLOGNE #002

KUHUYAN

SECRET DE ROCHAS OUD MYSTÈRE

OUD ABSOLUTE

NOTTE D'AMORE

Paolo Gigli

OUD AL QASR

OUD ASSOLUTO

ESSENZA DI AOUD

Pantheon Roma

Roberto Cavalli

CUIR INTENSE

1 MILLION ABSOLUTELY GOLD

Pal Zileri

Robert Piguet OUD

GLAMOROUS AOUD

AL SHAMS SPECIAL EDITION ANFAR DEHENAL AL OUDH COMBODI

HARMATTAN

Philly & Phill

ORMONDE MAN

Roads

OUD SANTAL TENEBRA YTZMA

Rosendo Mateu NO 4 SAFFRON, OUD, VANILLA

Rundholz Parfums SEPT.21.1966

Sanctum BLACK OUD

Sara Horowitz Parfums ARTISAN COLLECTION ROOTS

Sarahs Creations ASAYEL ASHIQ WALAHAN

Scent Story 24 24 GOLD

FRAGRANCE DU BOIS 24 GOLD OUD EDITION 24 PLATINUM OUD EDITION

Schlossparfumerie Wolff & Sohn Stuttgart H - 100 JUBILÉE

Ted Lapidus BLACK SOUL IMPERIAL

OUD WOOD

OUD BLANC

PLUM JAPONAIS

OUD NOIR

SAHARA NOIR

Téo Cabanel

P - 100 JUBILÉE

Sentifique CÈDRE SACRÉ TESTOSTERONE

Serge Lutens CUIR MAURESQUE

Shay & Blue FRAMBOISE NOIRE OUD ALIF

Slumberhouse VIKT

SoOud FAM

SANTAL BLUSH TOBACCO OUD

BARKHANE

Torre of Tuscany

Terry de Gunzburg TERRYFIC OUD

SAVANE’ OUD

Trish McEvoy

TERRYFIC OUD EXTRÊME TERRYFIC OUD L'EAU

Tesori d’Oriente ROYAL OUD DELLO YEMEN

9 OUD BLACK ROSE OUD PRECIOUS OUD

Undergreen

Thameen NOOROLAIN TAIF

BLACK

Urban Scents

CARVED OUD

The Body Shop

SINGULAR OUD

V Canto

ROSE OUD

The Different Company

FATENA

OUD FLEUR

MASTIN

Valentino

OUD FOR LOVE

ILHAM

OUD SHAMASH

KANZ

ASSOLUTO OUD

Van Cleef & Arpels

The Fragrance Kitchen

BURQA NEKTAR OURIS

Sospiro ADAGIO

ARABIA GIVE ME A CHANCE MISTER DANGER THE FINEST

ANDANTE

The Merchant of Venice

CAPRICCIO

BLACK OUD

CLASSICA

LEATHER IN NUDE

DUETTO

MYRRH OUD

GRAZIOSO

ST Dupont OUD ET ROSE OUD ET SANTAL OUD ORIENTAL

Stéphane Humbert Lucas 2022 GENERATION - HOMME QOM CHILOM OUD 777

Strangelove NYC DEAD OF NIGHT MELTMYHEART

Sweet Anthem ELLA REBECCA

Swiss Arabian DEHN AL OUD CAMBODI DEHN AL OUD EL QAMER DEHN AL OUD FAKHAM DEHN AL OUD MALAKI DEHN AL OUD MUBAKHAR

OUDRAGEOUS ROSE OUD

COLLECTION EXTRAORDINAIRE PRECIOUS OUD

Van Gils LIVE

Versace VERSACE POUR HOMME OUD NOIR VERSACE POUR FEMME OUD ORIENTAL

Vilhelm Parfumerie SMOKE SHOW THE OUD AFFAIR

SECRET ROSE

Thierry Mugler ALIEN OUD MAJESTUEUX MIRROR MIRROR - MIROIR DES JOYAUX MIRROR MIRROR - MIROIR DES VOLUPTÉS

Thomas Kosmala

Victoria's Secret ANGEL SEDUCTION DARK ORCHID

Viktor & Rolf FLOWERBOMB ROSE EXPLOSION

Volnay BRUME D’HIVER

BLACK OUD

Welton London

WHITE OUD

OUD INSPIRATION

Tiziana Terenzi

Xerjoff

CHIMAERA

AL KHATT

LAUDANO NERO

ALEXANDRIA II

MAREMMA

FARS

GOLD ROSE OUDH

GAO

URSA

MAMLUK

Tom Ford

NAJAF

LONDON

ZAFAR

NOIR DE NOIR

BLACK SUKAR

RAKAAN 87

FRAGRANCE DU BOIS JAVA BLOSSOM KAMPUCHEA NOIR KING MASARAT OUD LUBAN WARDA AL OUD

Yves Rocher ROSE OUD

Yves Saint Laurent

M7 OUD ABSOLU SPLENDID WOOD MAJESTIC ROSE

Zara ZARA OUD

Zarkoperfume OUD’ISH MOLÉCULE NO. 8 - WOODEN CHIPS

Zoologist RHINOCEROS

Introducing Sahraa Oud

TOP NOTES Grapefruit

Created for Fragrance Du Bois By François Merle-Baudoin Like a moment of stillness broken by unpredictable shifts of racing wind across a vast landscape, Sahraa Oud captures the untamed wilderness of Arabia. It immediately invokes the mystery and majesty of the desert, and has been crafted for the sophisticated palates of both Middle Eastern connoisseurs and aficionados with discerning tastes alike. Beautiful floral top and heart notes of grapefruit, rose absolute, geranium and jasmine, create a symphony that blends softly into base notes of patchouli, sandalwood, saffron, vanilla, amber and Oud.

HEART NOTES Rose Absolute, Geranium, Jasmine, Patchouli

BASE NOTES

Black Pepper, Sandalwood, Saffron, Vanilla, Amber, 100% pure organic vintage Oud Retail price: 100ml - USD 715, 50ml - USD 425, 15ml USD 135

FRAGRANCE DU BOIS

Fantasy Dinner Party ZUREINA MAIDIN, Marketing Director, Fragrance Du Bois (Malaysia)

If you could pick anyone – alive or dead – to invite to your cityscape apartment or sprawling country manor for a bite to eat, who would you choose?

’ve been told that I can only invite four guests, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to cheat and also allow my annoying cousin to join us, otherwise I’d never hear the end of it. Joe Harris is my partner-in-crime; an unsung lawyer to be, and super fun – as well as being able to provide very interesting and analytical post dinner chat. My next guest is Johnny Depp. I adore his acting, he’s very versatile and talented – it’s not just his good looks… Over the years he’s added life to so many different characters on screen, and I was mesmerised by his performances in Blow, Sleepy Hollow, Pirates, and Edward. I’d have to invite Victoria Beckham. Despite her amazing achievements – which I find awe-inspiring as I

never expected her to go this far – she seems to be the most humble of the Spice Girls. She’s one of the most influential people in fashion right now, and you also have to salute her for being mum to four kids. How she still rocks that body, juggles her career and takes care of her family I don’t know. She can sit next to me. My third official guest is Francis Ford Coppola. I honestly didn’t think that I would enjoy The Godfather so much, but the acting, the songs, the characters, and the storyline are all perfect. Last but not least I’d also invite the French artist Edgar Degas, who was famed for his paintings, sculptures and drawings. I wish he was still around; I’d love to listen to his artsy

talk. I might not understand it all, but I reckon that everyone would be keen to have him around. MENU Starter: Edamame, sashimi platter, ebi tempura and soft shell crab tempura Main: Gindara teriyaki, beef teppanyaki, assorted sushi set Dessert: Matcha (green tea) ice cream, black sesame ice cream GUEST LIST Johnny Depp

Victoria Beckham

Francis Ford Coppola

Edgar Degas

PURE OUD â&#x20AC;˘ PURE LUXURY

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