British niche line Roja Parfums has launched three new fragrances, Innuendo for Women, Danger for Women and Danger Pour Homme…

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Roja Dove’s Roja Parfums line has launched two new fragrances, Reckless and Scandal Pour Homme…

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There's a direct psychological link between your reaction to fragrance and your personality, but today we're so convinced by all the marketing spin. People buy scent by brand image and not smell. Eventually, when the buzz of that purchase has gone, you find that you didn't really like it. The proof is all those abandoned bottles sitting on top of dressing tables.

— From Interview: Roja Dove, perfumer at the Scotsman.

UK tabloid The Sun has launched Buzz, a new fragrance that promises to bottle “the essence of pure entertainment”…

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About the author: Nina is our guest shopper for London, and she not only kindly wrote up the Perfume Diaries exhibit for those of us who can’t make it to London, she also took all of the images with the exception of the one just above, which is courtesy of Harrods.

Throughout September, Harrods is hosting a presentation of perfume through the ages. The Perfume Diaries is ‘an exhibition celebrating the past, present and future of the perfume industry.’

It’s on the fourth floor, in a long white space which has been put together with care and considerable style by Emma Jane Hockley (Harrods’ buyer for perfume and cosmetics — what a job!), and Harrods’ own Professeur de Parfums, Roja Dove. With this kind of clout, they’ve been able to pull in an amazing range of objects from all over the world.

Harrods generously invited perfume and beauty bloggers to a private viewing, and Robin equally generously allowed me to go instead of her. (And if you saw the quality of the patisserie offerings, you’d know how big a sacrifice this was.)

Racing in from a magazine interview, Roja Dove guided us round the exhibits…

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Harrods in London will be holding an exhibit — titled The Perfume Diaries — “celebrating the past, present and future of the perfume industry”. The exhibit is curated by Roja Dove of the Haute Parfumerie at Harrods.

A true celebration of the fragrance industry…

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In conjunction with their upcoming tribute to Serge Diaghilev,* founder of the Ballets Russes, London’s Victoria and Albert Museum will launch Diaghilev, a limited edition fragrance…

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This is a review of Roja Dove Enslaved Eau de Parfum, but it’s going to take me a moment to get there, so please bear with me.

Not long ago I heard a perfumer disparaged because his work was stale. According to the person I talked to, the perfumer had said what he had to say and wasn’t breaking any new ground with his newest fragrances. I understand this complaint, especially coming from someone who sees perfume as art. We already have so many beautiful fragrances. If you’re not adding to what’s out there, but simply creating more of the same, why bother? I won’t buy new art unless it challenges me and draws me in. I won’t stay up past midnight in a crowded club unless I know I’ll be listening to music that feels fresh and engaging. And I’m certainly tired of the landslide of berry-patchouli or screechy floral-musks out there.

Then, Friday night I was at a coworker’s going away party and I went to the bar to buy the coworker a beer. While I waited, a beefy, biker-type guy sat near me combing his long, red beard. “I like your scent,” he said.

My wrist flew to my nose as I tried to remember what it was. “It’s Jolie Madame,” I said…

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It's an easy trap to fall into - up to 97 per cent of the cost of producing a conventional perfume goes on marketing, packaging and advertising. The liquid in the bottle can represent as little as 3 per cent of the total cost of production.

As 'professeur de parfum' and founder of the Haute Parfumerie at Harrods, Roja Dove laments, 'I think most people don't actually smell fragrances anymore. People are so influenced by marketing that people buy scents that they don't really like.'

— From Perfume: how natural are you willing to go? at Ecologist. The article includes a list of recommended natural perfumes.

Have you ever seen the episode of I Love Lucy where Lucy gets a job in a candy factory? The candy rolls off the assembly line so fast she can’t package it. She ends up covered in chocolate and out of a job. These days, trying to stay on top of perfume launches is like working at Lucy’s candy factory. As is also true at the factory, so many of the fragrances are the same. This candy tester is happy to report the new Grossmith line stands apart. They’re different not so much because they’re wildly compelling, but because they smell of a different time.

Grossmith, an English perfume house, first opened its doors in 1835 and closed sometime in the early 20th century. The great grandson of its founder revived the house this year with the help of Roja Dove from Harrod’s Roja Dove Haute Parfumerie. Grossmith has released three of its original fragrances. Despite the perfume house’s name, which sounds like it could front canned peas, each fragrance’s name is exotic: Phul-Nana, Shel-el-Nessim, and Hasu-no-Hana…

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