Discovering the real scent of a woman
According to man-Paddy, if a fragrance covers the basics — that is, that it doesn’t make him sneeze or cough, it doesn’t give him a headache and it helps to, shall we say, peak his interest — then it’s a winner. Choosing a perfume for your beloved temptress can, however, be a de-stink-tively tricky task. We might like it (or not really care) but does she?
Luckily, the recently opened Parfumarija in the Westbury Mall in Dublin is here to help. The new perfumery, which resembles a small, minimalist version of Willy Wonka’s laboratory, is the brainchild of perfumer Marija Aslimoska from Macedonia. Marija has lived in Ireland on and off for the last seven years. Her reason for coming here? “A lovely Irish man” she met at a wedding in Oxford some years ago.
The opening of this boutique is a testament to the 28-year-old’s persistence and resilience.
“I’ve always loved perfumes,” she says. “But one thing about loving perfume is that you get discouraged every time you try to do something to learn about it. Even in high school I wanted to do perfumery and I didn’t know who to ask let alone where to go.
“From the beginning there was a big barrier: ‘no it’s only for the French, it’s only from father to son, it’s only for certain families’. Later on I discovered a school in Paris and I thought I should go for it but again there was a barrier; they wanted you to have studied four years of chemistry and you had to be a French citizen. So for me it was always a big no.”
As a result of this apparent closed shop, Marija studied nursing and then business management but at the back of her mind was “this love for creating something’”.
She finally came across the Grasse Institute of Perfumery, which although French, offers spaces to 12 international students. Marija was accepted in 2010 and has been back and forth several times since. It was, she says, “a dream come true to be learning about perfume 24/7”.
The second part of that dream is her new shop and she is not daunted by the recent economic climate.
“If you really believe in something there’s never a bad time to do it,” she says. “It’s a big investment and as you can see everything in here is bespoke. We decorated the place from scratch. But for me there’s nothing else I’d rather do.”
Marija’s get-up-and-go attitude is as impressive as her undoubted knowledge and when it comes to advising men on buying perfume for their loved ones she simply suggests we use her expertise.
“Rather than you coming in and buying the most expensive or best known thing for her, you should send her in for a consult,” she says. “That way she’ll have the whole experience. I want to take people on a journey with this. Basically I’d take a few products to establish whether she’s earth, wind, fire or water and take it from there. I gradually narrow it down to a few and then we’d choose one or maybe more.”
The perfumes here range from €69 to €1,300 — the latter being a handmade collectible bottle from the Parisian range MDCI. Marija takes me through a few of the scents on offer — it appears I’m water by the way — and by the end of the ritual I have to say I’m somewhat converted. It is all rather pleasant and quite interesting.
Rather than foisting the most expensive perfume on the customer, Marija tailors the fragrance around you. After sniffing a few swabs of fragrance — none of which brought me out in a rash — we arrive at one that I actually liked for myself. As to whether Mark Buxton’s fragrance Sexual Healing (€140 for 100ml) has the desired effect, I don’t find out but it does give me an undoubted lift on a dreary afternoon.
Perhaps there is something to be said for perfume’s medicinal and therapeutic powers as well as its undeniable role in the dark arts of attraction.
Among the other bewitching fragrances on show are those worn by the rich and famous such as Illuminum’s White Gardenia Petals, (€82 for 50ml), worn by the Duchess of Cambridge on her wedding day and — listen up Ryan Tubridy — Eight & Bob, (€127 for 100ml) a recently rediscovered cologne, created originally for a young John F. Kennedy.
Another curious range is Etat Libre d’Orange, which Marija informs me is by former Givenchy perfumer Etienne de Swardt.
“He’s noted for exploring the risqué side of perfume,” says Marija picking up a bottle and spraying a bit on my arm.
“This one [called Secretions Magnifique (€69 for 50ml)] has the notes of blood, sweat, sperm and saliva in it.”
That’s not exactly what I get from this particular fragrance but it does get me thinking about my own range. Eau de Semple Stadium.
* www.parfumarija.com Prices range from €69 — €1,300
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