what has caused the rise of the unisex perfume? […]
The rise of the unisex perfume
Category: perfumery
Made in France – the 5 factors which reduced its dominance in perfumery
Why is France’s influence declining in the field of perfumery […]
15 Luxury Middle Eastern perfumes
Which are the noteworthy luxury Middle Eastern Perfumes? The per capita sales of luxury Middle Eastern perfumes has always been big and it is still growing.. Euromonitor predicts MENA region market growth from 5.7 billion USD in 2018 to 8.5 billion USD by 2021. Strong demand in luxury perfumery in this region has encouraged many perfumery companies to create new interesting perfume concepts. There are many more perfume houses targeting the Middle East market with oriental creations who are manufacturing abroad. Such as the House of Oud, Amouroud, Xerjoff, Sospiro, Memo, Nejma, Montale, and Frederick Malle, to mention but a few. Due to current consumption rates, the Middle Eastern perfume market continues to be a highly attractive proposition. In this blog post we focus only on the local oriental brands born and bred in the Middle East. Ahjaar – UAE Paris Gallery created this perfume to sell exclusively in their luxury perfume retail chain. Its simplistic yet luxurious packaging approach revives memories of Guerlain’s Encens Mythique d’orient. Amouage – Oman Amouage is a long standing perfume house with the backing of the Omani royal family. The company has gone from strength to strength to place its brands in the most luxurious exclusive points of sale the world over over the last twenty years. At the early part of the 2000s Amouage was still very much a regional player with a very oriental approach in packaging and presentation. I recall buying Cristal Gold by Amouage in the late 1990s. Despite the beauty and opulence of the old style packaging, it is doubtful that Amouage would have achieved such wide appeal if it had not changed later to a simpler ‘East meets West’ style of packaging and presentation. Amouage Silver Cristal – also available in gold colour. The brand has managed to reinvent itself as a sleek luxury brand with sophistication and wide appeal. This is largely thanks to the expertise of Christopher Chong who was their in-house marketing expert until 2019. Each new range has a clear story behind it and the fragrances have mostly oriental notes. Yet despite this they are very popular the world over. Amouage has achieved great success from Russia to Australia, a success emulated by many. Amna al Habtoor, UAE resident from a prominent local family, has recently launched Arcadia perfumes by Amna. The theme of their perfumes is oriental nostalgia and each perfume comes with a booklet explaining the story behind it. More niche luxury Middle Eastern perfumes A creation of Assim al Qassim, a nostalgic approach to niche oriental perfumery, combining old trusted ingredients with some unexpected notes such as mango. The inspiration of the new collection WATAN (nation) is endless love. Designer Shaik – Bahrain The brand Chic Shaikh brand is only widely available in the Middle East region and some limited distribution in other countries. It has created truly innovative perfume packaging, complete with perfume bottle refill stations at certain point of sale. The brand is remarkable, as the bottles are refillable and the packaging can be sent away for refurbishment. Ghawali – UAE Chalhoub group launched this relatively new niche brand together with a range of body care and perfumes. They distribute these products mostly in their own bespoke retail outlets located in areas heavily frequented by local Arabs. These are true Middle Eastern perfumes using combinations of ingredients popular in the region to create unisex creations. Ghawali’s simple perfume packaging is elegant and understated. Kayali – UAE Kayali perfume is a recent entrant to the Middle East perfume market. Launched by the Kattan sisters Dubai based cosmetics company Huda Beauty, Kayali launched exclusively in Sephora retail outlets. The concept centres around perfume layering principles, you need more than one to build up your fragrance and match your mood. The collection of fragrances comprises perfumes such as vanilla, white flowers, musk and citrus. Khaltat blends of Love – UAE This is a niche luxury perfume brand sold mainly in private luxury kiosks in the most popular shopping malls. It is the creation of the Mohamed Hilal group. Hind al Oud, the Hilal Group has now entered the luxury spray niche perfume market. This brand will also be on sale in the new luxury concept stores HOB where new colour cosmetics ranges will also be available. Majan Perfumes – Oman The perfume packaging design is similar to The Fragrance Kitchen, as all perfumes are in similar round tall bottle. However, these perfume bottles are more pretty and oriental than the Fragrance Kitchen design. Odict – Kuwait Odict is a collaboration between two friends of Saudi and Kuwaiti descent. Inspiration comes from typical Middle Eastern ingredients such as oud, frankincense, amber and saffron. They have contemporary notes such as fresh smelling bergamot, orange blossom and grapefruit. The perfume packaging is minamalistic and ultra modern. Odict has used the region’s heritage of pearl diving as an inspiration for its brand imagery. Oman Luxury – Oman A relatively new entrant into luxury Middle Eastern perfumes which Rasasi developed in collaboration with french perfumers and Hamid Merati- Kashani from Firmenich. The old perfume bottle design was a square tall bottle, but the new bottle is more round and the cap is now quite similar to the one made by Ghawali. Rasasi – UAE Rasasi have been specialising in mass market high quality products until the last few years when they launched products such as Boruzz oud collection and La Yuqawam. Now that the luxury Middle Eastern perfume market has grown and become more attractive, they have added some very attractive luxury perfumes to their product lines. The Fragrance Kitchen – Kuwait The Fragrance Kitchen has a funky, modern perfume packaging design, it is the brainchild of the Emir of Kuwait Sheik Majed al Sabeh. The perfumes are largely unisex and draw on middle eastern themes and use traditional ingredients which are unique to Middle Eastern perfumery. This niche perfume brand is enjoying success overseas in urban cosmopolitan areas such as London and New York. […]
How online perfume sales affect retail in the Middle East
How are online perfume sales performing in the Middle East? Online perfume sales have been rapidly growing in the Western world, but the Middle East has lagged a little in this respect. What do we think will happen in the future and how will this affect the local retail trade? In the Middle East we have some really impressive perfume retail stores. We are spoilt for choice by having access to all the world’s perfume brands in some beautiful locations. The Middle East is well known for its heavy consumption of perfume, as a result every brand wants to be seen here. Big international retail stores such as Galeries Lafayette and Bloomingdales have a presence, as well as Sephora and Harvey Nichols. Paris Gallery, the local luxury chain, has branches in all Middle Eastern key markets. Boutique niche brands also have their own stores in many of our flagship malls. Unfortunately the overheads of running a retail store in the Middle East are extremely high. The combination of high retail rents, plus ‘hidden government taxes’ make it a very expensive place to operate. Why do people prefer to buy perfume online? People often buy well known designer perfumes online to save money or time. The same perfumes can be up to double the price if you buy them in your local mall. Consequently it can be a huge saving and also extremely convenient to have a delivery to your home. It’s also an easy way to get hold of hard to find products which might not be stocked everywhere. Frequently we see people in the region who buy perfume online from online sites posting on forums in Facebook. They ask question such as if it’s safe to buy online or if the goods are really genuine. Fake or real perfume? Online perfume sales can be tricky, we don’t always know for sure what we are buying online. We don’t know if it is a very good fake from Turkey or China or if it is just a good bargain. The fake copying companies are now so good at copying that one might not ever know it’s a fake. Unless the purchaser knows the perfume character intimately and notices that it performs differently to the original. The perfume essence will generally undergo detailed chemical analysis. By tweaking the formulation the perfumer ensures that it matches the original as closely as possible. Great efforts go into ensuring that the packaging is identical. The biggest online portals often do not warehouse the majority of the items they sell on their portal. Therefore they are not able to physically check the item because they are shipped from different locations. Only the ones which the big online sites fulfil personally have this guarantee. For more statistical information about the progress of the Middle Eastern perfume market read the Beautyworld Middle East report. What is the future for retail if online perfume sales grow? There will always be a demand for retail stores where you can go and try a perfume and see how it smells, online stores can never provide this luxury. But will people buy it from that outlet after trialling it, will they just go and buy it online afterwards at a lower cost? How can retail stores encourage more purchase in store? There are a few main factors here I believe which can influence this : Understand client needs Better client service and understanding of client needs in store. Most staff in perfumery retailers do not have understand perfume well and don’t help clients to buy well. Sephora has tried to address this issue through the introduction of the Fragrance IQ machine in some of their stores. However, it doesn’t make up for a lack of well trained and knowledgeable sales staff. In the big luxury perfume stores store over zealous staff chase the customers. They are constantly spraying the client with irrelevant new perfumes with ‘try this’ and ‘try that’. This discourages many of us from entering those stores due to this frequent occurrence. Some clients need a bit of time to browse and think about their needs before interacting with a salesperson. For people who don’t enjoy the in store experience, online perfume sales can be a godsend. More promotions and offers to entice trial/ repeat purchase. Better loyalty schemes to keep clients loyal to the store. Most of the big stores have loyalty cards to collect data on consumers which allow the collection of precious consumer purchasing behavior. However, there is very little customer reward for shopping frequently at the same store and signing up to these loyalty schemes. A better overall experience More positive experience in store. More displays to make the essence of the brand more understandable. Merchandising and display in store which makes it easier to find the perfume you need. A more experiential approach to perfumes. If the experience is more positive and creative and gives a better understanding of the perfume, people will not mind paying more compared to online. More fun and play and creativity is required instead of rows of displays of perfumes on shelves in store according to the designer brand name. The use of Artificial Intelligence and other technology could help to bring brands alive and make the experience more immersive.. An alternative way to sell Alternative types of stores If more stores were in different types of locations, not in high rent malls, then the shops could afford to sell perfumes at a lower price. This would really disrupt the market and slow online perfume sales. Could this be a way forward – how about setting up perfume stores in warehouse units with big space. This could enable a theatrical, immersive experiences which explain the essence of the brand more clearly? We need a new way of thinking and doing things if retail stores want to be more relevant and to addmore value to the younger consumers who are more cynical towards big brands. Conclusions So do we know […]
Top 5 sustainable perfume brands
Refill packaging – a sustainable option? Sustainable perfumes are on the rise, all consumer research points to this. What options do we have if we are looking for sustainable perfume options? Is there a better alternative to refill packaging? Unfortunately refill packaging also requires additional packaging – new bottles, boxes and closures. . Swarovski designed their new perfume to be refillable. Back to the factory Eden Perfumes in the UK offer a refill option for their perfume. Though you have to post the empty bottle back to their factory to be refilled and then sent back out to you. A luxury option for sustainable perfumes Other big brands have limited refill stations in select outlets and cities, largely in Europe. Such as Guerlain in their flagship store in Paris. Also Roja Dove offers a refill option in Harrods using Daum crystal dispensers. This makes buying a sustainable perfume into an occasion! Le Labo offers refilling in France primarily and selected European outlets. Caron offers a refill station at Fortnum and Mason in London. Eco friendly perfume dispensers Thierry Mugler has dispensers in store where consumers can refill their perfume bottles at a lower cost. Chic Shaik in the Middle East has had perfumery refill bars in its larger distribution outlets since their launch. They also offer a lifetime refill service for their bottles. Additionally they will refurbish their beautiful sustainable perfume bottles (at a cost) to ensure that they last a lifetime. How to encourage sustainable perfumes? Hopefully this is the way forward and more companies will start to buy into this new way of working. However, this requires not only investment from brand owners, but also cooperation from retail outlets. We need more pressure from consumers or penalties imposed by governments to encourage more recycling. Tthis approach is unlikely to become available in your local perfume retail outlet. Probably pressure from younger consumers will have an effect on brands to increase the availability sustainable perfume brands. Let us hope for the sake of the planet that this time comes sooner rather than later. Challenges of recycling and sustainability The threat of global warming has meant that many of us are rethinking the way we shop and what we buy. However, for cosmetics and perfumery brands how feasible is it to recycle perfume packaging? Which perfume brands are truly environmentally friendly? Few materials are mono materials : often glass will have a metal badge glued on it or have special colour lacquer. A crimp pump is a complicated combination of aluminium, plastic and metal. Most caps are made up of more than one material, as they need a pp inner inside to offer flexibility and good fit. Nearly all perfume bottles sold have crimp pumps on them which has made it impossible in the past to refill them. Most consumers cannot remove the crimp pump, it is too tight and difficult to remove. So who is doing well in terms of sustainable perfumes? Swarovski (Aura perfume) Atelier Cologne (all perfumes) Designer Shaikh (all perfumes can be refurbished and refilled) Thierry Mugler (in store dispensers) Eden Perfumes (send back to factory for refill) Since first writing this article, a lot has changed. The European Union has recently introduced new legislation to require 100% recyclable packaging by 2030. Though we still have a long way to go to achieve these goals. You may find our other article about sustainable perfumery interesting, please click the link for more details. […]
Top 20 Innovative perfume Designs
the top innovators in Middle Eastern perfumery packaging […]
How to find your perfect fragrance
During the mid 80s to 90s things changed and the perfume industry saw big launches of many mass market designer perfumes such as Tresor, Paris, Coco Chanel and Poison. TV adverts with glamorous lifestyle images started to air on our TV channels. In the 90s designer perfumes became a dominant feature of our beauty stores offering a wide array of perfume options. Nowadays hundreds of new perfumes are launched every year, making it confusing to know what to buy and what to pay attention to.Nowadays I know the type of fragrances I will be comfortable with and make me feel good. This is largely thanks to the more prolific use of vanilla and gourmand notes in more recent fragrance creations, there is an element of this in most of the fragrances I now buy. But with so many new offerings to choose from, it can be very confusing nowadays for many people to choose that special perfume which reflects their mood and personality, what are the common ingredients which make the fragrance fit well with them. How to solve this ever more complicated riddle ?When I was growing up in the early 80s fragrance didn’t interest me at all. That was because there was a real dearth of fragrances suited to a younger palate. My earliest recollections of perfumes in the UK were my grandma’s favorite ‘Tramp’ and ‘Charlie’ or Yardley lily of the Valley and for special occasions Chanel No 5. At that time fragrances were either of the ‘knock your socks off’ variety – too strong for a developing young woman- or a very floral bland one dimensional powdery floral offering which seemed too old fashioned. yardley-lily-of-valley The Do’s and Dont’s of selecting a fragrance Most of the big stores are on a drive to push the latest designer launches and whilst the latest perfume may be lovely on some people, it most definately won’t be a good fit for everyone. Don’t be pushed into buying the new item which the sales people are spritzing all over the store.Think about your memories and what made you happy in your childhood. Did you love vanilla deserts or apple pie? Did you love the strong cigar smell of your father? Or do you have strong memories of lemon groves on holiday in Italy, the smell of freshly cut grass or seaside smells at your nearest beach?Think about which fragrances you already like and have worn, if any. What is it that you like about them? Is it the initial hit of fragrance when you spray it? (top notes) or the fragrance when the initial hit is gone? (middle note) or the scent remaining on your skin after the fragrance has died down ?(base note).When you have identified which smells make you feel happy, warm, relaxed, comfortable, then you can start to research fragrances which may contain these notes. Fragrantica is a great website for researching fragrance notes.Don’t use the smelling strips in store as the only way of selecting the fragrance. Spray it on your body too. Different people react differently with fragrances. This is due to the food we eat and the ph balance of your skin. What smells great on one person might react badly to your skin and smell terrible. Walk about the store after spraying on your body and let the fragrance settle before deciding to buy. Don’t settle for the fragrances others have bought for you. They probably won’t suit you unless they have taken cues from what you already are known to wear and love.Learn from your mistakes. Maybe the last fragrance you bought gives you a headache when you wear it for a long time. So look at the dominant middle notes of the fragrance and avoid making the same mistake in your next selection. Finding the right fragrance can be a matter of trial and error and you should not be afraid to experiment and make mistakes. Only by going through this process can you really get to that stage of finding perfumes you truly adore. Until you really find something you love, see if you can buy your new perfume in a smaller trial version size. Try out niche perfumes. Usually the staff are trained to give more information about the ingredients in the perfume and the types of fragrances on sale. You will probably gain more perfume knowledge in a niche stockist than approaching a typical designer brand retail store. For more detailed knowledge on perfumery please read our article ‘Perfume market knowledge’. […]
Enhancing the retail perfume experience
Can we improve the retail perfume buying experience- please? Retail perfume buying is often an unpleasant and frustrating experience. Please, if any perfume retailers read this, could they maybe consider rethinking their strategy for perfume sales in store? Let them train the sales staff to actually be knowledgeable about perfume types so they can advise clients properly. If a client says his favorite fragrance is Davidoff cool water then the sales person will hopefully understand what type of fragrance it is. Maybe he will recommend several other suitable aquatic fragrances. In theory this should be far more effective than shoving the new designer launches into the clients noses. One would think that this should also increase the shop’s sales of perfume. Let me browse undisturbed in store….. A survey by HRC retail advisory showed that shoppers are increasingly moving away from the help of retail associates for help. They are increasingly turning to social media are well, online and from friends and families. 95% of shoppers want to be left alone to make their choices. 85% would prefer to use scanners in store themselves to check prices than ask a sales person. These trends don’t just relate to retail perfume, as they also apply to all industries. But they will affect what people want in store for perfumes too. The same report showed that younger shoppers want to receive promotional information directly to their smartphone. Free wifi in store is also very important for these shoppers. Nowadays people would prefer to use the store’s own app to give recommendations than to ask a sales associate. In store events for retail perfume were only important to 19% of the survey population. Although among generation Z participants the figure was 24%. In the UAE we are often experience staff pushing us to ‘smell this’ or ‘try that’ in perfume stores. Personally, I find it very frustrating and it makes me feel almost afraid to set foot in the store. I fear being pushed to buy something I don’t like. Retail staff offer all the new launches from all the big brands. They fail to ask anything about what we like or were looking for. Fragrance staff should ideally be asking questions about the preferences of a client – what do they already like and buy. This is essential in order to get an idea of the client’s preferred fragrance types. It’s far more effective than ‘try this’ or ‘smell that’ approach. How it is done in niche perfume retail In France a couple of years ago I visited NOSE, the Paris retail shop owned by Mark Buxton. He is responsible for creating many of the famous designer brands in the world and some great niche perfumes. The approach of his sales team was so refreshing – they asked some questions about my preferences. Also how I use my perfume, what sort of thing I was looking for.. They used a database set up in an iPad and from that a shortlist of suitable fragrances emerged. They sprayed a selection of perfumes onto smelling strips and we found the perfect one almost immediately. In the normal retail perfume store staff normally bombard me with countless random perfume smelling strips. I doubt I would have made the purchase in that situation. Finally I succumbed to a very expensive vanilla gourmand perfume. I guess that this is the way it used to be done in the days when perfumery really was seen as an exclusive art, not a mass industry fixed on quick sales – with a one size fits all approach. Are you the type of perfume buyer who likes a lot of help and guidance in store?Or are you the type who likes to be left alone to meander and make your own decisions?Do you find it helpful or a hindrance when sales staff bombard you with new perfume launches to sniff? Does it confuse and annoy you or make you relieved, that help is at hand? New ways of signalling to staff to leave you alone In some retail perfume outlets overseas it’s already possible to pick up shopping baskets marked with different colors. The colours indicate whether the client wants assistance or not. The sales associate will know that they should not disturb clients who chose baskets with red . This is similar to having a ‘do not disturb sign” on them. True perfume aficionados such as myself are truly ready for retailers to rethink their approach. We would all love to have a much more pleasurable experience when buying our next perfume. For more information about perfume retail please read our article about online sales vs retail sales of perfume. […]