It’s no surprise that the Beauty industry is on booming as we speak. And if I’m to get more local here, I’d say more and more beauty brands (skincare, makeup, hair, vegan, cruelty-free, and the works) are coming to India. I was at the launch of a luxury perfume brand, Maison des Parfums (MDP) in New Delhi recently. And I happen to think this could be a gamechanger.
So What Is Maison Des Perfumes?
MDP is a luxury retail boutique concept that houses a collection of fine artisanal luxury fragrances that are curated from around the world. The idea is to think beyond Chanel, Dior, Armani. No offence to either of these brands that are currently perched on my dresser. But coming back to what I was saying, perfumes are usually made in huge volumes. But Maison des Parfums is home to brands that only artisanal fragrances. These include Memo, Amouage, Nassomato, Juliette Has A Gun, Jean Patou, Bulgari Le Gemme, The Different Company, Amouroud, Houbigant, Etat Libre.
The event was a detailed sniff-tasting session where I went around the store with team BCPL. The ones that caught my eyes were Not A Perfume by Juliette Has A Gun (talk about Girlboss branding), Jubilation 25 from Amouage, Amouroud’s iconic Santal Des Indes, Tobacco Franck Boclet amongst many others.
Luxury Is In The Details
I have to mention, I loved the setup just outside the store. The entire setup was pristine, with Ikebana floral arrangements, Haiku poems and some of the most expensive ingredients served up in cloches.
The great-grandson of Nina Ricci (my mother’s favourite bottle of perfume by the way), it’s Romani Ricci who has founded Juliette Has A Gun to capture the spirit of a modern woman. In my conversation with Rita Donadei from Nassomato, I got to know that the perfumer Alessandro Gualtieri goes around the globe to source ingredients. The collections are limited edition and the perfumes are made in a small lab in Milan.
And that’s that.
The Discerning Customer
So who would afford, or value African leather, Oudh, orange blossoms and tobacco?
When I asked Seema Bahety, the price range, she gave me an estimate of the range starting from Rs 9000 and going upwards. The discerning customer, who will obviously have a spending capacity of Rs 30,000 (or more) should also have the taste to choose an artisanal fragrance over a designer bag. In the world of mass production, luxury is taking a new turn. It’s not so much about the brand, but what the brand represents. And the quality of the product.
“All perfumes in the store are not more than 30-50 ml,” Seema told me “because of the sillage. Once you spritz it on, you won’t have to re-apply it,” she said.
The store is now open in Select Citywalk, New Delhi and from what I hear, they are open at Palladium Mall, Mumbai too.
About BCPL
So who brought MDP to India? Beauty Concepts Pvt. Ltd. (BCPL) have many beauty and fragrance brands in their portfolio including Hermes, Bvlgari, Guerlain, Ferragamo, L’Occitane, Estée Lauder group fragrances and many more.
