The Burlington Arcade Scent Profiling Tour is the ultimate luxury gift for your loved one for any special occasion. Dispelling itself away from romantic clichés, this sensory exploration allows your loved one to find the scent of their dreams on their terms.
Unlike any perfume buying experience, Burlington Arcade offers a tailored perfume making service, entirely bespoke to the recipient. The stores within Burlington Arcade which offer these bespoke services include Roja Parfums, Penhaligon’s and Atkinsons. All rich in British heritage and luxury, these perfumeries have an expert understanding on what fragrances will be fitting for your special someone.
The profiling’s all start with an informal chat in-store, accompanied by champagne and chocolates. The conversation focuses on who you are and what your likes and dislikes entail. A welcomed indicator of your very own fragrance palette comes from the scents you already wear and why you choose to wear them. This becomes a useful springboard for the scent selection process.
Roja Parfums is the first stop on the tour. The perfumery prides itself on creating fragrances that balance the palette. In the extensive collection there is balance from florals, orientals, fruity and rich scents. Within those palettes it is apparent Roja Parfums takes to modernising the scents, transforming the way we think fragrances should smell.
Within the scent profiling at Roja Parfums you will smell all the scents, finding and picking out your favourites. Then you will begin to discuss and compare the scents which you prefer within that selection, until you have found your fragrance.
For an entirely bespoke scent at Roja Parfums, you will meet with British perfumer Roja Dove and curate your very own one of a kind scent, using carefully sourced ingredients of your choice. This process takes on average six months and is entirely tailored to the ingredients you select and how you react to the final product. Not only will the fragrance selection be entirely bespoke to the recipient, but they will have full ownership of the blend.
A popular favourite is the Rose De Mai fragrance, that takes around 207,000 blooms, picked just before the sun rises. They then use a scent capturing technique called enfleurage to get the oils out. Roja Parfums is distinct in its processes as it is one of the only perfumeries still using the enfleurage method. There are only five people left in the world who can still do it. This dying art is a slow process and begins when the picked blooms are laid on a tray with the fat. When the oils come through, eventually the fat dissolves and you are just left with the oil from the plant. Interestingly, due to the lengths of this process, it is often more costly than gold.
One of the more extravagant perfumes featuring the enfleurage process is known as Roja Haute Luxe and uses gold inside. The 24 karat gold was placed inside as a joke, for it is the cheapest ingredient in the bottle.
If you are looking for a more seductive range of scents to choose from, then Penhaligon’s has a vast collection for you to explore. Penhaligon’s, who established themselves back in 1870 and have two royal warrants to their name, have in-store specialists. One states: “From your answers and what I learn about you, we will find something that will fit your personality.”
The quirky in-store experience matches well with the perfumes themselves, as each scent carries a personality and resembles a character.
Moving further along from the Victorian facade of the Burlington Arcade, a perfumery with sentimental attachments to its location can be found indoors. Founded in 1799 by James Atkinson, Atkinson’s now sits just steps away from its original flagship. Remnants of its original location can be seen on the brick wall outside the entrance to the Burlington Arcade. Atkinson’s original features still adorn the exterior of the building, however Salvatore Ferragamo now sits in its place.
Atkinson’s also prides itself on its heritage and royal associations, with Queen Victoria and The Duke of Wellington being regular customers to the brand. Aristocratic names can be found in original bound 18th and 19th century order books, handwritten in ink.
Today, Atkinson’s still serves a royal clientele, but has become a more modern store with a minimalistic interior on the ground floor with rare black marble slabs along the floor, that perfectly trace up onto the countertop. Three layers of gold-leaf have also been placed on the wall and elegantly catch the light. A hidden barbershop in the basement is also a delightful surprise and a bespokely designed interior on the first floor. The entire store becomes an experience for the client, as the store’s nine month renovation process has created an inviting space that includes one of a kind furniture for a carefully executed modern style.
The bespoke fragrance profiling focuses on your desires and current lifestyle habits and through the process of elimination, the ultimate Atkinson’s scent can be found. Although it is notable that you will find yourself leaving with a fondness for a range of new found scents, that perhaps you would have never taken into consideration previously.
Burlington Arcade
51 Piccadilly, Mayfair, London W1J 0QJ
