Christina Mazur with some of Perfume Studio’s selection of scent bottles
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The fabulous perfume that really is 'you'
October 24, 2006
by Rebecca Magill
THIS Christmas hundreds of celebrities will be clamouring to sell us their personalised scent, but what happens if you don’t want to smell like Paris, Britney et al?
The answer comes from the Perfume Studio. Christina Mazur, who has just bought the franchise for the south east, will create a bespoke perfume while you wait from a mixture of 18 oil blends.
“The whole idea behind the Perfume Studio is for customers to have fun making a scent that is completely individual to them,” she said. “No one else will own the perfume you create.”
Christina, 31, runs the business from her home in Hook Common and as I was ushered into the comfortable consultation room I was quite excited — I couldn’t wait to find out what Eau de Rebecca was going to smell like.
After a quick introduction over coffee and biscuits, Christina pulled out her kit containing 18 small glass bottles, each containing different blends of perfumed oil.
Each oil is a mixture of different plant extracts — for example, Fruity contains blackcurrant bud, beeswax, davana and orris, and the Herbal contains lavender, sage, angelica, thyme and basil.
She dipped each smelling stick into the oil and presented it to me to sniff. To some scents, I instantly recoiled, others I loved — it all comes down to individual preference.
When creating a perfume, Christina encourages you to let your nose do the work. “Someone might come in with a preconceived idea of what they want from a perfume — for it to be ‘sensual’ or ‘light’ — but it’s much better to just let yourself be drawn to the scent you prefer,” she said.
“This way you will come out with something that you love.”
After what seemed like my thousandth sniff the aromas were becoming quite intoxicating, so Christina gave me a bag of coffee beans to smell to clear the nasal cavities. It works in a similar way to how a sorbet clears the palate.
To create your final perfume you put the different sticks together in various combinations until you get a scent you like.
It transpried Eau de Rebecca is a mixture of Green, Ozonic, Balsamic and Musky.
Christina transferred my mixture into a cute diamanté-topped dispenser and voila — my very own scent.
With prices for personalised perfumes topping £4,000 in some London shops, why is it so cheap?
“With branded or celebrity perfumes you are paying for the marketing, advertising and packaging,” said Christina.
“We actually use a higher percentage of perfume in our scents, but we can still be cheaper because we cut out all these extra costs.”
The Perfume Studio has some prestigious backing. The co-founder is Grant Warden, whose family owns Belmay, one of the world’s leading fragrance manufacturers, and Judy Naake, the founder of St Tropez Sunless Tanning is a director.
Christina, who is incredibly enthusiastic about the business, came across the product when she worked in a beauty salon.
“A consultant came into the salon and created a scent for me and I just thought it was fantastic,” she said. “From then on I was just hooked.”
She went home, discussed the idea with her fiancé and business partner Nev Phillips, 42, and decided to buy a franchise.
They took the plunge in August and haven’t looked back. Christina will either visit your home to carry out the consultation or you can visit her in Hook. She also holds perfume parties for groups of friends.
It is a great present idea for those hard-to-buy-for friends and relatives and has also been a hit with brides and grooms, who have been creating scents for their big day.
Christina said: “Creating a perfume is more than just the scent you get at the end. It is about a whole experience, so it’s a great gift and can make you feel really special.”
“Normally, only the rich and famous can afford to have a bespoke scent, but if they can have it, why shouldn’t we?”
I agree. The next time somebody asks me what scent I’m wearing, I don’t need to say ‘SJP’ — I can simply say ‘me’.
- Perfume Studio prices start from £50 for a diamond-topped purse spray up to £65 for a heart decanter. There are also gift sets and even a perfume-dispensing pen.
- Book your appointment with Christina by calling 0845 094 3868 or log on to www.theperfumestudio.com.
- Christina is also interested in hearing from people that would like to become a Perfume Studio consultant and salons that would like to become a retailer.
