Most of you have seen my interview with the ambassador of Roja Dove brand in Metropoliten art perfume shop in Belgrade. I was pleasantly surprised with the kindness, cooperation and level of interest mister Andrew Wright presented his brand. He did it so enthusiastically that I couldn’t say what I was intuitively feeling – lie through one’s teeth. Expensive packaging wrapped in ”diamonds”. Quality ingredients whose price is more expensive than gold. All of which are used to make up for the lack of talent in creating scent compositions. But, I must admit I enjoyed the experience and decided to investigate the world of one of (self-proclaimed) best noses nowadays. Roja Dove – actually its Roger but I think that rejecting its name tells a lot about the pose this brand stroke.
The beginning
As an adolescent, he began a correspondence with the PR of the house of Guerlain, also known as the “Vatican of perfume industry” as we are talking about an almost 200 years old house with a striking number of timeless perfume masterpieces it continues to produce today. He continued bombing them with questions during his medical studies he gave up to begin working in the fashion industry. When he was 24, after tiring Robert Guerlain with his questions so much he gave him an administrative job. He worked for 20 years in Guerlain and advanced to the position of brand ambassador.
Then he magically opened his own perfume production in 2001. Surprise surprise, most of his creations resembled Guerlain perfumes – those already presented and those waiting to be presented. During the years he spent there he had the chance to spend time with the best perfume makers in the world and he learned a lot from them.
Is mimicking the best way to repay them for the incredible opportunity given to him? Is imitation the greatest form of flattering? I’ll let you be the judge of that…
What do the critics say?
World’s greatest perfume reviewer Luca Turin gave all Roja Dove’s perfumes one star or two. The only exemption is Fetish that received three. Not one perfume landed on the good, four, five stars perfumes list. Ordinarily eloquent and interesting, Luca used one word to describe Roger Dove’s perfumes – “routine”. And he was appalled by their price.
As far as I’m concerned, luxury bottles, encrusted with metal, bejeweled with diamonds and crystals cannot mask the desperate lack of inspiration and imagination. Lack of talent is noticed with every breath and the insincerity, fakeness and narcissistic conduct of Roger (Roje) Dove can pass only with the newly rich but never with European with wit and culture and a true passion towards perfume-making art.
What do you think, are Roja Dove perfumes worth 500 to 1000 dollars apiece?
LOL
Po mome koliko god su mu parfemi pod znakom pitanja pozdravljam jednu stvar. Naime on radi isto što i Tom Ford, razlika je samo u tome što je Tom jedan neurotični genije. Priča je o tome da je ovaj svet ostao bez srednje klase. Deli se na bogate koji uživaju u luxu i siromašne koji uživaju u falšu. Mislim da je moja generacija poslednja koja je ta velika imena mogla da kupi po razumnim cenama. Obojica nemaju normalne ljude za ciljnu grupu, lux nikada bolje nije išao. Kao ni fake. Tom Ford je do sada napravio oko 80 što parfema što flanker, Gucci oko 300. Tandencija je da ulaže i u segment normalnih stvari, kao recimo patika koje su i do 1000€ sa zabrinjavajuće kvalitetom u odnosu na mejnstrim marke. On prodaje svoju prošlost i ime koje je stekao kod Guerlain-a i Tom Ford kod Gucci-ja i YSL. Nimalo mi nije žao što neki bogatu kupi lepo zapakovano Guerlain fake parfem. Žao mi je onih iskreno koji kupuju “testere” po 20€ jer će spžiti kožu a onda nemaju lovu da ih spašavaju.
In medias res, kao i uvek <3
Finally, someone told the truth about this man! Cheers mate
Thank you for reading the article and commenting, I’m glad that it resonated with you, as I was hoping it will with all the truth seeking people that know that not everything that shines is gold. Best regards, Igor