Roja Dove's aromatic adventures

My work as a luxury perfumer takes me all over the world and I'm totally uncompromising in my approach to my job. I studied in a classical way at Guerlain, which is one of the oldest French houses, and I worked between Paris and London.

I stand for something that is almost a lost art. The perfume industry has been bought up by five major corporations and most products that are manufactured now are made to marketing briefs, which is totally contrary to what I learnt, what I know, what I believe in, and what I stand for.

I read a newspaper article recently that said that a very famous French perfume is now sold every 15 seconds. Most people's perceptions of that perfume would be that it is a luxury brand. I would say that anything selling every 15 seconds is a mass-market product. So, for me, true luxury is about a product that is, maybe, hard to find, something that has an intrinsic quality and that, by the very nature of what it is, can never exist in large volumes. It's something you have to go out of your way to get your hands on it. Or in my case have your nose over it.

The raw materials that I use in my creations come from all over the world, and my work takes me to most continents. One of the exciting things about travelling is the different olfactory experiences you have, both positive and negative, which is where I take my inspiration from.

The south of France is exceptionally important to me. It's not only the home of modern perfumery and where I discovered it, it is also where I grew up. I love Théoule-sur-Mer, which is a very small, remote village on the Bay of Cannes. It is very elevated and I love being able to see Nice and Cannes shimmering in the heat in the distance. The air there is heavy with the smell of dried lavender that has been scorched by the sun. There is also the smell of eucalyptus and pure heat, which is a very evocative, special smell.

When I'm on the Côte d'Azur I always travel up to Grasse, the capital of perfumery, although sadly not a lot of it is left today. The air there is much cooler and the smells become softer away from the heat near the sea. If you go in May you can smell the Rose de May, which is a very specific rose that grows only in that region. It has the most highly praised smell of all the roses and it takes just more than 3,000 blossoms to produce a kilo of the oil. It has a very soft, sweet, delicate scent.

When you go in the summer you have the Grassoise jasmine which is, again, highly prized. At the moment its current market value is around £25,000 per kilo. Gold bullion, the last time I looked, was around £9,000 per kilo so that gives you an example of how much these luxury oils are worth. Very few people grow Grassoise jasmine, and to my knowledge I am the only private individual who buys it for creation. To smell it in the heat is wonderfully overwhelming.

I also love the smell of New York in the summer when it's hot and humid. It smells of humanity, petrol, steam and dirt. It is so far removed from my personal nirvana that it is a good counterpoint to my world of rarefied beauty. It's vitally important to have culture checks and extremes. It is impossible to distinguish and appreciate one scent without comparing it to another.

The smell of the Middle East is fascinating too, especially as it is the home of ancient perfumery. I love smelling people who are wearing one of the exotic ouds, which is the traditional method of Arab perfuming. Oud is a type of wood that is found in countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. It becomes infected by a fungus that gives it a very special smell. The Arabs burn the ouds and allow the scent of the burning wood to permeate through their dishdasha and other clothing. It is marvellous as the fragrance clings to the cloth for days.

Next they apply perfumes on top of this. This Arabic way of perfuming, for men and women, is very specific. It is a ritualistic art that has been lost in Europe and America where perfumery has become so commercialised. I love the idea of having rituals in our life that take us away from the everyday and allow us to indulge in a bit of hedonistic pleasure.

I remember going into the opulent Paris Gallery in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia and seeing two very handsome young men in their 20s wearing traditional dress and sitting with a salesman. They were chatting about perfume and discussing in depth how they would smell. And I thought, you just wouldn't see that in most western countries. And for me this was something marvellous.

When I go to exotic places such as the Far East I adore smelling tropical blossoms, which have an arresting scent in the humidity. I love the fragrance of frangipani, which has a white blossom that looks a little like a fried egg. It has a great big sunny face with a white frill around the edge. And the scent is almost like skin that has been warmed in the sun with suntan oil, very sensual and overtly perfumed. And just to walk somewhere and get a waft of this can take you unawares. I love the luxury of that.

If you walk along Avenue Montagne towards the Champs Elysées in Paris the last, or second-last tree on the left-hand side is a linden tree. I remember walking there with a friend and suddenly stopped dead in my tracks as I was overcome with its exquisite scent. The smell is paradoxical because it is fresh but also sweet. It's an uplifting odour yet very gentle and has a cooling feeling. One day, it would be lovely, if I lived somewhere hot, to have a little bench seat around the trunk of a linden tree in the garden. It would be the best form of air-conditioning that I could imagine.

In October I start travelling again and I will be away at least two weeks of every month. I always take a fine black cashmere blanket with me. It's very light so when I'm on a plane I can throw it over me without having to use what the particular airline is offering. I hate the idea of using the stuff on the planes. I store my blanket with cedar wood in between the folds so it's very gently scented and makes me feel very comfortable when I'm away from home. It's also very versatile and I can fold it and use it behind my head.

I couldn't travel without my computer to watch DVDs, although I very rarely watch films when I'm on planes. I can't understand why people like watching them when flying as I find what's going on around me far more fascinating than a movie. I keep my DVDs in a small Hermès case and before I leave home I make a selection of films I want to watch in my hotel room, especially if I'm travelling through the States where television is so terrible.

Cheap scents from duty-free stores are my nemesis and I find scents on aeroplanes very tricky. I remember flying back from Geneva sitting next to a woman wearing Giorgio of Beverly Hills and I suddenly stopped and thought about how I was sitting. I couldn't have pulled or twisted myself more away from her. I also remember how on one flight to New York I had to ask the purser if he minded instructing a stewardess not to come near me as the perfume she was wearing was so bad.

For me, luxury travel is when you don't have to think. I use American Express Centurion to look after my travel arrangements and they know exactly what I want, right from where I like to sit on the plane to getting me to the airport one hour before I need to be there. Five-star luxury is about a world where nothing you want is a problem. In my business I always deliver more than anybody might expect. If you only deliver what people expect then you haven't really done anything special or luxurious. Luxury is about going beyond expectations. A lot of people talk the mantra. Very few deliver.

The premise of my perfumery, the Haute Parfumerie in Harrods, is to ensure that the great luxury perfumes of the world don't disappear. It also allows me to work with very specific people like Arfaq Hussein and Arthur Burnham in the creation of bespoke scents such as the V1. The V1 comes in a box tooled by the cabinet makers of Rolls-Royce and the bottle is made of 1kg of pure platinum with a 2.6 carat diamond encrusted wreath set into 18 carat gold. The box is opened with a key made by the House of Graff and the fragrance is captivating and dramatic. It is the first time these luxury brands have worked together and V1 starts from £65,000 for a small bottle. Luxury is about creating a world where nothing is compromised and where pure creative thought is made a reality.

The Roja Dove Haute Parfumerie (020-7893 8797; rojadove.com) is in Urban Retreat on the fifth floor of Harrods, London SW1. In October two Roja Dove Parfumeries will open in House of Fraser stores: Jenners in Edinburgh and House of Fraser in Guildford

My best baggage

I've used Louis Vuitton (louisvuitton.com) since nobody much knew what it was and it used to be sold in Fortnum & Mason, next to the chocolate counter. I've known it all of my life and my family has always used its luggage. I prefer the hard-case range, although the atrocious thing about it is that the metal corners fall off regularly. Then you have to take them back and they have to take the entire bag to pieces. So I think they are probably not fit to put in the hold of an aeroplane, but I carry them into the cabin, because they do work very well there.

My top hotel

I love the understated luxury of Claridge's (020-7629 8860; claridges.co. uk). I spend two or three days of my week in London and the staff there know exactly where I like to sit to take afternoon tea, what tea I like, and how strong I like it. So if a guest joins me I never need make a fuss about what I'm doing. When I stay there, they remember which room I prefer and that I like a bottle of Malvern water at room temperature, rather than chilled.

My favourite airline

I like flying first class on Singapore Airlines (0844 800 2380; singaporeair.com), from Singapore because it has a dedicated terminal where a member of staff greets you and takes your ticket and passport. You sit down while they check you in and someone walks you through security carrying your hand-luggage, so you don't have to do anything. They accompany you to the first-class lounge and, short of putting you on a sedan chair and carrying you, I don't know what else they could do. They make you feel special without a fuss.

Interesting? Click here to explore further