Photo Credits: themajika.com
In the book Deluxe: How Luxury Lost its Luster, Dana Thomas lets her readers in on the history of luxury products making, and states why they command such hefty premiums-one of which is Perfume.
In the ancient era, Perfume houses were just small and few, Perfumers were considered as noble artisans, Perfumery was a high art, (it was up there with Painting and Dance) and Perfumes were tantamount to jewelry, hence only a privileged few had the means to purchase them. Back then, perfumes were more personalized: Clients consult privately with a perfumer first, then the perfumer presents them a series of essential oils and compounds and starts building the perfume from scratch. Essential oils, the main extracts of ancient Perfumes were derived painstakingly from rare resources, and required hours of work and expert knowledge to produce. If you will consider all these things, from the ingredients to the process, you will understand why Perfume was only meant for the loaded. Luxury is not just about the product-it's the overall buying experience.
Photo Credits: tripadvisor.com
If perfume houses today remained true to the principles of ancient perfume- making, it is estimated that a bottle would be priced at a minimum of $1000+. Thanks to modern technology, perfumes were made affordable through mass production and the introduction of synthetic oils, oils that mimic the fragrance of pure, unadulterated essential oils. At last, everybody can afford a piece of the luxurious dream. (And this is the part where Thomas laments the death of authentic luxury, from bags to perfumes. Now I won't go into that anymore. Just buy the book. It's an interesting read. :D)
I met with the kind people of Prestige Fragrances last Monday for they wanted to introduce me to Bond No. 9 fragrances. I always see Bond No. 9's counter whenever I go to Rustan's, but never really bothered checking it out-I've always had this feeling that it's a kiddie perfume line, judging from the looks of the bottles, but lo and behold, it is the most expensive perfume line in the boutique-I never expected that. Bond No. 9's fragrances start at P12,000.+ per bottle, and depending on the fragrance. They have this signature fragrance in a golden bottle that costs P22,000.00, and a limited edition perfume with a Swarovski- studded bottle that costs a whopping P50,000.00. Ah, the height of Donyaism!
So what's up with Bond No. 9? Why are their perfumes priced like that? Click READ MORE and learn more about this new discovery of mine.
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