Meet Azzi, she’s the British global perfumer to the biggest stars.
She has worked with everyone from Johnny Depp to The Royals. Cindy Crawford, and even Kylie as a perfume designer, creating fragrances to suit people’s personalities and personal style.
And for just £15000 she will work for you too – creating your very own bespoke fragrance that no-one else will ever be able to wear.
“I was working for a British fragrance house at 23, but I am a rebel and wanted to do what I believed in. I didn’t want to continue that concept of top, middle and bottom notes of a fragrance. I wanted to re-invent it.”
And re-invent it she did, with the release of Agent Provocateur, one of the sexiest fragrances of its time. It heralded new era in many ays from the packaging to the branding and (of course) the fragrance.
“I like matching fragrances to brands, to people. I loved the lingerie, so it was easy. The porcelain bottle was a new thing, and the fragrance was very sensual.”
From there, her reputation grew quickly, and she was approached by high profile people and businesses to create unique fragrances the could wear and use in their businesses.
“Kylie contacted me to work on her bespoke fragrance 18 years ago. I recently went to her 50th (at Chiltern Firehouse). She is adorable, and someone who remembers her roots. She is hard working and very sexy and very feminine.
“Her management company tracked me down and I went to her house in South Kensington where she lived back then. I then went on (later) to create candles for her at the V&A.”
So how does she create a personalised fragrance, and how does she match a fragrance to a person?
“Everyone has their own style and history. It’s not about whether you like Jasmine Rose for example, I tel the story of you through a fragrance. Everything is hand made, and it cane take me months to come up with samples (for high profile clients) and then they wear it and see if they like it.
“It’s about how the ingredients come together. I believe the way you represent your self should be clear.
For Johnny Depp, Azzi created something sensual “He is the ultimate alpha male, the sexiest guy on the plant. He is eccentric and edgy.”
For English actress Helen Bonham Carter she created something beautiful. “There is a real heritage and intelligence about her. She’s very feminine. Working with her was a great honour.”
After two decades creating bespoke fragrances “no-one ever gets near except their owners”, she has her own collection of 14 fragrances, The Perfumers Story which you can match to your personality and mood ( and the good news is they wont set you back £14,0o0!).
The range will be in Australia soon. If you are in London, pop not Harvey Nichols to try them. Meantime you can see them online here.
