With overall fragrance sales down 10 percent, Noir, a midpriced perfume, has been a consistent top seller for Victoria’s Secret Beauty.

 In a wood panelled room above Liberty in the heart of London, Francis Kurkdjian leans forward excitedly and reaches for one of the pristine white boxes that are spread out on the table in front of him. This is the man who created one of the most prolific fragrances of the 90’s: Le Male, at the age of 25, and who has since been the createur parfumeur behind a succession of internationally renowned fragrances for the likes of Dior, Elizabeth Arden, Guerlain and Armani. Today, he presents a range of fragrances which launch his own parfum house: Maison Francis Kurkdjian.

“If I pay for jasmine absolute, I should get jasmine absolute”, said Mark in one of our early meetings. He had gathered a small group of us to discuss the never-ending problem of essential oil adulteration. ”And the same goes for any oil we buy,” he continued, “we want the best quality. Let us do our own perfumery. Don’t dilute the stuff for us.” It doesn’t help that Mark’s demands exceed the generally accepted standard that he has a tendency to be paranoid.  ”We know that the majority of the oils out there are adulterated, but we really want to make it clear to the suppliers: give us the real thing and we’re prepared to pay for it. But if you lie to us, we’ll name and shame you.” At this point our essential oil buyer cut in: “We already have them sign a declaration. Naming and shaming might mean that we could be left with no suppliers.”