Roja Dove is the most quoted fragrance expert in the world; his wisdom and passion bring the ethereal world of scent alive. He is a historian and a storyteller but above all he is the maestro of fragrance, the worlds sole “Professeur des Parfums”. While there are other esteemed noses in the business, anyone looking for a sorcerer’s grasp of what really happens in the perfumery industry is always, always referred to Roja Dove.
It might seem astonishing that the man who has become associated as the voice of perfumery should be English. However he is quick to point out that Pierre-Francois Pascal Guerlain, who founded Guerlain in 1828, studied chemistry in England. How appropriate that Roja Dove trod an almost identical path. As a medical research student in Cambridge, he happened to visit the Belle Époque Guerlain boutique on the Champs-Elysees, and lost his heart completely to the exoticism of a thousand cut glass bottles and their mysterious contents. He bombarded Guerlain with thousands of requests for training and eventually convinced Robert Guerlain that this level of enthusiasm was better harnessed to their own name lest it drift elsewhere.
Since leaving Guerlain after almost two decades, Roja continues to travel, broadening his knowledge and sharing his passion for the mysteries of perfume, whilst working with all the top names in the industry.
A vast fountain of fragrance knowledge and inspiration, Roja Dove is the connoisseurs’ connoisseur.
"Absolutely inspirational. Roja's knowledge of fragrance is unsurpassed in the perfumery world."
Melanie Mcdonagh, Beauty Editor, Evening Standard.
"Roja is always a joy to work with. His knowledge goes beyond the products he presents to us. He has a real talent for making everything totally understandable."
Newby Hands, Beauty Director, Harpers & Queen.
"Roja is a god, only rather more omniscient. In his temporal capacity he is also the king of narrative. If there is a perfume that Roja doesn't have an anecdote about I have yet to discover it. Talking scent with Mr Dove is as rich a pleasure as it is a privilege. Everyone in the world of fragrance could do with a Roja-ing."
Hannah Betts, Beauty writer & comments editor, The Times