Spotlight on: Belinda Brown

Belinda Brown

Belinda Brown, originally from Nigeria, but now living in England teamed up with celebrated perfumer Roja Dove to create bespoke fragrance Blessings.

It’s not everyday we come across someone who has their own fragrance, so we asked a few questions to find out about the partnership and what exactly is involved in coming up with your own perfume.

Afro Boudoir (AB): Why did you decide to make this fragrance?
Belinda Brown (BB):  I have always loved fragrance. When I was a little girl my mother would buy a body cream called Stella Pomade. To me the smell of this body cream was lovely and that’s when my passion for perfume was born. Perfume is extremely important to me; I even wear fragrance when I go to bed. At first it confused my husband, but now he just loves it. When my children kiss me and say goodnight, they all tell me how nice I smell.

AB: What is involved in coming up with a scent – how did you decide what to include in this one?
BB: First of all you must love fragrance, flowers, lotions, oils - in short, all the beautiful things God has created around us. That’s my way of thinking but everyone is different. By working with Perfumer Roja Dove, deciding what ingredients to use in the process of creating Blessings was made all the more easier.

AB: How did you meet Roja Dove?
BB: I met Roja Dove through a mutual friend and approached him with regards to working with me to create my very own fragrance. I was so delighted that one of the top perfumers in the industry believed in me and wanted to work with me. After looking into my ideas he agreed to work with me and help create my desired perfume range. It was an honour to have the worlds’ one and only Professeur de Parfums and bespoke fragrance creator work with me on such an exciting project  and believe in Blessings.

AB: Why do you have two prices for the fragrances? What is the difference?
BB: Blessings Parfum is like a beautiful couture ball gown, whilst Blessings Eau de Parfum is your everyday dress. The couture Parfum and the everyday Eau de Parfum is currently sold at the Urban Retreat, Harrods. Both Blessings bottles are also available online at www.blessings-perfume.com.

While we are in no way perfume experts, we got the chance to try Blessings Eau de Parfum and it really is unlike any other perfume out there. It is a very nice smell, not too overpowering; smells a bit like flowers with a hint of vanilla and a lot of lovely.

100ml Eau de Parfum - £75
100ml Parfum - £675