It’s said that it’s impossible to overdo luxury. M. Micallef perfumes personify this very concept. A niche luxury perfume brand, they are known for transforming the rarest and finest ingredients into ambrosial scents and enclosing them in artisanal flasks. And if there’s anything more wonderful than the perfumes, it’s the people behind the perfumes – Martine and Geoffrey
Martine Micallef, a creative piscean at heart, is as beautiful as her creations. Her sparkling eyes and her radiant smile can light up any room she enters. And when this lady decides to create her perfume collection, it’s magical. And it’s not just me… I have met her just once… it’s her perfume lovers and the loyal clientele that she has created over the years for her products that will tell you this – M. Micallef is pure magic.
Ask her what does perfume mean to her and her answer is simple and straight. “A perfume signifies dreams, sensuality, inspiration, moods, character, love, passion … all in a bottle.”
And it’s this bottle that gets her undivided attention, along with the perfume, of course. Her bottles are considered art pieces that most of her perfume users cherish and display with pride. Having arrived in the UAE in 2000, she has never looked back. Was it love at first sight? Maybe yes, and the Middle-east been a romantic journey ever since for her and her husband, Geoffrey and from now on they aim to take this romance to another level. From the two new boutiques that they’ve had in Dubai, they plan to open 8 more across the UAE.
And the need for this, in her own words is this – “Now that we have become a signature brand, we would like really to look after the luxury service and maintain the reputation we have gained over the years to become a luxury house of perfume.”
The philosophy that this brand has is one that defines most luxury products – service that’s impeccable and quality of ingredients that’s unquestionable. With this kind of a package it’s not hard to see why M. Micallef has a strong and loyal following amongst the local population.
The client is a select list of people who understand luxury and want the best. For this clientele it’s not about just the product that matters… it’s primarily the workmanship, all French in this case and it’s also the story behind the brand and its products. Meet Martine and Geoffrey once and it’s easy to understand why their perfumes are so special.
The brands uniqueness can be described as a ‘journey back to tradition’. It’s where everything was handmade and true to this, the production does not use any machinery. The content of the bottle is formulated with the finest and the most expensive ingredients. And invariably customers recognise Martine’s perfume, her style and identity in every whiff. They are aware that every offering is gourmet, sensual and prides itself on nostalgie of the old perfumes. Martine aims to bring back the beautiful, traditional avatar of perfumes. And so far has been very successful in all her collections.
What’s slightly surprising to the rest of us is the fact that a French person understands oudh the way she does. Her love affair with oudh began when she and Geoffrey would visit souks in the Middle-east and it was in these local markets that they discovered a variety of essential oils. Taking it back to their laboratory in France, they would mix and blend, and try to find a new way to offer oudh, not in a traditional way but a more sophisticated, more soft way. And she is very frank when she says, “For us it’s not about marketing or business. We really love our oriental fragrances.”
Her range of perfumes are spread across five collections i.e. Les Exclusifs, Mon Parfum, Ananda, the Jewel Collection and the Crystal Collection. All the crystal bottles are handmade in different sizes and can be filled with the fragrance of the client’s choice. The bottles are available in a range of sizes from 75 ml to even 5 litres! Yes, a lot of customers buy that kind of quantity. And every year she has a different offering in this collection with regards to the shape of the bottle – it could be a flower collection, or could draw inspiration from a butterfly, dragonfly, falcons and elephants too. It all depends on the mind and the moods of the creative piscean and Martine surely doesn’t disappoint.
Here’s a look at what M. Micallef offers:
Les Exclusifs: In this collection, each perfume hits a very unique and special note. From oudh to vanilla to jasmine, the effect borders on the extreme ends of the perfume spectrum and it’s aimed at the connoisseur.
Collection Mon Parfum: The name is so because it was the perfume that Geoffrey made for Martine in the early days.Whenever she wore the scent, friends and customers would ask her about it to which she would respond that it was mon parfum. Later, she decided to commercialise the line. The shape of each Mon Parfum bottle draws inspiration from her zodiac sign, which is Pisces. When you look at the bottle, it resembles a stone washed out from the sea.
Ananda: The name in Sanskrit means serenity. The perfumes are very pure-like and white, and currently the collection features the White Ananda and the Black Ananda. Each of them includes a special limited edition and like every bottle from M. Micallef, these bottles too are elegant and a delight to hold.
Jewel Collection: It’s like a jewel or rather a piece of art created with Swarovski crystals that are exclusively made for M. Micallef. This collection features four fragrances for Her and one for Him.
Crystal Collection:This collection is positioned on a higher scale in terms of design. All the crystal bottles are handmade in different sizes and can be filled with any fragrance from the variety of scents across the M. Micallef collection.
Add Comment