I was born and grew up in Moscow on the street academician Queen.
Childhood and school years almost completely passed in the area: Ostankino, Sheremetyevsky Palace, the legendary donutication near and, of course, VDNH, where the parents drove me almost every weekend. Perfectly remember these smells: sweet wool, attractions (yes, rides, also smell, lubricant for wheels and rails), skewers. Well, of course, a lot of fresh air, because the VDNH, the Botanical Garden and the Ostankino Park form one of the largest green arrays of the capital.
I can not say that I always attracted smells and I dreamed of becoming perfume. Up to 15 years I was professionally engaged in dancing - every day workout. We performed the other day of the city and the cabins, where I saw a kind and cute cobson and, as it seemed to me, the huge and such star Philip Kirkorov. Perhaps I could continue and go to some show-ballet, but I decided to make a bet on studying. I did on the historical and archival faculty of RGSU, but in the same year it was disbanded and I had to learn to the political scientist. This element was not mine at all. And now I try to avoid politics, rummage about her - rather to my husband.
By the way, it was with him, traveling in the spring of 2010 in the spring of 2010, we came across the festival in the center of Brussels on a perfume shop, with whom we cooperate so far. Acquaintance has become truly decisive in my professional life. Although at first, nothing foreshadowed. My husband, and then still the young man Andrei generally discouraged me to try perfumes, packed in some terrible Chinese bottles and looked even worse than fakes. However, their content just conquered me, my brain and olfactory receptors. It was a real crafting perfumery, selectives.
I have already been familiar with some niche flavors and understood what they differ from mass perfumery. The fragrances of the Brussels perfume conquered me immediately. He made a fragrance on the spot on my favorite notework at that time, I took a business card and returned to Moscow. Here, everyone began to ask me than it smells like, here is an honest word, even on the street or in the store strangers stopped, apologized and asked what the fragrance on me. It is difficult to submit this in Moscow, where people, as it seems to me, is still more closed and restrained than in Berlin or New York. But so far for many of our customers, this magic aroma under №15 is one of the favorite and basic.
In general, in a month I decided to purchase several types of its fragrances from a perfume of 10-20 pieces and try to sell them on a weekend market, which only originated. It was Sunday Up Market. We bought the minimum decor, put the spirits in the "terrible" vials, printed descriptions and business cards and prepared everything to sell on the first day, because we have such a cool product. But everything went not according to plan. Many simply escaped our mini-stand, not wanting to even listen to smells, but those who stayed, listened, began to be interested, some were returning and bought. Now, after almost ten years, I see how, probably, a fun and ridiculous looked like our brand, who did not even have a logo. As a result, we did not sell half, they defeated the rent, perhaps something earned. But firmly decided to arrange our brand: come up with a name, corporate identity, packaging and, most importantly, to start invent your spirits, and the Belgian perfumer would produce them. He willingly agreed to it. Colleagues of a husband from design studio helped with the first name and branded style. Selection Excellence in French - "Excellent Choice". The logo shows a boy who collected flowers into the trolley.
So, a year later, we have already participated in large festivals: seasons, "Picnic of posters", Faces & Laces, Lambad Market. By the time I have been engaged in logistics in Louis Vuitton for three years and for the further development of the brand it was necessary to make a decision to leave and focus on spirits.
The circumstances have developed so that the decision turned out to be correct. In the same 2012, we get acquainted with the Picnic of the Pickup with the PR-director Abrau-Durso and invent the idea right there that the young brand of selective perfumery will create their own fragrance for an old champagne house "Abrau-Durso". Half a year of development, coordination at the highest level of management "Abrau", and we hit the hands. As a result, they created completely remarkable two perfumes Cuvee Abrau and "Mood Abrau" and one fragrance for the house "Air Abrau". The collaboration as everyone liked that Abrau ordered several times from us a thousand bottles for sale and gifts.
This excellent cooperation gave us an additional impetus in development, and we decided to look for the opportunity to open our perfume bar. For the search for a suitable room at an adequate price and further repairs left for almost two years, and in August 2016 we opened in the new at that time the shopping center "Oceania". The basis of the concept of the perfume bar was at the heart, where each client looks as if on the bar menu from the complex cocktails of our perfume. In general, I can say that our perfumes are really unique: they individually open on the skin from everyone, very persistent (from 10 to 24 hours), they are not like anything from mass perfumes - I generally stopped watching her not to repeat . Now in my collection already 35 perfumes, two aromas for the house, two types of scrubies. Inspiration for creating fragrances I bring from travel, drawing in people, walks, events, looking for associations with your favorite city - Moscow. So, by the way, our collaboration was born with a historical museum, for the exhibition of which "Handsome man" in 2017, we invented our own fragrance. He is still selling, both in the museum and we have been very successful.
We are selling a lot in the regions, almost every millionth we have our own distributor, trying to go beyond Russia - we study the possibilities of both online sales and opening of the representative office in one of the European cities. In Moscow, we closed in the "Oceania" - we were very much increased rental, and the audience in the shopping center fell hard. At the end of last year, opened in Moscow-City, in the "Federation" tower. But Lokdaun got caught here - and I had to concentrate on the online. We have released certificates in terms of value below any of our perfume and requested customers to support us in a difficult time and purchase a certificate by which they will then be able to purchase any perfume regardless of the price. And how nice it was when hundreds of our customers from all over the country not only bought these certificates, but also wrote such warm words of support.
I really love live communication, especially with our customers, but the times such that the offline store now serves in the essence of the self-leveling point. In the "City" we planned to win a new audience of office workers, but the tower "Federation" is now actually empty. Therefore, to find new followers of our brand and present new flavors to customers, we have come up with the so-called home tastings, when we will come to a person on a request for a house or in an office and he will be able to choose from our probes how much soul will wish.
Nevertheless, I hope that life after removing all restrictions will not change much. They say that the era of "enjoying live communication and love" will come. Let it be.
Photo: Daniel Ovchinnikov