How Oman's Amouage is preserving 'the magic of perfumery'

Chief experience officer Renaud Salmon shares with The National how he plans to make it the best perfume house in the world

Omani rock rose being harvested for Amouage perfumes. Photo: Amouage

“If someone asks: 'What is the best perfume house in the world?’ I want people to say Amouage," says Renaud Salmon, chief experience officer for the Omani perfume house. "My dream is for Amouage to be the most desirable perfume house in the world."

Salmon is speaking from Paris and his ambitions are already taking root. It is the morning after the house has scooped an award from the prestigious Fragrance Foundation France for its 2023 scent, Guidance.

With about 20 years of experience within the perfume industry, the significance of the moment is not lost on Salmon. “It’s a very important award for us, and means that the FFF recognises Amouage as an independent perfume house.”

Awarded after a blind test, with judges unaware of the perfumes involved, Salmon is buoyed by the win. “It’s a recognition by professionals of the quality of Guidance and a recognition of the journey of the Amouage family. I am proud of myself for achieving this, but I am prouder of the entire company.”

Amouage was founded in 1983 by Prince Sayyid Hamad bin Hamoud Al Busaidi as a way to promote Omani culture. Creating a perfume from indigenous ingredients such as rock rose from the Hajar Mountains and Boswellia sacra frankincense from Dhofar, the resulting fragrance was presented to Sultan Qaboos, Oman’s ruler at the time, as a gift for his high-ranking visitors.

The royal link has ensured that quality is a cornerstone of the brand, which offers exceptional ingredients in generous quantities in its fragrances. Its eau de parfum, for example, is 20 to 30 per cent fragrance oils, rising to between 35 and 40 per cent for its extraits.

Even such intense concentration is routinely surpassed, most recently with Guidance 46, the latest version of the award-winning scent. Now released with a 46 per cent concentration, its notes of frankincense, pink pepper, saffron, rose water, ambergris and the woody spice of Akigalawood all combine to create a more intense experience.

Salmon is delighted, but not surprised that the original Guidance is winning awards. “There is something addictive about it – we call it a loud whisper, as it has something very loud yet refined and nuanced – and this is something quite difficult to do in perfumery,” he says. It was created by Salmon and perfumer Quentin Bisch, one of the handful of external experts Amouage trusts to bring its ideas to life.

“Historically, Amouage has decided to work with carefully selected perfumers, to benefit from the best creativity,” he says, adding that it enables access to the most dynamic talents of the day. “It feels like a treasure trove to be able to tap into all of these creators.”

Another expert is Pascal Gaurin, with whom Salmon created the Secret Garden collection. Comprising four scents – Lilac Love, Blossom Love, Love Tuberose and now Love Delight – all stem from an experience from Salmon’s first months in Oman in 2019.

“I vividly remember sitting in a coffee shop, I was very new to Oman, and the room was filled with the amazing smell of fresh pastries. It did not smell like a croissant or pain au chocolat, but like a proper perfume composition.

“When I looked at those glazed pastries, they contained most of the ingredients you need to create a beautiful perfume. Spices like saffron, cardamom, a touch of cinnamon, rose water, honey and vanilla, a bit woody from the burnt crust. At first, I thought this some kind of secret recipe, and then I realised that most of the places in Oman and the region are built around those ingredients.”

He then chose Gaurin to construct a scent around the story. “He is very good at creating sweet perfumes that are always very elevated. We had to find the floral aspect - Secret Garden is always floral and sweet- and he came up with the brilliant idea of using heliotrope, a flower that smells a little bit like a pastry.”

The use of complex flavours and spices is key to Omani culture, as is frankincense, once one of the most valuable goods traded along the ancient Silk Road. Oman’s position as a harvester of this precious resin earned it a reputation as the cradle of scent.

Salmon understands why frankincense remains so prized. “Frankincense is a complex, multifaceted ingredient that can be very citrusy, very mineralic, very aromatic … it’s a beautiful ingredient,” he explains.

Yet, this history has now been all but forgotten. “People think that the centre of gravity for perfume is Paris, Milan, or New York. But if you look in history books, at the roots of perfumery, Oman has many reasons to claim it,” he says.

“Perfumery is so much more important as part of the daily life of people in the region than anywhere else in the world, I feel. In most places, perfume would be considered the finishing touch, limited to a few sprays and that’s kind of it. But in Oman, perfume is part of an elaborate ritual.”

Despite having been vice president of Marc Jacobs fragrances, Salmon admits that the Middle East has taught him many new things about fragrance. “Perfume oil in my mind was almost too potent, but the behaviour of oils on the skin is different, and it creates an impression of intimacy,” he says. “It is a very refined ritual because it is about adding an extra layer to your skin.”

Looking ahead, Salmon hopes to map a future where Amouage is seen as a guardian of the “magic” of the perfume industry. “I grew up looking at perfume advertising in the 1980s, and the dream of perfume felt very alive and vivid, and the desirability of that world was so strong,” he adds.

“Then economics and risk avoidance took over the dream and lustre of this beautiful universe. I think that through its generosity and uncompromising attitude, Amouage can nurture this beautiful dream that nobody wants to lose. We still want our children and grandchildren to be fascinated by the magic of perfumery.”