Monday 4 July 2016

STEPHAN'S SIX - LAWRENCE ROULLIER-WHITE


East Dulwich is home to the famous perfume store Roullier White. Now in it’s eleventh year, it’s the passion of Lawrence Roullier-White, but it’s far more than just fragrance. A better description would be Lifestyle Emporium with everything to keep your home running smoothly, but we’ll just concentrate on the perfume side. A regular stop-off point for scent hunters, what would Lawrence reveal about his own fragrant memories during “Stephan’s Six”?

What is the first smell that you can remember?
As a child I was happiest when our family were all together. So the smell of hot sand, reminding me of days at the beach, or the excitement and anticipation I used to feel when my mother mixed the Christmas puddings in November - the dried fruit and brandy. My father took me out to get a newspaper once and we came back with a puppy. I remember the smell of her fur, the tiny thing tucked in my dad’s sports jacket, as we sat on the bus on back to East Dulwich on the way home. Perhaps my most cherished memory would be being in bed on Christmas Eve, I could hear my parents and grandparents chatting and laughing downstairs and there would be the slight background aroma of my grandad’s cigar - which he only ever smoked at Christmas.

What was the first perfume you remember your mum or dad wearing?
My mother wore Worth’s Je Reviens and Carven’s Ma Griffe, both of which we sell at Roullier White, and my father wore Trumper’s Extract of Lime. Money was tight for everyone when I grew up so the bottles would sit for years on their dressing table hardly ever used. I would creep into their room and surreptitiously smell inside the lids of these strange treasures, wondering how all that aroma was squeezed into that little bottle. If my father came down stairs smelling of cologne I knew something exciting was about to happen.

What was the perfume of your twenties?
I was lucky enough to work at the Covent Garden General Store, when Covent Garden was evolving from the flower market. There was a range of herbal eaux de cologne in large flat green bottles that I use to love. If anyone knows what they might be I would love to hear. [It was Herbissimo and you can see an image on Marina Barcennila's Stephan's Six]. I became addicted to Chanel for Men at a very young age, which was later reformulated and rebranded as Pour Monsieur, and also wore, and still do on occasion, both Equipage by Hermes and Vetiver by Guerlain.

What was your biggest perfume mistake?
Wondering what Chanel for Men would taste like, then finding out.

You can only choose one perfume?
I think my go to scent now is Pour un Homme de Caron. It is what I automatically reach for in the morning. It has a wonderful calming aroma and feels very comfortable. I don’t like anything too showy during the day and I think Pour un Homme provides a subtle underscore.

What perfume should I try?
I would suggest something completely original. Giovanni Maria Farina created the world’s first Eau de Cologne in 1709 and wrote to his brother, “I have found a fragrance that reminds me of an Italian spring morning, of mountain daffodils and orange blossoms after the rain”. Giovanni named the fragrance Eau de Cologne in celebration of the town he had made his home, and Farina 1709 has to be something everyone should try.

For more information about Roller White you can visit roullierwhite.com or follow him on twitter at @RoullierWhite

2 comments:

  1. Loved reading - thank you! I wore Ma Griffe yesterday and I'm glad to know another place where I can obtain it. And yes to puppy fur - although given the weather the more recent aroma in our house has been eau de wet dog!

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    1. Glad you enjoyed it Elizabeth. If you like that sort of perfume power then you really must try some of 4160Tuesdays scents, which are also available at Roullier White.

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