...there were small amber-tinted glass bottles, scores of them, and as we spoke he would take one up, open the top, hand it to me and invite me to smell the contents. This went on for hours. It was why I’d come: to meet Dominique Dubrana, a 54-year-old Frenchman living in Italy, a Sufi convert, a grand eccentric and a genius of sorts.
— From Smellbound at the New York Times, an article about Dominique Dubrana of La Via del Profumo. If you missed it, see Kevin's review of Mecca Balsam.
What a great article…I’d love to meet him someday, and I’d like to discuss Sufism as much as perfume!
He does sound worth meeting!
He does seem a grand eccentric! What a photograph. That makes me wonder if he dresses like that everyday, kohl and all. Of course, if dressing the part inspires him to create those great masterpieces, I’m all for it. Are bright colors typical, though?
I love that photo too.
I’m curious about the thin blue tube coming from above —oxygen? so he can breathe under all that fabric? Interesting.
A while back I split up 6 bottles of Balsamo della Mecca with others of my ilk who were transfixed by Kevin’s review. I exchanged several pleasant emails with him and he seems like a very kind man with a good sense of humor. Seems very content in what he does.
I got a similar impression from reading the article, Daisy. BTW, is the Balsamo della Mecca nice? I love Arabic-inspired perfumes…
YES!! I was lucky enough to get a partial bottle from Daisy’s big split of Balsamo della Mecca and I LOVE it. Spicy, smoky, mysterious. Let me know if you would like to sample it. I’m julia941 on MUA and also at yahoo dot com.
What I want to know now is what DO you get when you mix tuberose and carrot seed?
The only thing of M Dubrana’s I’ve smelled was Scents of the Soul: Night Blossom, which was described as tuberose and the smell of humid undergrowth. What it turned out to be was a LOT of patchouli and a little tuberose, and although it was the high-end, aged patchouli stuff that smells intensely green and herbal, it was Just Too Much patchouli for me.
I thought I heard someone running and screaming……
So far my experience with Arabic inspired scents is that they are intense and heavy on the patch and animalic notes….most are a little much for my squeaky clean western nose.
Dear Mals86,
I think that you got “Night Blossom” from a batch that was prepared as a personalized version for someone. I apologise. this version is much less floreal than the original one. I realized the mistake lately and I apologise. If you contact me at profumo@profumo.it I shall send to you the right perfume immidiately, hoping that it will be up to your expectations.