By Samar Yahya
Saudi Gazette
JEDDAH — Hani Bugshan Establishment held a dinner event in honor of Princess Marina De Bourbon, a French royalty with a passion for fragrances, who is visiting Saudi Arabia for the very first time.
Princess Marina De Bourbon who is a member of the ancient Bourbon of Parma Dynasty whose members ruled over France, Navarre, the Kingdom of Naples, the Duchy of Parma and still to this day over the throne of Spain began her career as an interior designer, but her passion for perfume started long time earlier when she was at the age of eight.
Speaking to Saudi Gazette, Princess Marina said: “I always wanted the world to smell good. I started to do my own perfumes with some flowers from the garden, yet I had to wait long enough before I start my brand, Then, I found the opportunity. I am lucky enough to live outside town and to live near the wild nature where began my love the gardens and flowers.”
“To create the brand, I made an extraordinary team, they listen to me. I met a perfumer nose and it was a great meeting he listened to me and came back with the formula. We also had to work on the presentation, packaging and glass, which is important. For this first fragrance I chose the blue because it is my favorite color. It is the sky color especially here in Saudi Arabia where the sky has magnificent color.”
On the importance of the Saudi market to the brand, Princess Marina said: “All what we produce is made in France but we need consumers here to buy these products that is why it is important to be here. People here like beautiful things and they know how to work to make things nice and beautiful. Royal Marina Diamond perfume was thought and designed for Saudi Arabia and the Middle East in general, and it is a great success elsewhere. We also have two lines of Masculine perfumes, here men they like strong, spicy and woody fragrance.”
Princess Marina tries and tests every single perfume and every last one is always her best perfume. She never wears other brands’ perfumes. Ever since she was a child, she used to make her own perfumes.
On challenges she faced in her career, she said: “Challenges were many, I was too young and no body believed in the potentials of my perfumes and that I could make my own perfumes. Also people always want well known and established brands. To launch a new brand was a great challenge and needed a big investment.”
Her advice to every woman on how to choose her own perfume: “You need to desire it and want this perfume, know and desire which one you like. It is part of the nature of a woman to go and try. To think of what beauty you want to smell and to reflect in your perfume.”
Princess Marina has been involved in the world of perfumes since 1994, resulting in 45 different fragrances that resemble French royalty and grace.
