Of Gardens, Desire and Fragrance - Visiting Abderrazzak Benchaâbane

Experienced together with and co-authored by Louce

A green, tropical oasis in the middle of dusty, busy, noisy Marrakesh: Majorelle Garden. Latest sanctuary of Yves Saint Laurent. He bought the house and its feral garden in the 1980s, and originated the restoration together with his partner Pierre Bergé and professional support of a Moroccan gardener and botanist. This little paradise, artwork of nature and culture, of garden and architecture, was designed by the expatriate French artist Jacques Majorelle in the 1920s and 1930s. Up to reconstruction, the property was subject to neglect and transience. With hard work and profound love Majorelle Garden was restored to its original pristine state. After Saint Laurent died in 2008 his ashes were scattered in the rose garden.

Green and copious, dense and sumptuous, nevertheless not a wild jungle but pleasant and inviting, the lavish garden entwines around us while lingering around. Beside all the beauty of the sight, we are captivated by an amazing soundscape: myriads of birds sitting in the trees sing their songs. A cacophony of different melodies melts to a manifold harmony overlapping the noises of all the other tourists.

We agree: what a pity not to meet Monsieur Benchaâbane. Impressed by this garden, beside all aspects specific to perfumes, now we would be perfectly prepared for interviewing him. The Moroccan gardener and botanist who restored this walkable piece of art together with YSL was Abderrazzak Benchaâbane, today perfumer and owner of „Les Parfums du Soleil“. Prior to our vacation, we tried to propose a meeting during our stay in Marrakesh, however, without knowledge of his private mail address, our emails seem to be lost in Internet’s vast spaces – we never received an answer.

Apparently, the creator of beautiful “Soir de Marrakech” (which frequently caresses Louce’s skin) and other perfumes would remain one of manifold secrets of Marrakesh not disclosed to us.

However, dazzled by the sunlight outside Majorelle Garden, overwhelmed by taxi offers we never asked for (“Good price, my friend, good price, come with me!“), we suddenly spot a shop sign. ”Les Parfums du Soleil“! Without hesitation we enter the shop and try to explain in French to the sales people who we and Parfumo are, and why we are that interested in meeting their boss. Of course, we jump at the opportunity to take a smell at everything in the shop, while the staff talk to Abderrazzak Benchaâbane over the phone. The earphone is handed over to us and he says: “Yes, I like to meet you!”

On the spur of the moment, we agree on an interview three hours later. A chauffeur picks us up and takes us to the Musée de la Palmeraie, another exceptional place in Marrakesh created by Benchaâbane: contemporary Moroccan art surrounded by a beautiful garden; again, nature and culture converge to an inspiring ensemble (http://www.museepalmeraie.com/).

We meet an exceedingly friendly and ingenious man. Abderrazzak Benchaâbane is very interested in the German and international community of Parfumo as shown on our tablet computer. His son is of great help as translator, and with a mixture of French, English, German and Arabic we start a conversation about him, his work as a perfumer and his brand „Les Parfums du Soleil“.

Three landmarks blazed his trail to become a perfumer - family, education as botanist, and his friendship and collaboration with Yves Saint Laurent: “My mother made essences of rose an orange blossom by herself. I grew up with fragrance and fragrance extraction. This was the base of further experiences.” His scientific and practical preoccupation with nature as botanist broadens his knowledge and gave him the opportunity to be part of the restoration team of Majorelle Garden. “Yves was a friend to me. He was very inspiring.” With a smile gazing off into the distance he says: „He opened my eyes“. Ten years ago, Majorelle Garden was reopened for the public, and YSL had the idea of creating an own perfume for the shop of the garden. He committed this project to Abderrazzak Benchaâbane who then, by his own words, entered „the perfume universe“: Saint Laurent arranged contacts to European perfumers, Benchaâbane’s educational journeys guided him to Paris and Grasse. However, YSL died and Benchaâbane’s Majorelle Garden perfume never saw the light of the day. Nevertheless, the seed was sown. Monsieur Benchaâbane started to see himself as a perfumer. Personal passion has become profession.

He started the development of a perfume which stands for Marrakesh, a story of oriental richness and the essentials of this city. Very important to him, the evening (soir) in Marrakesh shall be captured. He highlights that evenings in Marrakesh are of unique atmosphere and that “Soir de Marrakech” illustrates this atmosphere in a very sensual way. He tells us that real ambergris is the center of this perfume. We are amazed by this information and ask how he is able to get this rare substance and how he can guarantee constant quality. In Europe, practically no perfumer uses real ambergris anymore. However, for Benchaâbane there is no alternative to it. It is the main feature of this perfume in its deepness and richness. For his small production there are sufficient sources in Morocco for real ambergris. To our experience, the amber note of this perfume is very powdery and smooth at the same time. This seems to be a quality of real ambergris. If possible, Abderrazzak Benchaâbane uses natural substances. “I am interested in the fragrances of nature. These shall unfold their full beauty in my compositions. In general, natural ingredients give me enough freedom for creating my perfumes.” A view on his workbench confirms his statement.

Further perfumes followed “Soir de Marrakech”, with other Moroccan scenes as eponym and source of inspiration, for example “Mogador”, “Casablanca”, or “Les matins bleus d’Agadir”. Starting from “Soir de Marrakech”, “Mogador” is a distinct male interpretation of the same fragrance theme. It highlights spiciness, cedar and thuya wood with a warm ambratic base. Mogador is the historic name of Essaouira, known for its arts and crafts like cabinet making and wood-carving with thuya and cedar, respectively. Cedarwood is also main note of “Cèdre Divin”. The traditional construction material Atlas ceder and its scent is seen by Benchaâbane as Moroccan heritage which he tries to capture in this deep and dry soliflor fragrance as genuine as possible.

Asked for his process of perfume design, he tells us: “Primarily, I create a new fragrance for myself. Not for others, not for the market. Starting point is just a discrete idea. This idea is embedded in a text, often a poem. After this way of translation to another art form I dedicate myself to an implementation with the medium fragrance.” Of course, we dig deeper: Is creation of a perfume art – or craftwork? “For me, perfumery is art; because it arises from the inside. From the heart.”

Abderrazzak Benchaâbane feels independent of trends and requirements of the market; however, he is very interested in other creations made by other perfumers and studies them with his nose. This sort of communication is very important for him and a source of inspiration. We asked for his favorite perfumes of other perfumers. His top 3 are: “Eau Sauvage” as a fundamental classic, “Terre d’Hermès” (which he uses by himself during summer days) as JC Ellena’s masterpiece of radical modernization of the language of scents, and, his very personal favorite, “Habit Rouge”: “JP Guerlain was the first who really looked at and understood the Orient with the eyes of a perfumer.”

Especially today, building sensuous bridges between Orient and Occident is of importance for Monsieur Benchaâbane. “In Europe there is a desire for the sensible, beautiful and lyrical Orient. This desire can be addressed by perfume. Therefore, perfume may act as a sensitive connection.” For Benchaâbane, this desire is also the main cause for the oud trend of European and US perfumery of the last decade. The scent of oud, often a souvenir of a Mekka pilgrimage, creates a collective identity inside the Islamic culture, and, therefore, acts as a symbol of the Orient.

Assuaging this desire and the need for an oriental-occidental connection, a sensitive understanding, is an important aspect of Abderrazzak Benchaâbane’s work: “Les Parfums du Soleil” is firstly his own perfume brand giving him the freedom to realize his own ideas, and, secondly, a way of understanding. He recognizes his perfumes as original oriental and as a conversation in the language of scent.

This conversation is quite muted outside of Morocco: the international distribution of “Les Parfums du Soleil” is limited. Up to now, Parfumo noses may have to rely on the homepage to become acquainted with these fascinating and lovely perfumes (http://www.lesparfumsdusoleil.com).

After a long, very informative and cheerful conversation with mint tea and a view to the gorgeous garden Abderrazzak Benchaâbane says that he really enjoyed the interview and our engaged talking shop. He greets all Parfumo noses via this blog entry.

For him sharing fragrance experiences (as enabled by Parfumo) corresponds to the underlying character of perfumes: “Fragrances are shareable memories.”

We are grateful for him sharing time and his thoughts … and for his perfumes that he offers to all perfume aficionados and aficionadas.

“Soir de Marrakech” was the perfume we knew and adored already prior to our meeting. Now, in reminiscence of his creator and Marrakesh, it may be even more beautiful to us. “Mogador” will be the male counterpart when we, back in cold Germany, drink our Moroccan mint tea from colorful ornate glasses. Together we will remember all our magic, foreign, and gorgeous pictures and scents of the Orient.