Christmas is a touch over a month away, can you believe it. This year has just flown by.
This time of year is always a bit frenetic at The Perfumery head office. With bottling new scents, getting everything packed out and ready for Black Friday and the Christmas rush there is hardly time to have a cup of tea.
This year is no different, Christine and her team have done an amazing job getting everything ship shape and ready for the busy season. They have bottled and labeled 41 new fragrances that are now loaded on the website. When someone gets a break, we’ll get them loaded into the new releases list.
We have upgraded our scented tags, you will see they now come with a QR code. Scan the code and it will take you to the product page where you can see the notes and the descriptions. It’s a really helpful way of learning more about the perfumes you like and why. Our printers are busy with them. Hopefully we get them today so the ribbons can be tied and they will be ready for all the orders.
This week we have the Nicarella Christmas Market which is always a great event. The market is at George Hay Park in Parkview and is open from 3pm – 9pm Friday, 9am – 10pm Saturday and 10am – 4pm Sunday.
At the market we are launching what we hope will be a fun competition – Pose for Perfume.
At the market we have set up a selfie-station, take a pic there with your best pose and you could win R1500-00, yes you read that right, R1500-00 worth of The Perfumery products if your pose is the chosen one – that’s your Christmas shopping done. The competition runs from this Friday afternoon until 15th December 2025.
How to enter:
1⃣ Take a creative photo of yourself posing with any product from The Perfumery — OR set up a fun scene where the perfume bottle is the star of the show!
2⃣ Post it on Instagram, Facebook or TikTok
3⃣ Tag us @theperfumerysa and use #PoseForPerfumeSA
📌 Posting to Stories?
No problem — just DM us a clear screenshot so we can share it on our page.
🏆 Judging:
We’re choosing the winner based on creativity and overall engagement (likes, comments, support from your followers!)
So get your friends and family cheering you on!
Winner announced 16 December 2025.
For those that follow us on social media, you’ll see the promotion for this competition going out this week, but you’ll see that the prize is R1000-00 worth of products. If however you are an existing customer of ours and you have bought from us in the past three months, and you turn out to be the winner, we’ll add another R500 to the prize.
So, if you want to win your Christmas presents for this year, make sure you’ve ordered in the past three months and get your entries in.
If you visit us at the Nicarella Market and Strike your Pose there, we got something extra special for you. Along with being entered into the main competition, you’ll also go into a draw to win another R500 worth of products. You could get to win twice!
As always, if you have a fun, sad, interesting, amusing story or experience you would like to share with us and it’s chosen for the newsletter you’ll win R150 worth of reward points you can use whenever you like. We’d love to hear from you.
Oriental perfumes have a long, fascinating history that begins in the ancient worlds of the Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, India and parts of China. These areas were referred to as the Orient, hence Oriental perfumes. Thousands of years ago, people used rich spices, precious resins, sandalwood and jasmine in their ceremonies and royal courts. These ingredients were taken along old trade routes like the Silk Road and eventually reached Europe, where they inspired Western perfumers to create scents that felt exotic, luxurious and mysterious.
What sets Oriental perfumes apart is their unmistakably warm and enveloping character. Including notes of amber, vanilla, exotic woods and spices give them a sweet, smooth depth that feels instantly comforting. Layers of cinnamon, clove and nutmeg add a gentle spice, creating a glow that feels almost like candlelight on the skin. Sandalwood, agarwood and resins bring a soft smokiness, while musk adds a sensual, lingering richness. The result is fragrances that feel like silk and velvet — soft, warm and irresistibly decadent.
The enduring appeal of Oriental perfumes comes from their ability to blend tradition with modernity, comfort with drama, and mystery with warmth. They are more than just scents — they are experiences. When someone chooses an Oriental perfume, they’re choosing a fragrance with history, emotion, and a presence that lingers. They’re choosing a touch of luxury that never goes out of style.
Traditionally Oriental scents were unisex, it was only with the rise in western perfumery from the early 1900s that we start to see interpretations of specifically masculine and feminine creations.
For our ladies Oriental Collection we have chosen to highlight some of the more modern interpretations. The scents we have chosen will give you a good sense of what oriental scents are all about whilst staying mainstream. Modern day Orientals tend to be sweet. 3001 Angel was a groundbreaking scent that really opened the world of the gourmand fragrance with its candy floss sweet character, 3002 Lady Million and 3016 Olympia bring a fresh interpretation on the theme whilst 3004 Black Opium and 3013 Flower Bomb are caramel gourmand heavy weights.
Other Oriental scents worth trying are 3003 Opium with its revolutionary for the time spiciness, or 3007 Joop! Femme if you like your spice with a little incense, 3015 Black Orchid that adds an interesting unctuous quality and 3005 Youth Dew that is another icon in women’s perfume or 3008 Ghost that has a fresh fruitiness reminiscent of cream soda.
For the men there is something for everyone. 7002 1 Million has an interesting tropical vibe, 7012 A*Men is a classic sweet woody scent, 7015 Man in Black is all spicy woody goodness, 7019 has an interesting fruity aromatic feel, 7026 F*cking Fabulous is Tom Ford at his best.
I always thought I was an aromatic guy, but discovered I’m much more oriental. 7013 Ferrari Essence Oud is one of my favourite rose and oud combos, 7017 Ultra Violet this is possibly my all time favourite scent if I was forced to choose, 7021 Ombre Leather because every man needs a good leather scent, 7028 Intense Oud an absolute amber bomb, and last but by no means least 7043 Black Aoud fruity, floral, smokey its just fantastic.
Collections are a great way to get better insight into what you like and what you don’t. We’ve have done all the hard work for you. Each collection has a selection of 5 scents that are connected but different. Add a couple to your next order at R100 for a 2ml selection. They really are great value. If you are looking for interesting gifts and stocking fillers, Collections are perfect.
Browse through the full Collections range here.
Fragrance layering is a fantastic way to get the best out of your scent collection, every week we’ll highlight fragrance layering combinations that we love and have had good feedback on.
7021 Hombre Leather plus 7028 Intense Oud
Hombre Leather is an unashamedly masculine scent, the amber in Intense oud makes it luxurious and sophisticated. A scent that develops throughout the day and always feels fresh.
0000 Light Blue plus 0004 Fuel for Life
Light Blue is a lovely fresh summer scent. Fuel for Life is a very underrated summer scent – fresh but with a touch of sweetness. Combine the two and you have a unique Summer scent you won’t find anywhere else. Pretty and very feminine.
We would love to hear what your favourite layering combos are. Every week we are going to be featuring different combinations. Send us yours and if we choose it for the feature, you’ll win R100 worth of reward points that you can use at a future date.
From Monday 24th our Black Friday Deals start. On 50ml perfumes, 100ml Diffusers and 100ml Room Mists you can get Buy one Get One Free by using the Coupon Code: BlackFriday2025.
Don’t forget we have lots of other great deals going.
Don’t forget we are running our build you fragrance wardrobe special. You’ll get a great discount on 10 samples to try followed by a buy one get one free deal for you to get 50ml bottles of your favourites. Added to this you’ll get our handy guide The Secret Art of Transforming Yourself with Perfume” absolutely free. It’s a great read filled with interesting info, tips and insights into making perfume your secret superpower. Grab it here.
With the festive season coming up and with it the annual search for that perfect gift, our home fragrance bundles make for phenomenal value. Perfect for teacher’s gifts, for office colleagues as well as friends and family.
Get 3 x Home Mists for only R400 saving you R50
Get 5 x Home Mists for only R625 saving you R125
Get 3 x Home Diffusers for just R675 saving you R125
Get 5 x Home Diffusers for just R1000 saving you R250
Until next time
Rob