IF YOU'RE one of the many women who find making up hard to do, prepare shortly to give a warm welcome to Roja Dove. Mr Dove, who will be visiting Dublin for a special evening next week, is visagiste at Guerlain, one of France's cosmetic companies and the only perfume house to remain independent of a fashion house. Guerlain dates back to the early part of the 19th century and some of its items from that period are still in production. A lip balm called Baume de la Ferte, for example, which first appeared around 1830 continues to be sold. "We combine tradition with forward thinking," explains Roja Dove who has been with the company for 14 years.
Similarly, some of Guerlain's most famous colognes can be traced back to the court of the Emperor Napoleon III and his wife Eugenie for whom these scents were originally created. Guerlain has an enviable reputation as a perfume house, selling more fragrance than any other business in France. Although the Guerlain family no longer own the business, some of them are still closely associated with it. Jean Paul Guerlain is the only person who knows the exact formula and contents for the houses substantial collection of classic scents.
Many of the perfumes released in the early decades of this century such as L'Heure Bleu (1912), Mitsouko (1919) and Shalimar (1925) remain best sellers, joined by more recent releases including 1989's Samsara and last autumn's Champs Elysees. Samsara and Shalimar have both proved so popular that between them, the two fragrances account for 60 per cent of all Guerlain's business in the United States. Before the younger perfume made its debut, worldwide Shalimar had been Guerlain's highest selling perfume but according to Roja Dove the house has never rushed to capitalise on a popular success. "It took 50 years to create a Shalimar soap," he explains, "because no one could get the full fragrance into the product satisfactorily."
Asked to name the distinctive features of Guerlain, he cites the long, gestation, his soap as an instance of quality at all costs; before going on to insist that innovation is also consistently important. "We've never rested on our laurels but are always striving to improve. With many items we've made real breakthroughs. Guerlain invented lipsticks and bronzers and we were the first company to use Vitamin A."
Latest addition to the company's skincare line is called 12 M, an anti age cream which went on general release last week.
When Roja Dove hosts next week's session for Guerlain customers at Brown Thomas next week, he will be talking about 12 M and other skincare products before moving onto cosmetics and the present season's range of candy colours. "I always take someone from the audience," he warns, "and show how you can create a practical look for day and then very quickly change it for evenings." "Personally, I like these events to be very practical. At every step, 1 explain what I've chosen, why I've chosen it and what it does.
Among items he will choose is Guerlain's latest fluid foundation called Perfect Light. "I always take quite a bit of time explaining foundation. It ought to correct your pigment, not match your skin colour," Mr Dove emphasises. "You want an even base and the depth of colour should be determined by how pale or dark you are." For Irish women, he recommends "generally because there's a degree of redness, you should generally look for a foundation to tone down your skin." No doubt he will have a lot more individual advice to give at next week's event.