Latest news with #Tapputi
The Citizen
7 hours ago
- Lifestyle
- The Citizen
How to smell luxe for less: the affordable fragrance hack you must try
Designer perfumes don't have to drain your bank account. Here's the secret This beauty hack is taking over social media and helping perfume lovers smell luxurious for less, without sacrificing quality or style. Why perfume prices are skyrocketing High-end perfumes cost more than just the scent in the bottle; branding, celebrity endorsements, rare ingredients, and lavish packaging all push prices up and can make it seem impossible to smell luxe for less. Perfume oil. Picture: supplied With some luxury scents retailing for thousands of rands, fragrance lovers are finding creative ways to enjoy beautiful aromas without overspending. How to smell luxe for less? The affordable fragrance hack is all about layering fragrances. Fragrance oils: The budget-friendly game-changer Tapputi Egyptian perfume oils. Picture: Supplied Fragrance oils are concentrated scents without the alcohol found in traditional sprays. They last longer on the skin and cost a fraction of what luxury bottles do. A small roll-on can act as a base layer for your favourite perfume, making it last all day and stretching your bottle's lifespan. ALSO READ: No hairline? How to stop hair loss in Afro-textured hair today! How layering works Fragrance oils. Picture iStock Layering is the art of combining multiple scents to create depth, richness, and staying power. If you're asking how to smell luxe for less, start by applying a fragrance oil first, then spritz your perfume on top, essentially priming your skin to hold on to the scent. Pro tip: The oil locks in fragrance molecules, meaning fewer reapplications and more savings. Picking the perfect oil Match your oil to your perfume's notes: Vanilla or amber oils: warm up gourmand scents. Rose or jasmine oils: Amplify floral perfumes. Citrus oils: Brighten woody or musky fragrances. Or go fully custom with unscented carrier oils like jojoba, adding essential oils for a personal signature. Tips: Layer like a pro Picture: iStock Hydrate your skin: Use an unscented moisturiser first. Apply oil: Pulse points are key – wrists, neck, behind ears. Mist perfume: Lightly spray over the oil layer. Let it settle: Avoid rubbing to keep molecules intact. Save money, smell luxe Layering can double the lifespan of your perfume, saving you hundreds of rands a year. It also lets you mix and match for endless scent combinations without buying multiple bottles. This fragrance hack is about discovering how to smell luxe for less. South African brands like Tapputi Egyptian perfumes offer affordable, high-quality oils, including designer-inspired scents for under R300. Layering fragrance oils is a beauty hack that makes perfume more affordable, creative, and personal. With the right oil, you can smell like luxury for a fraction of the price, turning it into the affordable fragrance hack you must try.
The Citizen
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Citizen
Win: Tapputi's new ENIGMA Perfume Creams combo sets valued at R3 000 each!
Unlock the Mystery of ENIGMA: Tapputi's Bold New Fragrance Collection & stand a chance to win 1 of 3 combo perfume creams & fragrance sets! Each set contains: 1x ENIGMA Discovery Layering Set 1x Tapputi Egyptian Perfume Cream Unlock the Mystery of ENIGMA: Tapputi's Bold New Fragrance Collection + A Chance to Win! Tapputi, a brand steeped in ancient wisdom and modern innovation, proudly unveils its latest sensory masterpiece: ENIGMA — a fragrance that whispers mystery, confidence, and allure in every note. Paired with our luxurious new Perfume Creams, this collection is designed for fragrance lovers who seek more than scent — they seek experience. Introducing ENIGMA More than just a perfume, ENIGMA is a statement. Sultry, sophisticated, and endlessly intriguing, it captures the essence of contrast — deep yet airy, bold yet inviting. Inspired by the complexity of the human spirit, ENIGMA lingers long after you've left the room. 6 refillable 5ml bottles beautifully packaged and easy to carry around with you. Top up day or night. The Art of Perfume Creams Our Perfume Creams are a modern twist on ancient ritual. These silky, skin-loving creams deliver long-lasting fragrance with the added benefits of hydration and softness. Perfect for layering or wearing alone, they are ideal for those who want their scent to stay close and last long — with no alcohol, only pure scent and nourishing botanicals. Our new collection boasts 6 x fragrances – one for every mood and season. Tapputi is inspired by the world's first recorded chemist and perfumer, Tapputi Belatekallim. Our Egyptian Perfume Oils are crafted using time-honored methods and rare botanical ingredients. Rich, earthy, and evocative, they connect you to the ancient world through the power of scent. This is your chance to immerse yourself in a truly exquisite scent ritual — for free. Ethically Sourced. Responsibly Crafted. At Tapputi, we believe in beauty with a conscience. All our products are made using ethically sourced ingredients and are responsibly crafted with sustainability and integrity at the heart of every bottle and jar. Because what you put on your skin matters — to you and to the world. Enter now and experience the essence of mystery, beauty, and heritage with Tapputi. The competition closes Sunday, 31 August 2025 at midnight. The competition will run online & in print. Delivery included This prize is not transferable or exchangeable for cash Ts&Cs apply. This competition is only open to individuals who are 18 years of age or older. By entering the competition, you accept The Citizen's standard terms and conditions. CLICK TO ENTER
Times
29-05-2025
- Business
- Times
What does it take to become a top nose?
Since the dawn of time — or at least 5,000 years ago — people have been spritzing perfume. Whether to seduce with scent (like Cleopatra, who, legend has it, infused the sails of her ship with sweet fragrance) or to ward off malign spirits with incense. But what about the people who conceived the scents, aka the 'noses'? Etchings on an ancient clay tablet show that the first recorded nose dates back more than 3,000 years. A female chemist named Tapputi is credited with discovering the first distillation techniques, creating fragrances that included ingredients such as myrrh and balsam for the royal family in Babylonian Mesopotamia. We don't know much about Tapputi's background, but modern noses — of which there are thought to be fewer than 500 in the world — must undergo years of training. It all starts with an innate curiosity about scent. 'It happened when I went to Paris when I was eight years old … I really enjoyed being in the Metro to smell people,' says Sophie Labbé, known for her work on Versace Dylan Turquoise and Estée Lauder Pure White Linen. • Read more luxury reviews, advice and insights from our experts Likewise, Roja Dove of Roja Parfums knew his calling from the time he was a young boy and his glamorously dressed — and spritzed — mother would come in to kiss him goodnight. He admits to occasionally stealing perfumes from her drawer. 'Then as I got a little older, I used to spend all my pocket money on perfume,' he says. Carlos Benaïm (the in-house nose for Sana Jardin and creator of Ralph Lauren Polo) spent summers with his botanist father, who would extract and distil natural ingredients as a hobby. 'He was a sort of amateur perfumer,' he says. Benaïm would travel with his father by Jeep from field to field, learning to love plants and the natural ingredients used for perfumes. The creative genius behind Bibbi Parfum, Jérôme Epinette, spent much of his boyhood in the boutique where his mother sold perfumes. While the selling side bored him, he found himself engrossed in the stories she shared with customers about the creative process behind perfumes. Olivier Cresp (the famous nose whose creations include Dolce and Gabbana's Devotion and Light Blue collections) was born and bred in the city of perfume — Grasse, so called because of the native abundance of wild grasses, herbs and flowers. Crest grew up surrounded by scents. 'My entire family was immersed in this universe: it wasn't uncommon for my parents to invite perfumers over for dinner,' he says. Once the spark of curiosity is ignited, the hard work begins. It takes about ten years of training to become a nose. 'I wish I could tell you that genetics play a major role, but I don't think so,' says Olivier Polge, Chanel's in-house perfumer. 'The excellence of a perfumer's nose is not determined by its innate physical attributes, but by its creativity, curiosity and state of mind.' Wannabe noses must start off with a science degree, ideally chemistry. With a foundation in molecular structures, chemical reactions and formulations, they can move on to their postgraduate training at a perfumery school. For top noses, this usually means the Grasse Institute of Perfumery (GIP), which accepts a maximum of 12 students at a time per course, or ISIPCA in Versailles. Aspiring perfumers not only do a multitude of tests to secure their place, from calculation and logic to olfactory recognition to creativity, they are also interviewed by perfumers. Courses like this last one to three years. Students learn the smells of raw materials — flowers, types of wood, spices — before learning to combine them. Epinette was one of those students, smelling every day 8am to 5pm: 'The first six months is just really smelling raw material ingredients … thousands of them.' Dora Baghriche (the nose behind Mon Paris by Yves Saint Laurent) recalls learning ten new scents a week and being tested on them the following week. She was taught to associate the smell with a memory, colour or emotion. Students finish the course with an internship for a big perfume company. By this point, they should be a dab hand at identifying each individual ingredient in the perfume of any passer-by. Fresh graduates will be on the hunt for jobs as junior perfumers, lab technicians or even sales representatives. They begin working their way up the ladder until they reach nose level (or master perfumer). It wasn't always so regimented. Some of the best noses in the world followed in the footsteps of their fathers. Olivier Polge, the man who created Chanel Chance Eau Tendre and Dior Homme, is his father's successor. Jacques Polge served as Chanel's in-house perfumer for 37 years. Polge Jr learnt much of what he knows through an internship with his father. 'It was only the direct contact with the profession that led to a greater understanding of the field,' he says. Training during this time (the 1980s and 90s) was, as Dove puts it, more 'on the hoof'. Perfumers learnt by watching their fathers or mothers or mentors. 'I had absolutely no formal training,' he adds. Dove went against the grain by being the first in his family to enter the industry. After pestering Guerlain for a job, in 1981 he got his wish: 'They created a sort of totally hybridised job around me — the job evolved but one of my fundamental things was to go and learn about the raw materials,' he recalls. Dove's first role was to create a training programme for perfumers (without having ever trained himself). So he was shipped off to France where he was taught the intricacies of perfume ingredients at the fragrance and flavour manufacturer Robertet, 'the Rolls-Royce of luxury naturals [natural ingredients used in perfume]'. Mentorships are important in this field. 'I think our industry is very kind. People are really very supportive and will always try to help,' he says. Large fragrance houses now have programmes set up mimicking this traditional watch-and-learn method. A handful of students each year get to spend time with the world's most esteemed noses. Roja Parfum has four forthcoming fragrances, created by very young perfumers at the start of their career. So what makes a successful nose? 'You have to listen a lot,' Labbé says. Not just to mentors but to the brands that brief them. Noses 'translate what [the brands] have in mind to become a perfume'. Inspirations for these projects can come from absolutely anything. Labbé says something she sees at the theatre or travelling or even gardening might blossom into an idea. Similarly, for Epinette, 'just by listening to [the brand], I have a scent popping in my head or my nose. I throw ideas on paper and then they compound it in the lab and I smell it.' What is clear is that noses love their jobs. 'It's like a parallel world that nobody sees but you feel,' Labbé says. It is their livelihood, yes. But it is also often their lives. Labbé sums it up in one sentence (which, naturally, sounds far nicer in French): 'Je suis née lorsque je suis devenue nez,' meaning her life began when she became a nose.
The Citizen
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Citizen
Win this Father's Day with TAPPUTI Egyptian Perfume Oils!
2 lucky readers stand a chance to win a Man Gift Box packed with luxury for dad & something romantic for mom! Valued at R4 367 each! What's inside? 3 x Original Luxury Tapputi Man Egyptian Perfume Oils (Black Musk, King's Oud & Al-Amir Sadaf) 1 x Perfume Oil surprise for Mom Tapputi Egyptian Perfume Oils brings you the timeless allure of authentic, hand-crafted scents from Egypt encased in exquisite glass vintage bottles, engraved and hand painted. Inspired by the legendary Tapputi, the world's first known perfumer, the company blends ancient tradition with modern elegance. Tapputi's vision is to make luxury, original Egyptian perfume oils accessible to all men and women at an affordable price—enabling everyone to experience the exhilarating, love obsession that their perfume oils evoke. Tapputi is committed to delivering a fragrance experience that embodies the rich history and culture of Egypt, offering products that bring timeless elegance to every moment. Follow Tapputi here: Facebook: @TapputiPerfumeOils Instagram: @Tapputi_belatekallim_fragrance TikTok: @tapputisouthafrica The competition closes Sunday, 15 June 2025 at midnight. The competition will run online and in print. Delivery included This prize is not transferable or exchangeable for cash Ts&Cs apply. This competition is only open to individuals who are 18 years of age or older. By entering the competition, you accept The Citizen's standard terms and conditions. CLICK TO ENTER
