Luxury market adds British fragrances

Jo Malone London has a series of "fine fragrances" in the Chinese market.

"I take a lot of my inspiration from daily life in London, the people around me and English culture. The Earl Grey & Cucumber fragrance, for example, came from my love of high tea - something so British. Bergamot is a classic ingredient in perfumery but we combined it with the unexpected twist of cucumber," Roux says.

Besides herbal ingredients like lavender, lovage and cucumber, Jo Malone London also discovers new unusual ingredients which can be used in fragrances, according to Roux.

There is Black Vetyver Cafe, which was launched at a time when coffee was extremely rare in perfumery. Also, pomegranate was not a well-known ingredient, but it became one of the label's most-loved scents in Pomegranate Noir.

"When working on all of our fragrances, we try to stay true to the use of unexpected ingredients, which is a central part of the perfumery of Jo Malone London," Roux says.

A British background, rare ingredients and innovation set Jo Malone London apart from perfume's most famous labels. Generally, each bottle of Jo Malone London, let's say, a 100-milliliter container, is priced at more than 1,000 yuan ($160) - a price which Fabrice Weber defines as in the category of "fine fragrance".

Weber is the Asia-Pacific president of Estee Lauder, the parent company of Jo Malone London. He says this is the 15th brand that Estee Lauder has introduced to China, because he sees huge potential for fine fragrance in the Chinese market.