Tabu Perfume

Tabu perfume by Dana for Women has become a classic in the world of perfumes; a scent that is seen as the pinnacle of subtlety and sensuality, but can anyone believe that at its inception it was considered to quite daring, even risqué?

Perfumes themselves have been in existence for millennia. As far back as ancient Egypt, there are references to the use of perfumed creams as part of their religious rituals and as a means of preparing for lovemaking. The ingredients used in these creams and oils were used as much for their metaphysical properties as for their scents. But over the years the emphasis turned towards the scents themselves. The skilled perfumer mixed the ingredients of myrrh and frankincense, rose and peppermint, lavender and sage, with an eye for how the scents impacted a person’s body and mind.

With the advent of early Christianity, perfume fell out of popularity, but saw a comeback during the medieval timeframe so as to cover body odor that resulted as a lack of personal hygiene. By the 1600’s scents were used regularly; dabbed onto furniture and gloves and fans and the lace of dresses. But it was not until the late 19th century that perfumes, as we know them today, really began to take hold.
Tabu Perfume was the first fragrance of “The House of Dana,” a perfumery established in 1932 in Barcelona, Spain. Tabu perfume was the scent with which it opened its doors. The House of Dana later moved to Paris, which was considered the perfume headquarters of the world. During the German occupation of France in World War II, it moved to America where to this day, it maintains the tradition of producing exotic perfumes.

The founder of the house was a lawyer by the name of Javier Serra who hired Jean Carles, a famous perfumer who had earned his fame by using unusual ingredients to create his heady concoctions, and was also known for receiving his inspiration for his scents from unusual sources. It is rumored that when he was hired, he was told to “make a fragrance for a whore (‘un parfum de puta’), and that the result was Tabu perfume by Dana, a scent so sensual as to be shocking to the sensibilities of the day, and understandably so.

While scents such as jasmine, narcissus, rose, orange blossom, amber, sandal patchouli, musk and ylang-ylang have become accepted in the perfume industry over the years, in 1932 when the scent was released, this sort of a combination was quite disturbing to many people’s olfactory senses.

But over the years, Tabu perfume has taken its place along such classics as Channel #5 as a hallmark of the perfume industry. It is valued even today for its rich and luxurious undertones and is sold both in individual bottles and as Tabu perfume gift sets, which include cosmetics such as body cream and powders that contain the scent as well. Even today, 70 years after its release, the gift of Tabu perfume is considered to be one of the most romantic gifts that can be given to a woman and already considered in line with other top scents and fragrances like Insolence Perfume and Ultraviolet Perfume.