Ta’if is the exotic rose perfume I created especially for hot sultry nights and it has a fierce following throughout the year. In April, the dry mountains above Mecca suddenly turn into a dazzling magnificent pink, and the cool mountain air in this region is intoxicated with Ta’if rose fragrance – Ormonde Jayne’s Ta’if EDP is the next best thing!

Ta’if is the name of a dusty hilltop town overlooking the Red Sea in Saudi Arabia, two hours from Jeddah and is home to vast swathes of exquisite rose plantations nestled in wadis, sheltered by the Hada mountains.

It is amazing to think of these delicate pink roses growing in such a parched searing climate as it makes this English rose want to slouch into a shady hammock and have someone bring me a chilled carafe of rosé and wave a fan over me. But these Taifi roses have bloomed here for three centuries, since the Ottoman Empire.

Although there are many rose plantations in Ta’if, the quantity of oil distilled is limited as they flower for the month of April only and the closed buds have to be picked at dawn, with picking over for the day by 7am. Adding to these confines, there is also the improbable combination of perfume-hungry porcupines, baboons and gazelles that have to be steered away from the fields.

This week we had to change out list of priorities at the laboratory and begun infusing another batch of Ta’if Parfum after a gentleman from Saudi Arabia came in two days ago and asked to buy the boutique’s entire supply of Ta’if. We had 52 bottles of Eau de Parfum and 27 bottles of Pure Parfum and they all exited in one go, nearly also ending our supply of embossed satin ribbon!  Our client explained that he had bought two bottles for his wife last year, and that she had continually been pounced upon by friends and cousins each time she wore it and they clamoured for more.

One of the practical reasons in my opinion for their demand is that the Ta’if Parfum does stand up to the test of heat – it can reach up to 45° in Riyadh in the summer.

Another recent convert to Ta’if, although one who buys somewhat more modest quantities, is the fantastic yet down-to-earth actress Emma Thompson. She has recently switched from Sampaquita, another summer favourite, to Ta’if and loves its exotic list of ingredients which include date, saffron, broom and amber.

A magazine’s beauty editor recently wanted to choose a Pure Indulgence Gift Box from Ormonde Jayne for the extraordinary burlesque performer Dita von Teese and I immediately thought of Ta’if for her. She sums up the description of Ta’if – Belle Of The Ball, dynamic, daring and madly in love with life!