Rouge Spa and Boutique owner Anita Henry creates affordable custom-blends from her fragrance library of over 600 exotic oils.
Instead of asking for treats and toys as a child, Anita Henry only delighted in presents that smelled good. Visiting relatives would travel from New York with different soaps and miniature bottles of perfume, which sparked her lifelong pursuit to curate all things beauty-related. After working as everything from a model to the beauty director at a major retailer, Henry eventually opened Rouge Spa and Boutique in Leesburg 12 years ago.
At Rouge, clients dictate everything from stock to price points. It was a client’s request that led Henry to create a custom fragrance blend five years ago. After receiving perfumery training in London, she felt confident enough to create her own line. ‘When you are at a certain stage and you can stand there and present it to the client and tell them with confidence the line-up of the ingredients [it] helps paint a picture of what is being done for them,’ she says. Working with the top professional fragrance agents, Henry has amassed over 600 oils in her scent library, including rose oils from Morocco, vetiver from Haiti and verbena and lavender from France.
While Henry has over 200 custom-blends on file, including some commissioned by stylists for politicians and local athletes, the majority of her customers are drawn to her signature fragrances with verbena and green tea notes. Although perfumes with such a high content of naturally-derived oils (at least 50 percent) usually run around $300, she refuses to sell her blends for over $50. With hopes of expanding the line beyond Rouge, customers can always expect this price point and quality wherever the scents are sold. -Angela Bobo
(November 2014)