From Niche Scents to K-Beauty, LETOILE Has it All
5000 scents, 500 brands, and singular expertise
Beauty isn’t just skin-deep. It’s all-encompassing, and this includes finding the perfect signature scent, especially so in the UAE. Fragrance is permeating the beauty world in many ways, and while it’s a vague goal for many, finding the perfect mix of notes is made easier by the efforts of stores like LETOILE. And if anybody wanted to know where to find unique perfumes in Dubai, LETOILE is your next go-to spot.
Featuring the largest archive of premium skincare and fragrances in the UAE, LETOILE’s selection includes a curated edit of over 5,000 fragrances belonging to over 500 brands (including 140 luxury niche perfume brands). For the modern scent connoisseur, the usual offerings just don’t cut it, and LETOILE’s range includes uncommon and rare perfume blends that are exclusive to their stores – a stark departure from the ‘usual’.
The store showcases coveted names such as Akro, Attar and Diego Dalla Palma alongside luxury beauty brands like Sisley, Mugler and Yves Saint Laurent. A dedicated section spotlights artisanal scents tailored for men too, ensuring that every preference is catered to, even allowing customers to shop unisex fragrances. Consultants especially trained to help find that elusive signature scent across the entire assortment offer guidance on how to choose a niche fragrance beyond brand loyalties.
Families, too, are sure to find their rhythm here as well. From Antonio Maretti’s timeless elegance to Dolce Milk’s playful notes for younger audiences, LETOILE embraces all ages. Teens can explore vibrant lines like Soda, while Moriki Doriki’s gentle formulations cater to children, making it a one-stop destination for shared beauty rituals.
But it’s not just fragrance that fills the aisles at LETOILE. Trending Korean beauty products are no longer an oddity on Dubai shelves. The store houses a premium edit of Korean beauty innovations, bringing the latest K-beauty breakthroughs from Seoul in the form of curated beauty products to the UAE. Each product promises to transform routines with the latest and greatest in skincare formulations, with a selection of vegan and cruelty-free brands to peruse through.
LETOILE’s five locations – including Dubai Festival City Mall and Abu Dhabi Mall – are designed to blend sleek modernity with sensory exploration. For those preferring convenience, seamless online shopping delivers curated beauty selections and perfume subscription boxes swiftly to doorsteps anywhere in the UAE, with a loyalty programme that rewards every dirham spent.
LETOILE hosted an exclusive beauty event to celebrate the opening of its flagship store in the UAE, drawing leading beauty experts and influencers in the region, including the likes of Noha Nabil. The guest list was extensive, with Khaled AlKhaledi, Mohammed AlNuaimi, Roaa Alsabban, Joelle Mardinian, and Youmi showing up, all with only good things to say – a hard ask for any party, but LETOILE managed it just fine.
Celebrity makeup sessions, live art sketches, and a signature fragrance workshop led by world-renowned perfumer Olivier Cresp were part of the events offerings. As the founder of Arko Perfumes and the creator of legendary scents like Light Blue by D&G and L’Eau par Kenzo, Cresp’s expertise added an extra layer of prestige to the event.
During the event, Tatiana Volodina, the President of LETOILE spoke about the brand’s international presence and its ambitions for future expansion. LETOILE is more than a beauty retailer for Tatiana, and rather a global network of brands, logistics, and research laboratories. Currently serving over 50 million customers worldwide, the company operates more than 1,000 across CIS.
Tatiana spoke with Harper’s Bazaar Arabia, sharing her insights on the brand’s launch in the UAE.
What does LETOILE offer compared to other beauty stores?
Tatiana: It’s a very interesting question because actually, there are a lot of strong retailers here. Therefore, before I entered the market, we did a lot of research, and we got together different focus groups, local people, ladies, gentlemen, expats, different nationalities, and we asked many questions. We were surprised when we understood and realized that ladies and gentlemen buy from many different channels.
For instance, if you want to buy a lipstick, you go to one place. If you want to buy skincare product, you go to another place. If you want to buy something affordable, like hair care products, you go to a different place. So we decided to put together all the assortment of categories including fragrances, makeup, skincare, hair care, all with different price ranges, from very affordable up to very expensive and niche. So that was the first idea. So to be different, to have a range of different products in one place, to satisfy every customer.
So the second idea, came from friends who work in the fragrance industry, everybody says the Middle East is the fragrance market, so we decided to focus on fragrance. That is the second difference from other retailers. The fragrance category is extremely wide here. We have more than 5,000 fragrances and 140 niche brands. You can find any fragrance. It’s not only oud, there are different types of oud. Here, it’s really a library of different fragrances.
And the third, is that in Middle East, people are used to having very high quality of service.: here we will focus on that, it’s not easy, but we will do our best to provide the highest level of service in all our stores. There are a lot of other differences, these are 3 major points.
What was your vision for the business and what inspired you to launch L’ETOILE?
Tatiana: We are a newcomer, we just started, so we will do a lot of advertising and communications. I think for 2025, we will open a few stores that we have in mind and we will design some contracts with new shopping malls. This year will be the year when we establish the processes, put everything in place, we’ll get more settlement, and again, we will work on service. So I think 2025 for us is the year we will really strive for perfection.
Opening such a large store at Dubai Festival City is the very important step: why did you choose this location?
Tatiana: When we entered, I thought everything would be very easy. But then I realized that the market is fully booked. There is nothing vacant. And of course, we were looking for the best shopping mall and for the big location, for the big space, because we believe that the first store should be the window of your future. And it was very difficult. But then eventually, we got familiar with AlFuttaim Group, with the management of AlFuttaim. And I met with Mr. Omar, and we agreed, we became real partners. He supported us, trusted us, and he provided us this location in one of the best shopping malls of Dubai.
Which brands are currently the most popular among GCC customers?
Tatiana: Actually, I know the ranking, and we can see already from our statistics which brands are really in great demand. But I can tell you that in our store, Chanel is number one. But it’s not a secret. In every country we work, Chanel is always number one. But it means that everything is okay with Chanel, so we love the brand. What we noticed is that niche fragrances are very popular here.
We can see many niche brands which are really in the top. I can say Accro is a brand thats really growing very fast because of the high quality fragrances. I can see that Sisley is very popular because the brand is skincare, but it’s not just skincare, it’s skincare, makeup, fragrance. So Sisley is quite popular also. And we have many, many customers who make a lot of return purchases.
It’s easy to find a personal favorite beauty product among premium skincare, fragrance items and luxury beauty brands such as Sisley and Antonio Maretti.
The pursuit of beauty may be endless but the LETOILE’s efforts ensure that every visit becomes an opportunity to uncover something unexpected and extraordinary.
Buy luxury fragrances on letoile.ae and in one of five stores across the UAE.
Lead Image Courtesy of LETOILE