Have a look at SA's first South African Perfume Museum

During a specific time of the month, Keri Miller will check in with the team to see if we are still good in terms of colognes. She has the best contact for exclusive and reasonable scents. The entire team makes sure to always keep their signature scents alive. It could be interesting to learn the history of all our scents and their meanings, if there are any...

That is not a far-fetched idea as the first South African Perfume Museum has all of these in one place in the Western Cape. The museum was established back in 2012 in Cape Town by the Kumanov family. Today it is owned by Daniela Kumanov and her husband Dino. 

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So, just like when you have a museum with varying pictures of the evolution of a musical instrument, for example, one would see the journey of the most popular scents worn today. In this museum, you will find Egyptian and Roman bottles of colognes ageing back 2000 years. You will also learn this cool fact: Back in the day, KWV used to give away the KWV perfume with the wine. Some now sit in the museum as part of the biggest KWV perfume-bottle collection. 

If you are a fragrance enthusiast who enjoys saying things like, 'bergamot' and 'chypre', you will be able to experience workshops where yo create your own scent. We would definitely enjoy an activity like this in terms of creating a scent that goes with our personalities. 

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The family that founded the museum come from a long line of rose oil traders. The Kumanovs first visited South Africa 32 years ago on honeymoon and have since settled here.

Some very special bottles you will find at the museum as per Sowetan Live include:

• A vintage bottle of Shalimar. The flagship of French perfume house Guerlain, Shalimar was created in 1921 as a nod to Indian Emperor Shah Jahan's wife Mumtaz Mahal, for whom he built the Taj Mahal in Agra and the Shalimar Gardens in Lahore. The bottle, by Raymond Guerlain, was inspired by Eastern gardens and Mongolian stupa art and manufactured by Baccarat Crystal. 

• KWV Cologne bottles from the 1930s. The Koöperatieve Wijnbouwers Vereniging van Zuid-Afrika (KWV) was founded in 1918 as a winemaking co-operative by South African farmers. In 1930, it started producing alternatives to wine for export, including grape juice and a KWV eau de cologne, which was crafted by the master distiller as a marketing tool.

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Daniela Kumanov shared with Sowetan Live some exclusive tips. 

How to wear your perfume: 

Dab a drop behind your hair and ears and on your wrists - the "warm places" of your body. Never do a "beauty spray" where you spray in the air and walk through - "It doesn't work and it only looks good on TV!"

What's your style? Are you a cologne or deodrant person? 

Main Image Courtesy: First South African Perfume Museum