The Serendipitous Creation of Rook Perfumes
At any given moment Nadeem Haddadine’s day can take a dramatic turn. Emergency room double doors bursting open to flashing red and blue lights and ear-piercing ambulance sirens screaming at a distance. Hospital stretcher with a bloodied, wounded patient rushing through the ER facility, pushed by multiple nurses, physicians, and other medical personnel, towards the operating room doors.
Or he could be prepping for a theatrical performance with humming vocal warm-ups, physical stretches and exercises that help him get into the right “space” where he skillfully gets into character to perform on stage.
Otherwise, Nadeem is at home surrounded by measuring equipment, digital scales, pipettes, testing strips, bottles and vials totally submerged in the world of perfumery. Through his heightened olfactory sense, his attention to detail and attunement to emotions Nadeem elaborately creates his non-gender fragrance collection “Rook Perfumes.”
Nadeem’s Rook Perfume journey initially began with a heartbreak. A failed holiday romance in Lausanne, Switzerland, that resulted in a lonely rainy walk around the city. Nadeem eventually found himself at Philippe K., a perfumery specializing in the finest Somalian incense for home scent and candles. Nadeem was fascinated by the world of perfumery, after spending several hours sipping coffee and sniffing raw materials. He left Philippe K. enthralled he took that eureka moment and turned it into a hobby that brought about the creation of Rook Perfumes.
When Nadeem returned to England, he drew on his attraction to scents as a pastime and began to experiment with the vast array of essential oils and scent compounds available. Each smell was created in an old Ikea wardrobe that had been converted into a home laboratory. Rook Perfumes humble beginnings are not reflected in the final product as his fragrances drew the attention of friends, family, and strangers alike, leading to the making of his perfume line and a website.
Nadeem, born in Jordan, raised in both Lincolnshire and London, studied medicine at University College (UCL) and applied to the famed London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). There, he trained as an actor before returning to UCL to finish his medical degree in 2010.
Nadeem has been lucky to have pursued his dual career interests, one in acute and emergency medicine and the other in acting with appearances in “Sunset Boulevard” alongside Glenn Close and, most recently, “School of Rock” in the West End. He has spent much of the last 2 years working on the frontline as an NHS emergency doctor fighting the battle against COVID-19.
Through Rook Perfumes, Nadeem takes you on an olfactory voyage that depicts a sensory story where emotions are evoked and expressed. Rook Perfumes are available now in Jordan, in Nadeem’s country of birth, his full collection can be sampled at the Herb+Design showroom.