The purpose of this guide is to relate to potential buyers the facts about the product manufacturing location, business practices, and product types made available through this company's subcontractors / fillers.

NOTE: Recently the owners of this company (and several other account names) have been convicted on several criminal counts related to a slavery trial on Long Island, NY, and the future of their business activities is unknown.

Royal Mirage is a brand logo created by PVM International Inc. (see also Eternal Love Parfums, owned and operated by the same person), distributed across the continental U.S., and primarily marketed through duty free shops and department stores in the Middle East, Asia, and some parts of the Caribbean. All perfume and oil-based products except for the talc, soaps, and sprays are manufactured in the United States (the product box may say otherwise) mostly by J.Palazzolo Son Inc, in New Hyde Park, NY - talc is manufactured in the United Kingdom. Recent news stories have hinted at the possibility of sweatshop-style manufacturing plants in Asia, however, this has been presented as  possible "gray marketing" of the company's product, and remains an unproven rumor (see notes, below).

These products are *not* hypo-allergenic.

The oils for these perfumes are made by at least two different perfume houses in New Jersey, and range anywhere from light and sweet, to very strong. Allergy sufferers and asthmatics should especially avoid the "Sandalwood" and "Green" fragrances, which contain stronger triggering fragrance and are especially hard to air out after just one spray. Products are regularly tested on-site in the small home office HQ, where samples of each fragrance are sent prior to the blending of each individual batch, usually just a week or less prior to production. There is a general standard kept on coloring of the product in the clear bottles, and fragrance samples are kept in-house for as much as 6 months or more for comparison studies.

Buyers may wish to note that there have been some complaints about staining with the dyes used in the "Crystalline" product line, with not much else able to be done about it.

Fragrances that fall into the "light" category include Rose, and Sport (has notes of Jasmine, similar to Liz Claiborne's "Sport" series), while heavier scents such as the original Royal Mirage, II, Jasmine, Yellow Gem and the "Club" (men's product line) are aimed more at being durable and lasting than for aesthetic enjoyment.

Roll-on colognes are also available through this manufacturer, but there has been a series of issues with the package (ball and 'figment') leaking.

Soaps: Soaps from tins are manufactured in the United Kingdom, with earlier product line manufactured in the United States. These soaps have similarities to castille soap, but will flake apart easily if left in a puddle of water on your sink. I recommend the lavender scented soaps and talcs, which are modeled after the Yardley product lines. As before, these are not hypo-allergenic. While no rashes have been reported from use, each soap and talc product does contain a dose of perfume and other oils, and may react differently to different skin types.

There has also been a rash of these products being graymarketed, or otherwise counterfeited. For a genuine product, buyers should look for a small holographic seal on their products.

Overall, I would rate the Royal Mirage perfumes to be of fair to poor quality, depending on personal taste and product "flavor". These items are in high demand overseas, but can be obtained here in the United States through perfume kiosks, and distributors who deal with PVM International's sister company, New York Fragrance, Inc.

Currently the future of this company is unknown, as both owners of PVM International (Pooja, Varsha, Mahender), and Eternal Love, and RTD Inc (Rahul, Tina, Dakshina), among numerous other account names have been convicted on several counts of forced servitude, harboring, and abuse of their illegal immigrant domestic help.

For more information and coverage on Mahender and Varsha Sabhnani 's trial, I recommend a good look at Newsday.com 's archives.