When most people talk about perfumes, they say that they're evocative of memories; that they have the power to make you travel back in time, or to another city, or remind you of someone long gone. But what if a fragrance was made of memories?
This is the thought behind each of Delhi-based Perfume Library's artisanal fragrances, but it has special poignance in context of the latest addition to their anthology. ‘This Space In Between You & Me' was co-created by perfumer Jahnvi Dameron Nandan and late artist Hema Upadhyay, and is the scent-translation of her 2002 artwork by the same name.
In her installation, Upadhyay planted seeds on freshly-tilled ground, spelling out a letter to her mother that became vibrant as the seeds sprouted and grew into a ‘letter-garden'. Nandan's collaboration with her began in 2012 in Paris, where they started working together, taking the fresh grassy notes of the garden, adding and editing ingredients to represent events in their lives. “The fragrance took three-and-a-half years to complete; that's an unusual amount of time for any kind of fragrance development,” says Nandan. “We finally felt that it was finished just two weeks before she passed away. Every time something happened in our lives, an ingredient got added—tulsi, vetiver. So in a way, this perfume is really like a personal diary.”
The unisex scent is bright, airy and grassy, reminiscent of the garden that inspired it, but, Nandan says, “it has a bit of a dark side,” with notes of Indian sandalwood. A delicious, nuanced fragrance, one that is personal to its creators, yet appeals universally to anyone looking for a unique scent to light up their day.
This Space In Between You & Me will be launched today at the India Art Fair 2016, New Delhi and will be available at The Perfume Library outlets. Theperfumelibrary.com
