The Pleasure of Perfume
The passion behind the brand Kayali is a force to be reckoned with! Mona Kattan has a vision for how we can experience fragrance and in her latest endeavour, the collection Oudgasam, she captures the pleasure of perfume. It’s ritualistic, it’s meaningful, and it’s fun!
After 5 years, the launch of the Oud collection brings sensuality and an experience to explore and layer. The heart of Kayali pounds off the page in this interview with Mona as the brand’s growing portfolio that allows us to we explore the passion of perfume.
What does fragrance and the power of scent mean to you?
It’s such a deep question. For me, scents are so much more than something to make you look good to someone when you meet them. It’s so deep. It’s your memories and your connection to parts of your life. It’s the best way to remember someone and also be remembered. For me, scents are an emotion and mood; it’s an instant transformation of how you feel. I’m in love with the power of scent. I consider perfume magic in a bottle. If you want to change how you feel in an instant grab a fragrance or even two and create a combination to create your mood.
When did you first fall in love with fragrance?
Honestly, I’ve always been obsessed with sense of smell more than anything. More than visuals more than sound. I remember when I was a kid whenever I’d smell food, like freshly baked bread or cake, I would be lifted and taken away with this strong feeling. Since I can remember I’ve been obsessed. It wasn’t until I got my first job that I got my first two perfumes and that was it for me, any spending money, or savings it would mainly go to fragrance. It was an out-of-control obsession! When I was in high school, I couldn’t spend too much on fragrance but when I got my first proper job after university in banking, all my salary was going on fragrances! From then on, I was in trouble! It’s a forever love that’s growing. I just don’t get bored being part of this industry.
The passion you see in the industry is very contagious. The more you get into scents the more you appreciate them; your sense of smell becomes more sophisticated, and you can recognise what is truly so interesting about scents. Now I feel like I can push myself. Looking back to when I first started Kayali, while an expert to some people, I was a novice in the industry. I know this because of how much I have grown. I didn’t push myself at first. I want to experiment more now to build harmonies in ingredients.
It has definitely become an exploding love. Moving to Dubai is where my love for fragrance has skyrocketed. It’s like a perfume-lovers playground. Fragrance is a part of life here, it’s part of identity, it’s a part of rituals and moving here has changed my life and appreciation. It’s been extremely transformational.
Congratulations on getting married! How did you use fragrance to celebrate the special day and how have you shared this with the consumer?
As soon as I got engaged, I was chatting with a good friend of mine, and he immediately asked what fragrance I was going to wear! I thought maybe Déjà Vu, maybe Vanilla 28, maybe Musk or a big combination. He was surprised I wasn’t creating something specific for my wedding. He was the one that planted that seed. It was such a genius idea because I think the fragrance you wear for your wedding should be something you haven’t worn before so you can create that bookmark in your brain for remembering that day in an instant. So immediately me and my team started working on it. With my fiancé (at the time) we started trying different scents together and that’s where the concept started. Originally it was one scent but working together it made sense to create a pairing. We wanted to create something special but also an easy go-to for people getting married; the fragrance is called ‘The Wedding’, it’s a no-brainer! I tried to create something that is perhaps not as polarising as other scents within the brand as I wanted to share it with the consumer. It’s easy to wear as a bride or groom or an easy choice for gifting. It was originally limited edition, but we have had so much demand that we are thinking of bringing it back!
The creation of the fragrance was both really personal but also something I wanted to share. I have to wear both hats now. When the brand was smaller, I was only thinking of what I like but now it’s a combination. I still have to be passionate about the creation so that I can speak about it authentically, but it also has to make a commercial sense. Sometimes the scents that I absolute love but are perhaps polarising just don’t work in the sense of the market. It depends on the launch. For The Wedding, I wanted it to be easily appreciated but sometimes you have to take chances. I always want that freedom as a creator but you have to juggle both logistics.
What’s some educational moments in your experience within the industry that have been invaluable to you and your journey?
It’s hard to put my finger on one. I learn through the people I meet like Roja Dove or through my experience working with noses. Recently we worked with Olivier Cresp on Yum Pistachio Gelato. I thought I knew everything that the internet could provide but of course I didn’t! Olivier told me that you need to decant the little bit of fragrance you have left in a bottle because the alcohol oxidises faster. Roja taught me that you shouldn’t spray fragrance on your neck if you’re trying to keep your neck looking young! These little snippets of sharing are always great. I try to constantly learn. I took classes during Covid to make the best use of the time. I learn from peers and the community, the frag-heads, by constantly watching videos, immersing myself, taking notes, there’s an obsession with the power of fragrance online and there’s so many tips and tricks that can spark an idea.
How has your appreciation of ingredients developed or changed?
It’s developed so much. Going back to early days of the brand in 2017 when we first started developing the juices, I had my favourite notes that I had dissected from other brands, and I was scared to go outside those lines of comfort. Now, I’m happy to experiment. I ask for touches of violet and iris, powdery notes which I used to hate. I’ve learnt to never say never! The beauty of fragrance is creating a combination that will take you outside of your comfort zone to create a new scent moment. I try to push the unique aspects of ingredients and scents.
What do you think layering provides for us in the way that we can explore scents?
I love layering. I was very inspired by the Middle East. A lot of my inspiration comes from people who live here in the region. They’ve been layering for centuries. Typically, an average person from this area of the world does not leave their house without layering, it’s a ritual. I was very inspired by that. When I moved here and started layering myself I understood the ritual but also the creativity of not smelling like anyone else. I’ve always wanted to be an individual and as scent is so closely linked to memory layering is a way to capture scent moments in a more unique way. The best way to make something that hasn’t been smelt before is layering and creating your own concoction. Also, it’s getting the best out of your fragrances. Why not mix it up! I think once you start you never go back. Layering is an addiction. And for the consumer I think it is more fun. There’s a whole new appreciation for layering led on socials and it’s created more excitement about the fragrance process. I think there’s a new direction for the consumer to research and become more familiar with fragrance notes. When we first launched it was a concept that people didn’t understand. But with a shift through Covid there was a disruption of the market as the consumer understood more clearly the power of scent.
You have a new collection based on Oud. Oud holds a lot of tradition and heritage, so why was it important for you to explore this smell?
Oud was meant to always be a pillar for Kayali. This collection means a lot as we want to be able to talk about with pride and help people globally become more familiar with what Oud is, not just through the eau de parfum but also through the Bakhoor, the perfumed oud wood, the perfume oils, the whole ritual. It’s something that I find fascinating and something luxurious. The inspiration is watching all the elegant Princes and Princess I went to university with and how they would take their fragrance ritual to the next level. And then I realised that everyone here in Dubai does it. It made me feel like a queen and I wanted to share that globally. We’ve been working on this collection for five years and part of it was making the complexities of the oud wood and perfume oils globally compliant, but the other part is that the retail spaces aren’t that open to it. It’s a small niche as it can be polarising. I hope that with this collection we can make people more familiar with oud and start to appreciate it more. I say that it’s like truffle oil on pizza or pasta – a drop at the beginning and then taking it step by step. It’s an acquired taste. With oud I feel like once you have it in a fragrance you can’t live without it. It’s a love that grows over time. I hope that with this collection we encourage people to not be as afraid of oud and appreciate it more.
The collection is called Oudgasm because we believe perfume is pleasure. We want everyone to take their fragrance and oud to the next level. We have a collection of four, Vanilla, Café, Rose, and Tobacco. They fall on an oud spectrum where the Vanilla is lighter and for oud beginners, Café is around 25% more intense, and Rose and Tobacco are on the end of the spectrum. Hopefully everyone will find something they love and can resonate with. We also have the Bakhoor with oud wood. I feel like this is an incomparable ritual which is why we wanted to make sure we got it right. It’s so special and worth the time taken to create it. I want everyone to experience these ritual fragrances at home. You can fragrance your house or even your clothes but be careful!
How have you find exploring the tradition of Oud and bring it to the modern consumer?
We have tried to make every scent different. I would say the Vanilla and Café are more modern. The Rose and Tobacco are more on the traditional side. All four are extremely different as we bring in other notes and our Kayali signatures which are Tonka, Vanilla, and Musk. For example, with the Rose, we have tops of lemon, geranium, Bulgarian rose, vanilla Madagascar, cashmere wood, and oud. It’s something different. The lemon and the rose bring freshness and as it dries down to oud you get the real experience. Café is my favourite out of the collection as it has cappuccino which gives a chocolatey, coco vibe mixed with the other notes to give something totally unique. Vanilla is for all vanilla lovers. And Tobacco is the most intense. They are all very different and the collection will become even more varied as we introduce more scents to the collection in the future.
What are you most looking forward to with Kayali?
This collection is something that I have not been able to sleep over as it’s been a long time coming and the anticipation is out of this world. Waiting five years to launch a collection is the longest I’ve ever worked on a single project in my
Once the collection has launched then I’ll be able to breathe again!
What is one of your favourite Scent Memories?
Birthday cake. I think that’s where my obsession for Vanilla comes from. Vanilla frosting on cake is one of the best memories ever. The only time we had to indulge growing up was on our birthdays so the smell of frosting, or even the smell of burnt candles with the wax dripping is one of my favourite scent memories.