After I lost my dad, I tried to remember what fragrances he was wearing. Even if I don't remember the names of what he was wearing, so I was just six years old and I tried to feel and remember him by the scent. So, and it was like quite quite emotional for me, but because you can't remember a person visually at some point, especially if it is at a young age, so I tried to hold onto the memory through scent.

Thank you. Thank you for inviting me.

So Emma Hamsa fragrance brand, I built it out of emotion, feeling and I tried to make it a skin-centric perfume. So my relationship with fragrance starts quite early in my life when I was just a little kid. So well, I had the family, like my mom and my dad were quite selective with their fragrances and after I lost my dad, I tried to remember what fragrances he was wearing, even if I don't remember the names of what he was wearing, so I was just six years old and I tried to feel and remember him by the scent. So and it was like quite quite emotional for me, but because you can't remember a person visually at some point, especially if it is at a young age, so I tried to hold onto the memory through scent. And then my mom also was very selective with her perfumes and we were not allowed to use them. So we could only smell it when she was going out or she was wearing it. And then once I lost her, so I I was checking her bottles and all that, so it kind of it was bringing me to the memory of having that person. So in general I was quite like smelling everything type of kid, so I used to go around and try to smell everything almost. And then we grew up with my grandma. And once I went to university, so every time I was coming to visit her, I was getting her different perfumes. And she used to go meet her friends and like be proud about it, like, oh Emma got this for me, Emma got this for me, you know? So at some point I was telling her like listen one day you will wear my own perfume that I will create. So basically when I say it is inspired by people that I lost and at the same time who has shaped me, like who I have become today comes with the memories and loss and emotion based on it. So last year I lost my grandma and I think that was the point of realization that what I could create to keep that memory. Because eventually the memory of visual of that person will fade away as well. Yeah. So that was my inspiration. But the my three scents First Light are not really like, oh this is for grandmas, this is for mothers, no it's not that. It's just each scent is a personality of a person that when they wear it, it becomes one with them.

So I think everyone has different approach to fragrances. So we might have a certain period in our life that you have felt it from the family members or maybe at university or in different kind of period of your life. Like some smells that later on in your life when you smell them somewhere and you're like, oh, this reminds me of something. Yeah. So everyone has different approach when they choose their fragrances. And again, it can be a memory, it can be a moment or it can be just they feel like, oh, this is me. Like how I was selecting my own fragrances before I created mine, like when I was, like I am a niche buyer myself. So I cannot like, like if I go to let's say perfume store and I smell different scents and it just, it never connected. I realized now while doing business so it's actually there are trends, there is a commercial side of the perfume brands and all that I am learning it now. But I eventually was able to select my perfumes and they were all niche. So then I realized, okay, so there are people like me that are going to perfume store to the mall or anywhere and they are having this difficulty to find what they feel like, what they want to have on them. And again, it's about what is your intention by wearing perfume? So you might be, you want to express yourself with that perfume, you want to make an impression that people will not forget after you leave the room. Or you can be like, oh, I am in this mood today, I will wear this perfume today. Like it depends again on the people and how you feel and what you want to achieve with that, you know?

Yeah, that is that is quite intuitive, to be honest. And also I am quite a spiritual person, always connects to myself. So I would say it's quite intuitive because during the process when I was creating the scents that I wanted to achieve, so you have this feeling when you start. And throughout the process, and it is a long process, there are so many variations that you receive from your supplier and you say, oh no, add this, add this. So like even like one drop changes whole scent and whole experience. So for me was when creating this, so I stick to that emotion and feeling how I started it. For example, Milk of Light. So Milk of Light is inspired by my mother, but it's very very unique, sweet but not edible sweet, milky. It has marzipan notes, so it's quite unique. And it's you feel like it has a coconut, a lot of people tell me, oh it's very coconutty, I'm like, no it's not, it doesn't even have coconut note. But the feeling it gives you, it's confidence and you feel quite feminine and at the same time you're strong. You are independent. So that's what I want to evoke in people emotionally.

Yeah, what is the intention? So for example Milk of Light was that woman that feels confident, but at the same time she's feminine. She's soft. You know? And how, like what kind of smell will make her feel that? So that's the emotion and feeling I hold onto in the beginning, throughout the process with different variation they were nice smells. And then I was like, okay, but it's not that feeling. It's nice, it's beautiful. I had to let them go.

Yes, I go from there and I see, okay, is that giving me that feeling? Or it changed. Do I feel I belong with the smell? Like is it we are one? You know? Or sometimes you feel like you wear a smell and it's like it's on you. It's not with you.

Yes, that's the growth. So when we grow, like I liked different smells 15 years ago, you know? 10 years ago. And but I guess I still have like a certain type that I go for. Yeah, like different like it but my First of Light for example, there are three different scents, but each of them is is expressing me at different times, different moods. I usually wear Milk of Light because it's more me, but I wear Desired Skin too. And I wear Eternal Horizon even if it's masculine, but it is unisex masculine. But there are women especially in leadership roles and in strong positions, you know, in corporate world, they love Eternal Horizon. And I wear Eternal Horizon also because I work also in corporate world same time, but I wear it occasionally.

Yeah. Because that expresses yourself, that expresses yourself. You feel more aligned with that scent. You feel like, okay, this is who I am right now. You feel strong, you know, it boosts it. So.

Okay, so skin-centric perfumery, what do we mean is that in general, so there are perfumes that you wear to to impress others. A skin-centric perfume is you don't want to impress people. You want to feel you. So that's where a skin-centric perfumery comes. It's like you need to like you don't have to like spray it all over yourself, you can spray here and here and throughout the day you will smell it and you'll be like, oh I feel gorgeous.

Yes. So it's we have each of us has different chemistry in the body. So one smell, one fragrance can smell different in each skin after a while. Like in my skin, all the fragrances, they evaporate. Even if they are the most long-lasting like my perfume is extrait de parfum and it lasts like 10 to 12 hours at least, but in my skin none of the fragrances stay.

It just doesn't stay. Like five minutes it's like, oh, I can't I, you know. So that's why I prefer to put it on my clothes. So like it, you know, it stays there. And hair, yeah.

Yes. So we live in the UAE, which is a very there is a very strong perfume culture here. It is like part of our daily routine, basically, you know? So people here, they understand perfume and they can appreciate the quality and every detail about it and how how they feel about it, you know? So how I chose today, for example, is like how I want to feel in this podcast when I speak my truth. So I want to feel myself. I want to feel feminine, same time strong, haven't gone through a lot in life, but at the same time to be able to speak up. And it it makes me confident. That's where and I need to be feminine also, you know, like in this here. Like I cannot wear Eternal Horizon and be like, you know what I say...

I do.

Yeah, in the morning I put in the morning, even if I'm at home and I will not leave home.

Yes. So this is what is happening right now in the world. I think we just we are so disconnected from ourselves, you know, past 10, 20, maybe 30 years, because we have fast lives, we have busy lives. And we want to feel connected to ourselves. So that's why when I created First Light, I didn't want to be trendy, I didn't want to go for volume. I wanted to go for that specific feeling that I want people to just feel it when they wear it and feel comfortable and basically like to give them space to feel themselves and they they're not supposed to be told, you know, you have to feel what you wanna feel. Like if I feel certain feeling when I wear a perfume, you might not feel the same way. And it's okay. So right now well there there are people still going for trends and, you know, selecting the choices as trends. But as like luxury-wise, we go for quite we go for more we want peace, you know? Peace in our mind, peace in our lives. So...

Well, building a brand perfume brand in the UAE is quite interesting. The point that you made is absolutely valid because it is a huge market here, a lot of choices. And I had my doubts in the beginning when I was creating, but the intention behind it, you know, is what kept me going. So that made me feel, okay, what you want, like what I want to give that space to people. They feel with one with perfume, they feel that, oh, when they smell it, they say, oh, this is me. Like there are some people immediately they feel Desired Skin, they are like, oh, this is me, because Desired Skin is quiet and it's citrusy, it's light, you know, like daily also you can wear it. So they're like, oh, this is so me. And that's that's the reaction I want to create in people. But here, obviously, it's challenging. But my les- lesson, what I learned is you stick to your truth and your intention. And if you follow that, and honesty around it, and everything just comes with it.

Uh, yes. Yes. I work with a perfume house, fragrance house from France where they source our perfumes basically, but we do craft it here. And I wanted to be part of the process while being here, that's why I didn't want everything to be done in France. But yeah, as French perfumers are the most long- not long-lasting like again it depends on the concentration of each perfume, but yeah they they know what they're doing so.

Yeah, so again, there are so many different people and different approaches. What is your intention? Like, it's very individual. The people around me, that my friends and my surrounding, when they smell perfumes also because they know the story of it. A lot of people when they buy perfumes, they don't, but that's the difference between general perfume buyers and niche perfume buyers. Usually niche perfume buyers want to know the story behind it. They wanna feel oh, what feeling it gives me. And then because they don't buy immediately. They they select, they select and they take their time. So it's more it's not that broad market. If you are building a brand. But this is what I am aiming for because that is how I am. And can I give this to these people? That feeling, the space, you know? But yeah, there are people they wear perfume just to impress themselves. And there are people that they just want to not impress themselves, sorry, impress everyone they want to, or they just want not to be noticed and just to have it in them and to feel good about themselves.

Yes, I did. Like I immediately connected to it at that moment. And then next day I wore it and I was like oh.

Yeah. But again, that's me. There are perfumes that I bought and I wear them for years. I just love them. You know, so it depends. But yeah, so when you spray perfume either on your skin or on your clothes, so on skin, it mixes with your chemistry and it changes. Because you might have a sweeter skin, and some people might have citrusy, it's different, you know. I have tested in different people when I was actually testing my fragrances. And it was like, all of them like different. I'm like, okay, is this gonna be like this? Is this what I want? But you can't do anything about it because everyone has different body and chemistry, you know? So in general when you spray perfume on your skin or on your clothes, first there is the top notes you feel. You might fall in love with top note, but that will not be your end feeling. And after one minute or two, maybe three, middle note. I would say earlier. Middle note is earlier, one minute. After three minutes, you have your end... base note. Where you will feel during the day your base note.

Yeah.

No, three minutes, and you have your base note, and you know that this is the one you're gonna feel throughout the day.

We're already working on a second collection. I'm working on the scents. It doesn't have the story as I have my First Light because First Light who I am, what shaped me and everything. Second one is also a little bit spiritual and there will be five fragrances in there. So right now we are working on it. Hopefully by the end of this year, we can launch that one.

Takes time too.

Okay, so usually niche perfumes are not available in every store and especially in huge perfume stores. So niche brands right now and in general, they're mostly available online and in specific perfume boutiques. Like niche perfume houses. And if you want to try, you need to go there and then see. Like I I'm trying like that go to perfume houses, niche perfume houses, and then trying. Okay, like, you know, because they are only there. They're not in big stores. They're not really achievable, that's why it's niche. They know, yeah, they know, because they are they know every note and if they get an idea of your personality they can tell you which one you'll like.

Thank you. Thanks.

Thank you for listening. Thank you for being here. Thank you so much. It was easier than I thought.