The right scent can elevate your mood, your energy levels and possibly, your entire day. But if you have been restricting the power of scent to the confines of your fragrance shelf, you may want to reconsider. A new trend of scenting venues with thoughtfully curated fragrances is sweeping across boutique hotels and retail spaces, art fairs and restaurants, alike. The goal? Creating an immersive ambiance that can transport you to a stolen moment in time and radically change how you experience a space. Ahead, we take a closer look at the rise of scentscaping for enhancing everyday spaces.
Retail Labels And The Power Of Scentscaping
When you first shoulder your ways through the doors of ethnic wear label Saundh, you might be forgiven for temporarily losing your bearings. One whiff and you aren’t surrounded by brocades and silks anymore—you are treading your way through a misty woodland, revelling in the crunch of autumnal leaves under your foot as your senses are held captive by the potent aroma of the earth.
The credit for the latter goes to the label’s signature scent with notes of Virginia cedar, sandalwood, oudh and incense—aptly titled wandering woods—that greets patrons as soon as they step inside its retail outposts. Ensuring that the sensorial journey doesn’t end there, a small fragrance pouch infused with the same scent is thoughtfully included in every shopping bag.
Scent And Mixology
Saundh is far from the only one waking up to the power of scent as a means to whisk patrons away to a specific place or moment in time. Just ask Soka, a Bengaluru-based cocktail bar that dreamed up a unique fragrance-paired cocktail experience in collaboration with Vāsané, an olfactory archive by artist Indu Antony. As each beverage is served on a coaster, guests are prompted to lift the accompanying cloche and allow the scent to permeate their senses before sipping on the drink.
When asked to choose five iconic smells that would be representative of the city, Antony found herself drawing upon certain unforgettable olfactory experiences that would immediately strike a chord with any native from the city—from the smell of freshly cut grass during picnics at Cubbon Park to the fresh loaf of sponge cake being sliced at one of the oldest Iyengar Bakery outposts in the city. “If you look at it scientifically, scent can evoke a certain memory more than any other senses,” shares Antony. By pairing these together with a cocktail menu, the collaboration helped guests experience the creation through both smell and taste for an all-round sensory journey.
The Rise Of Venue Scenting
Leveraging scent for creating a prominent olfactory environment is nothing new for Astha Suri, founder and creative director of NASO Profumi. At the India Art Fair, visitors stopped in their tracks when they caught a heady whiff of the amber, musk and saffron scent designed to elevate a Mughal wallpaper launch by Raseel Gujral. “Scentscaping has evolved into more than just a niche value addition for one’s gatherings. With the rise in venue scenting, we are faced with more opportunities than ever before to engage with the scent through diffusers and incense burners, bukhoor and herbal infusions,” she shares.
Scent And Memory
For Pranav Kapoor, an eighth-generation perfumer and chef, the art of weaving a story through scent has resulted in a new branch of perfume tourism with fragrance being used as a tool to evoke emotions and enhance the memory of a place—as witnessed in his work with Karan Mahal, an idyllic European-style villa in Srinagar. “The Maharaja specifically wanted the fragrance to honour the region’s floral abundance and the breathtaking beauty of Dal Lake. The brief was to create a scent that would transport anyone who experienced it into the very heart of Srinagar’s gardens and lakes,” he explains. Working off the brief, Kapoor found himself drawn towards fresh florals paired with pine and cedar, fresh mountain air and aquatic notes to capture the rich floral heritage of the region.
Elevating Your Everyday Space
Looking to get in on the action? When looking to use scent to enhance the narrative of a space, it helps to draw inspiration from the local culture, surroundings and people. Some helpful questions to ask include pondering over what the space represents and what feeling you’d want to evoke in someone as they enter.
Once you have chosen your notes, it helps to proceed with caution. An overdose of fragrance can overwhelm, but a delicate, thoughtfully chosen scent will linger on for longer, giving the space a unique identity.
Ultimately, Kapoor believes that fragrance is a personal thing. “When you get it right, the space feels alive—it feels like a place you want to be, to return to and to remember. Whether it’s a warm, welcoming scent for a mountainside cabin or a calming, floral fragrance for a spa, I have always found that the key is to make it feel authentic and true to the space,” he smiles as he signs off.
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