It smells delightful…like those colourful erasers we had back in school. The type we collected and even fought with our best friends for. Tasman in Grey, from the house of Code Deco, reminds me of just that. According to perfumer Gauri Garodia, who created it, the bottle of perfume has a metallic, cold fragrance that captures the idea of being alone by the sea with the smell of ozone, rocks and moss, but for me, it’s a throwback to my school days. How a particular fragrance is perceived differs from person to person. But sometimes there are smells that create a similar impression in most minds — like A Minor. “This one is reminiscent of a distinguished, grey-haired, well-dressed man,” says Garodia, as she passes around perfume tester strips to the audience at Maal Gaadi attending her workshop on ‘Scents and Sensibility.’ “It reminds me of Don Draper from Mad Men ,” says one of the ladies in the packed hall.
Singapore-based Garodia started Code Deco in March 2013. Almost two years down the line, the brand is available in New York, Hong Kong, Singapore, Bali, Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai. It has 13 fragrances to its credit, with more in the making. “It takes around two years to make one fragrance,” says Garodia, explaining the process. “It’s made block by block and 50-60 repetitions happen before getting a formula right. The formula is then balanced and optimised — that’s when we tweak it till it is perfect, and then embellish it by adding or removing elements.”
Around 70–80 materials go into creating a single fragrance.
“A perfume has a top, middle and base note. The top note evaporates in the first 15 minutes, the middle one lasts for two-and-a-half hours. The base note is the one that adds to the sensual aspect of the skin.”
In a market flooded with Chanel and Gucci, how difficult is it for a new brand to find its feet? “It is a cluttered market. In every big metropolis, there is a population that looks at the bigger brands. There is also the .5 per cent of the population with inherent good taste that doesn’t only look for a top brand,” she says.
There’s a lot a fragrance can do other than just making you smell a certain way. It can revive memories, remind you of someone, lift your spirits or even invigorate you. “How people choose their signature perfume also depends on their life experiences, social context and environment,” says Garodia. Men may have been associated mostly with smoky, musky fragrances and women with sweet floral ones and there have often been/are distinctive fragrances for men and women, but the lines are now blurring.
“A lot of women want crisp, cool, androgynous fragrances,” she says. There is always a desire for something unique, something individual. “Nowadays, almost every body has the same phone, gadget or watch.
In a sea of uniformity, how does one stand out? I believe that, in the future, fragrances will play a key role in defining a person’s individuality and enabling them to stand out in a crowd.”
