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Travel with us to our favourite cities around India

Next up in our travel series is design haven Jaipur. From its winding lanes to its detailed architecture, from its timeless prints to its take on reinvention, Jaipur has slowly become one of India’s coolest cities.

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VISIT

Jaipur is known for its flea markets, with a focus on antiques. Head to the Hatwara Flea Market for a pinch of local flavour along with unique finds.

STAY

The Farm by Ritu & Surya Singh is akin to an ongoing art installation. Made from recycled materials, each and every aspect of the hotel is handcrafted and unique.

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EAT

Royal and decadent, Samode Haveli’s restaurant is an ode to the Jaipur of times past. A visual treat as well as a culinary one, we love this restaurant for its dramatic elegance.

SHOP

With a focus on fine homegrown brands, Teatro Dhora is great to discover new Indian labels – we’re available too!

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Travel with us to our favourite cities around India.

Laidback haven or overcrowded party state, Goa is quite embedded in the ethos of India. Though we do enjoy the sunny climes, we like those hidden parts of Goan history that lend a particular charming quality a tad bit more…

VISIT

For a quick walk down memory lane, head to Barrio das Fontainhas, an old Latin Quarter in Panjim. With tiny streets and colourful old homes with tiled roofs, it reflects the Portuguese influence on Goa and is recognized as a heritage zone by the UNESCO.

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In February, an arts and culture festival takes place where the old homes are transformed into art galleries with local art, music and dance.

STAY

Siolim House is a 350 year old heritage hotel, built in 1675. Dating from the earliest times of Portuguese settlement in Goa, the hotel transports one to an era gone by.

EAT

With whimsical decor and fine fare, A Reverie is a lovely spot to end a day in Goa at.

SHOP

Housed in a heritage bungalow in Assagao, Project Cafe Goa is an experiential design space. Featuring a mix of design, food & decor, the space is a restaurant, shop & hotel all in one. Plus, you can explore our 8 fragrances right there!

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Lead Image Source – Art by Akeru Barros Periera

Travel with us to our favourite cities around India

 One of India’s oldest cities,  Ahmedabad has evolved into an industrial & design mainstay over the years. Today, it’s known for its holistic approach to design and culture and its food trails.

VISIT

Ahmedabad is known for its diverse architecture. From intricate Jain temples to modernist structures, the city’s got it all. Explore Adalaj ni Vav, a rock-cut stepwell that’s adorned with finely carved details of Hindu & Jain mythology, along with flora and fauna.

Adalaj Ni Vav. Image Source. 

Head to Hussain ni Gufa next, an underground art gallery featuring M.F.Hussain’s art and designed by renowned modern architect (and Le Corbusier’s protégé) B.V. Doshi. The contemporary structure combines both natural and ancient aspects.  The caves resemble tortoise backs while the mosaic tiles on the roof are a call out to Jain temple architecture. Hussain’s paintings on the walls bring Paleolithic cave paintings to mind.

STAY

Designed for a textile baron, the House of MG is a lovely heritage hotel to explore Ahmedabad from. We love its artisanal take on décor, championing local design & craft.

House of MG. Image Source 

EAT

Right opposite the Sidi Sayyed Mosque is Agashiye, a terrace restaurant specialising in Gujurati cuisine with a focus on seasonal produce.

SHOP

A design, lifestyle & dining hub, the Project Café dons many hats at the same time. With an eye towards creation & curation, the Project Café is home to India’s finest designers. Plus, you can get a whiff of Bombay Perfumery’s fragrances there!

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Perfume has an ephemeral quality to it which makes it very desirable yet very hard to pin down. When it comes to gifting, perfume announces that one has paid attention to the personality & likes of the other person, making it a great option.

However, it can be quite tough to narrow down on a fragrance – here are a few points that could direct you.

Personality

One of the foremost tips is ascertaining the personality of the receiver. If they enjoy classic art and aesthetics, they might enjoy a timeless ingredient such as Tuberose or Cedarwood. If they are quite active and athletic, they might enjoy a fragrance that brings freshness to mind – such as Lemon and Bergamot.

Occasion

If you know that the receiver enjoys using different fragrances according to day & occasion, a good idea would to be gift a perfume based around an event. For instance, if they enjoy evenings out at cultural venues, then gifting a fragrance for their next evening out would add charm to the gift.

Tried & Tested

An easy way to ascertain whether the receiver would like the fragrance is to go through what they might already have – both in terms of perfumes and ingredients. That would be a good indicator to understand what new fragrances they might like, therefore simplifying the process.

Beyond Scent

A risky move but one that could work out beautifully is to forget all about their preferences and gift something they would never have bought for themselves. If they enjoy deep woody fragrances, for instance, you could gift a fresh citrusy fragrance with a hint of wood just so that it’s different yet similar at the same time.

Like perfumery, architecture has the transformative power to propel one to the future or remind one of a time gone by. In our latest series, we’ve decoded the link between our fragrances to architectural styles that reflect them the most.

Our women’s fragrance Madurai Talkies, with its notes of Jasmine, Rose & Violet, evokes a complex set of emotions from nostalgia & wistfulness to charm – much like awe-inspiring South Indian Temple Architecture.

Srirangam Temple. Image Source. 

Monumental in every aspect, South Indian temples have wowed and inspired devotees & non-devotees alike since the 7^th century.

Much like how the temple’s sanctum sanctorum is enhanced by its superstructure with densely woven miniature shrines & sculptures, Madurai Talkies is built up by its layering of similar and different ingredients – rose, jasmine and violet infuse the scent with timeless elegance while white musk & cedarwood support & enhance the fragrance.

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Travel with us to our favourite cities around India

With one foot firmly set in Indian culture and the other in French, Pondicherry has been a haven of sorts for people who want to explore beyond the mundane.

VISIT

Nestled within Auroville’s leafy lanes is Svaram, a space that focuses on sound healing and works with artisans to create musical instruments. Absolutely charming, explore the rich history of folk instruments that are not easy to experience any more.

STAY

Le Dupleix

Constructed in the 18th Century as the residence for the Mayor of Pondicherry, Le Dupliex draws from both its rich French & Indian traditions, especially in its architecture & dining.

EAT

Stylish in all senses of the word, the Storyteller’s Bar is quite a charming spot. Host to a number of live gigs, fine cocktails & inventive fare, it’s Wall of Stories adds a personal flair.

SHOP

Pondicherry-based Naushad Ali is known for his treatment of woven fabrics, crafting transitional pieces for men & women. His shop not only features his work but also a select offering from India’s homegrown labels, Bombay Perfumery included.

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Like perfumery, architecture has the transformative power to propel one to the future or remind one of a time gone by. In our latest series, we’ve decoded the link between our fragrances to architectural styles that reflect them the most.

South India is known for its statuesque Temple Architecture, with its intricate detailing & monumental size. However, when it comes to modernist architecture, a different kind of structure had taken over the landscape, starting just before Independence and leading up to the 1970s & 80s – Cinema House Architecture.

Image by Sabine Haubitz & Stefanie Zoche, source

Highlighted by its hybridity, the cinema houses are modern yet traditional in their design, inspired by a new vision for India. Cinema houses, especially in the South, are a community centre of sorts, a perfect canvas to play out this modernity. Colour, proportion and nostalgia play out together, much like in Calicut, an ancient trading port from where our men’s fragrance Calicut is inspired. Black pepper, Cardamom, Patchouli & Musk create a blockbuster statement.

Lead image by Sabine Haubitz & Stefanie Zoche, source

With summer in full thrall, we’ve started to opt for fragrances that are fresh and light. There are certain ingredients & notes that bring effervescence to mind – read below to explore three ingredients that speak of summer.

Peach

Native to China and introduced to Europe via Persia, the peach is known for its sweet lusciousness. Rich yet fresh, the peach adds a hint of both the floral and the fruity.

Lemongrass

Citrusy without being too expected, lemongrass has a hint of spice that aids its lemony freshness. An aromatic plant native to tropical climes, lemongrass is used for its fragrant properties, as well as in gastronomy and medicine.

Tuberose

Heady and immersive, tuberose brings midsummer nights to mind. A perfect mix of opulence and freshness, tuberose adds mystery.

Though we believe that if you like a fragrance, you should use it no matter what, at times, a fragrance can enhance & reflect the time you’re wearing it for. A sunny day often calls for freshness & an evening event calls for an air of mystery.

Apart from mood, season often plays a role too. Freshness and summer goes hand in hand on account of higher temperatures, but, in the winters, a more subtle fragrance would cinch the deal.

Day Perfumes

A good thumb rule to start with is, the heavier the fragrance, the less suited for the day. Ingredients like lemon, bergamot, vanilla, orange and peach are fruity, sweet & fresh, making them a great note to have in one’s fragrance – especially in the summer.

During winter, calm ingredients like vetiver, ginger, patchouli and cinnamon add depth to a fragrance.

Night Perfumes

Once again, choosing what to wear at night depends on the weather. Warmer climates call for more tropical yet sophisticated ingredients like black pepper, ginger, musk and jasmine.

Cooler climates call for subtle yet powerful ingredients – think cedarwood, amber and leather for instance.

Travel with us to our favourite cities around India

Since ancient times, Kochi has been a destination. The absolute source for spices like black pepper (you’ll catch a glimpse of it in our Calicut), the port was known to civilizations spanning from Greece to China. Down the years, as trading routes became a matter of political power, Kochi has seen Dutch, English & Portuguese settlements. Today, it’s the commercial hub of Kerala and is one of the country’s fastest growing cities – and all its influences meld beautifully.

VISIT

The end of the year will see the return of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale under the curatorship of artist & co-founder of the Khoj Foundation, Anita Dube. Featuring art from around the world, the biennale is spread across Fort Kochi & Ernakulam, creating conversations between one’s environment and art as is often perceived to be existing within the white space of galleries.

Gulammohammed Shaikh’s Balancing Act on Vasco da Gama Square

STAY

The Tower House in Fort Kochi is a converted 17^th century light house (that sentence is enough to convince us!). Overlooking the Chinese fishing nets, the hotel has an old-school charm that few places can replicate.

The Tower House

EAT

Indulge in coastal cuisine with Nimmy-Paul’s cooking classes. The gourmand couple not only teaches how to cook Keralite fare, but also hosts visitors with home stays & at-home meals.

SHOP

Pepper House is a waterfront heritage space that hosts part of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale. Apart from being an art space, it also contains a library, café and a design shop (where you can buy Bombay Perfumery!)

Image by Surface85

Lead Image by Chiara Goia

Like perfumery, architecture has the transformative power to propel one to the future or remind one of a time gone by. In our latest series, we’ve decoded the link between our fragrances to architectural styles that reflect them the most.

Our men’s fragrance Sulawesi is a conversation between what’s known and what’s unknown. Highlighted by patchouli sourced from Indonesia, the fragrance is elevated by the use of custard apple, which is quite rare in the world of perfumery.

This contrast adds depth to the fragrance, and transports one to a tropical locale reminiscent of Geoffrey Bawa’s inside out structures.

Gardens at the Parliament by Geoffrey Bawa. Image by Harry Snowden. 

The role tropical modernism plays is dual – aesthetically, the modernist form interacts with the surroundings beautifully, but secondly, it’s highly contextual. Distinctive and imposing, modern architecture cut off all ties with the overly-effusive architectural styles that came before it. It made a statement. In comparison, tropical modernism picked up the principles modernism propagated but wove in the story of the locale in its detailing.

Secret Garden House by Wallflower Architecture + Design, Singapore

That’s where we see the connect between Tropical Modernism and Sulawesi. Definitely strong, both are sneakily subtle in delivering their message across.

Lead Image : Jungle House by Studio M27

Choosing a signature fragrance can be tough on sense and sensibility. Not only will all your sensorial organs be working in overtime, there’s that search for the elusive one who’ll live up to your personality & preferences.

We’re breaking it down for you – from notes to families and beyond.

Notes

Each fragrance has 3 categories of Notes – the top, the heart and the base. The top notes are the ones you smell first’ they’re strong and distinctive and usually the ones that help you make the choice if you’re cinched for time.

However, we recommend experiencing the fragrance for a day at the least so you can interact with the perfume as the day unfurls.

The middle or the heart notes are at the center of the fragrance. A balance of strength and subtlety identifies them. Heart notes need to be peppy enough to stand out yet quiet enough to lead the way to the base notes.

The base notes could be regarded as the foundation upon which the perfume is created. Subtle and longlasting, these come into play more towards the end of the day.

A good fragrance has a creative balance of all three types of notes – they need to complement each other and yet need to stand out just so that they cast an impression.

Olfactory Families

A quick guide to choosing a fragrance you may like is through the olfactory families.

Citrusy

Fresh and tangy, this family includes citrus fruits such as lemon, bergamot and orange, among others.

Bergamot

Floral

Romantic and fresh, the floral notes add sophistication and sass to a fragrance.

Aromatic

Earthy and subtly masculine, this family includes ingredients like sage, oak moss, thyme and wood.

Woody

Warm and strong, the subtle woody family features ingredients like patchouli, sandalwood and vetiver.

Vetiver in Haiti 

Oriental

Warm and sensual, the amber or oriental family is distinctive and features ingredients like musks, vanilla and precious woods.

Amber

Evocative of warmth and opulence, the amber family seeks to emulate the golden warmth of the fossil.