These perfumeries are bottling the fragrance of your favourite memories

Discover how Indian consumers are embracing natural perfumes to evoke nostalgia and emotional connections with fragrances.

When Abhishek Sengupta returned to Kolkata in November last year after realising that he could not afford the exorbitant rent for his apartment in Mumbai’s upscale neighbourhood Khar on a consultant’s salary, he was despondent. He wanted to take along something that captured the essence of the city. “It’s strange,” he says, “I’ve always known Kolkata to be home. But now Mumbai has an equal place in my heart.”

While many people choose to bring back souvenirs or items they have bought, Abhishek decided to invest in a perfume that smells like Maximum City. “Mumbai has a particular smell that’s hard to replicate. I’m not talking about the sometimes-saline smell, but the city’s energetic, almost frenetic aroma,” he explains.

A colleague recommended Byredo’s perfume Mumbai Noise — a scent crowded with contrasts: rich, warm woody and amber, blended with plummy Davana (Artemisia pallens) positioned alongside leather, bitter coffee stirred with sweet tonka beans. The scent captures the smoky haze of incense interspersed with street side coffee carts and dissonant soundscapes. “I rarely spritz on the scent; I just keep it to give it a whiff now and again,” says Abhishek.

Byredo, the European luxury brand founded in Stockholm in 2006 by Ben Gorham, has gained a cult following for its scents, which celebrate the nostalgia of “coming home” — a feeling of emotions and memories awakened. In fact, many of our purchases today are driven by nostalgia. Fragrance brands, too, are tapping into this emotion effectively, as scientific details about formulations are too complex for marketing. Instead, storytelling offers customers something to believe in, making the experience feel natural rather than forced.

Statista, a German online platform that specialises in data gathering and visualisation, projects that India’s fragrance market will have an annual growth rate of 1.56% from 2024 to 2028. Non-luxury fragrances are expected to account for 57% of total sales.

There is also a growing demand for traditional and natural scents, reflecting a preference for local and eco-friendly products. For instance, Bombay Perfumery’s Chai Musk, a unisex fragrance, also celebrates the vibrancy of Mumbai, capturing its hustle, shared stories, and the ever-present chai culture. Then there is Forest Essentials’ Nargis, one of their best-selling fragrances, which is sourced from the snow-clad valleys of Kashmir for their sweet essential oil.

Receptivity for natural perfumes is part of the broader affinity and movement towards natural, organic beauty. Additionally, synthetic alternatives can never completely replicate the scent of the original, natural flower or ingredient.