Author: Damina Mukitanova
The first Kazakh perfume with aromas of Almaty mountains, steppe and oil
From the niche perfume brand Aura of Kazakhstan
The new purchase of the week includes 9 fragrances from the first Kazakh perfume brand Aura of Kazakhstan. We talked with the owner of the perfume house Olga Berner and creative director Yulia Lukyanenko about the process of creating a perfume, the fragrance of Queen Tomiris and about the idea.
The idea of creating a brand appeared two years ago. We decided to dedicate the first line to Kazakhstan, because we love and are proud of our country. It has three collections: historical, geographical and floral. The fragrance compositions were composed by perfumers from Europe — from France, Spain and England.
There are nine flavors in total. Five of them are in the geographical collection, they are dedicated to two cities — Almaty and the capital, as well as steppes, mountains and oil. In the aroma of Almaty there are notes of apple and chocolate, and in the "Black Gold" — cognac, dark wood and leather. "Music of Mountains" is nominated for the prestigious award "Fragrance of the Year, it contains the smell of Tien Shan firs, pine needles, heated bark and resin.
The flower collection includes two fragrances: "Land of Tulips" with a subtle smell of blooming steppe and "Silver Edelweiss" with the aroma of glaciers, alpine meadows and spruce needles. They are also nominated for a perfume award.
In "The Legend of Tomiris" from the historical collection of 20 notes, among the components - rare types of sandalwood, papyrus, violet and toluan balsam. In the "Wind of the Great Steppe" - notes of leather and wormwood, which grows only in Kazakhstan. It was first used as a perfume component.
The perfumers worked according to the brief: we described what a particular fragrance should smell like, talked about herbs growing in Kazakhstan, and sent samples. A British perfumer, Sarah McCartney, came here for 3 weeks and created four fragrances based on the results of the trip. She took samples of South Kazakhstan wormwood with her to recreate this fragrance in England — steppe, horse harness, spicy herbs and the feeling of a cold wind in the face.
Everything is made in Kazakhstan, only the perfume composition and bottles come from Europe. Here the composition is diluted according to the formula in the laboratory and defended in a special room. After that, the mixture goes through the stages of maceration, filtration, and then enters the bottling shop with semi-automated production. At each stage, the bottles are checked for quality manually.
We also order stickers and everything else in Kazakhstan. Perfume pendants are made by local craftsmen: this is a replica of the Saka coin, depending on the fragrance, a certain pattern is applied to it — mountains, a tulip, and so on.
The logo contains the symbols of Kazakhstan. The wheel is a nomadic way of life, the Baiterek tree and the Samruk birds egg are a tribute to folklore. The lines also contain the aura of the solar man from the Tamgaly-Tas rock art.
Aura of Kazakhstan is a niche perfume. Luxury fragrances contain synthetic molecules, while niche fragrances contain a lot of natural ingredients. Our fragrances were supposed to smell of our herbs, steppes and mountains — so we decided to make a niche perfume.
The more natural ingredients in perfumes, the more expensive they are. The volume of 18 milliliters costs from 17 thousand tenge, a set of 9 samples of 3 milliliters — 12,600 tenge, and crystal bottles of 95 milliliters - from 88 to 106 thousand tenge. There is also a gift set, which includes a full-size perfume, a designer scarf, a wooden inlaid box and a postcard in 3 languages-from 155 thousand tenge. Niche perfumes do not have a strict division into men's and women's fragrances.
In the future, we plan to release a new fragrance per year. Kazakhstan, with its rich flora and cultural heritage, inspires us.
