HELLO! India Exclusive: "I have been obsessed with scent since I was a child": Mona Kattan on her Middle Eastern heritage, her love affair with perfume and more

Perfume has long been considered a finishing touch to a self-care routine; the final spritz that ties an entire look together. The times however, are changing and so is the fragrance sphere. With numerous categories from niche to flanker, fragrance families from gourmand to musk and terminology like sillage and projection; which could easily rival a chemistry textbook, it's safe to say that perfume today is steadily growing to be an extension of a lifestyle. It isn't just the finishing touch anymore; it's the core thread that weaves accords together as the crux of a complete look. Founder and CEO of KAYALI and reality TV star of Dubai Bling, Mona Kattan is instrumental in this transition of the perfume world. After dabbling in makeup and co-creating the colour cosmetics powerhouse Huda Beauty with her sister Huda Kattan, Mona turned her love affair with perfume into a business when she brought her fragrance brand KAYALI to life in 2018. Her long-time scent obsession predates it by decades; it was first amplified when she moved to Dubai. In an exclusive conversation with HELLO! India's Associate Editor, Dayle Pereira-Alemao, Mona Kattan delves into how KAYALI was founded from the coupling of her Middle Eastern heritage and Western upbringing, the role that skin chemistry plays and more.

(Also Read: Why we always return to certain scents)

HELLO! India: What comes first when creating a perfume: the story, an ingredient, or an emotion you want people to feel?

Mona Kattan: It can start in different ways, but for me, it almost always comes back to emotion. I am a very emotional person, and fragrance has this incredible power to take you back to a memory, shift your mood or help you express a completely different side of yourself. When I begin working on a new juice, I think about the feeling I want to bottle and the memory or moment connected to it. With Eden Sweet Peach | 35, it began with my lifelong love affair with fruits—especially peaches—which have always felt like little symbols of happiness to me. They are juicy, bright and full of life, but also soft, velvety and sensual. I wanted the fragrance to capture that duality and create something that felt uplifting, playful and impossible not to smile when wearing. Sometimes the ingredient sparks the story and sometimes the memory leads us to the ingredient, but there always needs to be a real emotional connection behind it.

HELLO! India: Did coming from a beauty-first background influence your path into founding KAYALI?

Mona Kattan: My love for fragrance began long before my career in beauty. I have been obsessed with scent since I was a child, and that obsession became even stronger when I moved to Dubai and discovered how deeply fragrance is woven into Middle Eastern culture. People use fragrance with intention throughout the day, layer different scents and share perfume as an act of hospitality, generosity and love. KAYALI came from wanting to bring those two worlds together: my Middle Eastern heritage and my Western upbringing, supported by everything I had learned through building a global beauty brand. KAYALI literally translates to 'my imagination' in Arabic, and that is exactly what the brand represents: the freedom to explore, layer and create a scent that feels completely personal to you.

(Also Read: How J-Beauty is revolutionising the beauty game in India)

HELLO! India: How long does it take to develop a fragrance from the first idea to the final bottle?

Mona Kattan: There is no set timeline because every fragrance has its own journey. Some ideas come together more quickly, while others can take several years and many different modifications before we find the perfect juice. I am a perfectionist, so I need to truly fall in love with a fragrance before I approve it. We can spend months adjusting what might seem like the smallest detail, but one change to a floral, musk, wood or vanilla note can completely transform the way the fragrance develops. We test the opening, the heart, the dry down, its performance on the skin and, of course, how it layers. Déjà Vu White Flower | 57 took more than two years and 57 modifications before we reached the final fragrance. That is also what the number beside every KAYALI fragrance represents—the number of modifications it took us to find the winning juice. Eden Sweet Peach | 35, for example, was the thirty-fifth modification. It really is a labor of love, and we never rush that process.

HELLO! India: How important do you think chemistry with the skin is when formulating a perfume? Can the same fragrance smell different on different people?

Mona Kattan: Skin chemistry is extremely important, and the same fragrance can absolutely smell different on two people. That is what makes perfume so personal. The natural chemistry of your skin, how moisturised it is, your body temperature and even the products you have layered underneath can change the way certain notes develop and how long they last. I always recommend testing a fragrance directly on your skin and giving it time. You should never judge a perfume only from the first spritz or from smelling it on a blotter. The opening is just the introduction (as) the fragrance will continue to evolve as the heart and base notes come through. It is also part of what makes fragrance layering so exciting. You can combine the same two juices as someone else, but the way they blend with your skin can make the final result feel completely unique to you. Fragrance is incredibly personal and subjective, and that individuality is something we always celebrate at KAYALI.

HELLO! India: What does your own fragrance wardrobe look like on a typical day?

Mona Kattan: There is honestly nothing typical about my fragrance wardrobe! My scent changes constantly depending on my mood, what I am doing and how I want to feel that day. My team will tell you that it is impossible to pin me down to one fragrance because I am always experimenting and layering. I am also constantly testing new KAYALI juices, so on any given day I may be wearing several different modifications alongside fragrances from my personal collection. I love warm, comforting scents, beautiful florals, musks, vanillas and deeper woods, but I never want to be limited to one fragrance family. I wear fragrance throughout the entire day; from the moment I get ready to the moment I go to sleep. I love spraying my skin, clothes and hair, and I will often change or add to my scent depending on my mood. I even wear perfume to bed because it feels like a little act of self-love that is purely for me. For me, fragrance is not the finishing touch; it is part of how I set the tone for my day.

HELLO! India: Are there any ingredients you believe are currently underrated but have the potential to become the next big fragrance trend?

Mona Kattan: I think musk is one of the most exciting ingredients to watch. It is timeless, but still so underrated because people often think of musk as one particular scent, when it can actually express so many different moods and facets of who we are. It can be soft and comforting, bold and confident, clean, creamy or almost like a second skin. I think we are going to see people embracing musk in much more expressive and unexpected ways.

HELLO! India: How do you ensure a scent you create evolves beautifully from the first spray to the dry down?

Mona Kattan: It takes a lot of testing, patience and modifications. A fragrance should make you fall in love from the first spritz, but it also needs to become even more addictive as it develops on your skin. I wear every modification throughout the day and test it on my skin, clothes and hair. I’ll often go back to it hours later; or even the following morning because I am extremely particular about the dry down. That is the part that stays with you, so it needs to feel beautiful, memorable and completely addictive. We work very closely with our perfumers at DSM-Firmenich to balance the top, heart and base notes, while also testing projection, longevity and how each juice layers with the rest of the KAYALI collection. When I cannot stop smelling myself and keep going back for more, that is usually when I know we have found the one!

(Also Read: Creating perfume through feeling, not formula)