When I began developing the fragrances for Chandrika Thomas London, I knew I wanted perfume to be more than a beautiful first impression.
I wanted each fragrance to have depth. I wanted the notes to have time to reveal themselves on the skin, to move together and to leave something beautiful behind as the fragrance settled. I also imagined the life each fragrance would have beyond its creation, how it might become part of someone’s story, attached to their own memories, places, people and moments.
That has always been one of the most meaningful things about fragrance to me. I may begin with my own idea, memory or feeling, but once a perfume is worn, it begins to become personal to someone else.
That approach is still at the heart of how I think about perfume today.
At Chandrika Thomas London, our fine fragrances are created as Extrait de Parfum. For me, that choice has never simply been about creating something stronger. It is about the experience of wearing a fragrance: how it develops on the skin, how the notes reveal themselves over time and what remains in the dry-down.
And that is why I chose Extrait de Parfum. I wanted to create fragrances with depth and presence, compositions that have time to unfold on the skin and become part of the person wearing them, rather than disappearing after a fleeting first impression.
It Was Never Simply About Strength
There is an understandable assumption that a higher fragrance concentration must mean a louder perfume.
But I have never wanted strength simply for the sake of strength.
What matters to me is presence. I want a fragrance to be noticed and to create an ambience around the person wearing it, without overwhelming them or the room around them. There is a difference between a perfume being loud and a perfume having presence.
I think of it almost as an atmosphere that travels with you. Someone may notice your fragrance as you enter a room, when they are speaking with you, or perhaps after you have walked away. That presence is part of the experience I want to create.
I have explored the technical side of concentration, projection, sillage and longevity in our guide to What Is Extrait de Parfum? But for me, choosing Extrait de Parfum was never about pursuing the highest possible strength. It was about creating the kind of presence I wanted my fragrances to have.
I Want a Fragrance to Unfold
One of the things I find most beautiful about perfume is that it does not remain still.
What you smell when a fragrance first touches your skin is not necessarily what you will smell an hour later. Notes soften, others emerge, and something you barely noticed at the beginning can gradually become an important part of the composition.
And alongside the perfume revealing its notes, there is a feeling unravelling too.
As the fragrance unfolds, its mood can shift. It might become warmer, softer, deeper or more intimate. I love that this does not happen all at once. There is something to discover as you wear it.
When I work on a fragrance, I think about this movement very carefully: how one note leads into another, how they work in harmony and how the feeling develops alongside them.
I don't want a perfume to tell you everything in the first few minutes. I want you to experience its story as it unfolds on your skin.
What Remains Matters to Me
And then there is the dry-down.
This is the part of a fragrance I am particularly demanding about.
When I return to a perfume several hours after applying it, I am no longer thinking about the impact of its opening. I want to know whether what has been left behind is beautiful in its own right.
Does it still have character? Is there harmony? Is there something on the skin that makes me want to smell it again?
A beautiful opening can capture your attention, but it is the dry-down that stays with you. For me, that final impression should never feel like an afterthought.
I want what remains on the skin hours later to be something you still want to experience.
Depth Without Losing Harmony
Depth does not have to mean heaviness.
Our collection moves through very different fragrance worlds. There are roses and woods, tea and aromatic spices, citrus, herbs and deeper, earthier notes. Each fragrance has its own identity.
What I look for across all of them is harmony.
A fragrance should never feel as though its ingredients are competing simply to be noticed. One note may bring warmth, another freshness. Something darker may add depth while another element brings lightness.
It is the relationship between them that interests me.
Extrait de Parfum gives us a format in which we can create the kind of layered fragrance experience I want for the house, but concentration alone does not create a beautiful perfume. The composition still has to work.
Perfume Should Feel Personal
There is another reason this way of experiencing fragrance feels right for Chandrika Thomas London.
I have always believed that perfume is deeply personal.
A fragrance changes when it reaches the skin. It becomes associated with the person wearing it, the places they go, the people around them and eventually the memories attached to it.
I don't think luxury has to mean something reserved for a special occasion. I believe it can be something we experience every day, and perfume is one of the most intimate ways of doing that.
You apply it in the morning and then encounter it again throughout the day, sometimes when you are not expecting to.
That quiet moment when you catch your perfume again several hours later can be just as beautiful as the moment you first put it on.
More Than a Decade Later
Chandrika Thomas London Fragrance House launched in 2014 after four years spent developing and refining the original collection of twelve perfumes.
More than a decade later, I am still working on new fragrances, testing, adjusting and returning to them until they feel complete.
My ideas continue to change. There are always new memories, places and feelings that I want to explore through fragrance. But what I ask of a perfume has remained remarkably consistent.
I want character.
I want harmony.
I want beautiful development on the skin.
And I want what remains at the end to matter just as much as the beginning.
That, for me, is why Extrait de Parfum continues to feel at home at Chandrika Thomas London.
