LOLA TILLYAEVA – Second Skin
Lola Tillyaeva is the founder and creator of The Harmonist, a beautifully charismatic luxury French fragrance brand. It all began with Lola’s heritage in Uzbekistan where the old Silk Route brought the spices from India, and incense from Arabia blended with the fresher scents of Eastern Europe, in an amazing aromatic melting pot. Surrounded by these as she grew up, her love of fragrance blossomed recognising at an early age that she had a very instinctive and pronounced sense of smell that was “almost animalistic”. This awareness and appreciation of the power of scent led her to the idea that scent and fragrance can be used to restore equilibrium and balance.
Tillyaeva has a deep fascination with spiritual philosophy and after studying Feng Shui was drawn to the metaphysical understanding that all matters, as well as sentient beings, are composed of the Five Elements; fire, water, wood, metal and earth. Feng Shui encompasses yin and yang, two complementary forces that are opposite but interconnected and are always changing to help achieve balance. It’s this deep philosophical concept that has influenced the creation of The Harmonist as a collection of fragrances that can help to create balance and harmony, becoming a second skin, not just a fragrance.
The Harmonist’s ethos is considered with great care and expressed in every considered detail; the shape of the vessel resembles an ancient Chinese medicine phial, the glass is fashioned from opaque Pochet Du Courval glass from Normandy’s Glass Vallee where fragrance bottles have been made for over 400 years, and the stoppers from Limoges porcelain. “I wanted to create a truly luxurious experience, made by craftspeople, that embodies both ancient and modern, a piece of art that’s beautiful and extremely tactile” says Tillyaeva.
The fragrances themselves have been evolved around the idea of capturing balance and harmony, bringing the five elements to life, to nurture the wearer’s environment, personal energy, characteristics and moods…Yin Transformation dips into an aquatic, oceanic theme, balanced out with hints of musk. While Hypnotizing Fire offers a sense of warmth that envelops the wearer.
Oud Nebula is the latest fragrance to join the collection, taking Tillyaeva right back to her roots.“I love Oud and the power it has to transform and it was always something I wanted to bring into our collection but it had to be really different to fit into our philosophy” says TIllyaeva. “Rather like a nebula itself, which gives a sense of a nurturing space and is startlingly beautiful” she adds. Oud Nebula has a metallic freshness that combines with the dark and woody Oud to create a fragrance that has a sense of ‘other worldliness’ to it, that’s both startlingly different and also exquisitely familiar, more an aura than a perfume… a second skin.
THE HARMONIST IS AVAILABLE AT HARRODS
& THEHARMONIST.COM