Beneath still waters.: My evening with Vir Sanghvi at Delhi Duty Free 's Scents & Sensibility

Perfumes interest me almost as much as food and fashion so when I was invited by Blogmint to be a part of Delhi Duty Free’s Fragrance 101 Promo Event at Pullman’s Central Park, Gurgaon, I was ecstatic.

If anyone were to ask me what my favourite perfume is, I would find it hard to give a definite response. I am quite particular about the scents I use and at the same time, it is pretty much dependent on my state of mind.

My fondness for perfumes started early in life. I would watch with rapt attention as my lovely mother got dressed and dab a few drops of perfume to her wrists, neck and underarms before setting out to work or going to church. On Sundays, she would indulge me by rubbing her wrists on mine so that we could share her scent. How excited I used to be. I would feel all grown up and sophisticated, just like her.I distinctly remember my grandmother's scent - by the Vaseline hair oil which she used to wear.
We grew up being bathed with pears bathing bar. The scent of pears soap still evoke nostalgic memories of wintry Saturday evenings in our Kohima home, sitting by the fire after a hot quick bath and sipping hot corn tea out of floral print enamel mugs.

It was a pleasant evening spent among Delhi's top fashion and lifestyle bloggers while we listened to the charming, very articulate and knowledgeable Vir Sanghvi share his thoughts on all things fragrant.

He happened to recommend some of my personal favorites in perfumes and that made me very happy (because obviously, I am a big fan of the Man) as he is quiet an authority on the good stuff and looks like I know my stuff too. He mentioned that the current craze is an Indian origin flavor called 'Oudh' which is distinctly Arabian in smell.

I have always preferred men’s perfumes to women’s so it is easy for me to pick perfumes for my man and myself. I am the musky type for evenings and clean citrusy – fresh laundry scents for day. My list of must haves are Ralph Lauren’s Black, Bvlgari Aqua Pour Homme, Armani Aqua Di Gio and CK Euphoria. Davidoff, Chanel, Issey Miyake, Kenzo and Armani have some great scents for men and women too. All available at the DelhiDuty Free Store at Terminal 3 of Delhi's International airport.

I have done my research on perfumes and while I would not call myself an expert, I am pretty familiar with the perfume trends and the basic classification of notes or layers of perfumes – top, middle and base notes. I am also aware that a lot of times, people come away with liking the top note without really allowing the scent to settle and give out the middle and base notes and eventually find that they are not that happy with their perfume buys. I am patient when it comes to buying perfumes. Sorry pushy sales assistants!

Mr. Sanghvi did share some exciting insights. That, all the perfumes come from just 8-10 companies and what the brands do is pick and choose the ones they like. And sometimes, the scent that every other house rejects ends up being a best seller when launched by another brand. That, most men's perfumes use a detergent scent based formula. That, most people claim that they are not into perfumes but there is a lot of fragrance in the many beauty products and toiletries. If you look at the kind of fragrances you like in your beauty products, you can decode your perfume themes. Also, since the perfume you wear is enjoyed by people around you, it is a good idea to take inputs from your significant others. Oh right! Like I keep telling my sister not to wear her Ja'dore near me :P

Moi and Vir Sanghvi
Photo by Awungshi at DrPoisonIvy

Perfumes are a worthy investment as they can add that special element to your mood-uplifting you and giving you the extra confidence. While most people use perfumes to smell fresh, a lot more wear perfumes to make a statement. And that is a good thing. Finding a signature scent is good but having an array of scents for different times of the day and occasions is even better. I believe in this and practice this.

Perfumes are not about the longevity of the scent but about how it make you feel and requires to be refreshed once a day at least. Nothing is worse than the sweat infused stench of perfume at the end of the day or announcing your presence with powerful scent.

There is a trick to making perfume last on you and that is to layer scents. You can also achieve a unique personal scent by mixing different scents. Good pointer again.

As for the bottles, did you know that the high price of perfumes is mostly because of the pretty bottles?
There you go. Oh and you can actually buy refills for some perfumes. Thierry Muggler is one I know of.

IKandy lounge by the poolside.

Back to the meet. After the talk, we gathered around Vir Sanghvi for a few photographs at the poolside bar iKandy. We managed to exchange a few words and he mentioned that he has been to Kohima. A few pictures later, we bloggers proceeded inside for the beauty makeover by the specialists from Delhi Duty Free.

Heena from DDFS who did my make over. Thank you!

While I waited for my turn, I participated in the Perfume Quiz and won myself a lovely Burberry Fragrances toilet bag.

With my prize!

Post my evening look makeover by the very talented Heena, we headed off to partake of the scrumptious dinner spread at La Riviera.

Pork belly, quinoa-rocket salad, garlic butter scallops and salmon in tomato vinaigrette made it to my plate. I also got to interact with the bloggers over dinner and we all left pretty enlightened with new information, goodies from Delhi Duty Free, a delicious dinner, great hospitality and looking much forward to visiting the Delhi Duty Free Store for our next perfume refills!