Mona Kattan On Falling in Love with KAYALI’s Newest Fragrance
Launching today, Sweet Diamond Pink Pepper is like nothing else we’ve ever encountered before in the world fragrance…
From elaborating on the notes in the fragrance to the process of creative a fragrance during a pandemic, Mona Kattan shares all the ins and outs of developing KAYALI’s newest fragrance Sweet Diamond Pink Pepper with Bazaar…
Harper’s Bazaar Arabia (HBA): Can you tell us more about the inspiration behind the fragrance?
Mona Kattan (MK): Sweet Diamond was really about capturing the beauty of pink pepper. 2018 was when I first started to learn about pink pepper, while I was filming for Huda Boss. They had explained to me that when you smell pink pepper, it gives you the same emotion of when you first fall in love. So, for me, I thought “Oh my gosh, I need to bottle this and figure out a way to celebrate this ingredient.”
It also includes other amazing ingredients like bergamot and saffron, which is really inspired by my roots. Also, things like magnolia, lily, vanilla, musk, amber, and patchouli – so, a lot of beautiful ingredients in this fragrance. It’s spicy, woody, floral, very sexy, and very bold; I decided to call the fragrance Sweet Diamond because I really feel like it celebrates our feminine energy. We’re strong, but we’re sweet at the same time.
HBA: How does this fragrance fit in with the entire KAYALI family?
MK: Well, she is definitely a unicorn! She is unique for sure in terms of the scent. This is also our first intense fragrance perfume, which means it has a super high concentration of ingredients. It’s very strong, very high quality and very long lasting. And for the first time ever, we have it launching in three sizes: 100ml, 50 ml, and the 10ml bottle too.
HBA: How long does it take to develop a fragrance like Sweet Diamond?
MK: It does take quite a long time. Usually, to develop most of our fragrances, it’s taken two to three years. But I think now that I’m getting better at the process of it, I’m able to work on pieces a lot faster. For Sweet Diamond, we had to do a lot of back and forth; to be honest, the fragrance wasn’t confirmed until mid-pandemic. It took a long time because, again, I just really wanted to capture romance in a bottle. I’m a hopeless romantic, so this one was really special for me.
HBA: Have you found at all that your taste in fragrances, or what you decide to wear has changed at all throughout the years?
MK: I love gourmand fragrances. So even if I wear a new fragrance, I will add in some vanilla if it’s not there, or I’ll add in something that’s quite gourmand and heavy because I like heavier fragrances. But I try new things all the time, I think my taste has become a little bit more sophisticated.
HBA: And what’s the biggest life lesson you’ve learned on this journey?
MK: I would say that really getting in touch with your emotions is so important. I think being a founder and leader of a brand through creation is very emotional. And I had to switch that off for such a long time because with Huda Beauty, I was always doing more of the less creative, backend side of things. But with KAYALI, I really had to push myself to get emotional, because you really can’t create without turning on your emotions.
For more information, visit hudabeauty.com
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