MY LIGHT BULB MOMENT
Perfume innovator Tara Derakshan
TARA DERAKSHAN, 35, co-founded bespoke perfume subscription service Sniph last year. She has now launched an in-store Sniph counter at Harvey Nichols. I’VE always loved scent and would recommend new ones to my mum and friends — it was like being an unofficial consultant.
But I didn’t start out thinking I could make it my career. After doing a masters in business and economics, I worked around the clock for an advertising company. I wasn’t happy. I started practising meditation, yoga and other methods of selfcare, often with scents. It wasn’t long before I realised I wanted to be in the fragrance business.
At around the same time, I kept hearing about a woman called Lisa Kjellqvist, a fellow perfume ‘nose’. Our friends put us in touch and we found we were both frustrated by the way perfume is marketed.
It’s so easy to spend money on a single bottle and find out you don’t really like it. We thought: why buy one big bottle when you can experience smaller versions of scents from all over the world? We decided to set up a concierge service, Sniph, hand-picking new and niche scents for people to try. We wanted it to be like a book club, or a wine tasting, but for perfume.
People say you have to be French with a degree in chemistry to be a ‘nose’, but we were on a mission to democratise perfume.
We sourced bespoke Sniph bottles, so we could include a stylish black perfume dispenser with each initial subscription. It fits in your handbag, so your perfume doesn’t just sit on a shelf. We also needed to set up our own lab, so we approached music-streaming service Spotify’s investor, Rosello. It was nerveracking, but Rosello invested as the firm believed in the concept.
Today Sniph allows members to discover 12 new premium scents annually (€16 a month for an 8ml bottle; €10.50 for 4ml). We find artisan perfume houses that value creativity, such as Heeley in Paris, or Oliver & Co, located in Madrid.
Many of our clients are women in their 40s and 50s. It’s so rewarding when we get letters from customers thanking us for helping them discover new perfume. I knew my real passion was perfume, and launching Sniph was a dream come true. I love that you can change your scent as often as your outfit.