I went to perform for Khadlaj and came away thinking about perfume bottles. Alongside the magic, I had the chance to learn about a new fragrance and meet some influencers. The event gave an idea I was already interested in plenty of room to grow.
I would like to create my own perfume brand. It is still an idea in development, with questions to explore about the fragrance and the experience around it. Being at Khadlaj put me close to a product that asks people to use their attention differently from the way they do during a magic performance.
With perfume, you encounter the bottle, its name and its packaging before you experience the scent. Each part gives you something to notice. I find that sequence interesting because I spend so much of my working life thinking about how to introduce a moment and what someone expects before it happens.
When I am developing a magic presentation, I think about what the audience should notice first and how much explanation they need. Too much can take the pleasure out of discovering something. Too little can leave them unsure what matters. I enjoy trying to find the right amount.
Perfume has made me curious about similar choices. How would the packaging feel in someone’s hands? What would happen when they opened it? Would the name make them want to know more? These are details I would like to work through if I develop the brand further.
The possibility that keeps returning is a magical reveal. I can imagine giving someone a fragrance in a way they did not expect, so that receiving the bottle becomes part of the memory. I like the thought of bringing some of the surprise of a live performance into an object they can keep.
The fragrance would still have to be something they enjoyed wearing. I could spend months working on the reveal, but eventually someone would put the perfume on. There is only so far misdirection should take a perfume business. That practical detail is a useful companion to the more ambitious ideas.
Meeting influencers at the event gave me another angle to consider. Their work involves presenting experiences through images, video and storytelling; I usually have the audience directly in front of me. I was interested in that difference, particularly while thinking about how a product might be introduced beyond a room full of guests.
Performing was the reason I was there, and I enjoyed the chance to be around Khadlaj’s fragrance alongside doing my own work. Those encounters are one of the pleasures of events: you spend time close to someone else’s industry and leave with questions you would not have asked at home.
There is no finished collection or launch date to announce. I am still working out what I would want my own brand to feel like, and how a little magic might belong in it. For now, even the moment of opening a box gives me plenty to think about.