Kayali fragrance founder, Mona Kattan, gave us a walkthrough of her dreamy perfume closet *and* answered some of our top fragrance questions. Find out which scent Mona uses before working out, the memory she wishes she could bottle up, and describe her favourite Disney princess as a Kayali fragrance.

Cosmo Middle East: What’s your first ever memory of fragrance?

Mona Kattan: So, my first fragrance memory was from when I was a child and my mom use to wear a non-branded jasmine perfume. It wasn’t a particular brand. It was just in a bottle with no label. It was just a beautiful, natural jasmine scent. That’s where my love and obsession for jasmine started. It was also an inspiration for Deja Vu White Flower.

C: If you could’ve been the creator behind any iconic fragrance, what would it be?

MK: If I could be a creator of any iconic fragrance, it would be Jean-Paul Gaultier Classique. I love the way it smells. It’s so beautiful and it reminds me of my university days. It is a little less worn than things like Coco Chanel Mademoiselle, J’adore, and others. It was like a little but more niche even though it’s not niche, it’s very popular. I don’t like to smell like everyone else, it was like a little more rare but still very iconic, very beautiful.

So, this fragrance was created all the way in 1993, it’s incredible by Jacques Cavallier. He is one of my favourite noses and he is also behind all of the Louis Vuitton fragrances. Now he is exclusive to LVMH Perfumes, which I hate because I want to work with him so bad, but I love him. He is so talented. He is a legend, and he has created a lot of my favourite perfumes.

So, the notes of this fragrance are orange blossom, rose, mandarin orange, pear, bergamot, ylang ylang, ginger, orchid, iris, plum, tuberose, plum, vanilla, amber musk, cinnamon, and sandalwood. It’s very complex. As you guys know I love complex fragrances, totally my style and my jam. I wish I created this, but I didn’t Jacques did, and I love you. Muah.

C: Describe your favourite Disney princess as a Kayali fragrance.

MK: So, my favourite Disney princess is definitely Jasmine, Princess Jasmine. I definitely wish I was her when I was a kid although Huda always made me be Aladdin. She was Jasmine all the time. Now that I am grown, I can be Jasmine. If Princess Jasmine was a Kayali fragrance she would definitely be Invite Only because she was from Middle East. She was Arabian and this is the most Arabian middle eastern fragrance we have, it’s so decadent.

This is defiantly the fragrance I hear the most where people say it smells rich, expensive. It smells like money. She was a princess so she would definitely be wearing this. So good. Yum.

C: What’s your go-to Kayali fragrance when you’re in the best mood?

MK: My go-to Kayali fragrance when I was in the best mood is definitely Utopia. Utopia for me if you guys watch my channel, it’s happiness in a bottle. It’s sunshine. It’s vacation in a bottle, and for me, vacation and sunshine make happy. It puts me in the best mood ever. It smells really good.

C: What’s your go-to Kayali fragrance when you need cheering up?

MK: So, my go-to Kayali fragrance when I need a pick me up is definitely our Kayali Citrus. Our Citrus fragrance is very energizing and mood-boosting. It’s scientifically proven that citrus boosts your mood. It gives you energy when you smell lemon, grapefruit, bergamot, and anything very citrus. It just is going to energise you. So, whenever I feel like I need a pick me up I spray it actually I usually spray it when I want to work out. I

C: If you could collaborate with any celeb (dead or alive) on a fragrance, who would it be?

MK: So, if I could collaborate with any celebrity dead or alive to create a fragrance, I would definitely pick Sherihan. I think she is just a legend she is an icon. She was like a middle eastern Marilyn Monroe. She changed the industry for women. She made people celebrate women more. She broke a lot of barriers for women. So, I would definitely collaborate with her, and I also feel like she would smell really sexy.

C: What’s a scent you wish you could bottle up (i.e. fresh cut grass)?

MK: So, if I could bottle up one particular scent I would definitely bottle up the house that I grew up in Tennessee. I lived there from when I was a very small child until I was 13 years old. It was the best kind of like innocent, naïve, childhood memory. So, I really miss that smell. Also, Tennessee is like earthy, woody, and green and there’s something about it that I just love so much.

C: What’s the best fragrance hack you’ve ever learned?

MK: So, the number one fragrance hack for all of you guys is to spray fragrance all over your clothing and your hair. Preferably use a hair mist on your hair but if you can’t fragrance still last a lot longer on your hair. It also gets you a lot of compliments. (*does hair flip*) I do like this and then people smell me and ask what are you wearing. So don’t just spray it on your skin. Skin evolves a lot based on your hormones, sweat, the weather. Whereas spraying on your clothes and hair is much more consistent, reliable, and lasts so much longer.

C: What’s a scent that relaxes you the most?

MK: So, I actually love using scents to relax me, essentials oils can be so life-changing when you have stress or anxiety and for me, my go-to definitely lavender essential oils, and if you want you can even mix a little bit of jasmine with it too and it’s just really relaxing. It gives me like an instant booster. I love it, I actually like to mix it with vanilla too, to balance it out and change it up. Vanilla also makes me very happy too because of the sweetness. It depends on what kind of mood I am in if I want energy, I like citrus and if I want a little bit of cosiness, I will spray Vanilla28.

C: If you could describe your sisters as scents, what would you describe them as?

MK: So, if I could describe my sisters as scents, I am goanna pick Kayali because I know them the best. I would definitely say my sister Khalida is our musk because she is very like an understated. She does not try hard, but she is so elegant. For Alia, I would definitely say Deja Vu because she loves Deja Vu and she wears it all the time. For Huda, I am going to pick Elixir because Huda and I worked on it really hard together. This was when Huda was working with me on fragrances. I have so many memories of developing Elixir with her so I would definitely choose Elixir.

C:  What’s one thing that surprised you the most while working with fragrances?

MK: So, the one thing that surprised me the most when working with fragrances is that on their own many ingredients can smell very funny, very different. They almost smell bad. But when you mix it with other fragrances and notes the combination together can smell very beautiful, so you really have to think of fragrances as cooking a soup. So, something on its own can taste or smell really bad but together it is all about creating harmony and balance. So, it is a lot of work and a lot of trial and error but it’s kind of like beauty of creating a fragrance.