Nicky Tamati said she smelt everything — which was both a gift and a curse.
‘‘I’m the kind of person who can eat a curry and just remake it because I know what’s in it.’’
As well as a really keen sense of smell, Ms Tamati said she also had synesthesia: a neurological condition where stimulation of one of the five senses could trigger a response in another.
Instead of getting words to describe smells and tastes, she got shapes, colours and movements.
‘‘Lemons for me are green triangles.
‘‘I usually know a scent is complete because it forms a round shape in my mind.’’
The business, Nur Perfumery, is complete with vintage equipment, including a 300-year-old Georgian perfume bottle.
It was an idea which had been brewing since 2017 and was now ‘‘a dream that’s come to life’’, Ms Tamati said.
‘‘I keep walking past the shop and it doesn’t quite feel like it’s mine because it’s been in my head for so long.’’
The first of her three-hour, eight-person workshops is scheduled for Sunday.
Each participant could choose from a selection of 60 of her more than 2000 fragrance compounds to create their own 50ml fragrance.
Ms Tamati said she had been interested in perfumery her whole life.
She had moved to Sweden and started learning everything she could, later training in Berlin and then travelling to India and Pakistan to find ingredients.
Her synesthesia helped her to determine if a fragrance was good or not.
It took her at least six months to develop a fragrance — some of them she had been working on for two years.
‘‘I’ve got one called ‘Indian Summer’ and it reminds me of walking through the markets in Miroli.
‘‘I take these compounds and I turn them into a fragrance and they’re based on memories or experiences that I’ve had.’’
In her mind, it was as if she had ‘‘a Rolodex of references’’, she said.
‘‘It’s like painting with a thousand different colours.’’
The business was booking-only at present, but Ms Tamati planned to eventually add a retail component, which would include selling her own fragrances.
She hoped the business would give people an opportunity to delve into good memories and serve as a therapeutic practice.
‘‘In my ideal world, people would be going into the garden, picking up a rock and smelling its underside and going, ‘how does this make me feel?’
‘‘It’s a very weird thing that I do, but that’s how I learn about smells and experience the world.’’
