A Dunedin perfumer and business owner who died from a brain bleed has been remembered as “a giver” who devoted herself to helping people wherever she went. Nur Perfumery owner Nicky Tāmati, 39, died unexpectedly from a subarachnoid haemorrhage on Thursday — the day of her little sister’s birthday. The business, in Princes St, was stylised after an old-fashioned European atelier and offered workshops where people could create their own fragrances. Chrissy Thomas, Ms Tāmati’s mother, said the business was her daughter’s lifelong dream and she died having fulfilled it. She travelled the world and had lived life to the fullest. “She probably lived more in her short years than most people would live in three lifetimes,” Ms Thomas said. “She died happy and that’s something that we can hold on to.” Ms Tāmati had synesthesia: a rare 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, which helped her to determine if a fragrance was good or not. Nur Perfumery began taking bookings in May. Since then, Ms Thomas said the business had already become really popular and inspired many others. Her daughter had not seen it as something to make money from, but as a way to help people and share her knowledge. She had done a significant amount of training and work with traumatised people, and had been looking to evolve the use of scent to help heal people. She created specific scents and donated them to Ōtepoti Communities Against Sexual Abuse for clients to have for free. Everywhere she went, there was always someone she was giving things to, feeding or looking after, Ms Thomas said. “She was a giver. “She has so many friends around the world because she would just walk into a room and she would just look after people.” She would look after “waifs and strays” and offer strangers sanctuary in her own home. “She would see a traveller sleeping on the street and she would say to them, ‘do you need somewhere to stay?’. “She was just one of those people that naturally looked after other people and made sure other people were OK. “She was just too good to people and there’s not many people like her.” Rather than dismantling Nur Perfumery, Ms Thomas said the family was in discussion with Ms Tāmati’s landlord to potentially hand it over to a new creator, so her legacy could live on. A celebration of Nicky’s life would be held in Hope and Sons Chapel at 11am on Wednesday. There would be a natural burial at Green Park Cemetery. tim.scott@odt.co.nz
