MALA ° EXTRAIT DE PARFUM

Vibe ° Floramber ° Sacred Temple Garland ° Incense

Inspired by flower garlands threaded for rituals commemorating life, love and death in New Delhi, with swirls of temple incense, saffron and henna. Deep, sacred, dark and sensuous.

“When I returned to New York, I missed my old [New Delhi] haunts and scents of the little Gold Leaf cigarettes I smoked, tea, spices, garlands of rose, carnation and marigold dangling from the wedding shops, so I recreated that place in this perfume, Mala, as in, a garland of flowers, beads, and stories; in Spanish, a bad woman. I use a single drop of scent of a loose woman°—choya nakh oil—to fix the perfume, so it lingers.”

—Tanaïs, “Mala,” In Sensorium: Notes for My People

°medieval Indian double entendre for roasted seashell oil, perhaps because of the long fingernail like shape of this mollusk

TANAÏS is a Brooklyn-born fragrance and beauty house founded by Hi Wildflower, a Bangla-American writer, perfumer, and activist. Each scent is a story drawn from South Asian heritage, diaspora memory, and the sensory landscapes of travel, devotion, and desire.

The collection spans extrait de parfum, perfume oils, and candles alongside color cosmetics, all crafted with intention and rooted in the belief that fragrance is a form of literature. Evocative names like Mala, Mojave, Pilgrimage, and Heart Chakra speak to a world where beauty is both personal and political.

An independent house with a singular voice. TANAÏS makes scent for those who wear their story on their skin.