Skin #7 scent by Nadilakai Studio
Last year, Nadilakai Studio created bespoke scents for our 3daysofdesign exhibition. This year, Nadia is once again the magician behind the fragrance that infuses our space.
Following our first meeting, her notes consisted of just a few words: skin, exposed vulnerability, strength, raw femininity and sensuality.
As she began creating the fragrance, one question kept returning:
What is the feminine?
After developing 14 different fragrances, Nadia chose number 7. It became Skin #7. A fragrance with depth and complexity. Something dark, insistent, almost animalic, yet still capable of capturing the lightness and buttery softness of skin.
"I wanted two sides to exist simultaneously: strength and vulnerability, darkness and lightness, rawness and softness. It was a difficult task, but it became my guiding vision, the thing I knew I had to realize if I was to be satisfied."
The final result is Nadia’s interpretation of a feminine presence that dares to embrace all facets of herself. A presence that stands firmly within herself and knows that she contains all the women who came before her, and every facet of what it means to be human.
Formulator's Notes by Nadilakai
Instead of relying on classic sweet notes, I drew inspiration from the use of resins and incense in antiquity and churches to evoke a sense of something sacred and present.
The base of the fragrance is built on genuine oud and benzoin. The resins bring depth, mystery and warmth.
Darkness in the corners. Smoke lingering at the edges. A veil of light. A cone of illumination cutting through darkness.
Together they create a soft, balsamic warmth that feels more like a memory than a perfume.
Oud carries a vibrating darkness. It brings ritual, sensuality and something ancient. It is not a conventionally "pretty" note. It does not try to please everyone, and that is precisely what makes it so compelling. It is extracted from the heartwood of the Aquilaria tree when the tree is infected by a specific fungus, making it one of the most precious raw materials in the world.
There is also a paradox at the heart of oud. It only comes into being when the tree is wounded. As the tree defends itself against infection or injury, it produces the dark resin that is later distilled into oil. Complex beauty. Strength born from resistance.
Benzoin is like amber-colored velvet in scent form. Slow, warm and whispering. Resin, skin and soft balsamic depth.
At the heart of the fragrance are ylang-ylang and tuberose.
Tuberose smells of playfulness and warm nights. Bare feet against stone. There is something immediate, almost naive about it. Yet elegant. A white flower with both innocence and self-assurance.
Ylang-ylang feels like warm skin bathed in golden light. But there is something forceful about it too. Something insistent. It unfolds almost excessively, like a blow to the senses. Too much and irresistible at once.
There is something deeply intimate about ylang-ylang. Like warm breath against the neck. It is a floral note with weight. Not delicate like lily of the valley, nor cool like iris. Ylang-ylang arrives with warmth, curves and golden fullness. Wild, lush and unapologetic.
Beneath the flower's abundance lies a darker veil: something gently spiced and almost animalic, balancing the sweetness and keeping it alive rather than merely pretty. There is something untamed and intense about its scent that demands your attention.
The top notes contain red mandarin and blood orange.
Red mandarin brings a spicy brightness to the opening, while blood orange adds ripeness and a darker sensuality to the first impression.
