Scent of a City

As the mercury rises,we try and sniff out Kolkata’s favourite fragrances

The fetid,muddy waft from the Ganges—provocative but not offensive. The heady aroma of freshly fried ilish— something that every Kolkatans olfactory sense is attuned to. And the benign whiff of the omnipresent marigold bloom. Kolkata is a city of smells. Then of course there are the damp armpits,the rotting garbage dumps and the overflowing drains,but we will only talk about the upper realms of the olfactory hierarchy. Realms where splashes of Davidoff’s Cool Water wash the telltale remnants of the muggy Kolkata heat away from your body and names like Elizabeth Arden and Nina Ricci make you take a deep breath of ecstasy. We are,indeed,talking about the perfume habits of a city which because of its unforgiving weather,can ill-afford a dismissive attitude towards bottled natural or synthetic oils. City-based model Neeraj Surana,for instance,is a stickler when it comes to choosing his “scent”. “I only like sporty fragrances. After a lot of deliberation I chose the sports collection of United Colors of Benetton. I have been using it for years now,” he says. Surana’s choice may be niche one (United Color’s isn’t the first name that comes in your mind when the word perfume is mentioned) but his fellow Kolkatans aren’t exactly discerning when it comes to choosing a signature scent. “The biggest sellers are the lower prized brands. But then people also pick up brands like Davidoff,Nina Ricci,Elizabeth Arden,Escada a lot,” says Satish from the Sumangal chain of stores which have special perfume counters. Davidoff’s Cool Water,it seems,is Kolkata’s chosen perfume. Both men and women of the city seem to love its breezy,fresh feel. “We sell at least 30 -40 bottles of Davidoff every month,he adds. Priced at about Rs 2500 for a 70 ml bottle,Davidoff isn’t exactly dirt cheap,but compared to other high-end products ( a 100 ml bottle of Dior’s Poison will set you back by about Rs 8000),it’s quite reasonable. In fact,Davidoff’s Cool Water reflects Kolkata’s attitude towards perfume— grounded but aspirational. “Kolkatans don’t like experimenting much but they also don’t want to compromise on quality. Price is most definitely a deciding factor,” says Vikas Chauhan of Shoppers Stop. The other high-sellers attest this fact. In the men’s segment Bvlgari Aqua (Rs 3600 for 100 ml),Christian Dior’s Fahrenheit (Rs 4700 for 100 ml),Hugo Boss (Rs 2500 for 100 ml) are all mid-priced perfume brands. Though women have a wider choice,they stick to middle-segment products like Elizabeth Arden’s Green Tea (Rs 1200 for 100 ml) and Nina Ricci’s Apple (Rs 3000 for 100 ml) and of course Cool Water Women (Rs 3500 for 100 ml).

Interestingly,Kolkata women like to experiment with men’s perfume too. “A lot of the young buyers prefer men’s scent to women’s. They feel women’s fragrances are too fruity,” says a spokesperson from Pantaloons. Men,however,choose not to make such androgynous decisions because of obvious reasons. And neither do they try out signature perfumes of stars like Amitabh Bachchan. “We don’t stock these brands because they dont really work here,” says Chauhan from Shopper’s Stop. And when can we expect to get a whiff of Jean Paul Gautier,Givenchy or Acqua di Gio from Armani in the city? “Armani is not available in Kolkata at all but we hope to stock them soon,” says Chauhan.