Smelling good is important. The fragrance we wear becomes an intrinsic part of our personality. There are people who choose to use a single fragrance all through their lives. And then there are the ones who love to experiment with different fragrances. Fragrance is something extremely personal and sensitive. You just can’t randomly pick any fragrance and start using it. In fact, if you notice carefully, rather than you choosing a fragrance, it is the fragrance that chooses you. This fact becomes all the more true when it comes to attar rather than perfumes.
The world of attar is extremely enchanting. Authentic attars stay for up to 24 hours of application. There are different notes with in the same attar that that unravel itself through different intensity and variation of fragrances at various levels from time to time. We do not get to see too many people sporting attars these days. However, attars used to be a mark of regality in the yesteryears.
Keeping the Magic Alive
A very old art of creating beautiful fragrances that is almost on the verge of extinction because of two reasons – one, more and more people are turning towards the more modern counterparts – the perfumes; and secondly, the lack of knowledge among the present day attar manufacturers. If you go out to buy traditional attars in India, you will find a lot of difficulty to find a genuine attar manufacturer in India. However, the best kept secrets of this art and trade are still preserved with utmost care by a handful of people in India.
The need of the hour is to reorient the customers towards the attar usage. Despite the vivid usage and media supporting and boosting sale for perfumes, there is still some distinguished group of customers who still gets enticed by the very mention of the term attar. For some people the very term ittr or attar rakes up myriads of imagination that is accompanied by our nose searching for some exotic fragrance. And then there are people who would curl up their nose, stiffen their brows and exude a ‘who uses them now’ -kind of an attitude. However, in both cases, one thing that is very sadly proved is that the beautiful art and an excellent organic traditional product fading our of people’s memory. The reason behind this is none other than the lack of awareness and knowledge to make it a part of our contemporary fashion.
How to Bring Back the Magic
Why is it that people pick up expensive perfume brands without even a second thought and shy away when it comes to attar? If you ask me as a consumer – I would say that the main deciding factor while choosing any kind of fragrance would be the smell of it. Perfumes are subtle and easy to use. The fragrance of perfumes is more contemporary as compared to the plant based fragrance of attars. For example, who would like to wear a ‘mogra’ smell in office or for that matter anywhere?
The other reason is that we don’t know how to identify authentic attar. The perfume brands have established their credibility and customers knows what exactly to expect from a Lomani or a Chenel. But when it comes to attars their availability is far too less and hence there is always a question about the quality and authentication of the product you buy. The only way to reverse this entire process is by spreading awareness about attar and their usage in day to day life. More people will become aware, they will explore the fragrances and find out the different usage of attar which will automatically boost its usage pattern.
