People often tell me they catch my scent before they even see me.
My love for oils began in childhood, blossoming into an unshakable passion that has become an essential part of who I am. Scent has always been more than just a sensory experience for me—it’s a portal, a time machine, a way of traveling through memories and emotions. A single whiff can transport me to another dimension, stirring echoes of past lives and forgotten moments.
I’ve always been deeply aware of scents and their power. I remember the sacred aroma of Frankincense resin filling our home, as my mother burned it to cleanse the air and protect us from unseen forces. The smoky tendrils would weave through the rooms, carrying an ancient wisdom I couldn’t yet understand. Then there was the jasmine bush at my grandparents’ home in Damascus—a fragrance so lush and hypnotic that even the warm night air seemed to hold it close. I spent endless hours in their garden, running my fingers through the basil and geranium bushes, carefully plucking tiny bugs from the leaves, absorbing the earthiness of it all.
And then, there was Oudh—deep, musky, and intoxicating. My aunt wore it like a signature, and one embrace from her was enough for its rich scent to cling to me for hours. While others found it overwhelming, I was mesmerized. There was something ancient and mysterious about it, something that resonated with me on a soul level. That love for Oudh became a thread woven through my journey, shaping the very essence of my blends. Every scent I create carries a story, a memory, a feeling—bottled pieces of my past, waiting to transport someone else.
In 2011, my wife and I set off on a year-long journey around the world. About six months in, we found ourselves sitting at a quiet café in Northern Thailand, weighed down by an unexpected sense of sadness and discouragement. Something felt off, and as we talked it through, we realized the source of our unease—we had spent months exploring, absorbing, and experiencing, but we hadn’t been creating. That realization shifted everything.
From that moment on, I decided to travel with greater intention, following a deeper thread—scent. Wherever I landed, I sought out the most captivating, rare, and meaningful fragrances we could find. The goal was simple yet profound: to craft a scent that would encapsulate our global adventure, capturing the essence of the places, people, and stories I encountered along the way.
When we returned home, Seydali was born. Meaning “Apothecarist” in Arabic, Seydali became the embodiment of our journey—an exquisite blend of Mysore Sandalwood, Indian Oudh, Cambodian Oudh, and Saffron. The first batch sold out almost instantly, and the overwhelming demand inspired yet another journey, this time to India, in search of more rare and precious ingredients.
The second batch of Seydali was created along with a collection of additional handcrafted blends.
Since then, I have immersed myself even deeper into the art of blending and alchemy. What began as a passion has transformed into a lifelong pursuit—an endless exploration of scent, memory, and emotion. My blends have grown more intricate, layered with richness and complexity, yet always refined, always intentional. Each one tells a story, not just of the rare and precious ingredients within, but of the places, people, and experiences that have shaped them.
But this journey is more than just the creation of fragrance; it is a deepening of my own understanding of the world. Scent has become my guide, my language, my way of connecting to something greater than myself. As I evolve as an artist, I also evolve as a human—experiencing life not just through my eyes, but through my nose, my skin, and my senses. Every inhale is an awakening, a reminder that fragrance is more than just a fleeting pleasure; it is a vessel of time, a bridge between the seen and the unseen, the past and the present, the physical and the spiritual.
And so, the journey continues.
Each of the blends is crafted with 100% concentrated oil, presented in small, precious bottles—each one a vessel of scent, memory, and magic.
For more, explore the “olfactory” section of the shop.
