Kismet Olfactive Nostalgia (A Sonnet for Grasse). Nostalgia is a love song to the French-Alps village of Grasse, where Kismet-founder Shabnam Tavakol studied perfumery. Structured on poetry’s 14-line sonnet form, the fragrance is composed of 14 raw materials.

Nostalgia’s first stanza is based on seductive suede, saffron, and leather accords, evoking Grasse’s roots as an epicenter of tanning in the Middle Ages. Heart notes include Rose de mai and nagarmotha as a nod to Grasse’s rise as the world’s perfume capital in the 18th century—home to hillside flower fields that meet the Mediterranean Sea. At its volta, Nostalgia turns upwards towards anisic top notes inspired by Pastis—the complex, herbal aperitif with which Shabnam developed an intimate relationship during after-school hours at Grasse’s sole watering hole, Le Crystal.

At once leathery, musky, floral, herbal, smoky, and spicy, Nostalgia is a unisex scent intoxicating to men, women, and everyone in between.

Feelings: Adventurous, Bold, Rich, Deep, Confident

Kismet fragrances are made by hand in small batches, are unfiltered, and contain a high concentration of natural raw materials—therefore, some cloudiness or sediment may occur.

Kismet Olfactive

Kismet Olfactive is a New York City-based independent fragrance studio founded by bohemian-perfumer Shabnam Tavakol. Born and raised in California, Shabnam, Farsi for morning dew, is the daughter of Iranian-immigrant parents who escaped the violent 1979 Revolution in Iran by a good fortune re-location to the U.S. Recognizing this fortuitous past, Kismet, from the Persian qismat, meaning “fate” or “what is meant to be” translates the serendipitous moments that radiate from lives into wearable scents.