The Harmonist: the perfumes of Lola Karimova

Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva is a successful business woman with a Ph.D. in psychology who runs the innovative The Harmonist brand. Born in Uzbekistan, she lived and worked in Paris before moving to the US.

Former Permanent Representative of Uzbekistan to UNESCO, Ms Karimova-Tillyaeva is a dedicated philanthropist overseeing three charities (most notably the You Are Not Alone Foundation) that work with disadvantaged children in her native land by providing medical help including complex cardiac interventions as well as housing and education for orphaned children. Her husband, Timur Tillyaev, works in business and transportation. Together they make a winning team.

Lola Karimova's perfumes

As well as founding three charities, Lola Karimova has also created a deluxe perfume house, The Harmonist. Established in 2013, The Harmonist launched its flagship collection of ten exquisite signature scents in 2016. Quality, harmony and sustainability are at the heart of the brand, with rare natural ingredients carefully selected from all over the world for their precious properties.

Together with top Parisienne perfumer Guillaume Flavigny and a team of inspired experts, Lola Tillyaeva works to create elixirs that caress the skin, gently releasing complimentary scents to ensure a lasting bouquet. This is one reason why the fragrances have proved popular with clients; the highly-professional team, top quality natural ingredients and finely-tuned intuition make a win-win combination.

Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva encourages her customers to take their time when choosing a scent, too, to assure themselves that the fragrance they pick really suits both their skin and their personality.

Lola Tillyaeva’s unique brand

As well as a superb collection of carefully-crafted scents, The Harmonist has a unique ethos, too. Ms Karimova-Tillyaeva often highlights her vision for her products and how she would like her fragrances to enhance her clients’ wellbeing. As a child, Lola Tillyaeva was enveloped in a rich aura of Oriental smells – spices, wild flowers, soothing oils and incenses – and she developed a keen sense of smell along with a deep appreciation for how particular odours can impact on our mood. Our sense of smell is unique among our five senses. It can warn us of danger if something is burning, but perhaps its most magical quality is that it can transport us through time to a happy memory, a place where we felt secure, or a person we love. With this in mind, Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva set out to create a unique brand that would not just be another niche perfume house but would be a haven of harmony. And so The Harmonist was born.

The company’s guiding principal, based on the ancient philosophy of Feng Shui, is to create harmony by creating balance between the five fundamental elements that form the building blocks of the Universe. Each of these five elements - fire, wood, water, earth, and metal – plays its own essential role in the Universe and when we are in tune with the pulse of these elements, all aspects of our life can flow more harmoniously. It's about creating a real connection with the world around us.

According to ancient Chinese philosophy, two opposite yet complimentary forces known as Yin and Yang lie at the heart of all life on Earth. Like day and night, male and female or Sun and Moon, these two energies are in engaged in a dance that is both constant and ever-changing. The moment all these elements are in harmony, perfectly balanced within Yin and Yang, that is when there is peace.

This is the philosophy and concept that informs Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva's unique perfume house. By using a simple app in-store or online you can find your personal element and then read on to discover which fragrance will best help you attune to the world around you, whether you are seeking to harmonise romance, finances, career or family life.

Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva uses the fame of The Harmonist to champion the environment

The Harmonist began with a palette of 10 perfumes available from a beautiful boutique in the heart of Paris that is itself the embodiment of harmony. The flagship collection was warmly welcomed by critics and customers alike. People loved the concept behind its creation as well as the fragrances themselves. Following this success, The Harmonist opened a second store in Los Angeles and the winning combination of ethics and elixirs proved popular there, too.

With sustainability at the heart of her company, Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva wanted to harness her brand’s popularity to bring environmental issues into the spotlight. Herself acutely aware of the urgency of climate change, Lola launched an innovative interactive art installation called The Droplet to raise awareness of issues surrounding Planet Earth’s most precious resource: water.

Combining art and science, The Droplet provides a striking platform for discussions focussing on finding solutions to some of the most pressing problems facing an increasing percentage of the world’s population, namely access to clean water. The Droplet is a beautiful expression of Ms Karimova-Tillyaeva’s care for the future of our planet and her wish to create a harmonious world for our children.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes