Scent Is More Than Style—It’s How You Want to Feel

A conversation with Nuno da Silva - Founder and creative director of Atenai London Too many self-care brands treated fragrance like an afterthought. A whisper of essential oil here, a generic aroma there. Nothing with the emotional complexity or intention of a true perfume. And certainly nothing that could transform an entire space, body, or state of mind.

So, he asked a simple question:

“Why should we have to choose between quality, mood, and consistency?”

And with that, Atenai London was born.

Many businesses focus solely on the final product. Can you share a glimpse into the journey of creation at Atenai London? What aspects of this journey are most meaningful to you?

The journey begins with emotion: How do we want people to feel? From that question, a fragrance brief is crafted, outlining not just ingredients but mood, intent, and sensorial goals. This is followed by the meticulous process of adapting the scent across all product types—from Eau de Parfum to body creams, washes, candles, and diffusers.

We insist on using the same scent across the entire range, which adds creative challenge but results in a beautifully immersive, consistent experience. Every version must feel harmonious, with no dilution of mood or message.

Equally meaningful is our commitment to sustainable, vegan-friendly, and cruelty-free ingredients. We carefully choose suppliers in the UK and further afield who align with our values, and we work only with IFRA-compliant formulas that are safe for skin and the home. Even in packaging, our choices reflect elegance with responsibly sourced materials that are considered, minimal, and designed to be reused or recycled where possible.

But what truly makes this journey meaningful is the emotional connection we build into every product. We aren’t chasing trends or seasonal launches, we’re crafting tools for well-being, designed to help people feel more grounded, more present, and more connected to themselves.

When someone lights a Sanctuary candle after a long day, or applies a Blossom body cream in the morning, they’re not just using a product; they’re engaging in a small, intentional act of self-care.

That’s the heart of it. The process isn’t just about making something beautiful. It’s about making something that makes people feel.

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Your products are designed to engage the senses. How do you approach the artistic process of developing new fragrances and formulations, aiming to create not just a product, but an emotional experience or a sense of "inhabitable beauty" within the home?

The creative process at Atenai London begins with an intentional fragrance brief written by me and based on what I want the fragrances to be. It’s both personal and strategic, carefully designed to translate emotions into olfactory language.

Each scent must evoke a specific feeling and work across an entire product range, from eau de parfum to hand cream to home fragrance. 

By partnering with master perfumers and using multi-layered compositions that blend natural and high-quality synthetic ingredients, Atenai transforms fragrance into a living atmosphere, a fully immersive world the customer can step into and inhabit throughout their daily rituals.

At Atenai London, we approach the development of new fragrances and formulations as an artistic and emotional journey, not merely a functional process.

Our goal is to craft products that don’t just scent your space, they inhabit it, transforming the atmosphere and your emotional state in equal measure.

This is where our idea of "inhabitable beauty" comes to life.

Fragrance isn’t something we apply and leave behind; it becomes the invisible architecture of the spaces we live in and the moods we carry. Whether it’s the comforting depth of Sanctuary, the still serenity of Oasis, or the luminous optimism of Blossom, each collection is designed to create a fully immersive, sensory experience that grounds, elevates, and reconnects.

Our fragrances are not accessories; they are invitations to pause, reflect, and feel. They allow beauty to be lived, not just admired.

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Atenai London emphasises products that are "Made in the UK, Vegan Friendly, and Cruelty Free." Beyond these important ethical commitments, what deeper philosophy or core belief guides the creation of each collection – Sanctuary, Oasis, and Blossom?

Atenai London is guided by a deeper belief in fragrance as emotional design. 

Atenai London offers one unified scent across its entire product range, creating a seamless, layered fragrance experience that connects body, mind, and home in a single, harmonious ritual.

Each collection is built around the idea that how we feel should shape how we care for ourselves. Sanctuary, Oasis, and Blossom are not just scents; they are mood states captured in fragrance form. The core philosophy is that scent is not a finishing touch, but a beginning, a ritual that reconnects you to your mood, your body, and your space.

Each of our core collections (with two more coming in 2026) is not just a scent but a carefully crafted emotional experience. We believe that fragrance should do more than smell beautiful; it should shift your mood, set your intention, and enhance your sense of self and space. 

This is why we create fragrances that are immersive, layered, and consistent across multiple formats from perfume to body wash to home fragrance.

Sanctuary is about inner calm and restoration. Oasis represents clarity, balance, and stillness. Blossom captures energy, lightness, and optimism. These collections are designed to help people reconnect with themselves through daily rituals, offering more than products; they offer a moment of presence and emotional alignment in an otherwise noisy world.

In short, we don’t just design fragrance. We design how you want to feel and then give you a way to live in that feeling.

The concept of "imperfection as beauty" can often lend authenticity to artistic creations. In the world of bath, body, and home fragrance, where precision is often valued, how do you find or embrace elements that give your products a unique soul and character?

At Atenai London, we deeply resonate with the idea that imperfection can be a source of beauty and authenticity. While the world of bath, body, and home fragrance often prizes precision, consistency, and flawless execution, we believe that soul and emotional resonance are born in the spaces between perfection in the pauses, the adjustments, and the willingness to start again.

A defining example of this is found in the development of our Sanctuary fragrance. 

Originally crafted with Ylang Ylang as a central note, we discovered it could not be used at the required levels in diffuser formats due to IFRA restrictions. Rather than settle for a compromised version, we chose to restart the creative process from scratch, an act that reflects our belief that integrity and emotional depth matter more than convenience.

That decision wasn’t just about reformulating. It was about staying aligned with our intention to create a complete, immersive scent experience that feels emotionally coherent across all touchpoints. The journey was imperfect, unpredictable, and ultimately more human, and that humanity gives our products a soul that can be felt.

We see these moments not as flaws, but as signs that we’re crafting with care. Our commitment to inhabitable beauty means we allow for texture, for emotion, for nuance. Every fragrance evolves through conversations, reactions, and real-world testing. And that process, layered, living, imperfect, is what gives Atenai London its quiet strength and authenticity.

Because beauty, for us, isn’t sterile. It’s felt, experienced, and real.

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Nature often inspires art and design. How does the natural world, or perhaps specific aspects of the British landscape, subtly influence the tones, textures, and aromatic profiles you select for Atenai London's offerings?

Nature inspires Atenai not just visually but emotionally and aromatically. While not explicitly referencing the British countryside, the grounded elegance of woods, florals, and botanicals in the collections speaks to a subtle connection with natural rhythms and textures. 

Each scent is designed to evoke moments of presence and calm, much like walking through a garden at sunrise while smelling the fresh burst of oranges and violet and grounding beauty of Cedarwood (Blossom) or finding stillness in a forest sanctuary (Sanctuary). The ingredients like Cedarwood, Rose, Bergamot, and Frankincense mirror the poetic simplicity of natural elements, layered with sophistication.

In this way, the natural world, especially the soft contrasts and elegant imperfections of the landscape inform not only our aromatic profiles but also the way we think about beauty, space, and emotional connection.

Nature teaches us to pause, reflect, and reawaken the senses, and that is precisely what we hope our fragrances will do.

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You operate in a market filled with established brands. What unique "vibration" or distinctive quality do you strive for Atenai London to embody, ensuring your brand resonates deeply with your audience beyond just the practical benefits of your products?

Atenai London positions itself at the intersection of prestige perfumery and wellness. It doesn’t just offer products; it offers a feeling you can live in. The brand’s vibration is one of quiet elegance, emotional clarity, and immersive simplicity. In a market crowded with trends and noise, Atenai invites you to pause, breathe, and reconnect with yourself, your space, and your senses. That deep emotional presence, grounded in fragrance, is what truly sets the brand apart.

In a market saturated with established names and constant noise, Atenai London offers something distinctly different: a sense of quiet, intentional luxury. Our unique “vibration” isn’t loud or trend-driven, it’s centred, immersive, and emotionally resonant.

We strive to create more than just beautiful products; we design how people want to feel.

Every fragrance, every texture, every detail is crafted to evoke a mood, whether it’s stillness, clarity, or joy. That emotional precision is what sets us apart. Our customers don’t just wear our fragrances, they live in them. They layer them into their daily rituals, surround themselves with them at home, and return to them because they offer a moment of calm, connection, or upliftment in an otherwise fast-moving world.

Unlike brands that focus on seasonal novelty or surface aesthetics, Atenai is rooted in meaning and mood. Each collection, Sanctuary, Oasis, Blossom, is not just a scent but a curated emotional state, supported by vegan-friendly, cruelty-free, UK-made formulations.

We maintain consistency of scent across all formats, so customers can move through their day, body, space, and spirit, in harmony with one fragrance story.

That seamless, immersive experience is our signature. It’s a form of emotional design where the product becomes a sensory atmosphere, and the brand becomes a trusted companion in someone’s personal ritual of care.

In essence, Atenai London resonates because we don’t just ask, What does it smell like? We ask, How does it make you feel, and how do you want to feel today?

The line between artist and entrepreneur can sometimes blur. How do you navigate the creative intuition required for product development with the strategic demands of running a business like Atenai London?

I wear both the creative and entrepreneurial hats. Fragrance development is deeply intuitive and emotionally driven, yet anchored by strategic decision-making such as compliance with regulations, sustainable formulation choices, and scalable production. 

Atenai’s creative process is fluid but disciplined, ensuring that artistry never comes at the cost of consistency or safety. The brand succeeds because it treats its emotional core as a strength that guides business direction, not one that competes with it.

Product development begins with creative intuition and an emotional vision of how we want people to feel. Whether it’s the calm of Sanctuary, the clarity of Oasis, or the energy of Blossom, each collection starts with a sensory mood. The creative process is deeply personal and artistically driven, relying on mood briefs, storytelling, and intuitive collaboration with master perfumers.

But that creative flow is always balanced by a disciplined, strategic framework. Every fragrance must translate across multiple product formats, body care, home scenting, and eau de parfum while maintaining safety, consistency, and IFRA compliance. We also design for manufacturing, cost, scalability, and sustainability, all of which require a highly structured business mindset.

What makes this balance work is the belief that creativity and commerce don’t have to compete; they can enhance each other. Our emotional design philosophy gives our brand depth and authenticity, while our strategic execution ensures that beauty is delivered in a way that’s reliable, repeatable, and responsible.

In truth, Atenai exists in that very space where artistry and entrepreneurship meet. We create with heart, build with intention, and always lead with the question: “Does this serve the customer both emotionally and practically?” That’s where the magic happens.

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If a single fragrance or product from Atenai London could tell a story about its inspiration and purpose, which one would it be, and what tale would it unfold about its origins and intended impact on the user?

Sanctuary stands as the most personal and emblematic story. It’s a scent that invites the user into a space of nourishment and upliftment, born from a desire to create a refuge in the middle of modern chaos. It tells the story of a brand that values resonance over convenience, and which believes that even in fragrance, there must be sanctuary.

As stated, its creation was not straightforward. The original version, though beautiful, couldn’t be used across every format due to IFRA restrictions on Ylang Ylang concentrations in diffusers. This posed a difficult choice. But instead of compromising on performance or safety or offering a diluted experience, we chose to start again. The entire formula was rebuilt from scratch to ensure it could be carried seamlessly across every product: from Eau de Parfum to hand wash, cream, and home fragrance.

That decision reflects the deeper tale Sanctuary tells: one of patience, integrity, and emotional consistency. It reminds us that beauty isn't always instant. Sometimes it comes through friction, refinement, and a return to purpose.

Sanctuary's final composition blends frankincense, rose, bergamot, and amber, among other notes, to create something deeply comforting yet elegant. It’s modern, timeless, and emotionally resonant, a fragrance that doesn’t demand attention but quietly transforms the space and the self.

Its intended impact is simple but profound:

To become a ritual of restoration.

To offer not just scent, but solace.

To remind the user that, amidst all the motion of life, there is always a place within

a sanctuary to return to.

Looking ahead, what aspirations do you hold for Atenai London? Are there new dimensions you envision exploring, or new ways you hope to enrich people's daily rituals through your collections?

Atenai London aims to expand its influence by continuing to deepen daily rituals and enrich emotional well-being through scent. 

While remaining grounded in its core collections, the brand envisions new ways to explore emotional design, perhaps through seasonal edits, personalisation, experiential retail, or deeper wellness collaborations. Ultimately, the aspiration is to build a global community of customers who don’t just wear Atenai, they live inside it, carrying the scent of calm, clarity, and self-connection wherever they go.

Looking ahead, our aspiration for Atenai London is to deepen, not just expand. While growth is part of our journey, our true ambition is to continue crafting emotional experiences that people can live in through scent, ritual, and mindful design.

We see Atenai not as a brand of products, but as a sensory world that supports people in how they want to feel each day. In that spirit, we plan to explore new dimensions that enrich daily rituals: more layered formats, limited-edition edits, seasonal scent stories, and perhaps even immersive retail or collaborative wellness spaces that bring the brand to life in physical form.

Sustainability and emotional integrity will remain core to everything we do. We're interested in not just innovating with ingredients and packaging but also rethinking how people interact with fragrance emotionally, how it supports focus, rest, confidence, or joy throughout the day.

Our long-term vision includes extending our collections in a subtle but meaningful way,s always staying true to our essence: quiet luxury, inhabitable beauty, and scent as emotional design. Whether that means introducing body rituals for specific moments of the day or deepening our home fragrance line to create complete ambient landscapes, every evolution will be intentional and human-centric.

Ultimately, we hope Atenai London becomes a kind of trusted companion, a brand that people return to not only for its quality and elegance but for the way it makes them feel more grounded, more connected, and more themselves.

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