‘The osmanthus accord — that sweet scent of tiny golden flowers blooming in аutumn — is central to Tansu Silk. I remember my amazement at discovering how different the fragrance of a living osmanthus tree in bloom was from that of its absolute: the osmanthus we usually find in perfumes smells like suede and jam, while the “real” one, the one I was going for, sparkles like peach soda. When the wind blows in Tokyo, moving all that golden, fragrant, fizzing air through the streets, I always want to expose my face to it. It makes me feel like I’m in love. Like it’s spring amidst October,’ — Maria Golovina

‘I wanted to give this perfume a sense of time — without making it a retro one. This is where the modern musks came in handy, clean, but with a touch of carnality, like the sweet, warm scent of your loved one lingering on his clothes. Cosmone, a musk I used in Tansu Silk, is warm, rich and elegant, with those amazing sweet aspects of nitromusks from the 1920s. Only better, because it’s modern, safe and biodegradable,’ — Maria Golovina

‘I must confess there’s no raw material I love more than the sandalwood oil from New Caledonia, its scent so smooth and intoxicating I can’t even imagine being replaced with anything else. I could “listen” to it indefinitely, a bit like they do during incense ceremonies in Japan. Powered by osmanthus, bracing hinoki, powdery ambrette and vintage musks of Tansu Silk, all sandalwood’s colors — creamy, woody and green — begin to breathe,’ — Maria Golovina