Grooming brand Wild Stone launches perfume tested by visually impaired people

“It smells like a flower”

“It reminds me of America, takes me back to some memory”

“It reminds me of a mall”.

“It reminds me of history somehow”.

Did you ever imagine that a perfume could evoke such varied and interesting reactions? That’s exactly what Sense is doing.

Sense, launched by popular men’s grooming brand Wild Stone on World Sight Day, has been developed based on feedback from people with vision impairments. It is also the brand’s first unisex perfume.

“When you smell a perfume you close your eyes to let the perfume speak to you”, explains Sushant Panda, Consultant, Wild Stone and Creator, Sense. The idea of developing the perfume came to him after speaking to a friend. “One of the things he said was that post retirement he plans to train visually impaired people to assess perfumes. That triggered the idea”.

The sense of smell is far more critical for visually impaired people. They use touch and sounds to navigate their way around. Also, whether you are visually impaired or not, we are all equal when it comes to smell. – Sushant Panda, Creator, Sense

Sense available on Wild Stone website

Wild Stone worked closely with Jivaudan, a leading brand that develops fragrances for brands around the world. NGO Saksham, which works to empower people with blindness and low vision, was also a vital part of this unique and creative venture.

“I found Sushant’s idea so original”, says Rummi Seth, Founder-Trustee, Saksham. “Persons with vision impairment have an entirely different concept of smell, touch and sound from those who have sight. I thought this initiative would also enable visually impaired people to enjoy concepts of different smells”.

For Chetna Nagpal, Implementation Officer, Saksham, Sense evokes memories of a holiday. She is among the team of visually impaired people who shared her feedback. “I usually don’t like floral smells but the floral whiff in Sense makes me feel happy. It reminds me of a holiday I took to Dubai last year with my family. I must have smelled it there somewhere”.

Sushant says Sense is among the fastest perfumes that Wild Stone has developed. “We launched it on World Sight Day on 8 October and plan to build the buzz and interest around it leading to World Disability Day in December”

At present Sense is available on the Wild Stone website and is priced at ₹ 599. Going ahead the company plans to make it available across all online platforms. The proceeds from the sales will go towards donations.

Kishan, who is among those to give his feedback, is delighted that he was a part of this. “This is such a special and unique idea and I am so happy that someone has thought os creating a perfume specifically for people with vision impairments”.

You can buy Sense by clicking on this link.

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