Interview with illustrator Laura Gulshani

Laura Gulshani doesn’t actually wear perfume—but you can get her to talk about her love of fragrant food and her appreciation for a great perfume bottle.

Over the next twelve days you’ll become much more familiar with Laura Gulshani’s work, and her interpretation of beautiful perfume bottles. You’ll experience the Twelve Days of Christmas through our perfume picks and Gulshani’s stunning illustrations. Until then, take a read of her fragrance (and bottle) loves.

QUESTION: What is your favourite scent memory of childhood?

LAURA GULSHANI: Hands down, the most memorable scents of my childhood were whatever my grandmother was cooking at the time. She would make the best soups and grilled cheese sandwiches.

Q: What was the first fragrance you bought yourself and why did you buy it?

GULSHANI: I must be honest and disclose that I have never bought myself perfume before. I love the fantasy and whimsy of perfume bottles, but the scents themselves make me feel nauseous. Perhaps I haven’t found the right one for me yet!

Q: What maternal figure (mother, grandmother, aunt, other) influenced you the most in your attitude towards perfume?

GULSHANI: My aversion to perfume aside, the idea of wearing perfume has always seemed elegant to me, and that’s probably thanks to watching the three classiest women I know dab a little behind their ears and on their wrists—my grandmother, mother and aunt. They taught me how to dress, and behave, with grace.

Q: What does your favourite fragrance say about your personality? (And please let us know which fragrance it is!)

GULSHANI: I don’t have a favourite fragrance, but I currently have a favourite perfume bottle, Miu Miu’s EDP. The bold colour combination of red and blue/turquoise, the matelassé-type texture of the bottle and its strong shape allude to key elements of objects that most catch my eye and instill that desire in me to paint them. In a sentence, this fragrance bottle says a lot about the artistic side of my personality I guess! Miu Miu EDP, $135 (100 ml), www.holtrenfrew.com

Q: What makes you notice a fragrance?

GULSHANI: The bottle—no question!

Q: How do you scent your home?

GULSHANI: During the holiday season, I love to buy really large, obnoxious candles that smell so strongly of gingerbread cookies or vanilla bean that it will remain in my scent memory until the next holiday.

Q: Best smelling beauty products?

GULSHANI: My Milk Chocolate Soleil Bronzer by Too Faced. I don’t even wear it anymore, I just carry it around and smell it occasionally. It’s incredible. Too Faced Matte Bronzer, $38, www.sephora.com

Q: Who is the best smelling person you’ve ever met, and what did they smell like?

GULSHANI: Again, probably my grandmother, because she always smelled like the food she was cooking.

Q: If you could bottle the scent of a favourite place/city/memory/moment what would it be and please describe the smell.

GULSHANI: I realize that I’ve now mentioned food a couple of times, but someone needs to bottle that Cinnabon smell ASAP.

Q: What piece of fragrance advice or wisdom do you want to pass on to your kids/the next generation?

GULSHANI: Shower regularly.

Laura Gulshani is a fashion and beauty illustrator living in Toronto, Canada. Her love for art and design is translated through her detailed illustrations executed with a painterly style of thick brushstrokes and layers of colour. Laura’s favorite designers to illustrate are the works of Mary Katrantzou, Prada and Marc Jacobs. Her work has been published in Canadian Living Magazine, Herringbone Magazine and The Kit.