Kayali

Kayali was founded in Dubai in 2018 by Mona Kattan — co-founder of the global makeup brand Huda Beauty (founded with her sister Huda Kattan in 2013). The name means 'my imagination' in Arabic. Mona's vision was to honour the Middle Eastern tradition of fragrance layering — wearing multiple fragrances simultaneously on different pulse points to create a personal accord — while packaging this philosophy in a contemporary aesthetic that resonated with a global millennial and Gen-Z audience discovering fragrance through social media.

Vanilla 28 (2018) — the house's debut composition — became an immediate cult hit: an ultra-rich vanilla using Madagascan vanilla absolute, heliotrope, caramelised musk, and sandalwood that exceeded any prior mass-market treatment of the vanilla theme in both depth and ingredient quality. Its social media virality — driven by Mona Kattan's massive Instagram following and the Huda Beauty audience — created instant global awareness for a new fragrance brand. Vanilla 28 Intense (2020) deepened the formula with amber and tobacco.

Kayali's founding philosophy honours the Middle Eastern tradition of trakiib — layering multiple fragrances simultaneously. Mona Kattan designs the collection as a system: different fragrances applied to different pulse points create personal accords that change throughout the day. For example, Vanilla 28 on the neck over Elixir Noir on the wrists creates a different experience than either alone. This interactive philosophy — borrowed from the Arabian Gulf's centuries-old fragrance culture — differentiates Kayali from houses that create self-contained single fragrances.

Both houses build layering into their founding philosophy, but from very different cultural starting points. Jo Malone's Fragrance Combining is English-botanical — pairing complementary colognes for subtle personal evolution. Kayali's layering philosophy is Middle Eastern-opulent — stacking vanilla over oud over rose for rich, complex personal accords. Jo Malone tends toward subtlety; Kayali toward maximalism. Both reward the fragrance enthusiast who enjoys personal experimentation over the single-signature approach.

Yes — The Scent Stories® stocks authentic Kayali samples and miniatures including Vanilla 28, Elixir Noir, Oudé 08, Lovefest Burning Cherry, and more. All are factory-sealed and brand-packaged, shipped worldwide. The Kayali layering philosophy makes sampling multiple fragrances simultaneously a worthwhile experiment — trying Vanilla 28 alone versus layered over Elixir Noir illustrates the system's creative potential and may reveal combinations you'd never discover by sampling each in isolation.