Maison de Darius, a perfume house that was set up in 2019 by Zach Nineveh, is making waves on social media with a unique scent called “Naag Nool”.
The fragrance “Naag Nool” was directly inspired by Somalia with the scent described as having a medley of floral, vanilla, spice, and amber notes. “Naag Nool speaks to the beauty of Somali culture and honours strong empowered women”, Nineveh tells us about the inspiration behind the name and perfume.
The manifesto of the brand, “Abbracia il grembo che ti ha dato”, which is loosely translated from the Italian language to mean “embrace the womb that gave you life, is an important driving force behind both Maison de Darius and its founder. Nineveh explains, “Maison de Darius is a message for the world to love and “embrace the womb that gave you life.”
“I decided that I would tell a story that I haven’t seen being told. I endeavoured to specifically highlight the beauty of the various cultures of African and melanated diaspora in the naming of some of my scents”.
“I wanted to approach it from an aspect of cultural appreciation as opposed to cultural appropriation. Diaspora wars are rampant on social media and many hateful and harmful comments are spewed in these spaces,” Nineveh tells us about the reasons why he wanted to celebrate different cultures.
“Media displays culture in a manner that amplifies degeneracy, dysfunction, and destruction; it takes the lowest essence of a people and gives it maximum exposure,” he says. “I wanted to combat this in my own special way, by seeking to pay homage to the best of other cultures in hopes of appealing to the larger sense of morality and achieving reciprocity for the appreciation of the human experience”.
Maison de Darius has another fragrance called Eunoia (pronounced as yoo-noy-uh). This fragrance has notes of amber, caramel, musk, Oudh, sandalwood, jasmine, and vanilla. This fragrance name is Greek, and Nineveh states that it encompasses a pure and well-balanced mind, a good spirit, and beautiful thinking. “When I read the definition of the word, I knew I had to incorporate it,” he tells us.
Maison de Darius isn’t just another small, Black-owned indie brand. It’s a growing perfume house that seems to be driven to bring social change to our communities by celebrating our differences in style. This is truly not a small feat, but Nineveh is taking the challenge on one scent at a time.
You can purchase “Naag Nool” here, and you can also find Maison de Darius on Instagram.
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