I was selected to showcase 'The Empress Collection' of perfumed candles as part of the Quintessentially Weddings Atelier Show at Somerset House. The strictly invitation-only showcase is considered the ultimate luxury wedding planning event, featuring some of the world’s most prestigious designers and talented artisans. I was truly honoured to be exhibiting alongside brands including Chanel, Jimmy Choo, La Perla, Matthew Williamson and Laduree! Tara Sofia is increasingly gaini

Each of the 4 scents are directly inspired by a particular artwork in my collection, which sees iconic women turned into extraordinarily jewelled, cultural hybrids. So much work went into these as I wanted them to be truly luxurious home accessories – conveying the idea that you can indulge in something as small as a scented candle but the impact it can have your living space is huge. I wanted to create a collection of candles that offered so much more than other brands, so h

So much time has gone into developing my fragrances that I wanted to explain a bit about each one and what it means to me. As I have mentioned before, my debut collection of scents are completely unique to the world of home fragrance - each being directly inspired by an original Tara Sofia artwork of the same name. Being named “ Tara” (meaning “star” in Hindu) serves as an homage to my Indian heritage, and perhaps an indicator of my love of all things resplendent. This couple

When going through the fragrance selection and development process, this one actually surprised me. Usually a huge fan of sweet, heady, oriental fragrances I was taken aback by how much I loved this scent even though it was incredibly fresh and floral. It has a real verdant quality and the Moroccan mint overtones add a hint of sophistication as well as a suggestion of the exotic. My ‘Lulu’ artwork is based on an old hollywood image of the silent movie star Louise Brooks - the

Well, the inspiration for this fragrance speaks for itself. I created this artwork especially for my mum, turning the epitome of Hollywood icons into a Bollywood empress. When transforming her initially I had her with a brown hair but it just didn’t sit right! So, she remains the blonde bombshell but with a decidedly ethnic persona. “I am involved in a freedom ride protesting the loss of the minority rights belonging to the few remaining earthbound stars. All we demanded was

For today’s fragrance profile I feel it is important to detail a bit about the history of the character who inspired the fragrance. ‘Mata Hari’ is Malay for ‘sun’ or literally “eye of the day”. It was the stage name taken by Margreet Zelle Macleod, an exotic dancer and courtesan who was executed under charges of espionage for Germany during World War I. Born in the Netherlands, she moved to Indonesia to start a family but with the dissolution of her marriage then moved to Par

There has been much debate over the “best” wax for candles. There is a common perception that soy wax is somehow superior, (being “natural”) but also due to its appearance: soy wax has a creamy opaque texture, whereas paraffin is whiter and slightly translucent. Soy candles tend to burn slower than paraffin ones and require a higher percentage of fragrance to create a good scent – therefore are usually more expensive to produce. However, The National Candle Association has pr