About Me

I'm Dana :) Pronounced Daana - like Anna or Hanna!

I am a perfumer, interdisciplinary artist, writer, lecturer, and vocalist.

I'm lucky to have led a multicultural life; I am a Lebanese-Egyptian Canadian. Born in Budapest, raised in Dubai, lived in France, New York, and Montreal and I am now based in Los Angeles :)

I have a BA in Communication Studies from Concordia University (2008) and I was trained at the Grasse Institute of Perfumery (2010), where my perfume won the annual brief. I created Jazmin Saraï, a collection of perfumes exploring scent, sound & culture in 2014.

Since then, I have gotten the chance to work with fellow perfumers, creating scents for musicians, lifestyle brands, hotels, and art spaces, which has given me invaluable experience in cross-modal practices and collaborations.

My focus is on the importance of scent in social interaction, multicultural research & representation in perfumery and public scent education.

I care about how scents make us feel and how they can bring us together, embracing unique olfactory cultures.

I have completed residencies at the Institute for Art and Olfaction (IAO) in Los Angeles in 2014 and 2018 as well as the Arab American National Museum (AANM) in Dearborn, Michigan, in 2021.

I am a published fragrance writer, winner of both a Jasmine Literary Award (UK) and Perfumed Plume (US), with several poems published in galleries, in print and online. I also love to paint and to experiment with clay and resin.

I conduct various olfactory workshops with topics covering scent & social ritual in South West Asia & North Africa (SWANA), scent and self-care, olfactory cultures, imprints, and more. I also do cultural consulting for brands!

I have a podcast called On the Nose where I chat all things olfaction with perfumers and artists.

I have also been a judge in the Artisan category for the Art and Olfaction Awards (2017, 2018, 2020, 2022) and am honoured to be on the board of the Institute for Art & Olfaction since 2020.