The essence of success

ONE Friday, I was on my way to dinner in an Uber when my driver asked: "Is that Dior?" I knew he was referring to my perfume, which was most definitely not Dior. So I said no. Then I paused - I wasn't sure if I wanted to add that it was Angel by Victoria's Secret, which I absolutely loved, but which one of my colleagues once joked made a girl smell like a streetwalker.

I did eventually tell him it was Angel. And to my amusement, he said he would get it as a gift for his wife because it smelt great. The next thing I knew, we had launched into a conversation about scents, during which we agreed that they made people feel happy, attractive and confident.

So when I was introduced to Waft last week, I was excited. A Singapore-based startup, Waft lets you customise your own perfume online, and delivers it to you in under a week! It was founded by Valerie Boffy, a French-born entrepreneur who had worked at the Estée Lauder Companies and believes that "the ultimate fragrance is that which is truly yours".