In our conversation with the founders of INARA, Youmna & Elsa, we gained insights into the unique story behind their brand and their mission to revolutionize the world of meditation through scent, sound, and experience design.

WESH: Can you share the story behind the inception of your brand? What inspired you to start this venture?

Youmna and I met at Burning Man in 2019 at a multi-sensory virtual reality experience that recreated the journey of becoming a tree through all 5 senses. We bonded over the transformative power of scent and its potential to create a positive impact in the world. In fact, for both of us, the daily practice of meditation integrating scent profoundly changed us.

Burned out from the high-stress corporate lifestyle, we both craved to embark on a project that had special meaning to us. We combined our joined expertise in fragrance, product and experience design to create INARA, the first experiential fragrance brand devoted to transforming your state of mind.

WESH: What is the core vision and mission of your brand, and how do you hope to impact your target audience?

The meditation market is a growing $6B market, yet, 80% of meditators struggle to make it a regular practice. INARA's mission is to bring well-being and personal growth by facilitating the adoption of meditation as a lifestyle. (By making meditation enjoyable and accessible, we help you to integrate it into your daily life.)

Created with neuroscience technology, we combine the worlds of scent, sound, and meditation to transform people’s state of mind. We partnered with International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF), one of the world's most prestigious fragrance houses, and their BrainEmotion™ technology, to create scents that target specific emotions. Our fragrances are paired with original meditative sound journeys, created by renowned musicians.

By meditating to the track while smelling the fragrance, a new emotional imprint is formed in the brain, a process known as neuroplasticity.  For example, Arbol del Tule is a woody fragrance paired with tribal sounds from the jungle to activate grounding. Following its initial meditation, wearing the scent will reactivate this new positive memory, instantly reminding you of a grounded and stable state.

WESH: What is the inspiration behind your product line? Are there specific themes, materials, or concepts that influence your designs?

The starting point was to think of the key emotions that we aspire to bring into balance: calm, grounding, heart-expansion, empowerment, self-expression, intuition, etc. From there, we took inspiration from nature, history, spirituality, indigenous wisdom and the arts to evoke each of these themes. For example, 528 hertz, also called the Love Frequency, evokes the 6000 years-old note, known to repair DNA and manifest miracles. From this story, our perfumer created the fragrance, which we then gave to a musician to compose a soundtrack based on the scent.

WESH: Have you collaborated with other brands or artists, and how has it contributed to the growth of your business?

INARA was born during an art residence in Tulum in 2020. Our products are the result of multiple creative collaborations. We partnered with a rising perfumer to develop the fragrances, with renowned musicians to compose the sound journeys and with a visual artist to create our packaging illustrations. We love the idea of INARA being a platform to showcase multi-sensory artists and creators who have a unique vision and sensibility

We have also collaborated with aligned brands to create synergistic product experiences and to reach new communities: wellness studios such as WTHN and three Jewels, artisan studio World By Hand, Altha, Ora, Retreat, Modo Yoga, Goldish. These collaborations have helped us to boost brand credibility, awareness and revenue.

WESH: What are your aspirations for the future of your brand? Are there any upcoming projects, collaborations, or expansions on the horizon?

We aim to become the number #1 brand for the wellness world. To achieve this, we are launching a  discovery kit sampling program, testing new scent formats, developing an immersive meditation lounge prototype aimed at airports, museums, hotels and global events. We will launch a branded meditation iOS App and membership subscription, which will house an online community and education platform. We will expand our partnerships and network of stores, brands and ambassadors globally. Further in time, we will secure a neuroscience research partner to investigate INARA’s health & medical applications.