AAPLOO: The Story of a Kashmir-Inspired Luxury Perfume
AAPLOO is a Kashmir-inspired luxury perfume house that makes one kind of fragrance only: Extrait de Parfum, at 30 per cent concentration. It was founded by Avinash Chand, a Jammu and Kashmir-based entrepreneur with a background in cinematography, with Kavita Lavangare as co-founder. There are three fragrances, each in a 50ml bottle with an ornate gold crown cap, and all of them cruelty-free. This is the story of why the house exists, what its three words, Crafted. Authentic. Rare., mean in practice, and how to begin if you are new to it.
A Kashmir-inspired luxury perfume, defined
"Kashmir-inspired" is a phrase that is easy to use and harder to earn, so it is worth being precise about what we mean by it.
We do not mean a single ingredient on a label. We mean a temperament. Kashmir is known for crafts that cannot be hurried: pashmina woven by hand over weeks, walnut wood carved in layers, papier-mâché painted stroke by stroke, saffron picked flower by flower before dawn. What these crafts share is patience, density and restraint. Nothing is loud. Everything is deliberate.
That is the quality we wanted in a perfume. Not a fragrance that announces itself from across a room and is gone by lunch, but one that settles on the skin and stays, slowly changing through the day, closer to a shawl than a spotlight.
Perfume as invisible cinema
Our founder came to fragrance from cinematography rather than from the perfume trade, and that shapes how the house thinks.
Cinema teaches a few lessons that translate surprisingly well to scent. Light matters more than objects. Timing matters more than volume. And what you leave out of the frame is as important as what you put in.
A perfume unfolds in much the same way a scene does. The opening is the first shot: bright, immediate, there to draw you in. The heart is the story, the part that holds your attention for hours. The base is the final frame, the image that stays with you after the screen goes dark. When we think about a fragrance, we think about it as that sequence, mood first and detail second.
Mood before notes
Many perfume brands lead with a list of ingredients. We would rather lead with a feeling: how a fragrance should make you feel at nine in the morning, and how it should feel to the person beside you at nine at night. The ingredients exist to serve that mood, not the other way round.
Why we make only Extrait de Parfum
Concentration is the percentage of aromatic material dissolved in the alcohol of a perfume. The higher the concentration, the less alcohol, and the slower and denser the fragrance becomes.
| Type | Typical concentration | Typical longevity | How it wears |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eau de Toilette | 5–15% | 3–5 hours | Bright, diffusive, fades early |
| Eau de Parfum | 15–20% | 5–8 hours | Balanced projection |
| Extrait de Parfum | 20–40% | 8–12+ hours | Dense, close to the skin, lingering |
| AAPLOO | 30% Extrait de Parfum | Built for a full day | Slow, intimate, steady |
We chose extrait for two reasons.
The first is climate. In Indian heat and humidity, fragrance evaporates quickly. A light concentration that behaves beautifully in a cool European spring can disappear by mid-morning in Delhi or Mumbai. A higher concentration gives the perfume more material to work through, so it lasts.
The second is character. With less alcohol lifting the opening away, an extrait tends to open more softly and give its heart and base more time. It wears closer to the skin. It is noticed by the people near you rather than the people across the room. That is the kind of presence we wanted.
There is also a practical honesty to it. The words "eau de parfum" and "extrait" are not defined by law in most markets, and published ranges overlap. So rather than rely on the word alone, we state the number: 30 per cent. Our guide What Is Extrait de Parfum? explains concentration in more depth.
Crafted. Authentic. Rare.
Our tagline is three words. Each one is meant as a promise, so here is what each one means in practice.
Crafted
A perfume is not finished when it is blended. After blending, a concentrate needs time to rest and mature, a stage perfumers call maceration, so that the materials bind and round out before bottling. Craft also extends to the object itself. Each fragrance comes in a 50ml bottle crowned with an ornate gold cap, designed to sit on a dresser as something you are glad to look at, not just use.
Authentic
Authenticity, for us, means telling you what we know and not borrowing what we don't. We state our concentration. Our fragrances are cruelty-free. We describe our connection to Kashmir as one of sensibility and craft rather than claiming an ingredient story we cannot stand behind. If you ask us a question we cannot answer precisely, we would rather say so.
Rare
Rare does not mean scarce for the sake of it. It means choosing depth over breadth. Rather than launching a new scent every season, we have kept the collection to three fragrances, each given the time and attention a full concentration demands.
The collection
The house currently offers three fragrances, each a 50ml Extrait de Parfum:
- Madno Forever — our unisex fragrance, made to be shared — ₹5,999
- Alpha Authentic — ₹4,999
- Rare Amore — ₹4,999
Each is best understood on skin rather than on paper. A perfume strip shows you only the opening; the real character of an extrait appears over hours. That is why we suggest starting small.
Luxury is not worn. It is felt.
This is the line the house returns to, and it explains most of our choices.
A great deal of luxury is about being seen: a logo, a label, a recognisable silhouette. Fragrance works differently. It is invisible. Its luxury lies in how it feels on your own skin at hour eight, in the moment someone leans in and asks what you are wearing, in the way a shawl still holds it the next morning.
That is the experience a high-concentration perfume is built for, and it is the experience we want every bottle to deliver.
How to wear an AAPLOO extrait
Because an extrait is dense, it rewards a lighter hand than most people expect.
- Two or three sprays are enough. Inner wrists, the sides of the neck, perhaps the inner elbows. More than that and the fragrance can crowd the space around you.
- Apply after a shower. Warm, moisturised skin holds fragrance longest.
- Let it settle. Do not rub your wrists together; let the perfume dry on its own and give it a few minutes to open.
- Scent your fabric. A light mist on a shawl or scarf can hold the fragrance well into the next day, especially on wool. Test delicate fabrics such as silk on a hidden area first.
- Wait for the drydown. The first ten minutes are only the opening scene. The character of an extrait reveals itself over hours.
Who the house is for
AAPLOO is for people who would rather be remembered than noticed. For those who find most fragrance too loud and too brief. For anyone who has noticed that, in Indian heat, the perfume they loved in a shop has gone by the time they reach the office.
It is also for people who care about where things come from and how they are made. A perfume can be a pleasure without being a performance, and a house can be ambitious without exaggerating.
Made in India, for the world
The house was born in India and draws its spirit from Kashmir, but it is built to travel. We ship internationally, and the same principle applies wherever a bottle lands: a full concentration, honestly stated, in a bottle worth keeping. Indian craft has always found admirers far beyond its borders. We would like Indian perfumery to do the same.
How to begin
If you are new to the house, the Discovery Set is the simplest first step: three 3ml vials, one of each fragrance, for ₹599. Wear each one for a full day, notice which drydown you keep returning to, and then choose your full bottle.
We offer free shipping across India and ship internationally; all orders are prepaid. And if you want to understand concentration before you choose, our guide on How to Make Perfume Last Longer in Indian Heat explains how extrait behaves through a long, warm day.
Frequently asked questions
What is AAPLOO?
AAPLOO is a Kashmir-inspired luxury perfume house founded by Avinash Chand, with Kavita Lavangare as co-founder. It makes only Extrait de Parfum, at 30 per cent concentration, in 50ml bottles with ornate gold crown caps.
What concentration are AAPLOO perfumes?
All AAPLOO fragrances are Extrait de Parfum at 30 per cent concentration, higher than a typical eau de parfum.
Is Madno Forever unisex?
Yes. Madno Forever is a unisex fragrance, designed to be worn by anyone.
Are AAPLOO perfumes cruelty-free?
Yes, all AAPLOO fragrances are cruelty-free.
Does AAPLOO ship outside India?
Yes. Shipping is free across India, and the house also ships internationally. All orders are prepaid.
How long does Extrait de Parfum last?
Extrait de Parfum commonly lasts eight to twelve hours or more on skin, depending on skin type, climate and how it is applied.
