For perfume lovers and refined palates, STATE OF MIND has everything to captivate you — rare niche fragrances paired with exquisite teas. An empire of the senses revealed alongside Catherine Laskine-Balandina, the founder of this young yet already remarkable niche house.
What is your relationship with perfume? I take perfume everywhere — while travelling, in bed, in the bath, and even into my food.
Can you tell us about your journey in the world of perfumery?
Catherine Laskine-Balandina: I imagine I embody biculturalism, aesthetic bissociation, and artistic Synaesthesia. After a 20-year career in the beauty industry — beginning at L'Oréal and continuing with the most renowned French brands — I invented a unique concept: expressing perfume through taste, and taste through perfume. I lead tea and perfume ceremonies in which I invite guests to discover haute perfumery fragrances while tasting grand cru teas, each crafted in collaboration with a tea master and a perfumer.
How was the idea of combining tea and perfume born? Are you a synesthete yourself?
After 20 years in perfumery, like many of my colleagues, I grew weary of the industry's increasing standardisation. I set out to create a brand that would be unlike any other.
Synaesthesia — the compensation of one sense by another — reveals to the STATE OF MIND client the concept of retro-olfaction: the intimate relationship between taste and scent. The four basic tastes — sweet, salty, bitter, and sour — are complemented by retro-nasal olfaction, and it is this phenomenon that allows us to experience every nuance of taste.
The expression of ingredients shared by tea and perfume is at the heart of our exploration. Our tea and perfume ceremonies engage all five senses — taste, olfaction, touch, hearing, and sight — and reach even further, tapping into associative and cognitive memory. By importing tea from Asia, the Western world lost its sacred dimension: its Zen philosophy, its invitation to meditation, its culture of tasting rituals. The pursuit of harmony is the essential value of STATE OF MIND.
Every state of mind finds its expression in Tea, personal perfume, home fragrance, and candles.
Can you tell us a little about your partners — Olivier Scala and Karine Dubreuil — and how you work together in synergy on each new project?
The scented teas of STATE OF MIND are Grand Crus sourced and crafted by a true poet of tea, with five generations of expertise in tea selection and importation: Olivier Scala. His harvests are sublime, and his scenting process — using natural aromas and essential oils — is exceptional, elevating these edible creations to the rank of genuine beauty products.
The perfumer Karine Dubreuil is a grande dame of the profession with a remarkable track record, including Éclat d'Arpège by Lanvin, Aqua Allegoria Magnolia by Guerlain, L'Occitane, Vice Versa by YSL, and most recently the Collection Noire 1er by Lalique: ILLUSION CAPTIVE.
Consumers are increasingly attentive to product composition and ethics. Can you tell us about the sourcing of your teas and the ingredients in your perfumes? I do not source ingredients myself. For tea sourcing, I rely on a 120-year-old company whose entire speciality and expertise this is — led by Olivier Scala, tea selector and long-standing former president of the Comité Français du Thé. Olivier spends his life travelling the world and personally selecting every harvest.
You offer pairings of refined teas and original perfumes — but which of these two elements comes first in the creation of a new duo?
Work on a new product always begins with the concept and philosophy of a new state of mind. I then consult with illustrator Elena Mynenko to develop the visual identity for a new line — Perfume, Tea, Diffuser, candle, and silk scarf. I share the philosophical description, ingredient list, and illustration, and we meet to validate the whole. My partners each work independently, and I receive their versions of the teas and perfumes to choose from. We reconvene if needed.
How long does it take to develop a new tea-perfume duo? The first collection of ten STATE OF MIND states of mind was created in 18 months.
Who are your perfumes for? For aesthetes in search of authentic and inspiring products.
What, in your opinion, differentiates a niche perfume from a mass-market one? It seems to me that a niche perfume — a niche product in general — must possess genuine creative value. In the case of STATE OF MIND, I strive to build a bond of inspiration with my clients through different states of mind.
Can you tell us about your visual identity and the name of your house?
The STATE OF MIND logo plays with the words *état d'âme* (state of soul) and *état d'esprit* (state of mind), because a state of soul can become a state of mind, and vice versa. The STATE OF MIND bottle features a faceted crystal cap representing the geometric, ordered spirit, while the logo on the base of the bottle represents the Soul — reinforcing the concept of a permanent interplay between state of mind and state of soul. The STATE OF MIND logo is directly inspired by a triangular design by Alphonse Mucha; it is the representation of the Soul as opposed to the Spirit. Mucha produced a sweeping body of paintings, posters, advertisements, and book illustrations, as well as designs for jewellery, carpets, wallpaper, and leather décor in what was initially known as the Mucha style. His works frequently featured strong, beautiful young women clad in neoclassical robes. Choosing Alphonse Mucha as a source of inspiration was entirely natural for the Franco-Russian Catherine Laskine-Balandina. Alphonse Mucha is a Slavic painter best known — particularly in France — for his so-called "commercial" art. Yet Mucha was a deeply spiritual painter. He declared that art existed only to convey a spiritual message, and nothing more. His *Slavic Epic* bears powerful witness to this.
Can you tell us about your Olfactory Tea Room?
The Olfactory Tea Room — where the choice of perfume is elevated to the level of a ceremony — will be a truly singular space, designed to bring together clients drawn to knowledge, exchange, spirituality, and self-refinement. I would like to establish it in Versailles, an elegant and perfumed city.
Your house is relatively young, yet you are already very present in Asia and the Middle East. Is the culture surrounding perfume and tea very different there? You are right. For example: In Asia, profound respect is accorded to tea and to the spiritual, sacred dimension of the tea ceremony. The European, perfume-infused vision of STATE OF MIND brings a fresh perspective to this ancient tradition. The Middle East naturally combines its historic hospitality with an unbounded love of perfume. The tea tradition in Russia and its neighbouring countries is deeply rooted — the samovar speaks to this — and it is a culture of encounter and exchange that is particularly receptive to the concept of interpreting perfumes through states of mind.
I recall that in ancient China, it was not uncommon to combine food and perfume [(see article)](http://katatsumurinoyume.com/2018/03/parfum-de-chine-tresors-de-la-chine-imperiale.html). There were even medicines that, once ingested, were said to give the skin a particular scent. Are your tea-perfume duos inspired by this practice? It is certainly true that a pleasant bodily scent also depends on what one eats. We maintain that STATE OF MIND teas are beauty products — because they are scented, and because tea carries virtues essential to wellbeing: antioxidant properties against premature ageing, cardiovascular disease prevention, and the regulation of blood pressure and stress. That said, just as tea alone will not make you slim, the promise of smelling wonderful simply by drinking STATE OF MIND tea cannot be made — because that would require mastery over everything you consume.
Perfume is making a strong comeback in the fashion world — at Tranoï, among others — in culture, and through countless magazine advertisements. Do you think this is a passing trend or a genuine underlying movement? The perfumery market has been highly structured for decades. Niche perfumery has brought considerable change, yet the broader industry tends to draw it towards its own rules of play. Nevertheless, niche perfumery continues to assert its place — found, among other arenas, alongside young fashion designers.
Similarly, tea tasting is gaining ever greater recognition, whether through dedicated salons or the growing number of companies offering it. Is tea becoming a new art de vivre? Of course, tea is fashionable — and yet STATE OF MIND is not a FASHION phenomenon, but one of STYLE. Its slogan is ART OF BEING HAPPY.
Do you have any advice to help our readers find their own perfume — the one that truly matches their personality? Listen carefully to yourself. Know yourself. Experience genuine pleasure in wearing your perfume. Perfume acts upon the mind; it is an instrument for living in harmony with oneself.
How does one choose a perfume for someone close? By knowing them.
Thank you, Madame Laskine-Balandina, for your answers and for this beautiful union of teas and perfumes that awakens the senses.
Source: https://katatsumurinoyume.com/