Heritage
A house, in its own words
Tara Derakshan built her fragrance industry experience through Sniph, a Swedish subscription-based scent discovery platform she co-founded. The decision to launch NEH emerged from what she describes as a personal journey of reconnection, during which she returned to her given name after a period of using a different name. The acronym NEH represents the last three letters of Taraneh, her birth name, transforming a personal identity exercise into the foundation of an entire brand identity. Derakshan is also described as a self-healing therapist, a background that informs the therapeutic aspirations embedded in the brand's approach. The brand launched all six initial fragrances simultaneously in 2024, an unusual strategy in an industry that typically rolls out flankers or limited editions over time. This simultaneous launch reflected the founder's intention to present a complete olfactory ecosystem from the outset, where each fragrance might serve a different emotional or mindfulness purpose. The choice to establish a physical retail presence at Concept Parfums in Paris, rather than launching exclusively online, signaled ambitions toward the curated niche perfumery market. The Paris address at 50 rue de Sèvres places NEH among a collection of independent fragrance houses in the city's 7th arrondissement, a neighborhood known for its concentration of specialty perfume retailers.
NEH approaches fragrance as a vehicle for self-discovery rather than a luxury accessory. Derakshan has spoken about wanting to change how people experience scent, encouraging wearers to engage with fragrance as a tool for introspection. The brand's framework draws on neuroscience and sound in addition to traditional perfumery, suggesting an interdisciplinary approach to scent creation. Rather than categorizing fragrances by traditional olfactory families or occasion-based marketing, NEH frames each scent around abstract concepts like vibration, light, and opening. This naming convention invites wearers to project their own meanings and associations onto the fragrances. The self-healing therapist background of the founder permeates the brand's communication, which emphasizes mindfulness and the ritualistic aspects of fragrance application. The invisible portal concept embedded in each label represents the brand's belief that scent can function as a gateway to altered states of awareness or emotional processing. The philosophy rejects the notion that fragrance should be purely decorative, instead positioning each bottle as a potential instrument for personal growth.