Inside the Studio: A Day in LUMIRA’s Creative Process

Inside the Studio

Every LUMIRA fragrance begins long before scent.

It starts with atmosphere. With light shifting across a surface. With a material held in the hand. With a feeling that hasn’t yet found language.

A day in the studio is not linear. It moves between intuition and refinement, between emotion and structure. The process is quiet, deliberate and deeply sensory, closer to design than decoration.

For founder Almira Armstrong, fragrance creation is an extension of her design practice. Scent is treated not as an isolated object, but as part of a broader world - one shaped by architecture, travel, texture and mood.

A Design Philosophy Rooted in Feeling

At the heart of LUMIRA’s creative process is a simple belief: fragrance should make you feel something before you try to understand it.

Rather than starting with trends or formulas, Almira begins with emotion. A memory. A moment in time. A quality of light. These emotional cues become the framework for everything that follows.

Design references often come from unexpected places - sun-washed facades, shadowed corridors, linen softening with age, the quiet geometry of architecture. These influences inform not just the scent, but the entire universe around it: colour, texture, naming and tone.

Fragrance, in this way, becomes a spatial experience, something you inhabit rather than wear.

Moodboards, Materials and Light

The studio itself is intentionally pared back. Neutral tones. Natural materials. Soft light. It’s a space designed to allow ideas to surface without noise.

Moodboards are tactile as much as visual. Fabric swatches sit alongside photographs, handwritten notes, dried botanicals and architectural references. Materials are chosen for how they age, how they catch light, how they feel under the hand.

Light plays a central role. Morning light feels very different to afternoon glow, and both influence how a fragrance is imagined. This sensitivity to atmosphere ensures that every scent feels lived-in, not constructed.

Nothing is rushed. Ideas are allowed to sit. To evolve. To reveal themselves slowly.

How a Fragrance Journey Begins

Once a mood is defined, the fragrance journey begins.

Rather than dictating notes, Almira works in emotional language with perfumers - describing temperature, movement, texture and feeling. Words like warm, quiet, radiant, grounded or intimate become the guideposts.

From there, multiple iterations unfold. Adjustments are subtle but meaningful. A shift in balance. A softening of edges. A longer dry-down. Each decision is made in service of the original feeling, ensuring the fragrance remains cohesive and true.

This process can take months, sometimes longer. Time is an essential ingredient - allowing scent to settle, to mature, and to reveal how it truly lives on skin and in space.

Behind the Scenes of Product Development

Fragrance is only one part of the creative equation.

Alongside scent development, packaging, vessels and materials are considered with the same level of care. Proportions are refined. Weight is tested. Finishes are chosen for longevity rather than trend.

Every decision is guided by restraint, removing excess rather than adding more. The goal is to create objects that feel timeless, designed to live quietly and beautifully within a space.

Behind the scenes, this means countless small choices. It means editing. It means saying no as often as yes. And it means returning, again and again, to the original mood that sparked the idea.

The Studio as a Space of Translation

The studio is where feeling becomes form.

It’s where travel memories, materials and light are translated into fragrance. Where intuition is shaped by discipline. Where ideas are refined until they feel inevitable rather than forced.

This is the unseen work behind every LUMIRA creation - the quiet hours, the considered pauses, the attention to detail that allows each fragrance to feel both personal and universal.

Follow Almira on LinkedIn, for more behind-the-scenes insight into design, fragrance and founder life.