/writing
Building for the freedom to experience IRL
25 August 2026, Guanacaste, Costa Rica
A year and a half ago, in February 2025, I moved to Costa Rica as a digital nomad, in pursuit of a healthier lifestyle. Living in a remote wellness-focused place in the jungle very quickly exposed the pace that I had in fact been living my life. Racing up and down the dirt roads to make it back from lunch for a meeting, having been stuck behind a vacationer’s golf cart, or a Costa Rican family of four on a moped. Not very ‘pura vida’ of me. Plus being surrounded by so much natural beauty and a very active outdoor community, shone a light on how much of my time in the physical world was being run by a screen. Especially working as a Director for a very fast-paced fashion & beauty client based in New York.
Being in Costa Rica had a way of very quickly humbling me. I realised that being present and grateful, were the most valuable tools in the world. I was reminded of what is truly important in life, and that all the “things” and “titles” that I had accumulated really did not matter. How could they when the people around me showed so much care to the nature around them, and pure gratitude for what it provided? And it was easy to understand why. A rich cup of locally-grown coffee every morning (my favourite one here has the reminiscent and grounding scent of cocoa-flavoured cereal from my childhood, just now the grown-up version), and ice cold coconuts to hydrate throughout the day.
It also exposed a lot around my own self-image. Having started working in the beauty industry at 21, as a young girl armed with a new smartphone and instagram, somewhere along the way I stopped appreciating my own beauty. Thinking about what I did not have, or what I did not like about myself, vs. what I did.
Seeing the women around me in Costa Rica, radiating with strength, inspired me to work on becoming stronger, and more grounded myself, and to learn to love and care for my fully natural self again. In a whole new climate and environment.
5 months into Costa Rican life, I unexpectedly left my director role. Pushed by the universe to finally create something of my own after 15 years of working my way around the world, and up the ladder, in the beauty industry.
I thought back to how exciting it was when I first started working in 2015, at the headquarters of a huge global beauty company in the big city, just as the beauty youtuber and vlogger community started blowing up. I thought it was so cool that I could learn from all these other young women across the world, and a few years later, I joined a Dubai-based beauty startup, developing products and campaigns alongside the founder. A makeup artist who had built up an online community by sharing professional tips from her artistry work with Middle Eastern royalty and public figures. At roughly 50M followers around the time I left, it was surreal to experience the power of community first-hand.
A decade later and we have progressed to the democratisation of creating your own “brand” era. Words like “craftsmanship” and “community” part of the new launch playbook, yet the two worlds never felt more disconnected. Success defined as speed and scale. And shortcuts as solutions. An echo chamber for those who can shout the loudest, or meet the “algorithm’s requirements”. All mediated by those being paid at the top of the network. Technology being sold as the destination, and making us forget to connect with the world around us and the people in it.
I had been feeling the effects offline too. Like everything was focused on being cheaper, faster, more efficient. And feeling like no one had the time, energy or passion to provide a tailored or even welcoming customer experience. And that service had lost its soul as a consequence. Never not disappointing when you are choosing to spend your time and money somewhere. So when I found out about an independent Perfumer and Consultant in NY offering a private and personalised ‘Perfume Tour of Nolita’ something lit up inside me again.
I have always loved scent, and how it can immediately transport me to my favourite places, or ground me in a moment, to then continue the cycle, and serve as a reminder for a new future favourite memory. And I loved that someone was hosting such a unique, thoughtful, and creative service. Never expecting it to be the start of a journey to develop a bespoke fragrance together.
Through the process of articulating some of my most treasured memories and experiences, inclusive of the sounds and sights that would be present, what I would be wearing and how I would be feeling, I was reminded of how much I loved leading shoot and event production at the agency. Bringing together every detail from the location, to the sensory styling, inclusive of florals, scent, tablescapes, music and lighting design. Creating the conditions for all guests, both of the agency and of the client, to feel taken care of, to be able to produce the greatest work together.
In fact curating the sensory details of an experience or a product is something I have always found great joy in throughout my life and career. A believer that the smallest details have the greatest impact. Feeling like time, love and effort has gone into something for you is irreplaceable, and with AI-enabled personalisation and social media now colliding at lightning speed to deepen digital world immersion, I felt compelled, and a responsibility to help build an alternative internet-based, and physical future for our children.
This is where blockchain technology comes into the story, or in other words, a layer of technology that lets us design sovereign, human-only digital environments (because we are currently the minority on the internet right now...). Where we are not reliant on third-party corporate networks, who own the narrative and all the content. Infrastructure for authentic community co-creation, a model that gives individuals the freedom to develop and share their skills, and pursue their passions IRL with those who value them most.
scent.tech is a community being built on this “new internet” for a future that is sovereign and for the senses. It functions as a members-only wellness club, uniting entrepreneurs creating exceptional, and intentional, products and experiences engineered for the senses: scent, touch, sound, taste, and sight, to help restore the relationship with ourselves, and the world around us. Built on the belief that more presence, feeling, and intuition, guides a life of greater alignment with what you actually enjoy doing, not what you believe you should be doing.
In October this year, scent.tech will share its first scent, “Rich Coast”, developed in collaboration with founding community member and scent artist, surrounded by the IRL tropical beauty and sensory landscape of Costa Rica, the inspiration behind the fragrance. During a curated destination experience focused on wellness for creative entrepreneurs seeking more serenity, serendipity and spontaneity in their lives, who want the challenge of doing something different, and also the peace of mind that every detail has been considered for them, so that they can experience every moment to the fullest.
there is always music amongst the trees in the Garden,
minnie aumonier
but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it.
TAMARA · COLLABORATOR 002 · RAINYSEASON.CR