Scentorium artisan profile

Rajesh Balkrishnan

Byermia · Lost Tribe

A professor of public health who creates perfume as a second calling: he shapes the idea and refines it, round after round, with a partner perfumer.

The story

Rajesh Balkrishnan is a tenured Professor of Public Health Sciences at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, working in epidemiology and health services research. His background in pharmacology and natural products chemistry fed into perfume, which he learned through independent study and work with master perfumers rather than formal schooling. On Fragrantica he is known as "rbalkris".

The work

He has no house of his own. He develops concepts from history, ancient texts and spiritual traditions and refines them with established perfumers: Sayat Nova with Dmitry Bortnikoff, inspired by an 18th-century Armenian poet; Keman with Yasuyuki Shinohara for DI SER, an Art and Olfaction finalist; Aranyaka with Prin Lomros, inspired by ancient Hindu texts; Aghora with Ashek Zubayer; and Pan's Labyrinth and Dark Shadows with Mathew Schmuelian. He also provides creative guidance for Mallo.

On Parfumo & Fragrantica

Parfumo lists 25 perfumes with an average of 8.0/10: Pan's Labyrinth 8.7, Sleepy Hollow (Folkwinds, 2024) 8.4, Oud Indochine (Maksim, 2024) 8.3, Haxan (Parfum Prissana, 2018) 8.1. Fragrantica lists 26, across Bortnikoff, Mallo, Lost Tribe, Byermia and others.