Dusita Blog guest of the month: meet Willie Runrasri

This month we welcome Willie, a Helsinki-based perfume content creator of Thai origin, known for his popular Instagram account @willie.scents. Unlike Pissara and other members of the Dusita team, I haven’t yet the pleasure of meeting him in person. I do enjoy regularly, though, his wonderful fragrance posts that are filled with genuine passion, knowledge, humor, and emotion — always accompanied by stunning visuals.

Despina Veneti, Parfums Dusita Blog Editor

Q: Welcome to the Dusita Blog, Willie! Will you please introduce yourself to our readers?

A: I am Willie Runrasri, a Thai content creator based in Finland. I was raised in a Thai-Chinese family based in Udon Thani, Thailand, until I moved to Finland with my mother when I was ten. Apart from perfume content creation, I work for the Finnish national alcoholic beverage retailing monopoly, a field that requires a precise sense of smell and taste. We can say that everything I do revolves around smelling!

Q: What is the meaning of fragrance in your life?

A: Not only fragrances, but scents in general have always been a great part of my life. In my early childhood, I was spending a lot of time with my grandmother who was quite religious—hence praying and visiting temples were a steady part of our daily, devout Buddhist routine. I vividly remember the aromas of our praying room where we lit up the candles, the rose-sandalwood scented incense, and offered flower garlands made of jasmine, champaca, and orchids, to honor Buddha. I remember her scent, too, which was usually a soft, slightly aldehydic powdery floral.

I've been wearing fragrances to express myself ever since I was at elementary school. I always liked the kind of scents that my classmates didn't: floral, spicy, and ambery-woody, instead of shower gel-fresh. I also had this guilty pleasure of sneaking into my mom's perfume collection to spray some of her fragrances on, feeling like a diva. Now, I don't need to hide that!

To sum it all up, fragrance is for me a means of self-expression, a time traveling machine, and a confidence-enhancer — but not a tool to get compliments, because I ultimately wear perfumes for myself.

Q: How did you get to know Parfums Dusita and which of Pissara’s fragrances is your favorite?

A: I was utterly delighted to learn back in 2022 that there is a Parisian niche brand that was founded by a fellow Thai. So, I paid a visit to the Dusita boutique in Paris. Pissara and I had lunch at a Thai restaurant that made us both a bit homesick.

As we came back to her boutique, we continued to chat more, one thing led to another, and she suddenly asked: "Would you like to make your own perfume from scratch?" (she had just launched the "Atelier Dusita" perfume-making workshop).

We ended up making an ambery floral perfume to pay homage to my late grandmother and we named it after our family name "Rasri", meaning grandeur, splendor, and dignity.

The composition was built around incense, jasmine, vanilla, and sandalwood, with a customised Siamese floral garland accord composed by Pissara herself.

To choose my Parfums Dusita favorites is a hard task; the identity of the brand deeply resonates with me, due to its authentic, proud Thai heritage that is seamlessly merged with Parisian elegance. After some thought, these are my top five, still-in production Dusita perfumes (in no-particular order): the intriguing, grassy, earthy, tea-like Erawan; the romantic white floral Mélodie de l'Amour; the calming, Thai water garden-like Le Pavillon d'Or; the timeless, Thai-style rose Rosarine; and the sophisticated, oud-centered Montri. Lastly, I cannot forget the (now discontinued) brash and bold Oudh Infini.