The sweet scent at the perfumery engulfs me. I am reminded of my childhood days, when I would rummage through my grandma’s cupboard of attar bottles.
We are welcomed at the studio by XinYing, a young perfumer who takes us to our seat to get started. My mom, who is visiting also comes along, and XinYing is kind enough to allow both of us to participate in the workshop.
XinYing has been trained under Prachi Saini, founder of Je T’aime Perfumery. Prachi pursued her hobby in perfumery since 2006, and turned it into a full-time venture in 2012. Her studio draws all kinds of people: young couples looking for new ways to bond, young professionals visiting as part of a team-building event, girl groups for bridal showers and birthdays.
Besides the perfume workshops she conducts, Prachi also created the ‘smells of Singapore’ temporary exhibit for the Singapore Museum. Scent marketing is an important component of marketing today, and car rental companies and food stores like Subway use fragrance to attract customers and connect with consumers at an emotional level.
I am excited to begin. XinYing hands me a Perfume Personality Quiz to assess the dominant fragrances that match my personality. The fragrances include floral, oriental, woody, citrus and fresh. After a quick assessment, I am told the fragrance that matches my personality is ‘woody and fresh’.
To begin creating the perfume, we sift through a cute little wooden cupboard, where the essential oils are lined up. The bottles are fragranced orchid oils, which will be used to concoct the perfume. These are ‘artificial’ or chemical based fragrances, as natural orchid oils are super-expensive. By the way, the orchid is Singapore’s national flower! Watch out for the fragrances that have a different colour lid, to symbolize more masculine scents. There are more than 100 varieties of fragrance, ranging from peony, rose, white musk, orange, and water lily.
Based on the personality test results, we begin selecting our essential oils. I put my nose in over 30 fragrance oils, the notes creating the top, middle and base of the scent.
Initially, I feel a little heady with the aromas, but it gradually grows on me. XinYing hands over a test-tube like bottle to us, to help create samples. We are asked to pour drops of the essential oil into the test-tube shaped sample bottle, according to the results of the personality chart. It is interesting to see how the perfume will be created based on results of the quiz.
The entire process is fairly technical and requires some concentration. My mom patiently puts the perfume drops inside the bottle, while I slowly follow suit.
Once all the perfume oils are mixed, XinYing pours over the alcohol, and the fragrance is ready. The combination is 20 percent essential oil, and 80 percent alcohol.
I smell mine, and it is delightful. It feels awesome to have made a distinctive fragrance of my own. It was an enriching morning at the studio, experimenting and learning about how perfumes are made. We were lucky to bring back all the perfume samples home.
{Photos by My Red Palette}
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