A JOURNEY THROUGH SCENT

 

 

 

 

There are many types of way to define scent. For me, scent is a pleasant, distinctive smell that comes from a fragrance. This is the story based from my experience I would like to share, an experience that turned into a dream, and finally, made reality.

I began to know fragrance when I worked in a  Dermatology Company. At that time, I handled project for Baby & Men Products, and it led me on a journey to find many fragrances from several fragrance houses. I learned how to identify fragrances, finding the perfect scent and integrate it into product ideas. What a fantastic learning opportunity to get to know the world of fragrance for the first time!

Then I moved to  my 3rd job in another Pharmaceutical Company. After 4 years has passed by since I left the cosmetic company, I thought that was the end of exploring fragrance for me. I always remembered the moment when I got back from maternity leave & received a brief of plans to create 4 body products. At that time, I was so excited to be back in the game. I started my adventure by approaching several fragrance houses from Japan, Korea, German, France, US and UK. I love to talk with fragrance house supplier & building many connections with them because I love to be updated on new things.  I always see them as a "Fancy & Elegant" type of sales person, dealing with niche and premium perfumes while also being able to speak the language of fragrances & involve emotional touches on every explanation that they gave at the same time. There were moments when I really like sales person from Japanese Fragrance House because he could understand my briefing and he somehow managed to describe the fragrances in such a sexy way. Meanwhile, my friend that worked in a German Fragrance House were looking for a candidate for a sales person position and he asked for my recommendation. I told him that I know a guy & suddenly I became an instant headhunter. Haha! Voila, that guy moved to the German Company and paved a good career for himself.

Enough about the brief experience of a headhunter, let's talk about developing a product with fragrance. Creating products with a fragrance means we can't use the basic project management skill because it is an art in and of itself! You have to understand the brand identity of the product first before searching for a suitable fragrance that suits it. It was a complex and comprehensive creation that not only match the product concept but also the specific detail. Such as the ingredient, color, packaging, etc. Of course, at the end of the day, the determination should go through the panel test. But then again, if you understand the brand & Indo Consumer, it'll be easier to find a matching scent that fits the product.

In 2018, I had the opportunity to visit the Cosmetic World Expo in Amsterdam and I used this opportunity to visit Givaudan Perfumery School in Argenteuil, France. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity to visit Perfumery School as first base of Perfumer learned on the very first time. I revealed my secret, I tried to apply to the perfumery school but it looks like I did not pass the requirement due to me being over the age bar, they only accepted less than  5 candidates once a year too, talk about tough competition!

                                   

     

                                           

 

My message to those who wants to become a perfumer,  you'd need to have a good nose that is able to pick up many kinds of scent. You don't need to have a background on science or chemistry, if you are talented enough then they'll definitely hire you. You also have to star from a very young age because you'll need to develop your ability as a perfumer for about 10-15 years. I was waaay too late because I'm already above 30 years old. Quite an unfortunate turn of events :(

Right after that, I got a chance to work on a project with a fancy fragrance which expanded my knowledge on several scents that belonged to a niche and premium brand. It was hard to deal with the fancy fragrance while you wanted to bring into a masstige (mass-produced, relatively inexpensive goods that are marketed as luxurious or prestigious) product. But that's the fun part, how to make the impossible into something possible and still be plausible? What a tongue twister!

Across all the things I have experienced with fragrances, I always thought that someday I'd like to work in a fragrance house to learn more about it. I tried to apply to a fragrance house in Tangerang, but failed to get the opportunity because I didn't have any experience on sales. Then I kept thinking, is there any company that would hire me without seeing my lack of experience in sales ?

Surprisingly, my wish somehow became a reality. I began my journey in a fragrance house that originally came from Holzminden. This all happened during the pandemic and I was so happy to learn about fragrances even though I have to start over from zero. I've had difficulties on practicing it because I learned fragrance from a consumer product and not directly from a  fine fragrance. Not to mention the fact that Fine Fragrances will always be the benchmark for any olfactive that is applied in every product range.

So I hang out with my friend that is addicted with fragrances (thx sistahhh). I bought several decant fragrances in order to smell it together and memorize it in my head. MFK, Channel, Dyptique, Jo Malone, etc. I spent a lot of budget for it. But it's okay, sometimes you need to invest to learn something that is spectacular.

During my fragrance training, I was surprised with the complexity of understanding and learning fragrances. Thankfully, my superior has arranged a comprehensive training and made me learn not only how to smell but also to understand the notes behind the fragrances. Beside that, I also became more aware the importance of a perfumer and their crucial roles. But Fragrance Evaluator/ Fragrance Development Manager/ Scent Designer is the person that contributes in finding the perfect candidates of fragrance oils for every submission project.

Let talk about scent.  Every time I want to smell a fragrance, I would close my eyes, and take a deep inhale through my nose, picking out the combination of scents that sends a flutter of butterflies in my stomach and it'd made me feel warm, and happy. I've managed to identify many types of scent such as Citrus, Green, Fruity, Floral, Oriental, Floriental, Fougere, Chypre, Woody. All the complexity from the each scents makes me even more excited! It has widened my point of view on how to deal with every scent that I encountered during my activities.

 

If you look at the things around you, you'll realize that everything has a fragrance. It is integrated into everything, the clothes you wear, your house, your car, nature. It's all around you. When I enjoyed every layer of note from the fragrance that I use everyday, I would call it the moment of truth.

Now, I will guide you to see it from a professional perspective. As a person that has 10 years of experience in business development in B2C company, I took a big risk to move into the fragrance industry as a sales person. The good side to being in B2B Company was that it helped me to obtain various kinds of network with many industries. Can you imagine?! The window to this whole thing is fragrance, but it opened myself to not only Cosmetic Company, but also Fine Fragrance, Home Care, Air Care, and many more. I learned many new things and the fun part in all this is I get to do it through scent.

So, I am lucky person!

Lucky to be a working mother with 2 kids.  Lucky to have the opportunity to work with scent. Lucky to get in touch with many industries. Lucky to be able to explore my ability through sales. Lucky to have a chance to see different points of view through B2B company.  Lucky to create my own moment of truth during my career!

I have the best of  things in my life !

My plans for the foreseeable future is I want to enjoy ever that I have through scent! 

 


THANKS FOR READING

Warmest Regards
YDK

 

P.S : 

I really want to watch NOSE-DIOR but it only can be accessed through Amazon Prime and Apple TV with US id. Anyone can help ? Really want to watch it so much huhuuu