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So in three, two, one. Welcome back everybody. Welcome to Perfumology. Today we have two special guests and we are going to talk about perfume together. So why don't you guys introduce yourself to our audience? Hello guys, I'm Soojin from Korea. Nice to meet you.
Hi guys, my name is Irene and I'm from Indonesia. Yeah, so we just off work so we're pretty tired. So we're gonna talk about the perfumes even though we smelled all day already. Right, exactly. Today actually we're gonna talk about the Asian perfume brand. Like we're gonna talk about are they gonna have a space in the perfume industry.
Because right now, Asian is more like a huge market and it's a booming market. A lot of newborn brands are coming out, especially after COVID. So we're going to talk about the trends. Anything to share, guys? Who's going to go first? China? How about Korea? How about we talk about Korea?
For Korea, actually a couple of years ago, the Korean local brand started getting bigger, especially thanks to nonfiction.
Tamburins as you know actually before that perfume brand from Korea called Grand Hand was kind of Grand Hand? Yeah Grand Hand is getting popular because its concept is more traditional Korean Hanok style. Okay, what is that? Hanok is Korean traditional house very traditional you can see like Gyeongbokgung or something like that so
your concept is like um yeah very natural and you can put your name on
Yeah, and the packaging as well. They're doing a personal customized in terms of packaging, not for the fragrance. Their perfume studio is very natural, woody and brownish. Also the perfume, the fragrance itself is very comforting. That's nice.
So it's affordable reasonable price. Yeah, so it's like before the Korean market, fragrance market booming is the one. So this brand is more like a pioneer of the Korean? Yeah, exactly. And then nonfiction. But right now people still consider like this brand as a niche brand or like a massive brand?
Niche. Still niche. Because I don't think Korean local brands, Korean consumers think it's massive. It's still niche. And during COVID, people are very fascinated with the fragrance scent. Because we spend more time at home.
because we wear masks and the beauty, like cosmetic popularity goes down and the fragrance goes up the popularity. The one of brands called Nonfiction, it pursues like the comfort and like natural. The packaging is also very Instagramable. They're simple.
but very cool, fancy. Okay, yeah, like a minimalism? Yes. Yeah, okay. Exactly. And their scent is quite new to customers because Scental Cream
This fragrance gets popular at first because it's a natural sandalwood. And the consumer is quite new back then. It's woody, very woody. So the sandal cream is the perfume name. Yeah, perfume name. It's a perfume name called sandal cream. It's not a sandal fragrance cream. No, no.
No, no, no, it's the name. It's the name of... Soul cream. Right, soul cream. So, very... Very woody.
Sandalwood and creamy and I think comfortable to wear. So many Korean consumers like it. It has popularity. But do you think this sandal cream is like one of the dupe of the maybe Sandal 33 or like they have their own like unique sandal vibe? Because a lot of perfume when they talk about like sandalwood, they always use Sandal 33 as a like... Ventricle. Yeah.
Yeah, but I don't want to really say that word. But anyway, yeah. Yeah. It's more like a BM, you know? Yeah, I know, I know, I know. Yeah, actually, I don't know. I can't tell. It's very unique, unique. Yes. Kind of, but I don't think it's exactly dude. But the Lullabo one to me is not quite creamy. It's a no, but not exactly creamy. It has some like incense, you know, in it. Right. Yeah.
But this one, Santa Creme is more creamy like Fique. Ah, I love Fique. It's quite different but you know what? The Fique plus Sandalwood, this combination is very very common in Korea now. Really? Yes. Many of local brands picked Fique plus Woody. Just every Korean local brands.
release this combination fragrance. I don't know why it's because of its maybe deep thick fellow cicles. Oh could be. Yeah.
I didn't consider fig could be a very popular scent in Asia. I think it's quite like... It reminds me of Italy, like that kind of vibe. Yeah, but in Italy it's more green fig, but then I think in Asia it's more like a lactonic, coconut-y and green. So it's fresh but also creamy at the same time. I think. Maybe that's become popular. Because I think Korean people like creamy, not...
It's like your own skin scent. My skin scent is very creamy. Your skin scent but better. There's a category in China, people call it skin fragrance or skin perfume. But most of them are about musk.
The musky. They are super musky. But instead of like, for example in Korea, people consider creamy or like fluffy peach or coconut as a skin perfume.
Gentle Monster is an eyewear/sunglass brand launched the second brand, the fragrance brand called Tamburins. Okay, I didn't know Gentle Monster had a like perfume brand. Yeah, I thought this just like a sunglasses brand. Yeah, right. And then at first it's they really just hand cream. Actually back then it was quite sensation because
It's very luxurious. It's a white tube and they have a gold chain. So it makes it more luxurious and elegant hand cream. So people really like it. And then they launch other skincare and room spray. And then finally perfume. And they promote the perfume with Jennie. So it got boomed.
Yeah, I remember you told me about like how much money they paid Jennie about this spoke face, this image. Yeah, it's like it can not be that accurate but the article says it's 1 million dollars. Oh yeah, 1 million dollars. US dollars. Yeah, exactly.
so many people and the black pink also get more and more popular and Jennie also so the brand itself is super super growing a lot and they released a perfume and they release recently they released diffuser room fragrance oh really?
They have so many categories. Yes, they opened the flagship in Korea, but recently in Shanghai and Japan as well. Oh really? Even in Shanghai? Yes. That's crazy. So many celebrities go to see and take pictures to promote. And it's kind of amazing actually. So it's kind of one of the biggest perfume brands in Korea right now? Right, exactly. So do you have any comments for like wanting to stand out this brand? Ah, right.
Born to Stand Out is one of the unique Korean
Fresh brand. So people also like it the concept is um their concept is the white and red. Yeah. The packaging also the packaging the bottle is like the Korean the white porcelain. Okay. And then they make it red color to stand out you know make it unique.
Yeah, yeah, we'll just stand out. First time I smelled this brand is in Paris. And like back then the Dirty Vanilla, the signature one is quite popular. I went to the print-on with some of my friends.
And actually we're like wanting to figure out what it is, but actually it doesn't really smell that nice. But I know in Korea they do a lot of collab with artists or like they have a pop-up store as well. So do you think it's more about marketing stuff or do they really care about the fragrance itself? I think you know, they also comment the perfumer in the description. So it's from outside of Korea.
And they also like it because it's made by the master, looks like master perfumer. And also the fragrance wise, they like it.
Because it's kind of unique. Their fragrance is like spicy like saffron or the rice. And the rice one, dirty rice is one of the most popular in Born to Settle perfume. One of my friend like saffron and the ambery one the best. I think this brand is kind of dark and woody ambery.
overall in perfume and it's kind of new to Korean consumer. People like perceive it, oh it's unique. Yeah, it's cool. That's cool. Yeah. That's why this brand got popular among Korean consumers. Yes. I think one of the like brands in China, they have similar DNA that we can talk about later, but maybe we can jump to the Indonesia. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Mysterious. Mysterious.
More like... I have no idea. Yeah, me neither. Like, to me, like, I don't really... When I talk about Indonesia, it's more about, like, raw materials, maybe? Exactly, yeah. But not exactly the perfume brand. Yeah. Yeah. Actually, yeah, we produce some of the ingredients, but then normally, like, we don't have a lot of intention to really process the ingredient. Yeah.
But so... It should be. Exactly. The Indonesian ingredients are so popular and so important in the perfume industry. Yes, exactly. But then...
Okay, I will tell you like one of the brand like one of the pioneer also in Indonesia But then it's very like indie brand because at the beginning even until now He always produced a batch of perfume. Okay, so it's based on like yeah, how many perfume they will produce so basically
It's only at the first time, only around 100. And he will compound it by himself by that time. Okay, it's okay. It's more like a one-man work. Exactly. But then it was also around pandemic.
And then he really wants to emphasize all the natural product. I remember one of the perfume it's called Aurora and it's using three different Lavendee, Lavender and two Lavender and one Lavendee. They put in the same bottle. Same bottle. But can he even tell the difference?
for himself yeah like he actually tried different ratios of different three different lavenders okay yeah so the idea is he wants to make a perfume which can transfer to people to feel this comfortable enjoyment relaxation yeah so but yeah it's called aurora and
I remember it was like the Lavender Bulgaria and then Lavendin and Misty Folia and the other was I forgot the other Lavendin but so it's very
It's funny because the other lavender was like kumarini and then the other was like more camphorous. So it blends quite well, I can say. It's too bad that we can't smell it. Maybe the next time we can smell it. And then, so he's kind of like the pioneer. And then after it was like 100 bottles sold out and then he moved to the other theme.
Exactly. So it's really based on each batch. And then after he moved to the other theme, and then it's also sold out quite fast. People really want to buy his perfume.
Some of the very independent or very niche perfumer in China, they did the same thing. They launched the fragrance seasonally. So each season they launched one or two perfumes and each perfume has maybe 50 bottles, 100 bottles. And it's surprisingly expensive.
Yeah. Really? Yeah. How much? At the beginning, it was like around 50 to 60 Singapore dollar and now it's reached 90 to 100. For me, it's 450ml bottle. That's a lot. That's a lot, yeah. It's even expensive than Lefmas or Louis Vuitton. Exactly, yeah. But then he also opened like a bespoke perfume, so... Oh, that's nice. Maybe that's another price. Exactly, yeah. That's...
How could that be popular? So I think basically some influencers and then YouTubers talking about perfumery and then they really like this brand because of the value and then like the ingredients itself so it feels like it shows the DNA of the Indonesian like you said about the ingredients so his objective is to emphasize more like the ingredients
yeah one of them also have like the patchouli yeah so for sure for sure so just in case
You guys don't really know from the other side, patchouli is one of the most. Exactly guys, patchouli is from Indonesia. One of the perfumes is so funny because it's contrast between the patchouli and all the Indonesian spices. So it has all the nutmeg, turmeric, ginger. Oh, so strong. It's so strong. But he made it...
as a top which is very spicy but also like fresh citrusy lemony but then in the base note it's very patchouli so it's very interesting and
I think you put also like lemongrass and then the galangal I don't know if you get them, you're used to galangal yeah so it's kind of interesting it's super like I didn't smell this but I super like Southeast Asia culture related that's kind of facet so many like ingredients only in Southeast Asia exactly yeah it's like the one that I smelled in Bali like very lemongrass
Yeah, everything smells very lemongrass, right? True, yeah. We use a lot of lemongrass and then pandan. I love pandan. I didn't even know pandan is a thing after I got in Singapore. And then every corner smells like pandan. It's surprisingly big. It's more like one of the... It's not even in fragrance, but in flavors as well. That's weird. Not weird, but that's pretty new to me.
Yeah, and also... Yeah, same here. Yeah. It's crazy. Yeah, and then the other... Just like the other brand which is more massive because before I talk about more like niche and then the other brand it's called Humans. Humans. Humans, yeah. They launched a very like quite controversial name because it's called Orgasm.
But a lot of people giving this kind of comment like "Oh it's really making me feel like a sexism" I get compliment a lot that I'm so sexy But I will just tell you about what it smells like It's basically a lot of vanilla Because I think a lot of Indonesian people love this sweetness
Yeah, so they put a lot of vanilla notes in it. For sure, yeah. And then, it's really contrary with Korean because you said it's very skin scent. But for us, we want to smell outstanding. You don't want to smell something which is your skin. Yeah, exactly. But if it's for Indonesian people. So yeah, it's very vanilla, very jasmine, rosy, and apple.
Apple in the top notes but then in the body is very like floral and the base note is very like heavy vanilla. So they put apples like in this case it's because like they consider apples are for in fruits. Exactly. Okay that's crazy. Sexy, fruity. Ah yeah. So it's a very big hit.
Back then, especially during the COVID time. And then now a lot of people start to develop their own perfume business. Okay. And then, yeah. Yeah, I remember you told me like the customized or DIY perfume workshop in like Jakarta or Bali is a thing right now. Exactly, yeah. Like...
Right after a lot of brands have their own perfume, and then there comes a time like everyone wants to learn how to make perfume. Right. Yes. So maybe also in Korea. In China for sure. Yeah. Yeah, there's a lot of workshop now.
and very well developed workshop I think. Now everyone wants to know more about perfumery I think. But I feel like even if a lot of people are getting curious about perfumery but like there's still a boundary between like
clients and the companies or not only the perfumers but only the suppliers as well true yeah true like for example people want to understand the notes or like what it smells like for example patchouli or like vanilla but in the workshop they don't really smell the real patchouli or vanilla it's more like a cord or more like yeah more like a fake one fake one yeah otherwise it's not possible to make perfume in like one hour
Exactly, yeah. It's too raw. They want to make it the quality, the linear. Yeah, so yeah, all the workshop is normally, I mean we can compound it, but it's already like a single perfume, you know, like jasmine. It's already smelled very nice jasmine, which can go wrong if you mix it with
Yeah, for example, you can put like 50% or you can only put 5%. So it's no matter about if you overdose or low dose, you can always get the nice perfume. Exactly. Yes.
So maybe we can get to know more about China. I think China has a lot of similarities between Indonesia and Korea. But I think people in China prefer some light notes. We don't like anything about strong notes. Something like that. I remember people really into the marine notes and white floral.
People really like this kind of facet, this kind of scent. But white flower can also be strong, no? But white flower is more about tuberose or like jasmine. But jasmine is not really about the enamelic part, but more floral part.
like a pedal bar yeah but like we don't really like elon because it's so spicy right now there are a lot of local brands as well but there are two main brands originally from china one we call it two summer and the other is the documents for two summer their iconic perfume they call it cedarwood that's the english name
But the Chinese name is another level. It's very nice, but I don't know how to translate it. But the English name is just Cedarwood. But when you smell it, it's actually not Cedarwood, it's a Cassis space. Really? How? How can that happen? Yeah, but that's how it is. But the Chinese name is aligned with the fragrance? More or less, yeah. Yeah, more or less.
So that brand to me is they're really good at marketing and all they have three founders and none of them have perfumery background. They are all about like investor, either investors or like in marketing in business, something that kind of like that. So they're really good at marketing. And I think they just launched the perfume like a couple of years ago. But before that, they're doing room diffusers.
They have a lot of like sanded stone. You can add the like drop of fragrance on the stone and it will like diffuse. That kind of stuff. It's well diffused.
It really depends. Because they didn't like prevent any data like about like how it performs if it's well or not. Their packaging is very nice. Their marketing is very nice. So people, a lot of people just buy it. As you said, like as a gift. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. It can be something object at home. Is it like the French, you know, potpourri? Potpourri? Oh, yeah. Like it's a dried flower and you put like an essential. Actually, it's...
Also in Korea, the stone diffuser. But the thing is, it's not well diffused enough. It's a good object at home. Yeah, but I think for TUSUMER, the main problem is their fragrance is not good enough compared to how much they sell it. So to me, it's not like a perfumer work. It's more like a student work. Can I know how much is it? It's around $100. $100? So you get the stone and the oil?
Yeah around that much. It's quite expensive. It is expensive. It feels like 400. Yeah because if you are trying to sell perfume in China,
Either is going to be super expensive, either is going to be super affordable. Yeah. So like there's nothing price in the middle. Because if it's expensive, it will be like prestigious and then they will assume it has a good quality, no? Yes. And that's exactly another brand I'm about to talk about. That's the documents and it's quite new. Was founded in 2021. And also the founder is not like professional.
perfumery related as well. It's more like it has the seasonally perfumes. So right now they have their fifth season and each season they launch five or six, I don't remember, perfumes. Okay. Yeah. And each season they have a main topic. For example, the season one is about life. The season two is about a spirit or alcohol.
So something like that. It's quite interesting ideas. Yeah. But like their price wise, it's just like too high. It's around $300 per like 100ml. That's a lot. That's a lot. Yeah, that's a lot. That's definitely a lot. And the funny part is like the founder is so ambitious and he said like he's not really into perfumes, but he's really into the ready to wear clothes.
So last year they launched a clothesline and people just said that they are like all the copycats of the Balenciaga. So that's super interesting. Have you smelled any of their perfume? I've smelled some of them. The live one?
Yeah, the light one and the alcohol one. But the other season I didn't really smell that much. But they're quite strong and they put some Chinese ingredients in it. So for each fragrance, they have a top, middle and base and they all have a Chinese accord into it. Interesting. Yeah, so it's more like some of them are just like, for example, Manolia or Osmanthus and the others
they just got inspired by tcm's like chinese traditional medicine that's kind of theory okay so yeah i really like their concept and their marketing but this brand is kind of tricky yeah love love relationship you know right a lot of good concept but ended up not really good product
Yeah, actually I have one more question. Like when we talk about local brand, the perfume brand, are we actually talking about the creators behind the brand? I mean the perfumers. Like for example, are you familiar with the perfumers for fire fragrance in Korea, in China or Indonesia? So like I already explained a bit about the alien object. So he's the perfumer of the brand. So like you said, he's an independent perfumer that he
really pursue his study by himself. So literally he studied from zero like buying raw materials like top 20 Jean-Claude Eléna raw materials, you know like okay Yeah, so he started basically like he from his own trial and error Okay, and then after he just developed his own brand and I think it's way more interesting I mean on the other side there's also several brands
who make a collaboration with Indonesian perfumer also like the orgasm one yeah the humans so basically a one guy he's more in the business and marketing and then he asked like an Indonesian perfumer also went from isipka okay and then interesting
Yeah, and then she got trained by a big company. Yes. And then... So, decided to start up her own brand. Exactly, her own brand. Like from zero and then...
You know, sometimes when we created something, we don't really think about the concept. So it's a very good idea to have one person from the marketing and business and then collaborate with the perfumers because it becomes a very successful brand like in Indonesia. Exactly. Yeah. Which is very good.
So it doesn't have to be like an established perfumer. Yeah, like a well-trained. Exactly, a well-trained perfumer to make a good perfume. Yeah. Yeah, so it's interesting. Like I just show you like the contrasting, the independent and the well-trained perfumer. Right. Yeah.
For example, it doesn't mean you didn't go to film school, that you cannot be a good director, that kind of stuff. Exactly. There's some very niche for film or independent one in China as well. They start up their own brand, which is super tiny.
And they just do it like I said seasonal stuff. Yeah. And they, I think they can live with it pretty well. For sure. Yeah, exactly. But like some of them are slightly tricky because they don't really think about the like regulation stuff. They thought about it, but they don't really take that serious about it. Yeah.
So sometimes they're trying to get some new feelings, new sensations, so they extract some raw materials by themselves. So for example, tabac. So they just put the cigar into the alcohol overnight and they get the oil. Wow. Yeah, some of them. That's a bit... Sketchy, but yeah. Exactly. Yeah.
True. And also like I think last month there was an expo of the like more like a competition for like young perfumers. Not exactly perfumers but perfume lovers. It's more like the theme park that the competition we had. But there's another one similar one in China. So many like perfumers they just like submit their works. Yeah I think around like 20-30 of them. Wow.
That's a lot. Yeah. And they're not just putting the lab bottles, they have their own design. They have the names, they have the packaging, they have everything. Wow. Quite great, actually, because it shows how
people really interested in perfumery. Yes, and all their works. I didn't smell any of them, but I heard like a lot of their works are quite like experimental. They have so many like new ideas, overdose, a lot of the stuff that the trained perfumers never use. Something like that. Interesting. Interesting.
Alright, in this episode we talk about the perfume brand in China, Indonesia and Korea and we talk about the raw material ingredients and also we talk about the perfumers behind the brand. Appreciate that Suji and Irene can be the guests for this special episode. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for inviting. Interesting.
Yeah, so like if you like this episode, please give us thumbs up and leave the comment below and see you guys next time
