Splurging on a decadent bottle of luxury fragrance is an exciting treat for most of us, but when we’re faced with the choice between a designer perfume or a niche fragrance, which should we choose? A niche fragrance is a unique, in-house perfume produced on a small scale, and the limited availability for the niche perfumes are sometimes artisan fragrances.
The global perfume market size is projected to reach US$43.2 billion (~RM190 billion) by 2028 as the robust demand for beauty products and accessories among consumers is expected to boost the market growth.
Malaysia is famous for producing top-quality oud oil and agarwood products, a rare perfume raw ingredient which is extracted from the wood of a wild tropical tree infected with a type of mould.
Oud is a dark, extremely fragrant resin produced by the agar tree and apparently, only 2% of trees produce oud, making it incredibly precious and therefore, expensive. Despite all of that, the lack of knowledge about perfumery and the tough barrier for entry into the industry resulted in very few Malaysian perfume powerhouses.
Like seeds that need the right environment to germinate, some niche Malaysian perfume brands have tried and failed to capture the market’s attention, and some have even moved elsewhere to expand their brands. However, the Malaysian identity will always follow them as they bring a part of our culture overseas, so here is a list of independent Malaysian perfumers that you need to check out.
Auphorie
An award-winning scent atelier dedicated to luxury handcrafted scents founded by Eugene Au and Emrys Au, Auphorie is inspired by cultures and heritages throughout the world. The duo create scents that evoke unique images and depictions of nostalgia and memories.
All of their releases are limited editions and many of them are currently vaulted. Right now, their three artisan scents on the market are Miyako, Tenmoku III – Zhu Yan BO Yue, and Oud de Nyonya.
Miyako was the winner of The Art and Olfaction Awards 2016, opening with juicy peach, tangy and zesty yuzu, and sweet ripe apricot.
Gradually, the unique sweet note of Japanese golden osmanthus (Kin-Mokusei) shines through, accompanied by a touch of jasmine green tea note. All these sweet notes are cut by shades of metallic and bitter leather note, resulting in a “shibui” and balanced scent.
The setting for this fragrance is the picture of walking down the serene street of the ancient capital city of the Far East with golden osmanthus (Kin-Mokusei) flowers in full bloom, exuding its sweet and exotic scent with notes of ripe apricot, peach and freesia.
Jackets worn by pedestrians fill the air with a touch of leather, and notes of jasmine green tea waft up from the tea house nearby. Geishas with white faces and red lips are walking up and down, and the slight powdery note of those scented sachets tied to their waists slowly penetrates the air in this season of autumn.
For their Oud de Nyonya, inspired by Baba-Nyonya Peranakan culture, Oud De Nyonya features scrumptious notes of pandan leaves, coconut milk and gula melaka found in most of Nyonya kuihs. To enrich the heart of the composition, they’ve introduced a rare natural extract of orange jessamine flower which is characteristic of the heritage and even included old-fashioned Nyonya-style boudoir powder to create the nostalgic scent of vintage Nyonya-style powder in their memories.
My Village and Siberian Musk. – BAHFAMSN FRAGRANCE
Bahfamsn Fragrance
An artisan perfume house from Sabah founded by Sonali Said and Kriss Mokhtar, Bahfamsn Fragrance also handmakes their fragrances in small batches. Sonali and Kriss get their inspiration from their favourite memories, places, music, food, and art. Their newest creations that were just released this month are animalic Osiris, dark and thick Luwak Touch, and misty Morning in Kundasang.
Bahfamsn usually gets their niche-perfume customers from the states and stocks on Sealed Essence. Their perfumes are also available on their website.
Their scent My Village and Siberian Musk is inspired by the smell of her grandmother’s place in the village. It is inspired by the smell of the village on her road trips back to her grandmother’s place every weekend and is also the smell you get on trips to Telipok, Tuaran, Tamparuli and Kundasang.
Although she describes it as the combination of buffalo poop on the road, dogs, goats, muddy soil, and kampung fruits – even though some might be put off by the description – it turns out to be a nostalgic airy and light smell with mud accord, Peanut accord, Jasmine Sambac, Rose, Siberian deer musk tincture, civet, hay absolute, Indonesia patchouli, geosmin, and sandalwood when combined together.
Like many of the scents that are inspired by their hometown, their new scent Morning in Kundasang is also reminiscent of relaxing, quiet, chilly Kundasang mornings as the name suggests, a nostalgic memory and favourite travel destination for locals and foreigners alike.
Clearly, Bahfamsn is creative noses that love to make all sorts of interesting scents into a bottle as they share their hometown with other people.
Coconut Nanas – RIRANA PERFUME
Rirana Parfum
Founded in 2017, Rirana Parfum is inspired by natural woods, flowers, herbs and aromatic botanicals, and their range of unisex scents is scientifically formulated to react to the wearer and evolve over the day.
Their Black Wood perfume is woody and balsamic with main notes of sandalwood, rosewood, cardamom, tonka beans, oud, and amber black wood.
They describe the woody scent as elegant, mysterious, and “a statement scent”.
Coconut Nanas, on the other hand, is a sweet fruity milky tropical scent which opens up with a blast of sweetness from the pineapple peach swirled into a pool of milky coconut vibe. Then, exotic white floral (tiare & frangipani) start to come up and the magic happens at the dry down. The sweet, coconutty, heady floral blend will remind you of summer, beach, and holiday, and is also described as Polynesia in a bottle.
Their scent Cherry on Top is an exclusive edition in collaboration with D’or Prestige, USA. It’s a sweet aphrodisiac gourmand fragrance that opens with delightful vanilla, cherry and caramel deep in a floral musky leather vibe that creates a warm spicy woody combination.
Their bottles are creatively wrapped in jute strings to give it that rustic look, and since their ratio is 60% to 70% essential oil, their perfumes are really concentrated, higher than typical Extrait de parfum, and will give your nose a run for its money.
Malay Perfumery
Malay Perfumery is an artisan fragrance house specialising in scents of the Malay Archipelago, evoking the heritage of ethnic Malays combined with French perfumery techniques. Their names, scents, and materials are authentically designed at the heart of the Malay world, Malaysia.
Fazzillah Noordin is the nose behind the brand with 10 perfumes in their fragrance base.
Established in 2018, all fragrances come in custom-made silk Songket Tenun Pahang boxes made by local Malaysian artists.
The scent Mahsuri is inspired by the legendary Langkawi Mahsuri’s conspiratorial event that led to her unjust death. The scent symbolises her purity and virtue, opening with a whirl of citruses infused with camphor.
The unusual smell, bitter-dry, is almost mystical, like the muffled sound of a gong hidden somewhere in the palace. With jasmine adding some sweetness to it, it smells like Chinese tea, and the sombre accord of incense-smelling sandalwood makes the complex composition very unisex and long-lasting.
Fleur de Rampai is a green floral inspired by Bunga Rampai, a fresh potpourri traditionally made for weddings as a bridal fragrance. Bunga rampai is a quintessential Malay fragrance, often evoking the scent of happiness, family, and togetherness. With pandan, jasmine, and patchoulli, Fleur de Rampai is thick and almost edible, similar to Nasi Lemak.
Josh Lee Fragrances
Established in late August 2012 at George Town, Penang, Josh Lee is a Perfume Master who graduated as a European Fragrance and Cosmetic Master (EFCM) from the world’s top perfumery school, ISIPCA (Institut Supérieur International du Parfum, de la Cosmétique et de l’Aromatique Alimentaire) in Versailles, France to fulfil his lifelong dream of having his own fragrance company.
His vision was to be an established international fragrance brand that is truly Malaysian at heart and George Town by Josh Lee was the first fragrance project launched by him.
The fragrance features the four main characteristics of George Town city: fresh citrusy sea water of Penang island, heavenly gourmet spices (nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom), romantic floral bouquet (hibiscus and rose) and opulent heritage woody notes (sandalwood).
Packed in a Batik toiletry bag, OUD by Josh Lee is a woody oriental fragrance that captures the rich biodiversity of the Malaysian Rainforests. It opens with fresh notes of dawn break and follows by a medley note of indigenous spices, herbs and floras before unfurling the elegant yet exotic oud accord of its precious trees.
With zesty bitter orange, bergamot, spicy clove, and Malaysia’s own national flower, hibiscus petals, the scent combines with heavy patchouli, agarwood, sandalwood and cedarwood to create a scent that smells like the woods of Malaysia.
As for Nyonya by Josh Lee, the scent draws a picture of a Peranakan woman of mixed Chinese and Malay/Indonesian heritage.
The fresh floral fragrance embodies the graceful femininity of a modern Nyonya who embraces flowers as part of her culture, with rose and jasmine symbolising her eternal beauty, lotus reflecting her purity, champaca expressing her eternal love while peony and orchid portraying her nobility.
Cherry on Top – RIRANA PERFUME
