The magical work of a Perfumer: Behind the scenes with Parfums Dusita

by Khun Pissara Umavijani

After many years of being a perfume collector, I wondered what made perfumes magic. I have a friend, Anuchy, we spent hours smelling, talking about fragrances and what made them special. We decided to order raw materials from different global suppliers. On arrival, the joy of discovery was greater than anything we could imagine! That was the beginning of an inwards and outwards journey. 

Scents link directly to our brain. They stimulate our emotions. It is the most primal part of perception. It creates wonderful and powerful mind tricks. I have discovered the reason behind the creation of Parfums Dusita: Good perfumes make you happy; great perfumes make you dream.

I came to Paris in 2011 with nothing but dreams. My father died in 2006. The experience of losing him made me realise how ephemeral life was and how important it was to build something, to be happy and to do what you love. I knew my heart was in perfumery. I wanted to affect other people as my fragrances affected me.

I believe we need good perfumes in life. We need sensation that links directly to our brain and stimulate our emotions. We make decisions based on scents without knowing. It is a primal perception. 

I created Dusita with passion. I wish to make people dream, discover, and feel this sensation of happiness. Through the countless hours of working and collecting inspirations everywhere, I believe that perfumes will speak for themselves. I believe that people will always seek a good scent. Creativity is characterised by the ability to perceive the world in new ways, to find hidden patterns, to make connections between seemingly unrelated phenomena, and embracing originality.

Parfums Dusita is about happiness each creation is crafted to portrait an aspect of it: Issara is about freedom, Mélodie de l’amour is about love, Oudh Infini is about discovering new things and places, and Erawan is about personal growth.

Creativity is also about making connections. I am always thinking about the world and the experiences I have daily, but sometimes I like to open one of my father’s poetry books and see how it makes me feel.

I started to think of how my Father’s wonders about his longings and his ability to ever be happy. I believe that happens to all of us; we eventually reach points of uncertainty. We need to find a way to reach peace of mind. I started sketching. As he mentioned in a poem, I drew the Sun Moon Lake and a golden Thai temple in the middle. It was a representation of a guiding source of light, steadiness and tranquility.

I think about elements and select picture colours when drawing. I paint the fragrance already in my mind. The temple translated into incense; the water into freshness. These are my two main scents: Frankincense and Mint Citrata. I want to depict tranquility, but also the roughness of difficult times. I decided on a contrasting astringent green fig scent.

In my lab I worked on my idea of fragrance. The name Le Pavillon d’Or came later, but I called it my “guiding light” fragrance. I do many trials. I start balancing a few materials as a core then build. Developing perfumes is a process that takes months. You have to let it macerate, evolve, be organised and keep the olfactive direction you wish it to go in check.

When I am in Thailand, I collect succulents. I fell in love with the crushed Boswellia leaf smell. This inspired me to use Omani Frankincense Green Sacra. I found this material soft, delicate and breezy. It also blends well with white florals. One perfumer basic is to know the materials, analyse facets and evolution, but you must evaluate how they perform inside a composition and how they interact with other scents. It is a continuous learning process. Every time I enter my Paris laboratory, I discover something new… magic for a nose! That is why perfumery is my never ending passion.

When the formulations are ready, I send them to Grasse, where they blend them with globally sourced precious raw materials. Creating perfume concentrate in large quantity is also another expertise I admire. Each year I get the raw materials to analyse them from different sources such as Grasse Rose de Mais, Tunisian Orange Flower Absolute, Madagascar Vanilla Absolute and Indian Sandalwood. If  the quality is right, I use it in my formulation.

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Expat Life in Thailand is a community lifestyle magazine for expatriates (a person who has citizenship in at least one country, but who is living in another country) living in Thailand with an appetite and a zest for the best of life!