This S’porean constructed a perfume biz that made it to Sephora & offered 1000’s

Final yr alone, Scent Journer offered over 8,000 of its hand-blended perfumes

For so long as she will be able to keep in mind, Joyce Lian has been fascinated by scents—not simply how they scent, however why they scent the best way they do.

That curiosity led her to enrol in Singapore Polytechnic’s perfumery and beauty science course in 2013, the place she discovered about uncooked supplies, chemical constructions, and the formulation of non-public care merchandise.

Her curiosity solely deepened throughout a ten.5-month internship at international large Worldwide Flavours & Fragrances, the place she was posted to the perfume division. With permission from the corporate, Joyce usually stayed after work hours to experiment with small portions of uncooked supplies, creating her personal perfume formulations.

She painstakingly memorised the scent profile of every ingredient, constructing a private information base to coach her sense of scent. On the time, she had dedicated 147 uncooked supplies to reminiscence.

Joyce’s ardour for perfumery finally grew into Scent Journer, her personal perfume label promoting 1000’s of merchandise, together with on Sephora’s on-line platform. We spoke with the 30-year-old who shared what it takes to construct a fragrance model from scratch.

Navigating profession detours

“To me, how I expertise perfume may be very totally different from most individuals. I’ve skilled myself to understand and discern the totally different layers that lie in a fragrance bottle,” Joyce shared whereas explaining her eager sense of scent that she has honed over time.

After graduating from Singapore Polytechnic, Joyce went on to finish a Chemistry diploma on the Nationwide College of Singapore (NUS) in an accelerated timeframe of simply 2.5 years that resulted in 2018.

The yr after, she landed a job as a technical specialist at a cosmetics firm, the place she stayed for 5 months. Whereas the function was secure, it was not what she had envisioned—her ardour lay in fragrances.

However Singapore’s perfumery trade again then was small (and nonetheless is, a minimum of in line with Joyce), and alternatives had been restricted. In contrast to her pals, she was additionally unable to go abroad to pursue perfume roles resulting from familial constraints on the time.

Finally, Joyce was not discovering any pleasure in her cosmetics place. On the recommendation of considered one of her pals, she determined to attempt one thing totally totally different: she joined OCBC in 2020 as a private monetary guide.

However lower than a yr later, Joyce realised the function wasn’t her cup of tea both. She missed working in labs, formulating, and experimenting with totally different scents.

A colleague then urged she begin her personal enterprise and discover an entrepreneurship programme run by the Nationwide College of Singapore (NUS)—a suggestion that might finally change the course of her life.

Constructing Scent Journer from the bottom up

In 2021, Joyce utilized for the three-month Enterprise Constructing Programme at NUS collectively along with her companion, Alex Lim, and her sister, Jacelyn Lian, the place they constructed the stepping stones for Scent Journer.

The programme taught the trio the foundations of entrepreneurship, from validating concepts to understanding prospects. One requirement was to interview a minimum of 100 potential customers to evaluate market demand.

What Joyce and her staff uncovered was telling. Many Singaporeans solely wore fragrance for particular events as they seen it as an costly product, whereas others prevented it totally as a result of fragrances triggered complications or nausea. As such, solely a small minority wore fragrance every day.

Figuring out these ache factors, Joyce needed to create perfumes that could possibly be “worn each day within the city-state and had been much less more likely to trigger complications or nausea, whereas making the assorted scent notes extra discernible,” Joyce defined.

“I would like the identify of Scent Journer to talk for itself, bringing our prospects on a journey by scent, with the perfume performing as an on a regular basis companion.”

After pitching her thought, Scent Journer was awarded the Startup SG Founder Grant in two tranches, amounting to S$50,000. NUS contributed one other S$10,000, and Joyce, Alex, and Jacelyn pooled a further S$10,000, bringing the entire startup funds to S$70,000. It was a good funds, however sufficient to get the enterprise off the bottom.

The model operated on-line for its first eight months after incorporation in Apr 2021. Then, an surprising alternative arose.

In Dec, after seeing Scent Journer’s commercials on-line, the now-closed Japanese-inspired French pastry store Flor Patisserie reached out to the model and supplied it a pop-up house at its outlet for a day, for simply S$50 to provide the latter an opportunity to work together bodily with potential prospects.

The pop-up exceeded expectations, recording an 80% conversion price. For Joyce and her staff, it was a pivotal second that gave them the much-needed confidence that they had been onto one thing concrete.

Contained in the perfuming course of

Scent Journer launched with three fragrances and has since expanded to 5, whereas additionally progressively providing different product codecs like fragrance sachets that may be hung in wardrobes, other than hand sanitisers and scented candles.

On particular events like their anniversary and Christmas, Joyce releases limited-time choices—for instance, the A New Veil perfume with inexperienced tea notes, and the Spiced Winter Tea Candle. To have a good time Singapore’s birthday final yr, the model even got here up with a kaya toast–scented candle.

Every perfume that’s launched by Scent Journer undergoes six months to a yr of analysis and growth, and each one is hand-blended by Joyce to make sure high quality.

She begins with a sugarcane alcohol base, combining it with different substances distilled into liquid type—over 85% of that are naturally derived, with no dangerous components.

Most of what she works with are sustainable or upcycled substances, corresponding to carrot seed essence, and the sugarcane alcohol she makes use of is gentler on the senses—although considerably dearer.

“We use high-quality, perfumery-grade pure ethanol derived from sugarcane alcohol. Conversely, mainstream perfumes use artificial alcohols, which usually tend to be denatured by the methanol inside them and will have a better risk of inflicting customers to expertise nausea and complications, particularly people who find themselves extra delicate to alcohol,” Joyce defined.

As soon as executed, every bottle is sealed and prepared on the market.

Scaling its offline presence

Through the years, Scent Journer has scaled its offline presence considerably. In 2022, the model entered consignment areas with stockists after Tangs reached out, adopted by Metro at Design Orchard.

Since Oct 2023, the model has been out there on KrisShop, and a yr later, begun retailing on Sephora’s on-line platform.

The model has all the time been a well-known face at numerous pop-ups, together with Boutiques Truthful, Singapore’s largest design-led purchasing occasion, having attended six occasions and counting.

Scent Journer has additionally expanded past Singapore, partnering with a specialty perfume retailer in Guangzhou, China, in 2023—a milestone for its abroad development.

“Our transfer into the Chinese language market has been important; there’s a rising demand for area of interest fragrances, notably these with distinctive tales and inventive scent compositions,” shared Joyce. “Chinese language shoppers have gotten extra discerning, and our deal with high-quality substances and immersive olfactory storytelling resonates strongly with their altering tastes.”

That stated, prospects from different markets also can buy merchandise by the model’s web site, which ships internationally. Joyce recalled being shocked when prospects from France willingly paid steep delivery charges simply to get their palms on the model’s merchandise.

Collaborations with native manufacturers

Collaborations have additionally performed a key function in increasing Scent Journer’s attain. Joyce has crafted bespoke fragrances for manufacturers corresponding to homegrown distillery Compendium Spirits and cafe Nesuto, working intently with every to translate their model identification into scent.

For Compendium Spirits, the distillery was searching for a perfume to accompany its Rojak Gin, and so Joyce delivered it as each a room spray and hand wash. 

“I understood that gin is nothing with out juniper berries, and rojak just isn’t one with out the torched ginger lily flower. Therefore, I developed a scent that turned Compendium’s Rojak Gin right into a perfume.”

The distillery additionally requested for an odour-neutralising resolution to sort out the inevitable plumbing smells in its outdated Round Highway shophouse. Joyce’s staff created a perfume solvent that broke down the disagreeable odours whereas filling the house with Scent Journer’s signature scent.

Equally, on a bigger scale, Nesuto requested an autumn-like scent to be subtle all through its cafe, so Joyce got here up with a concoction of inexperienced tea, roasted chestnut and different substances that collectively reproduce a “heat atmosphere of autumn.”

The realities & rising prices of expertise

Joyce’s merchandise have been successful—final yr alone, she offered greater than 8,000 bottles by retail and consumer initiatives.

Like several startup, Scent Journer has confronted its fair proportion of challenges.

Joyce’s formulations are extremely particular, and worth fluctuations have a direct impression—after the pandemic, the price of her sugarcane alcohol ingredient surged by about 70%.

Beforehand working out of NUS BLOCK71, a startup incubation house, Joyce moved to her present lab in Tampines in Sep 2023, the place operational prices grew to become much more obvious.

Mixed with distributor cuts, these elements left her little alternative however to lift retail costs—a troublesome however needed resolution to maintain the enterprise sustainable. Immediately, a 25ml bottle at Scent Journer prices S$128.

To handle prices, Joyce operates her lab and workplace on an appointment foundation whereas operating retail operations by consignment areas and pop-ups.

At the moment, Scent Journer is present process a model overhaul to rejuvenate the model. Joyce’s recommendation to aspiring founders is easy however hard-earned: do what you like.

“Discover an issue to unravel fairly than doing issues which can be stylish,” she stated. “It’s arduous to face out and final, particularly in the event you’re coming into an already saturated market.”

She mirrored on what number of new perfume manufacturers gravitate in direction of acquainted notes like pear and freesia—scents popularised by different standard manufacturers and immediately recognisable. For Joyce, longevity lies not in imitation and chasing fleeting traits, however in carving out one thing quietly, unmistakably your personal.

• Study extra about Scent Journer right here.
• Learn different articles we’ve written on Singaporean companies right here.

Featured Picture Credit score: Scent Journer