Making Scents of It All
Kathlyn D’souza speaks to Aien Mokhtar, founder and chief fragrance director of OLFAC3, a perfumer inspired by nature, people and places
Tell us about OLFAC3.
OLFAC3 is a play on the word ‘olfactory’, meaning the sense of smell. The number 3 represents a perfect perfume blend—the top notes, the middle or heart notes, and the base notes. These make up the building blocks of all our olfactory creations and it also represents the three key elements we derive our inspirations from: nature, people and places.
Did you have any proper training for perfuming? Tell us about your journey.
My journey began in 2002, on aromatherapy and the healing benefits of herbs. Initially I wanted to learn how to create blends that I could diffuse at home, to control my stress levels and to make natural bath and body products for my own use. Back then, I had to travel outside of Malaysia to learn, but having access to the internet subsequently helped a lot. I started joining workshops and short-term courses organised by the manufacturer in Australia which I was ordering raw materials from on a regular basis.
I experimented a lot on my own, making blends from natural ingredients, with essential oils as my key building blocks. In 2011, I took a perfumery course in Grasse, in the south of France— considered by many as the perfume capital of the world. I will be returning to further my training at the Grasse Institute of Perfumery next spring.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
I love working with natural ingredients for the therapeutic benefits that it offers, as nature has the power to heal. Sometimes a certain flower, for example ylang-ylang which is known as the