Davao perfumer spills secrets to sweet-smelling success

Many people take a lifetime to know what they want to do with their lives, but not Oscar Mejia III.

Since he was five years old, Oscar knew that he is meant to become a perfumer.

“Actually, it started as early as when I was five years old. My parents used to own an orchid and cut flower farm… and then my dad would culture orchid varieties. May maliit kaming (We had a small) laboratory at home,” Oscar recalled in an exclusive interview with DAILY TRIBUNE.

Scents, he said, allow him to be more confident and at the same time, enable him to discover himself because “when I wear a fragrance, I resonate with a certain scent profile.”

“And then you get to figure out why is it like that? Maybe because, this is my outlook in life,” he said. “It’s a way of discovering yourself and a way of expressing yourself to others. It’s a very powerful tool that they could use, that’s why it’s good to explore fragrances.”

After taking up Chemistry at the Ateneo de Manila University, Oscar went on to specialize in perfume studies through the help of French mentor Nicola Dubarry.

“From there, I started to play around (different scents),” Oscar shared.

“The idea behind my fragrances is like capiz because it’s very layered, so there are a lot of combinations of oils but the scent is so light. So like capiz that’s layered but very translucent, my scents are very light, so they’re not cloying on the nose. Banayad lang (gentle only). ‘Di ba (Isn’t it), that’s very Filipino? Ang gusto natin ‘yung fresh (What we like is something fresh).”

What makes his perfumes uniquely Filipino, he said, is being able to symbolize “gaan ng loob” (lightness).

“At the same time, they’re all inspired by my experiences, so that makes them Filipino,” he added, noting that his label carries lines taking off from Filipino cultural influences such as Harana, Paraluman and the Mito collection, which is inspired by Maria Makiling and other local gods, goddesses and mythology.

“These are very Filipino in idea and then we translate them into a fragrance.”

In 2017, Oscar joined the MaArte Fair, and as the fair returns from 7 to 10 August in seven areas of The Peninsula Manila in Makati City, he will be among the over 160 artisans that will be participating. At his booth in the fair, he will launch a new scent.

Apart from enabling him to make his brand and company, Scentsories Inc., will become known better by more people, joining the fair allows Oscar to give back to the community since the fair is for the benefit of Museum Foundation of the Philippines, which supports the restoration and projects of museums all over the country.

According to Mejia, it is a good time to become a perfumer nowadays since there are now more classes available for aspirants.

“’Yun talagang access to education, kasi wala nga, ‘di ba? (Because there was none, right?) Now, we’re lucky, may mga nag-ooffer na ng classes (there are those offering classes),” he said, pointing out that he backed out from taking a formal perfume education in France because the tuition was P5 million.

He admitted having a tough time competing with bigger international brands.

“Competing with other commercial brands, kasi naman (because) if you want perfume, you want a representation of yourself? So others would want branded,” he fretted.

Despite this, he remains dedicated to introduce scents that are distinctly Filipino.

“It’s really more about finding a certain connection to the scent, because if you notice, we’re heavy on the story, that’s why we want people to be able to relate to the perfume so that they can wear it on and consider it versus other brands because it makes a certain connection.”

The perfume industry today, he said, “is very good.”

“Especially in the Philippines, there are more Filipino brands coming out today and more and more people are getting interested to learn the craft,” he enthused. “Some government agencies now like the DOST (Department of Science and Technology)… they are now into doing more research on extracting oils. So hindi lang tayo (we’re not the only one) more on the product end, but (also on) producing the raw materials.”

To those who want to try their luck in perfumes, he assured that perfumery “is an exciting world.”

“Ang sabi nga nila, parang rabbit hole s’ya. ‘Pag nahulog ka, hindi ka na makakalabas (As they say, it’s like a rabbit hole. If you fall, you would not be able to come out),” he affirmed.