Scents of the Seoul
I have just arrived back in Sydney from a two-leg journey (Japan, then Korea) which has enlightened, lifted, and brightened my spirits. In Japan, with my longstanding collaborator Naoko, we executed a fully immersive, fully interactive, and fully participative art exhibition entitled CAFÉ (Contemporary Art Fragrance Exhibition) – more on that next time.
Right now, I want to discuss the meteoric boom of perfume brands and perfumery in general over in Korea. Unfortunately I only had time to visit Seoul (how I yearn to return to the Busan seaside! Not this time), but I packed my days with wonderful company and beautiful smells.
My overarching opinion is that the Koreans have done what they often do, which is: take an industry that just became global, and dominate it. Let’s talk about it.
My perfume journey, actually, blossomed in Korea in 2022. I’ll tell you the story:
I went on a trip to the Philippines and Korea in May-June of 2022, and had a great time learning to freedive in Coron and devouring the art galleries of Seoul (this is also when I went to Busan, where I made some new friends and tried makgeolli for the first time on a cliffside looking over the Eastern Sea and eating jeon). I came home with an obscene luggage weight, and put all my goodies on my dining room table to inspect whilst I unpacked.
Reader, I had spent ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS on perfumes whilst in Seoul. YES. And I had zero regrets. Not one. I was blissfully happy and didn’t care that my savings had gone to evaporating liquids. This was when it dawned upon me that my savings were often going to perfumery: “make your own scent” workshops (I’d done them all), “the history of perfume” talks, “rare ingredients of perfumery” smelling events, and of course I was already putting scented materials into paintings!
At this moment I realised I was in love with perfume and would have to learn how to make it, some way, some how.
For the record, I had bought scents from Nonfiction, Granhand, and Cosmic Mansion – all Korean brands – and also Officine Universelle Buly, which I had neither heard of nor seen prior to that trip (we certainly did not have it in Australia at the time). This was pre-Tamburins, even!
I returned to Seoul in 2023 to exhibit my made-on-the-go scented painting body of work, Metropolis Oasis. As I was creating it whilst I travelled, and was theming my paintings around my trip (Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan), I went hunting for perfume ingredients that were inarguably Korean. I ended up in a perfume supply store in the packaging section of the trade markets somewhere in Euljiro, and they told me “No, we don’t have Korean materials. Maybe you need to go to Jeju”. Alas! As it turned out, my mate MJ in Taiwan would happily be the source of my perilla leaf oil that I used in the painting Palace Garden in Late Summer (named after my first ever visit to Gyeongbukgung Palace).
I visited Hana at Le Nez Lab in Bukchon, and she gave me a similar response – Korean materials were not easy to find. Back then, Le Nez Lab, Cosmic Mansion, Nonfiction, and Granhand were the hub of Korean perfume stores, and then, whilst I was there, Tamburins opened their flagship Gangnam store and a satellite in Bukchon – both had 2-hr-wait queues and were packed like sardines. I didn’t go in.
Anyway, all of this to say that I had front row seats for the moment when the perfumery meteor hit Korea. Going back 3 years later, I was curious to see how the movement was doing.
Very similar to Australia, if you don’t have financial capital backing your business, it is very hard to grow. I wondered if Granhand and Le Nez Lab would be left behind, or if they could ride the same wave that birthed Born To Stand Out and Elorea*. Happily I could see that Cosmic Mansion was standing well on its own two feet with multiples stores in both Jongno-gu and Hannam-dong (I think there is a Hongdae store… And maybe I saw one in Nonhyeon-dong?). Both Granhand and Le Nez Lab are still going, and I wish them much success in the future. They both have adorable little ateliers worth visiting in Bukchon. I saw an article somewhere that said one of the BTS boys wears a Granhand perfume (unverified).
These days, more perfumeries have emerged. Pesade, SW19, Postes, Pointtwofive.seconds, 29Apostrophe, FRA422, and many more. There is also a breathtaking amount of perfume workshop businesses, which I won’t get into (except to say that the OG one is Le Mal du Pays 121). There are also plenty of niche perfume stores popping up too, mostly in Seongsu-dong that I could see, and the famous Arokor in Apgujeong-dong.
Something that captured my imagination all those years ago was the way that Korean creative direction changed my opinion on materials I thought I didn’t like, and I think it could do the same for many other people, too. I’ll extrapolate on this when I go through the perfumes that I bought. But first, a comment on Korean perfumery after discussing the zeitgeist with the phenomenon that is Sarah Pae of Scent By. She is the brains and often the hand behind many of the perfumes available from the aforementioned brands. Whether she is in charge of the creative direction, the evaluation, or the formulation of a scent, her magic touch brings out the exact-right mood for the occasion. She scents fine fragrances, exhibitions, pop-ups, museums, k-pop concerts (YES! She is living MY DREAM!!), you name it. Incidentally, she made me realise that whilst everyone had this idea that perfumery was a body-fragrance embraced by highly sensory cultures, Koreans had actually been taking scent-scaping far more seriously than everyone else for centuries, and particularly in recent decades. Whilst everyone in the occidental world was going through the motions of Angel and Sauvage, Daisy and Aventus, Korea was designing scents for spaces. It is so, so common for a business of ANY size to have a signature scent – I walked into the small bar Fabrik (GREAT little underground bar, by the way) to find myself smelling some sort of translucent pink musky concoction, which disappeared from my consciousness after some 20 minutes, and was not in any way jarring. [I say this because Australians are terrified of ambient scent, due to their exposure of such a thing only consisting of Airwick plug-ins, public bathrooms, vapes, Lush stores, and the reed diffuser section of David Jones. Oh how much we have to learn!]
I purchased an obscene amount of discovery sets and samples during my sojourn. Let’s discuss:
- Orris Cocoon
Orris is very violet-leaning in Korea, and Orris Cocoon (perfect name) fits the bill. It is juicy yet not super carrotseed-y, and the fluffiness is still maintained to create a lovely cloud of orris steam that wafts about your person. This is a linear scent, mostly, with a soft laundry-musk drydown at the very end. This scent is for people who search for “iris” rather than “orris” fragrances, and people who say “I want a skin scent but I don’t like ____”. A perfect perfume for sleep (I sleep in a similar combination of orris and heliotrope).
- Lay Figure
Notes: Lemon, bergamot, orange, jasmine, lavender, neroli, rose, amber, vetiver, musk.
A tea-like yet indolic flowery dream. A spring day in a bottle. Pure prettiness. Imagine wearing a straw hat with flowers on the brim to a countryside picnic in a white dress.
- Blue Eyeshadow
Notes: Cardamom, rosewood, oud wood, sandalwood, vetiver, amber, tonka bean, vanilla.
Nowhere near as heavy as the notes make it sound; an exemplary version of a “spicy amber” perfume made in the gentle Korean way, like an airy and powdery homage to the classic 1980s blockbuster style.
- The New Error
Notes: Bergamot, orange, rose, tea, sesame, rum, pepper, cedarwood, musk.
Delicious citrus opening leading to an unusual but delicate nutty, fruity tea. The cedarwood and pepper are untraceable to my nose, and the rum is just a blast at the front that dissipates right on time.
- Gaiac Flower
I can only presume that Thé Noir by Le Labo was the inspiration for this fragrance but I’m sorry Le Labo, this is so, so much better. Sumptuous without being overbearing, equally powdery, woody, and floral, for me this is the perfect perfume for wearing on the streets of Seoul.
- The Grey and The Beige
The Beige notes: musk, orris, geranium, tonka
Easy and pretty, like a glow against the skin.
The Grey notes: musk, cypriol, benzoin, magnolia
The woody version of a skin scent – the cypriol is the only detectable woody note to me.
- Odorama Cities
Notes: Sandalwood, incense, amoeba(!), tuberose.
This was the scent created for the Korean Pavilion at the 2024 Venice Biennale. It’s the closest thing Nonfiction has to a strong perfume. I believe you can only buy it in person in the Korean stores. To me it was surprisingly ylangylang-heavy and spiced, for a Korean perfume, but still inoffensive and attractive, like a still-life painting rather than a photorealistic rendering of the materials.
- Tears In Rain
Notes: Oakwood, geranium, bergamot, patchouli
A translucent, green, chypre-esque, dewy number that would be perfect for humid days and tropical nights.
- El
Notes: Marine, citrus, white amber
Pleasant and fresh.
- Teo
Notes: Mint, Chypre, Spice
I really enjoyed the mint. I like when mint is okay as perfume ingredient, and people don’t complain of toothpaste. Kinfolk also have a mint-forward one that I liked.
- Won
Notes: Leather, Woody, Liqueur
Kinda yummy actually. But subdued yummy, not droolery.
- Kim
Notes: Floral, Chypre, Dark Bean
Nice, gentle, nothing ground-breaking, florals for spring.
- Jang
Notes: Jinjang (aged soy sauce), jasmine, charcoal.
So fun. Salty and savoury, unfortunately with a boring drydown. But I love the opening notes and a good amount of its midnotes.
- Fire
Notes: Jeju lime, camellia flower, leather
Honestly, this is not a firey or smoky scent to me at all. But I love it. The opening lime is green and lovely, and the camellia flower is watery and clear. Can barely get the supposedly leathery-woody drydown (which is a blessing because apparently it’s akigalawood) – to me the camellia just continues into a marine base (ironically).
- Be By My Side
Notes: Ginseng, forget-me-not, suede.
I mean, sure. I can’t detect a single one of those notes individually, but it smells utterly delightful, and anyone who knows the scent of ginseng knows that sweet, earthy, ever-so-slightly spiced fragrance, which basically describes this perfume. Based on the concept of 흐노니 (I think the equivalent would be saudades in Portuguese, otherwise in English it’s just “yearning for someone”), it does render a lovely fuzzy warmth.
- Cloud Daze
Notes: makgeolli, cognac, coffee
I had to get this because I love makgeolli (and obviously I wanted every scent to be distinctly Korean where possible). Perfumer Linda Song has done a great job capturing the distinct milky-powdery-apple juicey taste of makgeolli ricemilk wine. Even the drydown maintains the makgeolli character. I’m back on that cliffside makgeollijib in Busan, I tell you. Maybe there’s some cognac there, but not much coffee (maybe a hint of iced latte) to me.
Special mention: Tamburins, 29Apostrophe, Kinfolk, and Youssoful.
Tamburins is simply a fun place to visit, and I love their handcreams in particular. If I had to name a standout fragrance, I’d say Chamo. 29Apostrophe, Kinfolk, and Youssoful are all full of pleasant, unadventurous, unnatural-smelling nature-themed collections that are worth stepping into when you want something pretty and uncomplicated, or want the gentle Korean version of a strong woody/green/spicy/smoky fragrance.
Thank you to Sarah Pae for taking me on a day out, full of mountain views, perfume shopping, sniffing roadside plants, and making plans.
Keep your eyes and nose on Korea, everyone – the hallyu wave has not let up. Australia should take note, if I’m being completely honest. We have far more local ingredients and materials to play with, and “they’re too harsh to use in perfumery” is already being proved wrong not just by ME but also by people who are NOT Australian! Look up eucalyptus notes in fragrances and see for yourselves.
This is like how Portugal is the world’s biggest exporter of macadamia nuts (umm?), California has monetised eucalyptus oil (hello?), and I have to buy my wattle absolute from FRANCE. Outrageous where self-diminishment and tall poppy syndrome gets you. Anyway, I digress.
Please, people who think they hate patchouli and jasmine, try Korean fragrances. The little ones and the big ones. Trust that the olfactory aesthetic they built over years scenting spaces and skincare has also translated to fine fragrances. And for goodness’ sake, go to Seoul!
*Elorea, strictly speaking, is an American brand. However, I am including it because it is entirely Korean in theme, Korean-American owned, Korean-American creatively directed, with the majority of perfumes composed by a Korean-American perfumer, utilising Korean ingredients and based on Korean notes.
