The heavenly smell of cologne is wafting through a new-concept store in George Town. Cayman Perfume Lab on Cardinall Avenue creates fragrances for customers who want their own signature scent.
And the perfumes are ideal for special occasion gifts, such as Valentine’s Day in February. The shop has its own in-house perfumer, Libin Biju, an expert who has studied the art of
perfume-making.
“As a perfumer, nature inspires me a lot,” he says. “I like to smell and understand the distinct scent of a first rainfall on soil, flowers in the garden, trees in the forest, sea breezes in the ocean, and a lot more. This job as a perfumer gives me an opportunity to recreate that specific scent.”
CUSTOM-MADE
The fragrances are made by Libin in the shop after a personal consultation with the
customer. He asks them about their favourite perfume and the different perfume notes they like, or any particular scent they want to recreate.
He then gives the customer a variety of fragrance notes and ingredients to smell and choose their own. Next, he mixes the ingredients, and the fragrance is put in the customer’s bottle and packaging of choice. The process takes around 20 minutes.
“The perfumes are made from different types of natural oils that are extracted from parts of trees and plants like roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits, spices, resin and balsam,” explains Libin.
The oils are blended to a specific formula and mixed with perfumer alcohol and other ingredients, with the amount of alcohol in the perfume determining whether it will be cologne, eau de toilette, eau de parfum or parfum.
CAYMAN-INSPIRED
The shop also sells pre-packaged fragrances made by Libin, which have been inspired by the Cayman Islands: Summer Breeze and Dulce Paraìso.
“I designed the perfume which smells like sea breezes during summer, with a note of fresh citrus, sea notes, grapefruit and mandarin,” he says.
Dulce Paraìso refers to the Cayman Islands being a place of paradise, and is a floral, fruity vanilla scent.
Libin has also designed other fragrances with scents that are favoured by people in the
Caribbean, where the climate influences the way that perfumes smells.
“Hot weather heightens the notes, while cold weather makes it harder for them to evaporate,” he says. “Once applied to your skin, perfume begins to either absorb or evaporate and this leads to a change in how the fragrance will smell. In cold weather, perfume evaporates slowly, and in hot weather, perfume evaporates faster.”
The most popular fragrance notes that people in the Cayman Islands like, according to Libin’s experience, are citrus, peppery, herbal, and fruity, and often with vanilla and floral top notes, then with musks and ambers, and smell woody in the base notes.
“The perfumes we have designed are eau de parfum to parfum versions, which have 30% to 40% oil-based perfumes,” says Libin.
“These perfumes will stay longer compared to an eau de toilette version in this climate. We even make purest perfume in an oil form, which is 100% in concentration.”
The shop also sells international perfumes, as well as those that Libin is delighted to say are ‘made in Cayman’.
“The good thing about my job as a perfumer is that I am able to recreate the fragrance which is closely connected to people’s memories,” he says.
Six scents liked by people in the Cayman Islands
345:
Chypre, fruity fragrance
Naughty:
Aromatic fougere fragrance
White Oudh:
Oudh, vanilla, tobacco fragrance
Valencia:
Chypre, fruity, floral fragrance
Pandora:
Floral, rose, jasmine fragrance
Paris:
Floral, fruity, white honey fragrance
This article originally appeared in What’s Hot, Winter 2023/2024 issue.
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