Aroma of pandan chiffon cake captured in perfume

Tucked away in a nondescript industrial building in Tampines, 29-year-old Joyce Lian fixedly blends fragrances by hand.

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Each finished bottle is a sum of carefully proportioned fragrance oils and ethanol, stirred in apparatus that have been sterilised to death.

It would be easier to outsource the process to a manufacturer with machines, but the petite founder of local label Scent Journer (scentjourner.com) is particular about potential contamination.

She always knew she wanted to work in beauty. Yet it was not a clear-cut path to success for the brand, which today is retailed online at Sephora and KrisShop.

Ms Lian enrolled in Singapore Polytechnic's diploma in perfumery and cosmetic sciences — where she learnt about raw materials, chemistry and the formulation of cosmetic products.

Initially, she was drawn to the cosmetic science arm of the diploma in search of a cure for her acne. But she soon fell in love with the perfumery aspect and the rich history of the fragrance world.

"It was the perfect combination of art and science."

A 10-month internship at the Singapore outpost of American fragrance house International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) cemented her dream of working in fragrance.

There, she learnt of the industry practice where fragrance houses pick in-house perfumers under the age of 30 to groom, as the training process typically averages five years.

As such, she crammed her chemistry degree — a common specialisation for perfumers — at the National University of Singapore (NUS) to graduate in 2½ years.