How my physique helped me discover my calling as perfumier – Catherine Omai

Award-winning perfumier Catherine Omai, owner of Catherine Omai Fragrances, has opened up about her journey into the world of fragrances.

Ms Omai, an internationally recognised perfumier, started creating perfumes in 2009, inspired by the culture, landscape, and African traditions.

Speaking at an event in Lagos on Friday with PREMIUM TIMES in attendance, Ms Omai said she fell in love with perfume as a teenager.

She said: “I have always been plus size and big. In primary and secondary school, this thing has always been about big people smelling in specific ways. So, in my subconscious, I was determined not to fall into that category. So, I would go to my dad’s table as he had a collection of perfumes and my mum too. So I’ll take a small bottle to school to use. I was not allowed to spray perfume in the house. One day, I got into trouble with the CRK teacher, who said I was trying to entice boys with perfume.

“They seized the small bottle and said I should not wear perfume again. But it has always been in my subconscious to constantly smell good because I didn’t want that narrative to be in my narrative. I was very playful and rough, and the tendency for that to happen was slightly high. So, when I moved to the UK to study, I decided to always smell nice. As a student, my money was limited. I’ll still try to buy some perfumes and then use them. It got to a stage where I started getting bored of people telling me the perfumes I wore. I will then buy three or four different perfumes and layers.”

Passion

Additionally, she said her passion for fragrances led her to pursue a certificate in perfumery at a school in France.

She noted that she started going to fragrance companies to learn perfume creation while studying for a Master’s in Oil and Gas Management and Renewable Energy.

Ms Omai further stated that she didn’t fall in love with creating perfumes as a business, but her inability to find a job in Nigeria led her to start creating and selling perfume.

“I was doing my Masters in Oil and Gas Management, Renewable Energy with the hope of returning to Nigeria to change how things are done. But I didn’t get a job when I returned to Nigeria. I was still looking for work in the oil and gas sector for one year. There was nothing. I later got a job as a receptionist. Today, it’s a different story. I went back to what I have always loved: perfumes. I started this journey about 14 years ago.

“When I started fragrances, I came back from the UK, thinking I could come and sell my brand to people and say I am a Nigerian with a UK experience, but I met a lot of resistance. Many people asked why they should buy my perfumes when other known brands exist. Also, I’m not a celebrity or social media influencer. So, I decided that instead of trying to sell fragrances to people, I needed to give people the experience to create their own. Which was why we started the business, and the name of the brand at the beginning was Mystique Bespoke Perfumery”, she noted.

Challenges

Furthermore, Ms Omai, who said creating fragrances wasn’t initially rosy for her, noted that Nigeria lacks the needed raw materials to create fragrances.

She said the lack of needed materials made her rely on getting her materials from abroad, but customs duties and other challenges made it more challenging.

She noted, “However, a massive market is now for buying oil and other raw materials. Because then, the quality available wasn’t the kind of quality I could use. I went to a School of Perfumery in France and knew the quality and what fragrances should smell like. There was a time when I ran out of sandalwood, and I decided to contact a local vendor. When they brought the sandalwood, it smelled nothing like it should smell. I just knew that buying from the Nigerian market wasn’t an option for my brand

“The challenges of bringing things, NAFDAC, customs, and the rest were challenging. Sometimes, customs would seize the materials, and we would pay extra to get them back. As much as Nigeria was very challenging, it helped me in a way that I was able to restructure my knowledge about perfume creation.”

International

She noted that she entered the competitive international fragrance market due to the lack of competition in Nigeria and her dreams of testing herself in the global market.

She stated that she didn’t enter the international market as a commercial fragrance person because of its niche and competitive nature but to create a fragrance that would appeal to everyone.

“In Nigeria, I am the pioneer of perfume creation. Nobody challenged me, and it was getting a bit boring for me. I wanted to test myself by entering the international market, speaking to perfumers, and knowing what they say,” she said.

Furthermore, she maintained that the kind of materials available in the Nigerian market changed her creation DNA from what she had learnt to what suited the Nigerian market.

She added that the above helped her while going international.

She noted, “After doing this for about ten years, I needed to spread my wings beyond the Nigerian market. I wanted to do that because when you go to France, Italy and other countries that are into fragrances, there is a history of them being perfumers. The House of Creed has been there for about 100 years. These people know and appreciate fragrance materials and can see the creation of fragrances.

“If I cannot work within that environment and get thumbs up, I don’t feel I have gotten it right. The perfume industry has no accreditation or certification to make you a master perfumer. What makes you a master perfumer is the skill you bring into your creation and the years of experience you have that people have experienced.”

Ms Omai revealed that she first appeared internationally as the first West African perfumer to exhibit at Pitti Fragranze in Italy in 2019.

“I was the only black person at that exhibition in 2019, just before COVID, and I’m still the only black person since then. They do it every year, so COVID happened, and two years straight, there was no exhibition. Everybody from around the world comes to that exhibition. It’s like New York Fashion Week for fragrances. Everyone comes there, from journalists to buyers and store owners, and this was how we got into certain countries.

“We are in Australia, France, Saudi, Dubai, the United States and Germany. Entering the US market is a huge deal. I did not even lobby for it. I wasn’t even looking to go into the U.S. market. They contacted me based on the reviews they have been hearing about my business. This was in 2021. It took about a year to conclude it. This happened after my exhibition. So, the wave and noise within my work’s fragrance industry attracted that,” Ms Omai noted.