Before it was a profession, it was a passion. I found my passion at a Le Labo store, which I had decided to visit quite randomly one day while waiting to meet a friend for coffee. It was my first time at Le Labo, and everything about the experience was special–the artisanal aesthetic, the space that seemed to encourage slowness and stillness, and the gorgeous perfumes. Right then and there, I had found my calling: I wanted to become a perfumer, someone who could make scents that evoked an emotional response in people. Eager to learn more about this new world, I went back to the store after coffee to ask the manager if he could teach me the craft of perfumery, completely unaware that the guy was a salesman, not the creator, of these perfumes I wished so desperately to understand. Unfortunately he told me he could not be my teacher, but instead he referred me to a school, which turned out to be the oldest perfumery institution in South Korea; I enrolled there that summer. This episode, which altogether lasted maybe 20 minutes, would change my life forever.
That day, I left Garosu-gil with two things: a full bottle of Thé Noir 29, and a new passion for perfumery, as intoxicating as young love. Thé Noir was more than just a signature scent for me–it was aspirational, a standard of excellence to work toward. Thé Noir was beautiful to me because I couldn’t understand it, couldn’t define it, relegate it to a single ingredient or a category. The meditative woodiness with an explosion of gentle spices, garnished with a fruity sweetness, was as addictive as it was incomprehensible. It was a feeling akin to getting to know more and more about someone you liked, who always had a mysterious air about them. It felt like falling in love.
Four years since the fateful episode, my passion has become my profession, and everyday I dream of making perfumes that can do for others what Thé Noir did for me. It has been a journey of patience, grit, hope, and courage, and it feels surreal to realize that my visit to the Le Labo store–a singular event–decisively shaped my future and life’s work. I began this journal as a way to share my little stories and experiences as a perfumer with you, and as a reminder to myself about why I chose this path: because it is my love letter to the world.
