Brief recap, further investigation and a quest.

At the end of Part I, I said I wanted to go deeper into the niche perfumery brands of Latin America. After living here over 18 months now, I absolutely must understand the philosophy and history of the brands and their owners. I confess, I’m still only scratching the surface but at least lately I’m going deeper. The more I look, the more I find from Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Mexico and the country where I live, Colombia.

I will continue to go deeper into Mexican, Argentinian and Brazilian independent fragrance brands in the future. For now, I’ve immersed myself into Colombian culture, ingredients and perfumery influences.

Arabian Perfume Presence

I was thrown off track a little by the huge presence of Middle Eastern style fragrances across the region. How and why did they become so popular here?

We recently had a short family holiday in San Andres, a Colombian Caribbean island and freeport. Duty free stores in the ‘zona commercial’ are everywhere. Fragrance stores seemed to be on every corner and in between too! So it was a “busman’s holiday” as we say in England. I naively rubbed my hands thinking, great, fragrances from Latin America. Wrong. Alongside, or should I say, overwhelming the well-known international brands, were every Middle Eastern brand you can think of. Oud wafted out of many doorways. Was I in Dubai?

I turned my attention to finding Latin niche brands. Difficult. Specifically in Colombia. There are dedicated stores in Bogota and Cali, but these tend to carry US, European and of course, Middle Eastern brands.

The next step was to trawl the internet and ask around. I got lucky when I went to Esxence. I talked to Ajmal. I wanted their views on the Middle Eastern phenomenon in Latin America. They told me it all really started with distributors in the US, specifically in Miami. With Miami the capital of Latin America, it was inevitable the brands would filter down through the continent. So, I am stuck with the conclusion the brands got here because of distributors exploiting a gap in the market. An educated guess that Latin consumers wanted to try something different other than the same old European or North American brands that were not really addressing their fragrance needs. This also led me to another conclusion: Latin America was ripe for locally founded brands based on the different cultures, heritage and ingredients across the region.

The Colombian Connection

At Esxence, I met with David Hannsen Diaz of Mutiz Nueva Granada. He is the multi-talented Cali born founder whose inspiration for his brand comes from his Colombian heritage and ingredients, with a large input of Italian flair. Meeting him and smelling the fragrances, I was starting to understand how this quiet revolution was going to happen. Several fragrances stood out with Macondo attracting my immediate attention. Macondo is a town created by Colombian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez in his masterpiece book, 100 Years in Solitude. The use of banana, banana leaf, cacao amongst others, beautifully captures the feel of the book and Colombia. So, I finally felt like I might be getting somewhere.

On to ex colleague and long-time friend, Christian Provenzano. I wanted to quiz him on why he chose guanabana as the main inspiration for his latest fragrance under his own brand. The answer was typical Christian “Why not? I wanted to use a Colombian ingredient”. He, like me, has a Colombian wife, so maybe it was inevitable! That said, it shows how perfumers are being influenced by Latin American fruits and botanical ingredients.

Three examples:

History Parfums of Oman have also been influenced by Latin ingredients for their Colombian Cacao fragrance, using Colombian Coffee and Cacao Pod.

In 2025, Ajmal launched a new fragrance, Jewel of Bogota, inspired by Colombia´s heritage with emeralds. One ingredient specifically stood out: Pink Peppercorn, another popular ingredient used extensively in fragrance and found throughout the Andean regions of Latin America.

Italian perfumer Lorenzo Pazzaglia launched Que Chimba. Once again, influenced by Colombian culture and ingredients, Que Chimba evokes warm afternoons with a glass or two of Aguardiente, the national liquor of Colombia. He complements the star anise note with guava, clove and cinnamon.

There are other brands and perfumers I still need to investigate. Devier is a Colombian collective of perfumery artisans using a variety of local and international ingredients.

Another to investigate is Ilmin, owned and driven by Colombian businesswoman and model, Natalia Velez, using Mediterranean inspiration with a Colombian heritage.

Food for Thought

It’s well known I love food and eating food from all cultures. I spent 20 years in Asia. This was another thing as I got into the culture here. I see some similarities in buying habits, the way people wash, expectations from products. While the foods may be different, some of the natural ingredients are the same or very similar. I was surprised on a visit to Cali, seeing Durian, the King of Fruit (and the smelliest) in the market. Well, why not, Cali has a sub-tropical climate as Southeast Asia. Accompanying Durian was the antidote, Mangosteen. Where one goes, the other follows. Both used in perfumery of course, maybe not here yet though.

However, I’ve found other fruits which are already used widely in perfumery. Guanabana aka soursop. Maracuja aka passion fruit, both I see becoming more and more popular in Latin American fragrance.

Other fruits and notes I can easily see being used:

Chontaduro. Peculiar but gorgeous eaten with salt and honey with a chestnut flavour.

Lulo. One of my favourite fruit juices. Green, zingy, lime, tart and maybe a touch of pineapple.

Uchuva. Goldenberry. Already used but potential for more.

Tamarillo or Tomate de Arbol. Sweet, sour, slightly passion fruit, lime.

Ciruela or Jocote. A type of plum. Sour and citrus go to almost mango when ripe.

Tolu Balsam. Not a fruit but used as a base note or fixative with a sweet spicy powdery accord. I’d love to see this elevated as a major note.

But it's not just about ingredients. I'll let independent Colombian perfumer Esneda Vale take it from here.

“From my perspective, Colombia is experiencing a growing interest in niche perfumery, both among consumers and entrepreneurs. I would not yet describe it as an explosion, but rather as the early stages of a movement with significant potential.

At the moment, many of the emerging brands in Colombia and across Latin America are still largely inspired by international fragrance trends. We continue to see strong influences from European niche perfumery, luxury designer fragrances, and, more recently, Middle Eastern brands. This is natural for a young and developing market.

However, where I see the greatest opportunity is in the construction of narratives rooted in our own origins.

Latin America possesses an extraordinary combination of biodiversity, cultural heritage, traditions, landscapes, gastronomy, and collective memories. While some brands are already beginning to explore these themes, I believe we are only scratching the surface of what is possible.

For this reason, I do not see the future of Latin American perfumery as a reaction against Middle Eastern brands or any other international trend. Rather, I see it as a gradual evolution toward a more authentic expression of our own identity.

The real opportunity is not simply to use local ingredients such as coffee, cacao, tropical fruits, or native botanicals. The true opportunity lies in transforming these elements into meaningful stories that reflect who we are, where we come from, and how we experience the world.

As consumers increasingly seek authenticity and differentiation, I believe Latin America has the potential to become a powerful source of original fragrance concepts. Colombia, in particular, is uniquely positioned thanks to its biodiversity, entrepreneurial energy, and rich cultural diversity.

I believe the next chapter for Latin American perfumery will not be defined by ingredients alone, but by our ability to create compelling narratives around our origins.”

Thank you Esneda. A little reassurance for me, that I seem to be on the right track to understanding more about how Latin American niche perfumery is developing.

Final Thoughts

My analogy of the Colombian fragrance market is that there are three ‘cordillera’ or mountain ranges, just like the Andes in Colombia. The first is the international fragrance market which has the lion´s share of the market. The second is the Middle Eastern influence and the third is the smaller, growing niche sector. These for me are evolving in parallel and my belief is that Latin American niche brands will continue to outgrow the other two sectors.