Perfume workshop introduces certified fragrance mentors

INDIGENOUS SCENT:
Set up in 2019, the workshop teaches people to create fragrances using ‘maqav,’ a popular plant used by the Bunun community

• By Jonathan Chin / Staff writer, with CNA

The Sun Moon Lake Scenic Area Office on Tuesday introduced its first batch of certified fragrance mentors at its DIY perfume workshop that seeks to showcase indigenous culture and bolster local tourism.

The workshop — at which people create scents using the fruit of may chang shrubs — was established in 2019 to showcase Bunun culture, which makes heavy use of Litsea cubeba — called shanhujiao (mountain pepper, mountain pepper) in Mandarin and maqav in Bunun — the office said.

Encouraged by the popularity of the workshop, the office devised a certification program and trained five fragrance mentors, office director Chien Ching-fa (陈青发) said, as he conferred the certificates.

The addition of certified fragrance mentors marks a new beginning for the workshop, which should help boost tourism, Chien said.

Perfumer Chen Hsuan-liang (陈晓良) headed the effort to design the training and certification program, Chien said, adding that the five mentors were recruited from the local Bunun community.

The two-month training course was taught in partnership with Hungkuang University’s Department of Applied Cosmetology, with instruction based on French perfume design techniques, Chien said.

Maqav was chosen to create fragrances at the workshop to enable people to immerse themselves in local culture, he said.

With certified experts at the workshop, visitors would have nine fragrances to choose from instead of three previously, he said.

The addition of six formulas was the most challenging aspect of the revamped DIY workshop and the mentors have to be precise in every step of the process to recreate the scents, he said.

The local indigenous community has long been involved in the perfume project as an innovative business model that could become a sustainable source of income, fragrance mentor Tien Mei-ling (田美玲) said.