There I was in my white lab coat, examining the 40 different vials and trying to determine which combinations to mix to get the best outcome. I was making perfume at the Tijon Parfumerie and Boutique on the French side of the Caribbean island of St. Martin.
The other half—Sint Maarten—is the Dutch side, and the two together form the smallest landmass in the whole world to be shared by two different countries (France and the Netherlands).
The Parfumerie is a study in sensory overload: a cologne colony. More than 300 individual oils are available for making one’s own personal perfume. As an amateur “nose”—someone who uses oils to create new fragrances—I learned to combine top notes, middle notes, and base notes to fashion an “accord” that will constitute a pleasing perfume.
