It’s a bold statement to make, but perhaps a decade is much time to rewrite the ritual on the intricacies of beauty. Back then, the pursuit of finding perfect foundation shade and hulas-proof powders was something of a miracle that cost a fortune, considering how you had to break the bank for it.

Homegrown brands have risen to the challenge today, and the archipelago is no longer waiting for the global market to see the skin we live in. Whatever your skin type, , shade range, commute route, and even number of kids, local brands take these Filipino conditions in mind when formulating products. 

But to etch your name into the beauty business—to make your brand last the test of time, the endless cycle of fleeting trends, and the thousands of other releases—takes more than a few convincing attributes. It takes consistency, an unimaginable level of grit, and, of course, a creative mind to keep your brainchild resonating with the community it is intended for.

It’s a mission easier said than done. But for Nina Ellaine Dizon, founder of Colourette Cosmetics, that means creating a foundation range spanning 24 shades, developed with the nuances of Filipina complexions in mind. It’s creating base products made for the Filipino living under the sun: one who wants to look snatched while playing pickleball, one who commutes beneath the afternoon heat, or one who braves traffic on the back of a motorcycle taxi. In an exclusive interview with Allure Philippines, Dizon explains this sentiment: “If I know our consumers, if I know how they operate in their lives, if I know what’s important to them, then I can create products that are intentionally for them. Kaya nga, at the end of the day, kahit gaano lumaki si Colourette, [it] will always be a community brand.”

And a decade after launching Colourette Cosmetics in the makeshift garage of her ancestral home in Pampanga, Nina Ellaine Dizon remains guided by a single mission: to make beauty accessible, and to make the person using Colourette feel beautiful and empowered in their own skin, regardless of their activities.

But after building the Colourette empire for 10 years, Dizon is ready for something new. While it’s true that the world is already awash in makeup—and that the same could easily be said for fragrance—this almost primal hunger to learn is the very pull that has allowed Dizon to elevate her homegrown brand into the magnetic force it is now. Today, she’s in the process of carving a space for a more unusual olfactory territory: smoke, leather, sheep, even a tire. Or smelling like a leather journal you bought for €10, some 6,705 miles away from home.

In an exclusive with Allure Philippines, the Colourette founder shares that she recently spent 10 days in Versailles, France, studying the art of perfumery as she explores the fragrance category. Ahead, discover five things she learned during her stay about fragrance and even about herself.

What made you want to get into perfumery in the first place? 

To be straightforward, we at Colourette Cosmetics wanted to enter the perfume category, and I didn’t want to go in blind because I [also] spearheaded product development. 

So, I went to Institut Supérieur International du Parfum, de la Cosmétique et de l’Aromatique Alimentaire (ISIPCA) in Versailles, France and it’s the summer school of art of perfumery. It’s 10 days of all day in school from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and you’re just sitting in the classroom, or you’re in the lab creating perfume. We really studied different notes, parang kakanta ako!

We studied notes, raw materials, how to create a perfume, how to depict a story, and also getting to know my classmates from different backgrounds and different exposures. 

How many days or weeks was the entire course?

It was 10 days. I stayed in Versailles for two weeks, but the classes lasted ten days. It’s giving Euromaxxing, summermaxxing—it’s so fun!

Honestly, I’ve been building Colourette for the past 10, almost 11 years, and I finally decided that it’s time to learn something new because I’ve been in product development for Colourette Cosmetics for so long. I want to learn more about an entirely different category—because while it’s in the same business of beauty, fragrance is an entirely different ballgame and that’s something that really excites me. 

Lesson #1: Fragrance is really subjective. 

I’ve always known that [fragrance is] really subjective, but I didn’t realize how much. It’s highly dependent on your personality, on your exposure, where you grew up, what’s your culture like, what are the notes you smelled as a kid, where you associate those notes. Eventually, that exposure develops into your own preferences. 

I’ve studied perfumery and got exposed to different niche brands and different environments. I’m more adventurous now. Before, I didn’t like smoky leathery scents, now I kinda like combining it with floral scents. 

Actually, I brought my final project. For my classes, we had three projects, so I had to build different accords: an orange blossom accord with fougere, a rose accord with sheep, and my last was I could do whatever I want. I’m very excited about my project! This one that I did, I call it cuir est fleur, so it’s leather and flowers. So the opening is very jasmine-like, like a clean sampaguita, but then it settles into this nice soft skin leather. You know the smell of your leather journal? Ganon siya.

I wanted to do something like this because it’s so true to my roots as a Filipino. It’s bright, floral, and jasmine, but then it gets a little more sophisticated. I used to not like the smell of leather and smoke, but now, I appreciate how sophisticated it is. It makes the scent really complex.

What do you mean by sheep? 

There’s this one scent that I developed. The title for me is Sunny Forest Run. Imagine you’re feeling very cottagecore, wearing a whimsy, lacy dress, and then you are running in a forest that has pockets of sunshine. Then it’s a little bit foggy, but it’s a little bit yellow. It’s very sophisticated, but you’re a girl. Yeah. This one is Sunny Forest Run.

Then this one is my Rosy Summer Night: it’s macerating. When the color becomes like this deep amber, it means the raw materials are already macerated, but that doesn’t mean that your perfume doesn’t work anymore, that’s just how the raw materials age.

Lesson #2: Fragrance is very personal. 

Because fragrance is very subjective, it’s also very personal. Our associations are different with the notes that we smell—and because it’s highly personal, you have different depictions, interpretations of one’s notes. 

Lesson #3: Fragrance shouldn’t be imposing. 

Number three is a little bit controversial. Unlike our Filipino belief that, when I enter the room, everybody has to smell me, fragrance shouldn’t be imposing because what I want may not be what everyone wants. What I want to smell may not be what everybody wants to smell, and in that way, fragrance can be intimate too. 

It can be something that only you would know, that you wore, or something only you can smell. Apparently, there are some cultures around the world wherein it’s offensive when you enter a room, and then you smell a perfume. Though that’s not the case in the Philippines, so feel free to spray that spritz!

Lesson #4: Fragrance is intricate.

I also learned the intricacies of telling stories through fragrance. Remember when I showed you [my] perfume earlier? I am able to tell you the temperature, the shape, the scenario, who’s wearing it, why I’m wearing it, what kind of event I am in. Am I having a dinner date? Am I meeting my soulmate for the very first time, or am I running through a cottagecore scenario in a forest where there are pockets of sunshine?

I kind of learned the intricacies of telling a story based on the fragrance that I’m making.

Lesson #5: I am so eager to learn.

Number five is more of a self-discovery. I learned that I am so eager to learn.

I’ve been building Colourette for the past 10, 11 years now, and finally, I was able to carve out some time, go to Europe, learn something new, and be passionate about a new category. That, to me, is very exciting, and that, to me, is my best lesson.

What’s the most unexpected thing you learned about yourself through studying fragrance?

I love school, apparently. I didn’t realize [that] I like school, but I love my perfumery school! I loved all my classmates, because I didn’t realize how curious I could be. I started getting to know my teachers, my classmates, what they do for a living, how many kids do they have, what exposure they have, and then when I smell their perfume creations, I get to connect it to the person that they are.

What helped you survive your stay in school?

I love Europe in summer. I love the sun, I love the heat. I know a lot of people don’t like that, but me, I love it! What helped me survive is, after school, I went out, I ate a nice dinner, I read a nice book, and I journal, because I have never thought in my lifetime that I would study in Europe. In Versailles, no less, right? It’s amazing!

If you had a signature scent, what would it smell like?

If I had a signature scent: imagine this, I’m at the beach, it’s very, very sunny. Even though I’m sweaty, I’m having the time of my life, so you kinda smell the sunscreen on my skin, and then you can also smell the coconut that I just drank earlier. Then there’s a texture, so you would feel the sand on my skin as well, and all the floral freshness with roses, peony, and jasmine. That’s my signature scent.

What’s one tip you can give to someone who wants to start their perfume journey?

Even though I’m the CEO of Colourette, and even though I’m a corporate girly, honestly, deep inside, I’m just a beach girl enjoying coconut by the beach. My advice is: don’t be scared. Ask questions, ask everyone, there’s no stupid question, there’s no wrong answer, and just start exploring perfumes.

Before, I only liked roses, and then that transformed into liking peonies. But now, my collection, it’s so different. When I smell something similar to what I already have at home, I don’t want that—I now want something else. Give me something skin-like! Something smoky, something leathery, something ozonic, something solar. Those are the things that excite me now.

Scent is very story-driven also, it depends what mood you’re in, what you’re wearing, where you’re gonna go. So just explore, because that’s how you’re gonna learn.