The 18-year-old Bayfield High School student’s schnozzer is so sensitive, he has taken to mixing and making perfumes and colognes in a dedicated spare room in his parents’ house.
The fragrance alchemist has become so good at it, he and a small group of his Bayfield High School friends have established their own perfume company called Neo, as part of the Young Enterprise Scheme.
And they are about to put their product on the market.
So what makes a group of teenage boys want to make perfume?
Production manager Dylan Andrews said it was simple.
They were tired of the smell of body odour and the ineffectiveness of cheap deodorants already on the market.
Neo marketing and sales manager Asher Thorn said it was important to smell good, as it made you feel good and inspired you to do good things, he said.
‘‘It just makes you feel better — more confident.
‘‘It's also pleasant to be around someone who smells nice.’’
Neo chief executive officer Keisuke Tomita said their earliest attempts at making a fragrance were not good.
It was more akin to pepper spray, he joked.
‘‘They kind of smelled like laundry — kind of bad.
‘‘Some of it also smelt like food.
‘‘It didn't smell horrible, but it was just not a perfume or cologne smell.
‘‘And it was really oily and just really thick, so it took a wee bit of work to perfect it.’’
Lucian said the recipes for their fragrances were a secret, but they all contained varying amounts of essential oils harvested from plants, raw compounds and synthetic scents.
Now they have two perfumes which they were almost ready to start bottling and marketing, he said.
‘‘We’ve got this kind of citrusy, fruity, but also really fresh scent.
‘‘It's kind of summery.
‘‘We've got some winter ones as well that use a lot more vanilla and cedarwood or sandalwood, which make it a lot more musky.’’
While some fellow students looked at the team with a pinch of scepticism, Keisuke said they were getting a lot of pre-orders.
‘‘Everyone's been really supportive and they are putting in orders for our product already.
‘‘Like the scent, the word is spreading.’’
Dylan said it was popular, not only because it smelt good, but because it was selling for only $45 a bottle, which was a lot more budget-friendly for students.
‘‘Not many of our friends have jobs, so it's hard for them to get those $200 fragrances.
‘‘So having our affordable product that will last longer, is really beneficial for them.’’
Keisuke hoped the first batches would hit the market in ‘‘iconic-shaped glass bottles’’ sometime in July.
