Daniel Vieira joined IRIS,  the internal Perfumery Training Program at Iberchem a couple of years ago. He is currently pursuing a professional career as a Junior Perfumer. Today we had a chat with him to learn more about his story so far.

Could you tell us about your academic journey?

My academic training all started with chemical engineering. A relative encouraged me to take this degree, and when I saw that she was working with different compounds, mixing them and obtaining a final product, I really started to become interested. After obtaining my degree in chemical engineering, I then went on to complete a Master’s degree, which opened up the opportunity to work as an intern at Iberchem. At that time, I could never have imagined that my professional career would eventually take a complete U-turn towards fragrances. It was only later on that I started to learn more about them and work with them, and then, little by little, as I worked in some of the different fields, this whole new world started to become really appealing to me.

During the two-year programme, what did you learn and what did you most enjoy learning?

During that time, I moved around the different departments: laboratory analysis, application, evaluation, perfuming, and fragrance technologies. I learned all about fragrance composition, market analysis, and raw material quality. Getting to know the smell of the raw materials for the first time and working with them helped me to discover the real magic of the industry. Overall, this programme gives you a more rounded view of the company, and, as you engage with the different departments and perfumers at Iberchem, your knowledge of the fragrance industry is constantly growing.

Once this apprenticeship period is over, you are then offered the chance to become a perfumer. How do you see your career path as a perfumer so far?

My introduction to the world of perfume has been excellent, but I still have a lot to learn. I still need to put into practice what I have learnt throughout the programme so that I can continue developing professionally. It is true that the training period for a perfumer is usually longer, for the simple reason that you have to keep on training and learning more about the different facets involved in creating a fragrance. For instance, the technical side to manufacturing, analysis, understanding the law, the creation and application itself, as well as dealing with between 2000 and 3000 olfactory profiles. We also have the chance to develop our own creative profile, which encourages me to develop my own style and unique signature.

What are you working on at the moment?

At the moment I am working on several different projects. Some of them are related to perfumery, which I like very much, but I am working mostly on functional perfumery projects, such as those related to shampoos.

In fact, I am currently working on a shampoo project that features fruity notes such as pineapple and passion fruit, combined with floral notes such as jasmine and roses.

And finally, what is your favourite perfume? Do you often switch perfumes?

I tend to switch fragrances from season to season, depending on the fragrance’s olfactory profile. My favourites are One Million and Invictus, both by Paco Rabanne, and Eternity by Calvin Klein, and I alternate between these three. As for niche perfumes, I’m still finding my way around them. I’ll soon find my favourite.