Photo credit: Stephen Cordina
Our Artist in Residence for the month of November saw master perfumer Stephen Cordina introduce an abundance of essences to The Phoenicia Malta, whereby guests learnt more about this fascinating world through the weekly lectures held at the hotel. We had a chat with Stephen to understand where his passion stems from and where he would like to take his brand.
“I have been fascinated by scents all my life. As a child helping my father in his agricultural fields, I loved collecting fresh fruit and herbs in the morning dew and put them together in my hands to see how they smell together”, he shares. Stephen adds that as a child he loved going through his mother’s perfume, which then progressed to spending hours at a local perfume shop as a teen, going through all their perfumes.
Stephen Cordina explains that his first real creation goes back to 2001, when he developed a series of Aromatherapy ointments for use in his practice which he also sold to clients. “My first commercial product, however, was a series of Scented Candle Hand Balms”, he explains. Cordina added that his range is now approaching 50 products with much more emphasis on natural perfumes and colognes.
When listening to Stephen speak, his immense knowledge on the subject is evident. “I attended various schools and at first this included going through all the botanical plants and their chemistry. It’s many years of study and 12 years of practice to become a Perfumer. It entails a lot of reading and travel to the plantations where the materials are extracted. Lectures are ongoing, as well as conferences and one-to-one sessions with perfume technicians.”
Stephen Cordina explains that the scents he creates are all made in Malta and based on extensive research. In fact, even the name of the fragrance is based on a real connection between the name and the contents of the fragrance itself. The time and energy put into his products is clear and he admits that he has no plans of slowing down any time soon. ‘The next step is a bigger factory and a shop abroad’, he declares enthusiastically.
We would like to wish Stephen success in his future endeavours. It has been a pleasure to host Malta’s own master aromatherapist, cosmetic scientist and perfumer at The Phoenicia Malta.
