In this post about Chilean Niche Perfumery, we wanted to highlight two names regarding this scene in Chile. The two of them are connected to perfumery mainly through their passion for this art but they also represent two important segments.

The first one is Chilean perfumer Maximiliano Cifuentes who has his own brand “Casa Niche“. He also creates fragrances for perfume houses in the United States and hopefully soon in Europe and the rest of the world.

He is a very humbled person with a big passion and dedication for his craft. He is the author of all of his perfumes but he has collaborated with master perfumer Chris Maurice.

With 14 fragrances backing up his work as a perfumer, Maximiliano has a deeply understanding of what it takes to produce a perfume but most importantly, he advocates for the fragrance culture so people can understand all what is behind the process, educate themselves through the information provided by the artist and also respect the craft.

The second one is Osvaldo Cruz, the owner of niche perfumery store Cruz&Valencia. Him and together with his wife has managed to fulfil his dream of having a store in one of the most beautiful areas of Santiago. A place called Barrio Lastarria, that is known for its colonial beauty and artistic scenery…it is a place where boheme meets history.

But Osvaldo is not only a store owner, he is also a person with a great understanding on perfumes. With a good taste, with an incredible wish to know about everything perfume related, he has a desire to provide his clients a unique experience.

Him and his wife are people of God, as he said himself. Their faith, conviction and team work has lead them all the way up to this point, where they have just opened and established their very own store for the perfume connoisseur and for whoever wants to learn something new and smell great while at it.

His concept and idea was to create a place where people can go and learn about the stories behind each perfume and the olfactory notes that comes with each one of them.

One of the greatest things that makes the whole experience a great one, is the fact that he keeps a close communication with the brand owners of the perfumes that he has in his store, so if you need to know something, the answer will come straight from the main source and given to you by Osvaldo.

This is an add-on needed to succeed in this business. One that sets him apart from his competitors and certainly one that will put him at the top of the game.

Some of the brands available in CRUZ&VALENCIA are: Renier, Casa Niche, Zoologist, Gallagher, Affinessence, Almah and many others. A pretty great start with some impressive names indeed.

Myself, as a Chilean that is living in Europe for 15 years and also a person that has have been involved next to my wife in the world of niche and luxury perfumes as collectors, filmmakers and content creators and not being in Chile for such a long time, it was refreshing to see that these guys are working and making sure that niche perfumery in Chile is not only a matter of spray and smell great, but also to share with people and perfume enthusiasts what is behind this olfactive art, where behind each fragrance are many stories to tell and things to learn.

Check our video Podcast (IN SPANISH) where we talked more in depth about the whole scenery of niche perfumes in Chile with Maximiliano Cifuentes, the author and perfumer and also owner of Chilean brand Casa Niche and Osvaldo Cruz, owner of niche perfume store Cruz&Valencia

(This podcast was done in a very improvised setup while visiting Chile)