French perfume master Olivier Funel thinks everyone should have a unique perfume to match their personality. Funel, the fourth generation of the family to run the perfume business, made a brief visit to Hong Kong to introduce his latest adventure, Signature Perfume. Asked what had been the weirdest request from a client so far, Funel said a Chinese customer had asked him to make a perfume with the scent of steamed rice because he loved eating rice. He said he was very happy when he found the right scent for a client. A Korean customer broke into tears when he created a perfume that reminded her of the smell of her late mother. 'Sometimes, when I successfully create a perfume that brings people some of their special and happy memories of their life, it feels very rewarding.'

But if you are thinking of becoming a perfume master like Funel, a word of warning: the training is tough and it should start at a young age. 'When I was six, I was asked by my mother to remember all 4,000-something scents on the shelf in our laboratory. So every morning, I was asked to smell this and that ... It was the most difficult bit of my job and you need to be trained for at least eight to 10 years to become an expert.'

Funel said his three-year-old son, Aksel, had already shown signs of inheriting the family skill. 'He loves sniffing around. He sniffs everything. I can see that he will become a much better perfume master than me.'