In conversation with Maya Njie
Please introduce yourself in 3 sentences:
I’m Maya Njie, a perfumer and founder of Maya Njie Perfumes, a brand rooted in storytelling, heritage, and artistic expression. Originally from Sweden with Gambian heritage, I started my fragrance journey by blending scents that evoked personal memories and cultural influences. My work combines olfaction with visual and sensory elements, creating perfumes that feel both nostalgic and modern.
How do you create your fragrances?
I start with a concept, often inspired by photography, colours, textures, or personal experiences. From there, I explore ingredients that capture the mood or story I want to tell, blending raw materials in layers to create depth. It’s a process of experimentation and refinement, where scent becomes a way to express emotion, place, and identity.
Favourite ingredient / aroma?
Vetiver - its smoky, earthy and nutty character reminds me of both Sweden and Gambia, making it deeply personal and versatile.
Any favourite perfume or one that has a particular memory you’d like to share?
I associate CK Be with my early years in London, a time of discovery and independence. It’s clean but warm, understated yet distinct, and whenever I smell it, I’m taken back to those early years.
What’s your first fragrance memory?
One of my earliest scent memories is the smell of soil. In Sweden, it’s tied to nature of course, but also roaming around the large commercial greenhouse in my home town, playing hide and seek with my friends, being a total nuisance.
In Gambia, it’s the wet earth but also the dry, dusty ground warming under the sun, often layered with the smoky aroma of spices and incense. Two very different climates and settings, but the grounding scent of soil connects them both. That early connection to earth can’t be denied and finds its way into my work one way or another.
If you weren’t in the fragrance industry, which industry would you like to be in?
Photography or some form of product design. I’ve always been drawn to the way an image can hold a moment, much like a scent can. Creating gives me so much satisfaction and it really does make me happy, can be frustrating too at times but ultimately it’s always been a part of who I am, through work or pleasure.
If you could change anything in the industry, what would it be?
A shift is already happening in the perfume industry, with independent brands from all over the world taking center stage - let’s continue to encourage this. The bigger houses and high-street brands are paying more attention to true niche perfumery, but it’s important that we support, build, and hold space for independents to thrive. More diversity in storytelling, accessibility to materials, and transparency in the industry would also help create a richer and more inclusive fragrance landscape.
I’d like to see more transparency and education around ingredients. There’s still a lot of misinformation around “clean” and “natural” materials always being safer or more sustainable etc. Let’s help consumers make informed choices based on facts not fear.
Any upcoming project / launch you want to share?
Yes, I’ll be launching a new perfume before the end of November - debuting it at Polaris Olfactive in Stockholm on the 29th. It’s a scent that’s been slowly forming over the past few years. This one is earthy, mineral, and reflective. Linked to my West African lineage, cycles and lore. I’m excited to share it with others in the city that shaped so much of my early creative life.
Tune of the day: Midnight Confessions - Phyllis Dillon
Fragrance of the day: Vanilj layered with Tobak - warm, comforting, with a billow of leathery depth.
Purchase Maya Njie’s discovery set
Photo credits: Dunja Opalko, John William, Maya Njie
A few of October’s highlights in short form:
L’Oréal to acquire Kering Beauty in €4bn deal expected to close in the first half of 2026 - its biggest deal to-date and an early strategic move by new Kering CEO Luca de Meo. The transaction includes the House of Creed (bought by Kering for €3.5 billion in 2023) as well as 50-year licences for Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, and Gucci (taking effect after the expiry of Coty’s current licence)
Estée Lauder Companies has launched L’Atelier, a global fragrance innovation hub located within its new five-story, 2,000-square-meter La Maison des Parfums on Rue Volney in Paris
Boots launches its fragrance-only store at Broadgate Central in London, stocking more than 400 niche perfumes
Upcoming fragrance events:
London, 15th November 2025: Smellorama Winter Perfume workshop
Stockholm, 29-30th November 2025: Polaris Olfactive Week 2025
My fragrance of the day: Private Collection Royal Vetyver by Osswald: lemon zest, fizz, pepper, freshly cut oak, all-enveloping soft smokiness
$28,000 bottle of Maison Francis Kurkdjian
Sailing through the motions, Crete, 2025
- Flo