Kildare fragrance maker to feature in national showcase

KILCULLEN entrepreneur Eileen Tan has been selected as one of four Co Kildare businesses to participate in Local Enterprise Showcase 2027, part of the Design & Crafts Council Ireland's prestigious Showcase in the RDS Dublin from 17–19 January 2027. 

The event offers the opportunity to meet high‑quality buyers from Ireland and overseas, including the UK, USA, mainland Europe, Asia, and Africa.

Eileen will be promoting her range of fragrances, which she has developed over the last couple of years with the help of LEO Kildare and Enterprise Ireland's New Frontiers programme. 

She recently did a soft launch of her brand, Eileen Tan Ireland, with influencers and practitioners in various aspects of the beauty and wellness industry in Kildare. 

The event at Keadeen Hotel invited participants to learn the building blocks of perfume and create a fragrance of their own.

Introducing the afternoon, Eileen provided a short background of her childhood in Malaysia, where her interest in scents came from visits to her aunt's garden. 

"It was full of plants, trees, and flowers, and I remember the smell of lemongrass, the green sweetness of the pandan leaves, the warmth of the earth, and the little mimosa plant that I used to play with." 

As a teenager, she inherited a box of perfumes from her aunt, and one of them stayed in her memory, not as a smell but how it made her feel.

She told how another passion, music, shaped how she thinks when composing a perfume. 

"In music, we compose notes and chords, and it's very similar in perfume: you have top notes, middle or heart notes, and base notes. We also have 'chords' in perfumery — we call them echoes." 

Suggesting that a perfume's effect is unique to each person, it can be considered a story about the wearer. She invited the workshop participants to 'write their own story' by creating their own fragrance.

The 'Compose Your Own Story: Mini Fragrance Experience' session guided attendees through the basics of fragrance design using a curated palette of scent accords created by Eileen. 

Rather than focusing on whether a perfume was “right” or “wrong,” she encouraged people to notice what they were drawn to and what memories a scent might bring up.

Attendees first smelled different accords, then chose one from each layer, and began blending by weight in a 10ml bottle. 

They started with 0.50g of each selected accord, then adjusted the formula in small increments until the scent felt balanced.

The workshop emphasised observation and reflection. Participants were asked to write down first impressions, describe the mood or memories each accord evoked, and record their final formula so the perfume could be recreated later.

 At the end, they were encouraged to name their fragrance and describe the story behind it.

Eileen first came to Ireland in 2008, having met and married Irishman Peter Farnan in Kuala Lumpur. 

An initial craft venture in making cute crocheted animals, along with developing scented candles, gave her the opportunity to renew previous entrepreneurial activities. Advised by cllr Tracey O'Dwyer to approach the Local Enterprise Office Kildare, they put her forward for Enterprise Ireland's New Frontiers programme, where she pivoted to working on a fragrance development idea that could be a scalable business. 

She first showcased her perfumes at Styled for Success on International Women's Day last October, as five fragrances under the banner of Maison d'Eileen, and recently completed the third and final phase of the New Frontiers programme.

Conversations with her classmates, facilitators, and mentors determined that her own name would give the enterprise a stronger and more personal identity. 

"It also naturally reflects the Irish-Eastern story behind the brand," she told the Kildare Nationalist. "Eileen is an Irish name, and Tan is my family name. That felt more authentic and distinctive than Maison d’Eileen, especially as the brand is so closely connected to my own journey, memories, music, and scent."

She strongly advises any local person with an idea for their own business to get in touch with LEO Kildare. 

"Use the supports that are there, ask questions, and don’t try to do everything alone. The journey can be lonely at times, but programmes like LEO and New Frontiers help you step back, challenge your thinking, and build the business properly." 

She says being part of the programme has been a huge part of the ongoing development of the business. 

"It gave me structure, accountability, and the confidence to look at the brand not just creatively, but commercially — from positioning and pricing to routes to market, funding, growth plans, and export potential."

But also, while listening to advice, she said: "Stay close to your own vision. That is what gives the business its heart."