Between Hong Kong and Europe: A Creative Exchange Through Perfume

Written by Kristina Kybartaite-Damule

Tobba is a niche perfume house from Hong Kong, first introduced to Europe a few years ago. Since its debut at Esxence, the brand has captured the attention of fragrance enthusiasts with its creative approach to blending Far Eastern traditions with modern perfumery. The founders of Tobba reveal their story to the readers of PlezuroMag.

Jasper Li and Adrian Yu / Photo from the brand’s archive

Tobba is a relatively new brand, co-founded in 2021 by Hong Kong-based Jasper Li and Adrian Yu.

Jasper used to be a painter before eventually deciding to seek new creative challenges, which led him to discover perfumery. Meanwhile, Adrian worked in the fashion industry as a buyer. It didn’t take long after they met for both to decide it was time to share Jasper’s creations with a wider audience. And so, Tobba was born.

I had the chance to try the brand’s perfumes before, and I can testify that they have a unique twist. Even though they are produced in France, they also carry hints of Asian culture and sometimes unexpected notes. For example, one of the upcoming perfumes will surprise us with Tiger Balm as a source of inspiration.

I was happy to meet Adrian and Jasper during Paris Perfume Week. Talking with them, you could easily notice that they are the perfect team: while Jasper is more modest and quiet, Adrian’s energy is contagious. However, the eyes of both sparkle when introducing new perfumes — and that passion is exactly what’s needed in this industry, especially when you are creating something artistic and unique.

In an interview for PlezuroMag, the co-founders shared how and why they created Tobba, how they stay creative, and even why they are testing new perfumes in Europe rather than in Hong Kong. They also discussed the two new perfumes that are on the way, and their big plans for the near future.

Photo from the brand’s archive

A question for both of you: were you into perfumes before starting your own brand?

Jasper: Before I started the brand, I was a painter. About nine years ago, when I finished my last painting exhibition, I wanted to stop painting for a while because I wanted to do something new. So I had some brainstorm, and then I decided to try scents. Because in Hong Kong, we don't have a very deep perfumery history. So for me, it was a totally new thing.

So I started ordering materials from the internet, because I couldn't buy any here. Then I did research on the internet and started mixing it in my studio. At the beginning, I just wanted to do it for fun.

For me, perfume is just like a kind of fashion, a final touch for your outfits. In general, I love perfumes. I also have memories about my mother's fragrances, when I was a very young age. At that time, I didn’t know how to appreciate fragrances like Chanel; it was a bit too much for me.

I kept learning by myself for a few years, and I got more and more interested in making fragrances. So I also wanted to learn it more deeply, more technically. I looked for some courses, but in Hong Kong, we don't have any. So I checked one of the ingredient suppliers — they also have a two-month course, Monday to Friday, from nine to six. The course happened in Bangkok, which is very close to Hong Kong, so I took it. There I met a lot of different people from different countries. I got inspired by some of my colleagues from the Middle East, their culture, how they use fragrance, their food, their tradition of burning incense at their home. They have a very, very long history of using perfumes, even longer than France.

Adrian, what about you, were you interested in perfumes? I know you were working as a fashion buyer, but did you have a thing for perfumes?

Adrian: I think before that, I was more drawn into fashion. But I was always checking brands like Byredo, Frederic Malle in stores. My friends said that Byredo is cool, and I was thinking, how cool is that? It made me really want to start exploring the whole industry.

Before that, I think scents were still a close thing to me, because they always used to bring me different memories, like with my late grandmother, the scents at her place. I think that is something that’s in the roots of perfumery — the sense of familiarity, the sense of safety.

Jasper and I met just before COVID, and during COVID, people suddenly went crazy about scents. Everyone was at home and felt the need to be somewhere else at least in their minds. I guess that brought the thought that it's time to do something that is different enough in the market, and use this style to communicate to people.

I think the idea of having the brand has long been in Jasper’s mind, just COVID made it possible for us to incubate and spearhead around it.

How did you two meet?

Adrian: We met through friends of friends. Because he's in the art world, and I'm in fashion, so we kind of have a mutual community.

What does the name Tobba mean? How did you come up with the name?

Jasper: Tobba actually is a combination of two words, tobacco and art. My father is also a painter. He had a studio. When I was young, I always went to the studio to play, and then he also taught me how to draw.

At that time, he also worked for a tobacco store, and his boss always gave him some tobacco samples, and he used to bring them to the studio and smoke there. My father was the one who came up with TOBBA from Tobacco and Art as his studio name, and I inherited the name for the brand.

Jasper Li / Photo from the brand’s archive

Do you still paint sometimes, or are you now fully into perfumery?

Jasper: Sometimes I paint. Next to scents, I also work with all the images and other visuals for the brand. So sometimes I paint for the campaign, and also do the photography.

How does your creative process look like? Adrian, I know you are more responsible for the brand’s visibility and marketing side, but do you have your input also in creating perfumes?

Adrian: It’s always a different process, because every scent has a different story. When we created Higher Self (the upcoming perfume from the brand, — editor’s note), Jasper wanted to do something with the Tiger Balm, because nobody had done this ingredient before. And for us, living here, it’s like an everyday thing — he thought why not do something interesting with it? And I was like, really? Because it's medicinal and totally strange.

Jasper: Usually, I get inspired by the ingredients themselves, raw materials, like it was with the Tiger Balm. Sometimes I also combine my personal memories or experiences. For example, there is a traditional Chinese cologne, the first cologne in China - Florida Water by Two Girls Brand. It has citrus, lavender, and some white flowers, like Neroli, Orange Blossom. With Higher Self, I wanted to make something with our own cultural ingredients and memories, but in a modern way.

Florida Water

Adrian: Finally, he gave me some final samples, and then it started to make sense to me. I thought, okay, maybe I could imagine someone wearing it. To me, it felt like it was lifting my soul. We started thinking, how do we call this perfume? Here we also have a practice of meditation, and what we always want to achieve is the higher version of ourselves. That’s how we came up with Higher Self.

So this is how our process looks like. He comes up with the scent and I'm the one who tries to wrap around it, make a balance of it. I’m an evaluator (laughs).

You both are creative people. How do you avoid burnout? How do you stay creative? Do you have any secrets?

Jasper: I think the most important thing is you have to be sensitive to moments, to the environment, to the people.

Adrian: And that’s the education you got while studying arts, right? They taught you to be sensitive.

Jasper: Yeah, can be. And then, another thing is, trying something new, something unknown. Just like painting, when you do a lot of painting, you have skills, you have techniques. But if you get used to it, always using the same skills or techniques, it will become stagnant. Eventually, you need to forget the skill, you need to unlearn it and start something from scratch, and then excite yourself, and that is the point for me, how to keep it creative.

Adrian: To me, I think Jasper has always been creative. He has no problem being out of the box and being different. Meanwhile, I was always more of a commercial one (laughs). I’m thinking about marketing behind, about how customers will receive the perfumes, how to package them, etc. Jasper is more otherworldly, and I am the one who is pulling him down sometimes (laughs).

Perfume market is huge now. How do you think you stand out?

Jasper: Just being ourselves and bringing our own cultural things, our point of view, and not being afraid.

Adrian: I think it's the courage. When we just came out, when we first exhibited at Esxence, I think it was four years ago, we were preparing the brand for five or six years before. And then finally, having it out in Europe, in the center of perfumery, it was nerve-wracking. Jasper couldn't sleep for a while before we went out.

It was like you're preparing your baby for a number of years, and then you’re happy with it, but you don't know what others would think. But we realized it’s time to go out of the studio and see other people. The moment of truth. We were afraid, of course, but we dared.

Adrian Yu / Photo from the brand’s archive

Do you focus more on the Hong Kong market or on the European market?

Adrian: We’re now actually more focused on Europe. Because when we first started, we confirmed to have production in France. Then we were exhibiting in Europe, and we received very good feedback and an overwhelming response from people, and we decided to try to go there first.

Did you notice, does the taste of people differ, depending on the different continents?

Jasper: In Asia, like Hong Kong, Japan, people like more gentle, more light, even the skin scents due to the weather or the cultural aspects. But even in Europe, clients also have very different tastes. In Italy, people like something more intense, more loud, more vibrant, while in, for example, the Netherlands, they have very different tastes.

Adrian: I think the major reason is the weather. Europe is drier, colder. We were just talking about when we were in Europe, when we sprayed one of our perfumes, it smelled different here and in Europe. And even on somebody's skin, like different ethnicities with their different pH, are responding differently. So, when creating a perfume, since we’re focused on Europe, we might have to go and test our perfumes there, because testing in Hong Kong doesn’t make sense. Because even now, when we tried our new perfumes in Europe and here, they are totally different. In Hong Kong it was too strong, while in the Netherlands it wasn’t strong at all.

Photo from the brand’s archive

What would you say is the biggest milestone that you achieved with your brand up until now?

Jasper: I think this year has been a big milestone for us. Our team has been growing, now we could be able to expand the brand and share our creation to new countries such as Denmark, France and Japan which is really a dream come true.

Adrian: Through that, I think the most important thing is to be able to touch people’s hearts with our creations. It’s always humbling and heartwarming to hear that our perfumes own a special place in our customers heart and the art heals them in a unique way. That’s probably the strongest reason why we keep going.

Can you tell us a little more about your upcoming new perfumes? Higher Self and Lovers and Strangers.

Adrian: These two are quite different. Higher Self is a levitating scent, with the medicinal Tiger Balm together with soft floral and ambers. It’s like a warm light emitting from within.

Jasper: It’s a fougere style, but more unisex and modernized. Really unique. While Lovers and Strangers is a romantic fragrance with coffee, vanilla, rose and rum. It’s a gourmand perfume but never too sweet. We focus on the real coffee beans notes and a slight sweetness to evoke the love lingering in the air in a delicious evening.

And the last question: where do you see Tobba in 5 years?

Adrian: I think we will continue our work here, will collaborate with different perfumers and expand the world of the brand. Also, maybe we will expand our products for home — now we have candles, but maybe we will offer something more avant-garde too. Also, we are hoping to expand more offline, where people could immerse in the creations and have the full experience.

Jasper: I believe creation remains a vital part of my life, and we will continue to explore how scent serves as an extension of self-expression while addressing contemporary desires for authenticity and emotional connection. In an era dominated by visual stimulation and technological innovation, scent is an invisible art that transcends cultural and personal boundaries.

Thank you for the conversation.