Talented: a person who possesses unusual innate ability in some field or activity

A person is born with a great "nose" in the same way as a person is born with a musical ear or an artists eye. "Born with it" as the saying goes. Unfortunately there are many talents that lie undiscovered or undeveloped.

The family a person is born into can make the difference between talent that flourishes and talent that lies like a dormant seed within. If a person is born into a poor family then they may never get the chance to develop their innate ability. They may be ridiculed and told that they will never be able to make it to the big time, or that they are wasting their time and need to get their hands dirty. The same person if born into a middle class family will be given the encouragement and the tools to help them to develop their God given gifts. Of course if a child is lucky enough to be born into a family where the parents are talented and skilled in an artistic field they have far greater chance of developing that skill themselves. On the other hand sometimes no matter how much encouragement parents give and how much they wish for their child to be talented in a particular area it will never be.

So how do we know we have a natural talent for perfumery? It seems an uncommon talent,  how do we know we've got it? It's about more than the ability to smell. It's about the ability to recognise what we are smelling, to be able to pick it apart, to be able to reconstruct it and remember it. It's the ability to recognise that one smell is made up of many. Just as the artist draws what he sees not what he thinks he sees, the perfumer constructs notes that she smells not what she thinks she smells. The natural ability, the natural talents allows the perfumer to create something that is recognisable and pure to more than just herself. She is able to create a smell that will evoke real feelings and memories.

Talent is truly a gift, open it and let it shine.

Intuition is the highest form of intelligence

When we know but we don't know how we know. That's our intuition. When we are blending and there is an essence calling to us...that's our intuition. Even when we have a "lucky strike" that's our intuition.

Can we always rely on it though? I feel we can, but do we always listen to it? The answer to that one is a resounding no!

In my opinion when creating a perfume listening to your intuition is the best place to begin. That inner voice of your higher-self may not be aware of rules but what can be brought to life by listening to our souls voice is sure to be incredible, genius and unspeakably beautiful.

So how do we tap in? How do we train ourselves to listen to our inner voice when perhaps we have been ignoring it for years?

We start small. Ask a question, just a little one. When you get the answer, act on it. Show your inner voice that you have heard and that you trust. Then just observe how that voice becomes a little less shy. Your higher-self will celebrate that first time you paid attention to it and after that my friend there will be no stopping you.

Let me know how you get on...

Believing is half the battle

You can't touch it, you can't hold it, in fact you can't even see it but without it nothing is possible. With it everything becomes possible. Belief is perception. You can have it right now. It's something you don't have to wait for. You might have to wait to lose 20 pounds but you can believe you can do it right now.
But what has this got to do with natural perfumery?
Let me tell you that above all, belief in one's abilities and talents as a perfumer are required when working with materials as complex and multi-layered as natural essences. We never know unless we really KNOW deep down inside that we do. Belief brings confidence, it brings consistency, it brings dedication. Never let what other people say knock your belief in yourself and your abilities. Use every adversary and critic to bring you ever closer to your dream. Work towards a masterpiece, believe you can do it and that's half the battle won. Believe in something and let that something be you.

The Growth of Natural Perfumery

It is a natural law... what you focus on grows. If we focus on the good things we get more of them. Focus on what we don't have and we lose more. That goes for everything.

These days, after the economy crisis (hint hint..ahem what you focus on grows) the focus is still on naturals and the environment. Natural is a buzz word that is much abused, that's true, but it's used and used because people want it. Natural clothing, natural food, natural cosmetics and natural perfumes. Because we focus on it, it is growing. We know that for sure. It's happening fast. Another thing that's growing is the trend for people making their own natural perfumes. It really is a wonderful hobby.
In olden days art was only for the elite, now it is taught in every school. People take up art as a hobby and other people do it professionally. The once secrets of the great artists are now easily learned, they are shared and everyone can try their hand. Same with natural perfumery. Everyone can try their nose. Mandy Aftel gives perfume recipes in her books and with just a few materials anybody can make a perfume. There are some brilliant courses out there too. Justine Crane is teaching a class on NNAPA, Lyn Ayre teaches a Natural Perfume Course, Jeanne Rose teaches a course, Ayala Moriel teaches a foundation course in natural perfumery, Lori Nova teaches a class, Joan Morais also teaches a class.
There are many more but these are the most notable that come up when searching on google. Mandy Aftel teaches classes too but for some reason her classes don't come up when a search for 'natural perfumery classes' is put into Google.

The growth of natural perfumery is happening because of us. If you like to talk about natural perfume you can talk about it on this forum: Nature's Nexus Natural Perfumery Forum

About the Wholeness of Natural Perfumery

Wholeness is about complexities. It's about taking the rough with the smooth. When using natural essences in perfumery it sometimes happens that there are certain notes that we might think we could very well do without. Rose essence in it's whole natural form possesses beautiful delicate rosy notes but it can also have notes that smell dense, or waxy, or sometimes even sharp. Some rose essences can have indolic, heavy notes. The same heaviness can sometimes prevent the more delicate floral notes characteristic of real roses from shining through.

As a natural perfumer I am learning to how to work with the wholeness of natural essences. This takes acceptance and imagination as well as a great deal of time, experimentation and sometimes painstakingly hard work. I have sampled synthetic rose essence, and a good quality one at that. I was struck by the clarity and the basic simplicity of what I was smelling. It was as though all of the might be 'unwanted' notes were stripped away leaving a vibrant, light, delicate rosy note. However it lacked far more than I have the words to describe. What I noticed was the absence of complexity, mystery and most of all wholeness.

With skill the natural perfumer can work with her materials, blending them with other whole essences. I think a good perfumer knows what an essence needs to bring out it's best qualities and what to use to neutralize or balance the heavier notes.

Wholeness speaks to us in volumes rather than in words. We are working with nature's masterpieces rather than individual pigments. We are performing using mother earth's symphonies instead picking separate notes.

Perfume Academy

"A Perfume Academy founded to provide education to aspiring perfumers and the course will be focusing purely on the use of natural materials."


Read the official press release here.

The Passion of Natural Perfumery

Passion, life and breath, they go together. Passion is a force that comes from the heart into the breath. It is raw emotion finding a release through life. Without passion there is no art. Through emotion, imagination and passion the perfumer breathes life into her raw materials. The perfumer pours herself into her creations. Leaving fear behind, leaving control behind a perfumer becomes wild, she pokes at the unexpected, creates chaos to find perfection. Passion is a great teacher, you can learn more working through passion than through years of controlled experiments. In passion a perfumer loses herself in her work and has no fear of dancing to her own tune.