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Perfumery Courses

Perfumery Courses 10 years ago
I know a lot of you have, and obviously studied perfumery more extensively. But I just took a class at Tijon in La Jolla, California, and it was wonderful. I even made my own potion using 15 different essential oils.
10 years ago
I wish I could. The only thing close is a casual, day-long crash course offered by a niche perfumery in Melbourne. You go home with a perfume or two and it costs and arm and a leg. I get the feeling it's designed more as a fun social flutter than a learning session though.

I would love a practical course, for example some clarification re: solvents, fixatives and rules for mixing dilutions, the ability to sample a wide variety of aromachemicals without having to blindly order from overseas (and I'm sure customs will just LOVE that!) and so on. I'm reading through an online course but the florid language and meandering topics remind me of a rambling professor without the charm of actually being in the classroom with said rambling professor... it's more like reading a confusing, typed-up recording instead.
10 years ago
MRoth, was that day course the one offered by Fleurage? Saw it on their website but I don't imagine that any fragrance I could concoct for myself in a day course would be worth keeping.

I used to do a lot of stuff with essential oils in the dreaded "fragrant cottage craft" genre. Potpourri, pressed flower collages, clove-studded oranges, scented beads made of rose oil and xanthum gum (don't judge me - it was the eighties! And I like to think my stuff was more cool/funky/natural botanical than nanna-style soap-in-chintz, truly!).
That was back in the eighties when you could still cheaply buy real sandalwood oil and powder, bags of real oakmoss, orris root by the kilo etc. I still have my containers of frankincense and myrhh resins somewhere...

No interest in doing a course, though.
10 years ago
That's through Fleurage, yes. Nothing against the company, it's just far out of my price range for what appears to be a fun dabble.

I too used to collect oils and herbs and resins for various uses... I don't even have the eighties excuse! Wink I'm actually doing a bit of a room clean out/garage cleanse and I have all these glass bottles and jars of various supplies... I'd love to sell them, but I'll probably just end up giving them away.
9 years ago
MRoth:
I would love a practical course, for example some clarification re: solvents, fixatives and rules for mixing dilutions, the ability to sample a wide variety of aromachemicals (...) and so on.

So would I. Kafka's account of her perfume course at AbdesSalaam's sounds wonderful. Though I prefer the set up of the summer school at the Grasse Institute of Perfumery, which has serious potential to predetermine upcoming holidays ..

Perfumery courses in Europe:
- The Grasse Institute of Perfumery in France offers summer schools and longer courses.
- The Cotswold Perfumery in the UK. John Stephen, the perfumer, is a really nice guy in my experience (though I haven't taken any of his class).
- Penny Williams at Orchadia, UK. Her Advanced Perfume Training course is a good foundation for further study, but does not teach you how to make perfume according to Pia Long of Volatile Fiction.
- Annette Neuffer does workshops on natural perfumery in Germany.
- AbdesSalaam Attars offers a six-day seminar on natural perfumery in Italy.

Perfumery courses in Dubai, Thailand and the USA:
- Perfumer’s World offer training at various locations and sell raw materials, too.
- Anya McCoy does natural perfumery courses at various levels at the Natural Perfumery Institute in Miami, FL.
- Perfumer's Apprentice offer several 2h workshops at their location in Scotts Valley, CA, (by appointment only) and also sell raw materials.
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