Perfume Organs

A perfume organ is how a perfumer organizes her fragrant materials. separating the oils between top, middle and bottom.

I've recently revamped my organ, creating a new inventory and labeling everything more clearly.  In the process I researched and looked at photos of many organs for inspiration.  Considering the limited space of a New York apartment I'm very happy with mine but desperately wish for a larger and more expansive version.

I've had the great privilege of taking courses with the fabulously talented Mandy Aftel and creating perfumes from her fantastic scent organ.  Where I might have a mere 1/8 of an ounce of a rare and precious oil, Mandy has a large ground glass stoppered bottle full!  It's really something to aspire to.

I also fell in love with a few other images of perfume organs that I found online.  Some are more extensive with room for lots of perfume ingredients.  Others are more up my alley, making do with a small space - and having to be creative in how the space is used.  I love the images and long for room to grow and create.  In the meantime I'm happy with my collection, it's where I create new formulas and do consultations with clients, enabling them to create their own custom perfume.  It's my happy place.

I particularly like this creative use of space

This is a photo I took of the organ at the Fragonard Museum in Paris.

Natural Perfume Blending with Mandy Aftel

I don't know if I can say more about how wonderful it is to arrive at Mandy Aftel's beautiful studio in Berkeley, California.  For a woman who loves the raw materials of perfumery it's the closest thing to heaven.  I'm proud of my collection of oils and absolutes that I've assembled, but it pales in comparison to the quantity, quality and desirability of Mandy's scent organ.  What a joy to use the finest (and sometimes rarest) materials in their ground glass stoppered bottles and jars. 

Mandy collects antique oils as well and displays their original bottles in the window with the gorgeous California light streaming through.  It was a visual feast as well as olfactory.

Questions answered, curiosity piqued, inspiration fired up I return to my studio to get to work on new creations.  I'm so grateful for the opportunity and for another chance to get to know Mandy a little better.  I'm a fan!



Mandy also sells a collection of oils.  Let her do the work for you tracking down the best possible materials.   Visit her website at aftelier.com.

New Extracts

Chocolate Mint and Peach Tea extract

Back in June I posted about my absolute obsession with tincturing and macerating.  My garden was in full thrust and I was still heady from my recent trip to Mandy Aftel's natural perfume workshop in Berkeley.  My mission, originally, was to take advantage of my garden to create some alcohol bases to make perfumes with.  I ventured a little further afield and ended up tincturing dried jasmine blossoms and, most rewardingly, tea.

My biggest success was with an organic loose leaf peach flavored tea.  It's difficult to find a fruity note in natural oils so originally I was simply looking for that.  What I discovered was that the extracted liqueur was so much richer and more complex than I could have imagined.  I dabbed it on my wrists constantly all summer long and inhaled deeply that sweet, smokey aroma reminiscent of hundreds of comforting afternoons with my hands wrapped around a warm cup.

My other big success in extract making was with the chocolate mint taking over my community garden plot.  I knew from infusing it in vodka that the alcohol seemed to really extend the chocolate flavor, much more so than in a cup of herb tissane.  I finely chopped up about a cup of mint and poured enough 190 proof vodka over it to cover and let it sit for a few days.  After straining it I added another cup of chopped herb to make it double strength.

I quite naturally started to think about how to use the extracts in food.  I think their flavors would lend themselves to some delicious desserts, most notably ice cream and sorbets.  I started to experiment with using them in seltzer and, not surprisingly, they were delicious.  Peach tea seltzer has now become a favorite of mine and I can't keep enough extract in the house.  As the bubbly glass approaches your nose you can't help but be overwhelmed by it's gorgeous bouquet.  About a half teaspoon to a teaspoon works nicely in a ten to twelve ounce glass of sparkling water.  I'm spoiled now, I'll never again buy a lemon, lime or (horror of horrors) artificial black cherry flavored seltzer again.

Natural Perfume Workshop with Mandy Aftel

Mandy's scent organ

I recently attended a most informative, creative and sensual workshop in the art of natural perfume in the home studio of Mandy Aftel, the premier natural perfumer and author the the natural perfumers bible, Essence and Alchemy.  Over the years I've taken several perfume and aromatherapy workshops but the difference here is, aside from all of the practical information (of which there was plenty), it was also akin to taking an art class.  Indeed, Mandy has elevated natural perfume from hippie fragrance to an art form and my appreciation of her as an artist grew throughout the weekend.  Her teaching method was simple and straight from art school:  a morning lecture explaining concepts and exploring materials and techniques followed by a blending session where we each made our own perfume.  We were then critiqued and spent some time adjusting our formulas and critiqued again.  Her critiques were accurate but delivered gently and inevitably we all made better perfumes the second time around.

I came away with a better understanding of the shape and texture of a perfume and with a nose tuned in to the subtle differences in aromas, better able to distinguish between a good quality oil from it's lesser counterpart.  Indeed, my sense of smell is heightened overall.  As I walk down the streets of my Brooklyn neighborhood in Spring I can pick up subtle scents wafting in the breeze.  I came across a vase of fresh peonies the other day and could distinctly pick up the variance in the scent of each blossom.

I also had the opportunity to smell things I had only read about and things I have searched for to no avail.  One such oil is Flouve, a sweet, herbaceous tobacco-like oil that is so rich and complex that one keeps finding notes in it.  Another is Oud, a rare and precious oil from the Agarwood tree, one of the most expensive perfume ingredients around at about $1000 to $1400 an ounce.  Mandy collects antique oils as well which she hunts the globe for.  Antique patchouli oil is rich and complex and bears little resemblance to the ubiquitous hippie aroma.

The workshop was a wonderful, creative and expansive experience which I'll be drawing from to create new fragrances for Herbal Alchemy.  I'm so grateful for the opportunity to study with Mandy and to get to know a little better this warm, generous and dedicated teacher and perfumer.

A selection of top notes from the perfume organ.

Berkeley in Bloom

  

I'm just back in town from a wonderful weekend in Berkeley, CA where I attended a natural perfume workshop with the extremely talented Mandy Aftel.  The whole fragrance experience began for me on the first day of my trip spent wandering the streets of North Berkeley.  Everywhere I turned I was astonished by fragrant blooms.  Thick brackets of jasmine hung thickly all over the neighborhood, and roses the size of cabbages wafted their aromas on the breeze.
  

Berkeley Rose Garden

I discovered the Berkeley Rose Garden, perched high on a hill with an incredible view of the Bay and Golden Gate Bridge.  It was a literal amphitheater of roses.  I was very fortunate to visit the area during peak rose season.  Every rose smell differently and it was a wonderful way to prepare my nose for my upcoming workshop in perfumery.