More info about the class and how to book CLICK HERE
PERFUME
Perfumery – Covent Garden to Birmingham
I have just recovered from an intensive 2 days whizzing around the country teaching and talking perfumery. I always forget how much talking for 2 days solid strains your voice, I really must remember to drink more water!
Saturday was in Covent Garden at the training centre of Neal’s Yard Remedies where I had 13 students from a wide variety of backgrounds, including a staff member from Lush,a chemist , a psychiatrist and a staff member of Neal’s Yard that I haven’t seen since I worked for the company seven years ago. As it turns out she now has my old job as company trainer.
After a quick whiz through the theory we spent a very intensive afternoon creating some simple accords which were then put together as finished fragrances. I love the fact that everyone came up with something completely different and wearable within the short space of time.
As everyone was heading home for dinner I was hopping on a train to my next session just outside Birmingham for a corporate client on Sunday morning. The venue was a gorgeous hotel and spa with beautiful grounds and a moat, which was thought to be once owned by an alchemist!
The focus was on middle eastern ingredients and the samples of Incense Oud (provided by the lovely sales assistant at Harvey Nichols) By Killian went down a storm with the attendees. As did the bottle of Ta’if by Ormonde Jayne.
Unfortunately the only bit of the hotel I got to enjoy was the gloriously comfy bed and the impressive function room built for Henry VIII in which we spent the morning – I am hoping to go back for a spa break though as they use lovely organic products by Neom.
>> More on my Perfumery Classes
Perfume Course – London 2012
Perfume Course | The Only Introduction You Will Need
I have a brand new date for my one day beginners perfumery workshop in London.
An Introduction to Perfumery – UK Perfume Course
This workshop in natural perfumery will give you the opportunity to gain a basic understanding of the history of perfumery and then work with a variety of materials to design your own natural fragrances. You will have plenty of hands on experience in blending and creating your own accords and finished fragrances.
All materials and equipment are provided and no previous experience is necessary. All you need is imagination and a love of perfumery.
Topics Covered
- The History of Perfume
- Where Do Fragrance Ingredients Come From and How Are They Made
- The Sense of Smell and What it Means To Us
- The Beginners Guide to Training your Nose
- Top, Middle and Base notes and Why They Are Important
- Practical Blending Techniques
By the end of this 1 day perfume course you will:
- Have an understanding of the historical significance of fragrance
- Have learned about the different natural ingredients used in perfumery
- Easily be able to classify natural aromatic ingredients into the different fragrance families
- Have practised blending top middle and base notes to create simple fragrances
About Karen Gilbert
Natural Skincare and Fragrance Expert Karen, originally trained as a make-up artist and Cosmetic Scientist at The London College of Fashion.
After many years working as a fragrance evaluator for one of the world’s largest perfume manufacturers, she decided to pursue her lifelong passion for natural health and beauty by training in aromatherapy and joining the product development team at Neal’s Yard Remedies.
As well as helping to create many of their award winning products, she also ran training courses for staff and members of the public.
Karen has a successful retail business and runs artisan perfumery and natural beauty workshops in London and the South of England.
Book Your Perfume Course Today – Limited number of places available Will Sell Out FAST!
Or book through TheFragrantAlchemist.com at the following link [ Perfume Course ]
Perfumery Classes In London
I have a brand new date for my one day beginners perfumery workshop in London.
An Introduction to Perfumery
This workshop in natural perfumery will give you the opportunity to gain a basic understanding of the history of perfumery and then work with a variety of materials to design your own natural fragrances. You will have plenty of hands on experience in blending and creating your own accords and finished fragrances.
All materials and equipment are provided and no previous experience is necessary. All you need is imagination and a love of perfumery.
Topics Covered
- The History of Perfume
- Where Do Fragrance Ingredients Come From and How Are They Made
- The Sense of Smell and What it Means To Us
- The Beginners Guide to Training your Nose
- Top, Middle and Base notes and Why They Are Important
- Practical Blending Techniques
By the end of this 1 day course you will:
- Have an understanding of the historical significance of fragrance
- Have learned about the different natural ingredients used in perfumery
- Easily be able to classify natural aromatic ingredients into the different fragrance families
- Have practised blending top middle and base notes to create simple fragrances
Paris and Frederic Malle
I hopped on the Eurostar to Paris last week (as you do) for a spot of lunch and a potter round the shops. Unusually for Paris it was boiling hot and didn’t rain once (in October!) so I got to drink tea and soak up the ambiance of the Marais in the sunshine. I didn’t get to the Serge Lutens Boutique at the Palais Royale unfortunately, but after reading the article in the FT Weekend Magazine I headed over to the Frederic Malle Boutique to immerse myself in the fragrances of such great artists as Dominique Ropion and Michel Roudnitska. Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle
I spent a glorious hour chatting to the sales assistant (although
that title does not do her justice) about perfume in general, the fragrance industry and our days working for IFF – it turned out she was a fragrance evaluator in the Paris office a few years after I had left the company. In the end I settled for a bottle of Musc Ravageur an oriental with more than a slight nod to Shalimar and not a flower in sight. There is a bit of a strange initial note on my skin that I’m not entirely happy with (slightly old fashioned herbal lavender) but it settles down quite quickly into a soft but grown up (i.e not confectionary) powdery vanilla. I could go on but Purfume Shrine has an excellent review so go there for more.
As for Paris, well we ended up missing the last train back and had to stay the night – but thats another story!
Perfume and Serial Killers
Its not often in the fragrance world that perfumers are allowed to take too many risks when creating a new fragrance but those bored rigid of the endless copycats must champ at the bit to work on projects for Thierry Mugler. I have loved his designs since I trained as a make up artists in the early 90′s at The London College Of Fashion. I used his motorbike bodice (the one in the George Micheal – Too Funky Video) as inspiration for my body painting assignment, where I recreated the whole thing on a naked model with body paint, mirror tiles and a can of gold hairspray. Wish I still had pics! Anyway I digress, my reason for mentioning Mugler is this find from The Perfumed Court which set my heart racing and reminded me how obsessed with perfume I am.
Thierry Mugler-Perfume The Story of a Murderer Coffret Sampler
Can’t believe I actually missed this when it came out in 2006 – (the coffret not the movie). Just goes to show how buried my head was in business at that time!
Hmm that reminds me – Dexter Season 5 starts this sunday on Showtime
Perfumery Classes
I have been interested in fragrance and perfumery for as long as I can remember and found my niche in the early 90′s when I ended up working for International Flavours & Fragrances (IFF) totally by accident.
I trained my nose and learned lots about commercial perfumery whilst working as a fragrance evaluator for several years. Whilst at IFF I ran fragrance training days for our clients who were buyers for some of the biggest personal care brands in the world.
As well as studying perfumery I trained in aromatherapy and decided to join the product development team at Neal’s Yard Remedies in order to increase my knowledge of natural materials. During my time at NYR I helped to create many of their award winning products and ran training courses for members of the public and developed a training programme for their retail staff.
I have a brand new date for my one day beginners perfumery workshop in London.
An Introduction to Perfumery
Date: 15th October 2011
Time: 10am-5pm
Venue: Imperial College South Kensington
Cost: £150
This workshop in natural perfumery will give you the opportunity to gain a basic understanding of the history of perfumery and then work with a variety of materials to design your own natural fragrances.
You will have plenty of hands on experience in blending and creating your own accords and finished fragrances.
All materials and equipment are provided and no previous experience is necessary. All you need is imagination and a love of perfumery.
Topics Covered
- The History of Perfume
- Where Do Fragrance Ingredients Come From and How Are They Made
- The Sense of Smell and What it Means To Us
- The Beginners Guide to Training your Nose
- Top, Middle and Base notes and Why They Are Important
- Practical Blending Techniques
By the end of this 1 day course you will:
- Have an understanding of the historical significance of fragrance
- Have learned about the different natural ingredients used in perfumery
- Easily be able to classify natural aromatic ingredients into the different fragrance families
- Have practised blending top middle and base notes to create simple fragrances
I am also running perfumery classes at Neal’s Yard Remedies in Covent Garden a few times a year, so please check their courses page for booking.
Current Perfumery Classes
I run perfumery classes in London and around the UK, please check THE FRAGRANT ALCHEMIST blog for my current perfumery training schedule.
