I often get emails from prospective students saying: “I want to take a perfume class, but I don’t know which one to choose”.
It is often hard to advise without knowing your circumstances, experience level or what and why you want to learn about perfumery.
This post aims to give you the ins and outs of the different perfume classes and courses I offer so you can pick the best option for you.
I'm a Complete Beginner
If you have read lots but never created a fragrance before then I would suggest you start with The Natural Perfumery Masterclass Online This virtual masterclass will give you the basics you need to get going.
You will get a resources list of materials to buy without spending a fortune and it will give you a system of training your nose, understanding fragrance families and creating accords.
This class is for you if you want to dip your toe in the water but are not yet ready for the full Artisan Perfumery Mastermind, which is a guided self study online programme.
If you prefer something that is more of a visual demonstration then go for the Make A Natural Perfume Masterclass
This was originally a live zoom masterclass from my studio and will walk you through the process of making a perfume from start to finish.
I Want To Make Natural Perfume For My Skin Care Products
You might be a complete beginner or you may have created some fragrances for your products before. If you:
a) Want to delve deeper into perfumery and add some Eau de Parfum, Room Sprays or Scented candles to your product line then I would suggest The Artisan Perfumery Mastermind.
Then if you feel you need a bit more help with adapting your fragrances for different bases (we do go into this in module 6 of the course) you can always add on Creating Fragrances for Skincare Products at a later date.
For a short demo style class that includes reed diffusers then try the Make A Room Fragrance Masterclass
b) Are not interested in becoming a perfumer and just want to make nice therapeutic scents for your face and body products then I would suggest The Natural Perfumery Masterclass Online plus Creating Fragrances for Skincare Products these 2 online masterclasses will give you everything you need in a short space of time without learning all the ins and outs of perfumery.
Alternatively the Make A Perfume Oil Masterclass will give you a demo style walk through of creating a perfume in an oil base
I've Done Some Perfumery But I need Some Practical Help and Advice
I do run live in person classes and private 1 to 1 days throughout the year at my studio here in The New Forest.
The Artisan Perfumery Immersion is for you if you want an in depth 3 day practical immersion into fragrance creation. It is a small group and we spend a whole day on the 3 most important areas of scent making which are:
1. Materials Study
2. Accords Creation
3. Creating a fragrance to a brief.
This class covers both naturals and synthetic materials and it is up to you which you choose to use. This class is suitable for all levels as it is mostly practical and the level of difficulty will be determined by you and what you choose to work on. The group size is small (max 8 people) which means lots of 1 to 1 help. This class is a great accompaniment to The Artisan Perfumery Mastermind and I do offer a bundle discount if you buy both courses together.
If you can’t come to a live UK class then don’t forget that the Artisan Perfumery Mastermind comes with the bonus of a private Facebook group where I run live Q&A sessions. This is the only course I currently offer that comes with access to live help from me.
I Have/Want To Start A Business Creating Fragrance To Sell
There are many different places you can start with this depending on your time and budget. I do offer 1 to 1 consultancy but I would always suggest you start with either an online perfumery course or practical in person perfumery class.
If you are starting out and don’t have a huge budget for materials, packaging, product development and marketing but still want to create fragrances to sell I would suggest you start with creating bespoke fragrances 1 to 1 and sell higher end.
This will give you the practice and the income to then put into a range when you are ready. You can sell a bespoke fragrance for a lot more than an off the shelf one and you don’t need to invest in the production of 100’s or 1,000 of units of packaging.
If you want to do this then The Bespoke Perfumery Masterclass is for you.
Finally if you need help to figure out your ideal customer and all the marketing bits needed to laucnh a perfume brand then there is The Perfume Business Launch Plan, Which opens a few times per year with a pop up Facebook Group
In addition to the live classes most of the students in my Artisan Perfumery Mastermind group have fragrance businesses too and in module 6 we cover IFRA and selling regulations.
I hope that gives you a good idea of the difference in the classes and do please let me know if you have any questions I haven’t covered.
All classes both online and offline can be found here: http://www.onlineperfumeschool.com/
