I have always loved scents. I remember getting a perfume kit as a child and making perfumes for my mom and sisters. A year or two ago, I took some classes with Charna Ethier of Providence Perfume Company (
www.providenceperfume.com). Charna makes amazing perfumes from essential oils and absolutes. I have six of her creations and can't decide which is my favorite.
This past Friday night I assisted Charna during her Blending Natural Perfumes class which was offered through Back Porch Soap Company in New York City (
www.backporchsoap.com). It's an easy and enjoyable job. I welcome her students, collect her materials fee, melt the beeswax/jojoba mixture for the solid perfumes and listen to her teach. It's a joy to watch her inspire her students. Every time I assist her, I learn something new.
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Charna talking about top, middle and base notes
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Charna brings many different essential oils and absolutes for her students to experience. She must have a collection of over 100 scents for them to try. I watch the students faces as they smell the difference between Jasmine sambac and Jasmine grandiflorum. I watch them crinkle their noses at an "unpleasant" odor, only to learn how to use it to make their perfume smell better. And I watch as they learn how to put their own personal stamp on a perfume by creating unique tinctures. They leave with a solid perfume and two liquid perfumes which they've created, a starter kit of basic essential oils for them to play with at home, and so many thoughts and ideas swimming in their heads.
I am already looking forward to the next time Charna comes to teach, are you? I hope to see you there!
Yours in Gratitude,
Angela
No doubt about it, Charna is awesome. Her perfumes are incredible. She truly has a gift. I love her products. She's so beautiful and inspiring too -- what fun it must be to help at her classes and get to smell all those awesome oils! Thanks for sharing the joy!
ReplyDeleteI enjoy myself every time Charna comes to teach. She is quite a storyteller. NYC never smelled so good!
DeleteCan you recommend a natural perfumery book that uses resins and raw incense materials? I really don't want an end product that has alcohol in it. And it seems the only way to get fragrance is to tincture. I wish I was on the mainland to take a noses on class. Or if I had a thousand bucks I would love to take the natural perfume making online, but that isn't possible. Many thanks for this great blog..
ReplyDeleteHave you read "Essence & Alchemy" by Mandy Aftel? It's a great book and she also only uses natural ingredients. The only way I know to tincture is to use alcohol. You can infuse oils with dried flowers and herbs, but I don't think you will get much of a fragrance. You can make a scented oil with the essential oils and resins though, as long as they are soluable in the oil.
DeleteI know, natural perfume making is an expensive hobby!
Thanks Angela, sounds like a perfect read for me.
ReplyDeleteOff to check it out:)