Design Philosophy
My lineage is involved with methods of phenomenology, where sensory clarity and increased agency are sought by exploring immediate experience. I value olfaction so greatly because many basic odorants are highly malleable under cognitive load. Explorations and hypotheses matter to your experience.
Modern perfumes seek to bring you a single, beautifully repeatable moment. It is a general rule that a mixture with more odorants tends to provide fewer affordances for exploration. As a result, my creations tend to the range of 4-25 materials, rather than 20-100, which is common. Many are messy or standoffish because they make good exhibits of things that coexist. Some point to body effects that are useful in meditation, some are playful tensions of neighborhoods of qualia space.
The Process of Creating Fragrances
1
Know your materials: everyone has different associations with synthetic odorants. You should dilute most synthetics to 10% in SDA 40B Ethanol and evaluate them on paper strips. Take notes about colors, textures– anything you recognize.
2A
Top-down approach: select an object (freesia, violet, leather) or a concept (beach walks, industry, mom’s cooking) then evaluate your materials for properties that could add to the image. Try blind tests with your concept in mind to find new associations.
2b
Bottom-up approach: select a material with a quality you want to dignify. Your goal is now to enhance, extend, and express all the subtle and unique qualities by selectively obscuring undesirable qualities and bringing in near-matches to highlight exactly what you’re trying to show the wearer.
3
Pre-testing: to evaluate a blend without wasting material, try dipping paper strips and testing them at various distances. Not all distances scale the same way in-blend, but this should tell you a lot about compatibility.
4
Blending: when you’re ready to mix chemicals, you can use your diluted material for more precision or the pure material for greater volumes. Perfumers usually prefer single-use disposable pipettes, which minimize the chance of contaminating pure materials.
5
Iteration: every addition to the blend should be notated in amount and effect. When you have finished one blend, these notes will help you decide what to change. It is helpful to your development as a perfumer to learn by changing one material or one volume at a time and seeing the gradual effects.
Have Your Dream Perfume
Custom-Made
Explore all the options and keep the recipe. Shadow the iterative process and see where your taste takes you.
