(seems WordPress has had a problem posting the original post so I had to resort to drastic measures and re-post once again. Sorry everyone.)
Introducing the Perfume Chemistry 101 series on Her Two Scents, ladies and gents, and a perfume chemistry infographic download.
It’s always good to try new things because only then can you have the absolute certainty of what works and what doesn’t for you. That’s what I discovered with the interview series that I started earlier this year.
The interviews, short-lived though they were, gave me the chance to meet a few really cool people, but at the end of the day, it proved to be more work than I was prepared to invest, besides, there are more than enough perfume blogs doing interviews with people in the industry, and doing a far better job than I could ever do with it – Scentury, Basenotes and Fragrantica are just a few of my favourites.
So I’m glad to let that go and move on to something that fills me with energy and passion and which I believe is much more in line with the heart of Her Two Scents and that, my friends, is perfume chemistry! Woohoo!
A couple of years ago I took a short course in the chemistry of essential oils and it was empowering because for starters it replaced a fear of chemistry with knowledge and helped me connect the dots to another approach to composing accords which is intimate to the way I associate things. What I want to do is take it further and include synthetics as well and get as comfortable as I can with the chemical component side of perfume making. And, since I don’t see anyone else out there doing it I thought I’d try to fill in some gaps and share my learning with you.
I’ll be collaborating with people involved in chemistry whenever possible and researching a boat load of information before posting it here. As I too am learning, I encourage those readers who do know more than I to join the conversation or correct me if the information presented is ever off base.
Now for those of you strictly interested in focusing your learning on natural perfumery don’t get your underwear all tied up into knots. This is going to be about organic chemistry and how it helps our understanding of the underlying make up of organic and inorganic chemical compounds as they relate to perfume making.
Let’s kick off the series with this info graphic by Dustin Hofsetter, one of our readers. Dustin is from Switzerland and is a high school chemistry teacher with a Ph.D in chemistry and a background in perfumery, so he knows what he’s talking about. He’s agreed to do more graphics for us, yeah! but for now you can go here for the original image and download it. Images are great for helping us to digest complex information in a very simple way, so I’m super grateful to him for contributing. Thanks, Dustin!
Today I just wanted to give you a peek at this graphic to introduce the series but in the next Perfume Chemistry 101 post I’ll break it down and lay out the structure of the series going forward. For now I hope you enjoy this gift and learn something new to help you on your perfume making journey.
In joy,
MC
Her Two Scents 