7 min read
2025-01-22
How to Get Started in Natural Perfumery – An Ancient Art for Modern Times
Written By: Robin Lander
Creating your own botanical perfumes and aromatic formulations with natural essences is a beautiful alternative to today’s synthetic perfumes. For over 5,000 years, humans have been making perfumes with natural plant and flower oils, extracts, and spices. There is a joy to be found in knowing that when we work with these plant essences, many are the same aromas that perfumers around the world have been working with for millennia.
Learning the art of perfumery composition is like becoming a musician or a master chef – it takes study, practice, intuition, meticulous notetaking, the courage to take risks, and a lot of experimentation. If you have a passion for aromas, the excitement and rewards are well worth the effort. If you’re wondering how to get started, we’ve put together some resources, from online information to books and schools, to help you begin your journey into the art of natural perfumery.
Our Online Educational Resources
The Educational Resources section on our website contains several articles to help you get familiar with the basics so you can start blending:
“Natural Perfumery Basics” covers the foundations of perfume composition using the categories of Top, Middle and Base notes. It even includes step by step instructions on how to formulate an alcohol-based, oil-based and solid perfume.
“Fixatives and Their Function in Natural Perfumery” introduces the concept of using aromatics known as fixatives to help improve and fortify your formulations, including a detailed list of our fixative products. Fixatives are used in natural perfumery to help increase longevity of aroma.
“How to Increase the Longevity of Natural Perfume” explains different ways to give your formulas more staying power, such as using fixatives.
For more recipes and tips, follow our Instagram @edenbotanicals and be sure to sign up for our email newsletter at the bottom the page.
And don’t forget to read the Customer Reviews at the bottom of our product pages where you can hear first-hand how others have worked with these materials and what they have combined them with. We encourage you to add your experiences!
Perfumery Books and Tools
Our Reading Resources page lists our favorite picks for books about Natural Perfumery along with many other topics such as Aromatherapy and Candlemaking. Here are some of our favorites on natural perfumery:
Essence & Alchemy – A Natural History of Perfume by Mandy Aftel is a juicy must-have book that includes perfumery history, a how-to on perfume making, and several perfume formulas.
Foundations of Natural Perfumery by Ayala Moriel guides you through the theory and practice of perfumery, including over 55 compositions and recipes.
Listening to Scent – An Olfactory Journey with Aromatic Plants and Their Extracts by Jennifer Peace Rhind is a great book for learning olfactory vocabulary, the different fragrance families, and training your nose.
Homemade Perfume by Anya McCoy explains how to make your own ingredients for natural perfumes by infusing or tincturing fresh flowers or making an enfleurage. It also details how to make a solid or liquid perfume and other aromatic formulations.
Perfume and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin by Steffen Arctander is a true classic that goes deeply into the production and uses of aromatic materials. Originally self-published in 1960, reprints are available at online book outlets, or you can find free access at Hathi Trust Digital Library here.
We also suggest the Aftelier Natural Perfume Wheel, a valuable tool created by master natural perfumer Mandy Aftel, to help inspire your aromatic profiles and learn the relationship between scent families.
Associations and Organizations
The Natural Perfumers Guild is the first international organization dedicated to 100% natural perfume. Their website includes educational links and other information.
The International Perfume Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the preservation of perfume heritage and traditional perfumery practices around the world.
Natural Perfumery Classes and Schools
There are many options for learning natural perfumery through live in-person or online classes or through self-paced correspondence or recorded video courses.
Mandy Aftel of Aftelier Perfumes, one of the world’s leading natural perfumers, teaches her Slow Scent® method of natural perfumery through her self-paced workbook and oil kit. Those who complete the workbook can continue on to join Mandy’s advanced live Zoom classes.
Robin Lander of Land and Sky Wellness offers in-person Natural Perfumery classes here in Northern California based on Mandy Aftel’s Slow Scent® method. You can find her classes at:
Carole Addison-Goyne of Nomad Botanicals offers perfumery workshops based on Mandy Aftel’s Slow Scent® method in Northern California as well as perfume immersions in Provence, France.
Other natural perfumers and schools that offer in-person or online classes can be found here:
Perfumery courses that include the use of synthetic aromas as well as naturals can be found at:
Online Blogs and Resources
It can be inspiring and informative to learn how other perfumers assess aroma and work with various natural materials. Here are some of our favorite blogs and informational sites published by perfumers and perfume-lovers. Many of these authors review and discuss both naturals and non-naturals:
No matter how you choose to begin, we’re here to help you build your collection of aromatic materials, understand safety and dilution guidelines, inspire your compositions, and get started in the art of natural perfumery! Feel free to contact us with your technical and product questions and our experienced team is happy to assist.
