Scenthusiasm

Signup

Scenthusiasm

The complete introductory course to perfumery

£295 for 24 months

Checkout Options

£295 for two years of access

Gift, Coupon, or Redemption Code?

Create Profile

First Name *

Last Name *

Email Address *

Username (lowercase alphanumeric) *

Password (type this twice please) *

password strength indicator

Additional Info

Address *

Billing Method

Credit or debit card

Billing Address

Street Address *

City / Town *

State / Province *

Postal / Zip Code *

Country *

Checkout Now

This course is designed to help you think like a perfumer.

It’s for everyone who wants to bring their own scented ideas to life, and wants to know where to start and how to keep going, without spending a small fortune on materials.

We give you 24 months to work through the course. You can speed-blend your way from start to finish in two weeks, but to embed the skills you need to develop your own original fragrances, it's best to repeat every exercise many times, and practise smelling and blending as often as you can. Not everyone can dedicate full days to this, so we allow you two years.

It’s for artists who would like to add scent to the media they use, everyone who has tried blending essential oils but can’t get the result to smell like perfume, those who want to immerse themselves in a new interest and people considering perfumery as a business: everyone intrigued by scent.

Following each stage will give you a structure for creating your own perfumes, first by practising our exercises to train your nose and brain, then by making up the formulas that I have shared with you, step by step. After that, you will be ready to adapt these formulas to create your own versions, moving on to creating your own from scratch, using our structure as a starting point.

Scenthusiasm School helps you to approach perfumery in stages, by breaking down fragrance styles into groups of materials so you can understand the effect that each one has on a blend, and how they influence each other to form a complete fragrance.

I follow the guidance of the hard-to-find but invaluable textbook, Perfumery Principles & Practice by Calkin & Jellinek, which tells us always to take the shortest route to our destination. Robert Calkin, head perfumer at Yardley when he wrote this book, maintained that the only reason people use long formulas is that they can’t achieve what they want in a short one. I have yet to find any evidence against his point of view.

Course contents:

This is what you’ll find in the course:

-9 films on perfumery basics and skills to watch as many times as you like

-Key perfumery concepts explained

-A film introduction to scent styles

-12 concise films on scent styles

-Exercises to practise, adapt and repeat

-Accords to make up, adapt and remake with alternative materials

-12 complete formulas to make up, deconstruct and remake with alternative materials

-An insight into how perfumes are actually constructed so you can start to make your own

If you would like to know more about my teaching style before signing up, please watch this film about the equipment you’ll need, free on Vimeo. It will give you a flavour of what to expect.

"I had a great time making my own perfume guided by Sarah, who is just wonderful, fun and a great perfumer. This will be the way forward. Everyone has their own taste so it makes sense to make one for yourself! How inspiring and encouraging! The perfume I made is so uplifting - it works for me."
Sachiko

Formulas

I have based the course on 12 familiar fragrance styles:
Fern/Fougere
Herbs/Green
Citrus
Aquatic
Fruity
Floral
Floral Amber
Gourmand
Classic Amber
Modern Amber
Chypre/Moss
Woods

The course is designed as a process, as a circuit that you can repeat. On each new lap you can try something different as you hone your skills and become more familiar with your materials and the techniques.

On your first run-through, I recommend that you follow the formulas exactly to familiarise yourself with your materials, the accords - suns and planets - and finished fragrances.

As you go around the course for a second or third time, you can adapt the formulas, replacing materials, or adding more to create the aromas you want.

What you'll do:

-Become familiar with your materials - naturals and synthetics - and learn how to blend them to make balanced accords.

-Discover a range of perfume styles and the key materials which define them.

-Find out what influences a fragrance's longevity and diffusiveness.

-Techniques: learn how to experiment with drops, then create by weight, to dilute your materials for your experiments and record your formulas accurately.

-Create accords and finished fragrances.

-Make up 4160Tuesdays best-selling fragrance, The Sexiest Scent on the Planet. Ever. (I.M.H.O.) and personalise it.