this past saturday we had the make your own perfume workshop with anne mcclain (separate from the raw materials class that i wrote about last week). anne started out by having us all write down a list of scent memories from a place or time in our lives. i started two lists, but then decided to go with my memories from growing up in san francisco.

then, we smelled almost 50 scents and made notes on what they reminded us of, and we started a list of which ones we might want to use in our own perfume. my memories were of the huge jasmine vine that we had in our backyard, the feeling of cool air, the beach and driftwood, pine trees, and also the hippie smells of haight street. next, we did several trial mixtures to figure out the right amounts of each scent, until it felt right.

our “pure” mixes are now macerating for two weeks, before we can mix them with alcohol in the beautiful perfume bottle that anne brought for each of us. what a great class, i loved it– thanks again anne!

9 thoughts on “

  1. ooh sounds so special. i caught a wiff of sweet grass on my bike yesterday and was instantly transported back home.

  2. This is so cool…I had no idea of all that went into creating a perfume. I so wish I lived in NY so I could take advantage of these classes!

    What will you title your new scent?

  3. i'm not sure what i'll name it! something more clever than san francisco, if i can think if it…

  4. wow, i love this. sent memories are the best. and that perfume bottle so amazing. what sent did you end up making?

  5. That sounds SO cool! I wish I could have been there. I think I'd have had trouble coming up with a list of scents though. Not something I seem to think of easily (I just tried to do it, as an experiment).