A Rebelle Rendezvous

Lyn Ayre & Tonie Silver ~ A Rebelle Rendezvous

4 August 2008

T: Hi Lyn, & welcome to LPR~

L: Thanks so much, Tonie, it's great to be here on such a sunny summer day.

T: You teach Natural & Botanical Perfumery; tell us about what kind of students you're seeing.

L: My course is called "Natural Perfumery ~ a path to the Heart of Spirit". Coeur d'Esprit means "heart of Spirit". This course involves working with spirit energy and being in touch with the spirit of the plant while making perfumes. When students inquire about the course, this aspect is often brought up as people find the concept very attractive. For me, it is not about mimicking what has already been done in the marketplace. It is not about making French perfumes or becoming a commercial perfumer (French or otherwise) or even a "nose". It is about connecting to our inner spirit, connecting to the spirit of the plant, then using perfume to connect to our higher self in a safe and pleasing way. It is a gentle course with no pressure to win or succeed or be the best. It is fine to just go along and learn at your own pace and become more of who you were meant to be. My students come from all walks of life. They are teachers, students, spa-worker, a nun, an artist, an Aromatherapist, a retired senior, world traveller, someone looking for a new career in perfumery, and so on, ages 22 to 78, from Canada, US, Australia, France, and so on. Some have worked with the essences for years and others have only always wanted to.When they first contact me, they are each asked to write a letter of introduction detailing why they would like to take this course on perfumery, how they came to find me, and what they hope to get out of the course. The essays are poignant, exciting, hopeful, and as varied as the people who write them. They are required as a starting point so that the student can see, in black and white, what they are about to do and evaluate whether or not they would like to proceed. It seems to me that all kinds of people are interested in learning more about Natural Perfumery.

T: Nature/Nurture: How important is the education side of the art? Are there certain nuances that you feel simply cannot be taught?

L: I am a teacher by nature, as well as a life-long student of my personal passions; writing, art, music, and all the gifts from Mother earth, which, of course, includes perfume. Teaching this course was a natural progression, for me, from all the learning I'd done to that point. My passion carried me forward to become the independent perfumer I am today. I am self-taught, nurtured by the thousands of perfumers who have gone before me, the hundreds of writers who have written about perfume, the dozens of perfumes I have created, and the feedback I've received from my clients. I did the work, and part of the work involved writing this course so I could make sense of what I'd learned so far about perfume. I put in my time, all the while seeking a mentor but found no one. What I did find were a group of people who were in constant competition for their place in the sun and who wanted to wield power and control over others. This is not something I am into as I don't believe in competing with anyone. I wish I'd have had the benefit of an affordable correspondence course like mine but there wasn't one to be found. So I wrote it. LOL (big grin). For some people, formal training is key, and the structure of a course, such as mine, is required. Others learn best when they are propelled by their own steam with little input from teachers. Still others enjoy the one-on-one or a classroom situation. Learning is a personal journey that each of us must make, as we will. I offer opportunities for learning with as little or as much input as the student needs, always willing to answer questions and make suggestions. In the end, should they complete the twenty-six assignments, send along sixteen samples for evaluation, and write the proctored exam of fifty-six questions, they will have earned a Certificate of Completion for their efforts of personal dedication and commitment to the craft. I don't "create Natural Perfumers" rather people grow themselves into that way of being in the world, should they choose and should this be something they want for themselves.We each bring to the table a variety of inherent gifts. We can all sing but we don't all have a voice that is pleasing to others. This does not mean we shouldn't sing. Some of us have a great ear for music but not all of us are musicians, composers, or conductors. We can all take photographs but that does not mean they will end up in the National Geographic. The thing that sets one of us apart from another, in a particular endeavour, is the passion that is lit in us when we are first exposed to the topic matter. If something resonates with us on a spiritual level, then it becomes our passion. This passion gives us energy to pursue that which feeds and nourishes us. Spaces open up in our minds and in our hearts that allow room for an extraordinary amount of knowledge to be gathered, sorted through, and put into practice. I know that at some point, a student may decide they want to take this course, and may actually go ahead and purchase it, but not pursue it because they lack the energy of passion to carry them forward through all the hard work and learning. Should they have a passion for perfume, they will also have instilled within them all the finesse they need to create beautiful aromas with the all nuances present to create life's great tapestry, however that unfolds.

T: Tell LPR readers what you teach your students about suppliers; in my experience, the dish is only as good as the ingredients. Do you believe a good, trusting relationship with your supplier is important?

L: In Project twenty-five, students are asked to write out their Ethics, Mission Statement, and Personal Credo, including their philosophies on life. They need to do their homework, developing ethical guidelines that will take them through the pitfalls they may encounter during this journey of finding their own trusted suppliers in the area in which they live and abroad. They need to learn how to trust their nose and speak their heart when they are unhappy. In the meantime, they are given my "Trusted Suppliers List" in their manual. It is also located on my links page on the website. These suppliers ship to Canada and the US; many ship overseas, as well. My Australian students have their own list they have gleaned over time. My list is not complete and is constantly being refined as I go about my daily round. It is important that I have a trusting relationship with my suppliers and that they follow through with what has been agreed. If they don't, they risk losing my trust and are not put on the up-dated list. The companies on my list have a variety of good qualities: they are environmentally conscious, don't approve of animal testing, are cruelty-free, have a generous heart and donate to worthy causes, don't have a minimum order amount, include free samples, and some sell organic or certified organic ingredients. Their product is top of the line and I've not yet been unhappy with the dozens of items I've purchased from any of them. Also included on the list are those that supply cosmetic ingredients, containers, waterproof labels, boxes, and bottles. These companies resonate with me and hold similar values to my own, so I am happy to support them.

T: Lyn, please give readers a skeleton of your curriculum.

L: Yes, of course... Here is the Table of Contents

Preliminaries, Processes, & Introductions

Section One
The psychology and physiology of how we detect aroma
The four mediums for carrying a perfume
The precautions for using these highly concentrated botanical ingredients
Shelf-life and storage of oils
Working with Spirit Energy
Data Tags
Dilutions
Methods of Extraction
Perfumery terms
Music by any other name would be called perfume. Learning the notes.
What are Horizontal and Vertical Accords
Building Accords

Section Two
Learn about seven base notes
Fixatives
Describing a Perfume
Scent Profiling
Descriptive words
Setting up your atelier
Your safety

Section Three
Learn about seven Heart Notes
Body Chemistry and Skin Types
Rate of Evaporation and Odor Intensity
Fragrance Families

Section Four
Learn about seven Head Notes
Formulation
Formulation Sheet

Section Five
Creating tinctures, infusions, and macerations
Creating scent similars
Scent Songs - the work of Piesse
Perfumes from the inside ou
Colour of essential oils

Section Six
Create perfumes in all four bases
Perfume pyramid
What's in a name
Questions & answers
How to market yourself and your product

Resources & References
Review of Suppliers
Completing this course
Perfume Projects

T: What's the best advice that you feel you offer your students Lyn?

L: Determine what your ethics are and stick to them. Create a safe work environment so you can do perfumery for the long-term. Create safe perfumes and remember we are dealing with very powerful substances.Stay curious and open to new learning and opportunities.

T: Best perfumery advice you ever received?

L: I've not yet had the blessing of a Mentor and no one around to teach me other than the books I've read and my own diligent research and practice. But I take all of the advice I've given to my students (as above).

T: Tell us how you marry the business side of perfumery with the art.

L: It's one and the same to me. There is an art of making good perfumes and an art of dealing with people in a business sense. In both cases, I ground to Gaia and connect to Source, becoming a channel of energy flowing into the situation and watching it unfold before me. I know this may sound goofy to a lot of people but it is how I've operated my whole life. For 23 years, I did Credit & Collections. Most people loved to hear from me, and put our company at the top of their payables list, as I never made them feel bad about themselves. I knew that most people wanted to pay their bills and if I was pleasant and present, I could help them to do that (some didn't and they got re-poed). I worked for a few different companies and in each case, the receivables went to a good place. In the last position I had before I was 'downsized' (due to MS and Lupus), I took the receivables from 170 days to 96% current. You don't get results like that by treating people like poorly. It's the same in any business: create a set of ethical business practices and stick to them. That's what I do in the perfume realm when I'm dealing with suppliers, customers, and students.

T: Thanx Lyn~ You've got a great Coeur d'Esprit!

NBP Education

A Note from Lisa Camasi, Botanical Perfumer

If you want to take a class, any class, do a little homework first and make sure that the class you take will serve your needs, interests and budget, and will deliver on its promises.

ASK A FEW QUESTIONS:- What are the instructor's credentials, experience, and reputation, professionally and otherwise? If s/he has formal credentials, are they in a relevant field? Are they from a reputable institution? If the instructor points to experience and a varied selection of "one off" courses, one on one instruction/ mentorship/ apprenticeship with another perfumer or perfumers, who are they, and what are their credentials, what is their professional lineage? If the instructor is self taught, how did s/he pursue their studies, and how did s/he arrive at the conclusion that s/he had acquired sufficient knowledge that s/he feels qualified to teach a professional course and charge a professional fee? Is s/he published?

- Can references/recommendations be provided from former students?

- What books/literature is used to support the class, and what is the additional recommended reading?

- What are the educational objectives of the course - what will you have learned and be able to do after the class that you could not do before the class? How will they be achieved? Is there a syllabus from this or previous similar classes that you can view to evaluate whether the course will meet your interests, skill level, and needs?

- Think about how you learn best. Some people do very well reading from books, some prefer lots of graphics and pictures, and still others absorb information best through auditory input and verbal exchanges. Will this class be presented in a way that is suitably accessible to you and your learning style? I have a good friend who is a university lecturer in New Zealand, and one of the courses she teaches is a distance course. It is at the graduate level, and because the focus of the course is in support of the literature survey the students need to conduct for their MA theses in Linguistics, it works pretty well, but she said she can't imagine teaching any of her other courses because so much critical learning happens in the face to face exchange of weekly seminars and working collaboratively on research and data.

- Consider all the available courses and resources in the context of what you want, what you need, and what you can afford. Look for a class that will teach you skills that allow you to continue learning when the class is over, and leave you feeling empowered and encouraged to do so - rather than enslaved to an expert who claims to hold the key to the vault that safeguards the secrets of the ancient art.

If you're able to spend many hundreds of dollars for an online course, why not spend a couple hundred more and get the benefit of learning perfumery "in the style of the French perfumers" from *actual* French perfumers - ones with the training, experience, materials, facilities and professional acumen to make it worth your while and worth your hard earned money!! (Not to mention the pleasure of spending a week in the heart of Grasse!) There are other classes - Sunrose Aromatics has hosted classes with Gail Adrian in the past, and Linda at the Perfumer's Apprentice is an excellent resource as well.http://www.perfumer sapprentice.com/perfumersworkshop/

DO A LITTLE RESEARCH:- Polish your bloody google, yahoo, dogpile skills. Be willing to dive down a few rabbit holes as you follow the links within links.  have found some of the most useful and relevant information this way - as well as some wonderful and wonderfully obscure materials.

- Don't rely entirely on the internet, and remember that it is still largely unregulated and there is as much unreliable information as there is factual and useful information.

- Check out a few books at the library, and if your local library doesn't have what you want, ask if they can get it for you through inter library loan. If you live near a university, especially a public one, see if they provide library privileges to the local community -most do! You will be able to gain access to books through the university that are unlikely to be available any other way -especially out of print books.

- Safety... Don't rely on IFRA exclusively for this information, it's not reliable! Read the MSDS for your materials and take a little time and familiarize yourself with Pub Med http://www.ncbi. nlm.nih.gov/ sites/entrez/you will get much more reliable information and you will learn a lot more about your materials!- There are a bunch of sites that will provide hours and hours of reading (tons of useful information) about naturals and their chemical components, as well as synthetics and compounds - here are a few of myfavorites:http://www.thegoodscentscompany.com/http://www.leffingwell.com/http://www.bojensen.net/http://www.ars-grin.gov/duke/

Bookmark these sites and spend some time following the links and becoming familiar with the information (and additional links/resources) they provide. Most vendors well known on this list (Eden Botanicals, Natures Gift, Sunrose Aromatics, White Lotus) also have copious amounts of information and links on their sites. I am sure others here could add many more but this is a start.

- Whatever you do, don't believe the assertion that making perfumes using aroma chemicals is the same as using naturals and that you can learn everything you need to know in a class that only covers naturals!! There is a lot of overlap in general technique, but if you are going to use aromachems, do yourself (and your pocket book) a favor and, as is good practice with naturals, learn how to use them effectively and safely. Aromachems can be very unstable and sensitive to degradation due to light and temperature, they often require solvents other than alcohol, there are compounds as well as individual aroma chemicals and the dilutions at which you would use them varies wildly.

CHECK OUT SOME OTHER GROUPS:- Give your chemophobia a rest (and brace yourself for the equally irrational and perverse chemophelia you will encounter) and bring an open mind! While I do not personally use aroma chemicals or synthetics, my time on these lists has definitely honed my skills and technique, and has made me look at naturals with a renewed interest in their active chemical components and infused my creative efforts with much needed precision, analysis and discipline: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/perfumemaking/Perfume Making is Jenny's group, there's a wealth of informative files and links, and she has put together a couple of excellent power point presentations. Discussion is lively, enthusiastic and fairly ad hoc, though Jenny is great about introducing specific topics and questions, and generating more focused discussions as well.http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mfd_ of_perfumes/Manufacture and Design of Perfumes is Jo's group, and has more of a collaborative classroom format. Class sessions might focus on a discussion of a half dozen materials (natural and synthetic), a pop quiz on some aspect of the history of perfume, or a discussion with exercises on fixation, tincturing or solvents.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EarlyPerfume/Early perfumes is Sally's group, and focuses on more academic and early historical creation and use of perfume and scent. She has written an excellent book and is extremely knowledgeable.

- Regardless of the group(s) you join, once there, spend some time digging through the archives. This will give you an idea of the range of topics that have been discussed, answer lots of questions before you have formed them, and will make the questions you do ask once you join the discussion more specific and useful. Do this with any group you join but especially one that has been around for a while or has substantial archives - hell - join NP and mine those archives (if they have not been deleted or selectively culled for the exclusive reference of the owner.) The first couple years of posts on that group are a wealth of information from some VERY talented and accomplished perfumers (including industry professionals incognito) who have long since moved on, weary of all the drama and politics that can hijack the best of groups.

- Be willing to put in the time with your materials - books are excellent references, and lectures can be tremendously informative, but nothing, and I mean *NOTHING* takes the place of sitting down and actively working with the materials: experimenting, formulating, blending, evaluating, sharing, reformulating. .. the hours and days and weeks you spend actively engaged in working with aromatics will be the real education. Everything else - books, research, discussions, groups, lectures - they are all optional.

- Work with your materials in dilution - it will save you unimaginable amounts of money and will give you a better sense of how your perfume is developing as you create it. I personally recommend using 5-10% dilutions of most absolutes and 10-50% dilutions of eo's - it depends on the odor intensity of the material you are working with. Create your formula using these dilutions first, then add sufficient alcohol to bring it to the appropriate strength (parfume, EDP, EDC, etc.)

- Invest in a scale sensitive to a hundredth of a gram, and learn to use it - you will get infinitely more precise and reproducible results if you do! Jen at lotioncrafter has a decent selection as well as a useful comparison you can read to help you decide which one you want.http://www.lotioncr after.com/store/Scales-Accessories-c-262.html

Ebay is also a great resource for equipment, from lab glass to ultrasonic cleaners/baths to use in tincturing and as an aid in finishing/melding dilutions and perfumes.

- Form a local study group, or find a couple local partners in crime. Swap perfumes, offer each other feedback, collaborate on a perfume,or a collection of scented balms, or put together a tincturing/infusing workshop. It builds community and supports your habit, and happens to be a lot of fun to boot.

- Try a variety of materials, from a variety of vendors and regions. All lavenders/vetivers/ lemons/roses are not created equal, nor are the aromatics that are derived from them.

- Don't limit the development of your nose to the perfumer's organ! Take a wine tasting course. Learn to cook outside your comfort zone - take an Indian, Mediterranean, Asian cooking class. Plant a fragrant garden. All of these will propel you along the path of training your senses inform your work with aromatic materials. Last, but most certainly not least - don't be afraid to think for yourself. The more stridently anyone insists that *they* are the expert and that *you* need the training or information they are selling, the more you ought to slow down, look around, and consider all your options first. If you think this is useful information - please feel free to forward it to aspiring students, post to other lists, blogs, etc.

Happy perfuming!

Lisa

NBP Education ~ Natural Perfume Course by Lyn Ayre

Natural Perfume Course by Lyn Ayre

Natural Perfume Course 

My first order of business is always: DO NO HARM, which is why I include the following statement and I make it up front. 

When making natural perfumes, we are dealing with the wondrous, powerful, highly scented, and generally medicinal plant chemical components. Please refrain from taking this course if you: have major internal organ damage, have severe breathing or skin allergies or sensitivities, or your health is otherwise severely compromised. 

Those who are pregnant or lactating, can complete and email the following 'paper projects' for the correspondence course: 1- on Anosmia, 4- on another descriptor for rose oil, 6- on descriptive words or phrases, project 16- on tincture and infusions, project 19- Passion for Perfume, project 25- philosophies; half of the Perfume Projects on accords. The reading, gathering of supplies, and preparation of a safe Atelier can also be accomplished while you are waiting to begin the course.

"Attention Professional Registered Aromatherapists: Study from home to earn your CEC's or CEU's. Achieving a Certificate of Completion for this six-month correspondence course in Natural Perfumery may satisfy the requirements for the 24 CEC's that you need to maintain your professional membership. Check with your association for more details. If this course is not listed by your professional body, perhaps you would like to suggest it to them." 

If you feel you have all of the below knowledge in place, please check out my Five-Day Perfume Intensive at http://www.scentofnature.net/five-day_natural_perfume_intensive.htm 

Correspondence Course

Natural Perfumery Course 

~a path to the Heart of Spirit~

Introduction to the art of Natural Perfumery. 

We will be covering twenty-one oils/absolutes; various bases; 

scent profiling; the language of natural perfumery; formulation; 

accords; scent-similars; tinctures; macerations; and many other aspects. 

Specific assignments are given for each of the six sections. 

In order to attain a Certificate of Completion for this course, you will 

need to do these twenty-six assignments and reports, send in sixteen perfume samples, and take the final proctored written exam, and practical exam. The exam can be taken six months after you begin your studies. This is an in-depth course and there is no need to rush. Most people take two years to complete it.

Perfumery Course Goals & Objectives

This course would suit learners who are true novices and know nothing about this topic, but have a passion to learn, as well as those who have been making some perfumes for family and friends but would like to take it to the next level of endeavor. There is a section on marketing and preparing for an interview and review of your perfumes.

At the end of this perfumery course, you will know how to make perfume in various bases. You’ll be given recipes for all of these bases, and some of my perfume formulations, which I've created for this course. You will also learn how to create your own formulae. You will know where to get top quality oils, absolutes, concretes, and attars. You will learn the vocabulary needed to describe the scents you are creating, sniffing, and/or profiling .  

You will learn how to create vertical and horizontal accords, preparing parts of future perfumes in advance of needing them. Learning about tincturing, infusing, and maceration will be included as part of the course, as well. Some plants do not yield up their aroma readily, so my notes and ideas are given on how to make a doppelganger of the desired scent. 

We will not spend much time on the history of perfume though several links are included in the resources section. It has been romanticized and theorized about in books, magazines, and on the internet, and you may read this material at your leisure. It is all very interesting, exciting, and wonderful to know where we’ve come from, as a population of people who have loved perfumes since the dawn of time. However, for my course, I am opting to leave that aspect of writing to those more deeply involved in it. I just love to make perfumes and I want to share that with you.  

We won't spend any time examining, comparing, or trying to re-create commercial perfumes as this is a course on Natural Perfume. 

Creating a natural perfume today is quite different from how it was created a hundred years ago simply due to the myriad botanical ingredients that are now available to us. We live in a time that is ripe for the making of our own household, bath, and beauty products. We are very fortunate, indeed.   

In this course, we will simply concern ourselves with the art of making perfume, the science and chemistry behind it will be included in the resource section. Again, there are many great books that one can study about the structure of essential oils, and botanical components. There is a reading list included in the courseware. 

The book called: The Scent Trail provides a wonderful olfactory journey into the origins of some of the materials we will be using in this course. It is recommended reading, though there are no projects or exam questions arising from it.

You will learn how to work with the energy of the substances you are holding: their colour, viscosity, tenacity, scent profile, and how they operate with one another, in other words, the spirit of the plant. One of the assignments is to create a Spiritual Perfume. 

We will create a Scent Song as we look at the work of Piesse. There are several supporting .pdf files that I will email to you for further reading and learning. 

The profiles of the twenty-one oils and absolutes covered in this course are given in three parts: aromatically, therapeutically, and spiritually. This includes safety information, as that is key to creating a wonderful product. You'll learn how to create a perfume for use in your personal spiritual rituals.   

There is always a lot of solid  information in my courses. You will need to purchase supplies, essential oils, and absolutes, so here is the list. Supplies List for the Natural Perfumery Course 2011.pdf Ambrette absolute can be used in place of the CO2.

Please have an in-depth look at my Links & Resources page for Suppliers. I have listed numerous ones in North America as well as several in Europe, UK, and AU.

If you would like to know more about this informative and aromatic course, please email LynAyre@telus.net with any questions you may have. It can be ordered through the PayPal button below. 

Here are the essential oils and absolutes we will be covering in the course so you can go ahead and begin to order them.  It's easier on the budget when you don't have to do it all at once. As well, if you look at my links page, you will see many tried and trusted suppliers to get you started. Make sure none of these essential oils/absolutes are diluted in jojoba as they won't mix with alcohol if they are. As well, you want 100% not a 10 or 20 % dilution. You will be making your own dilutions.

Base Note	Heart Note	Head Note
Ambrette Seed CO2 or absolute	Cinnamon Leaf	Bergamot fcf
Frankincense	Jasmine grandiflorum absolute	Black Pepper
Labdanum	Lavender absolute	Clary Sage
Patchouli	Litsea	Coriander
Sandalwood Santalum vanutua	Neroli	Galbanum
Vanilla absolute	Rose maroc	Palma Rosa
Vetiver	Ylang Ylang extra	ethically sourced Rosewood or you can use Ho wood

Kind words from a student who is just completing Project 19-Passion for Perfume: 

I’m so grateful to you Lyn, who has been such a marvelous and patience teacher and still is when I’m writing this essay. Without your way of sharing your knowledge in perfumery with me, I would never have know how it feels to get deep into my selves and my olfactory in the way scents can do. 

Every morning and every night I think in Scents, Notes, Chords, Accords and how to combine the fragrances to the outstanding perfume. But after I have been thinking for a while I know that I don’t have that experience that I need and that I have to take all the time and read as much as I can to learn what I have to learn.

Today I’m not quite done with the course but I feel so satisfied that I chosen the course that suited me and from here I can develop my life while spending it with natural perfumery. VG, Sweden

*****

Registration and Investment

All students must complete a Registration Form, which

I will send upon receipt of payment.

The Course: I am offering an in-depth, correspondence E-course on the basics of natural perfumery, so you can work at your own pace. The manual is well-written, professionally edited, with good photos, tables, and interesting assignments and experiments. There is on-going email support at no further cost.

The Investment: Going green? Great. I offer the entire manual by email and we can save a lot of trees by using this method. All projects can be sent to me by email and so can the Exam. $350.00 Should you wish the manual and supporting documents mailed, there is a $25.00 printing charge and a $35.00 shipping charge so the course will then be $410.00

The Exam: I don't offer the proctored exam until the six-month point as there are 26 projects and 16 samples to complete and send in. This doesn't happen overnight. There should be no rush to complete this course. The exam consists of 56 questions. There are no multiple choice so no option for guessing the right answer. You need to know your material before you write the exam. It takes approximately 2-3 hours to complete this exam and you will need a Proctor to be with you. There is a form they will need to fill out, and mail to me, attesting to the fact that you did the exam from memory. When you request the exam, you will need to let me know where to mail it to your Proctor. You will then sit the exam at their home or office. The Exam can be emailed to his or her office and the completed exam can be emailed back by your Proctor. The Proctor Form needs to be signed and sent via postal mail with a legible signature. The exam is not to leave the hands of the Proctor except for the time you are actually writing the it.

Natural Perfume Correspondence Course green $350.00

Natural Perfume Correspondence Course mailed out $410.00

 

Return Policy

This is a correspondence course and as such may be started at any time convenient to you. I do not offer a refund once the course has been emailed out as, by that time, you have the full course material hence all that you need, and that I have put my heart into creating, to learn the art of the course you have ordered.

Thank you.

 

The students who have gone through this course have all rated it Five Star

 

Student Comments, so far:

 

"My passion for perfume was again ignited when I signed up for Lyn’s Natural Perfumery Course. It truly is a path to the heart of my spirit. I enjoyed the course immensely. Lyn is a dedicated, wonderful teacher with lots of information to share. I enjoyed the alchemy of creating scents for the soul. It was one of the greatest gifts for me and for my personal and spiritual development. Thank you Lyn!" GB, Ontario, Canada

 

"Many thanks to Lyn. Her teaching was so useful for me. Before I met her, I was so unsure about myself and my ability to create perfumes as a Professional Independent Perfumer. I have to say that I really enjoyed this six-month course in which I made such great progression, thanks to her help. I recommend her course to everyone who wishes to be assisted with much respect from one being to another." Therese Steigert, Paris, France

 

"Lyn is one of the most generous teachers I've ever had. Her patience with me while I asked all kinds of questions, most of the answers were in the manual, really kept me going. She would answer and/or refer me to the page number to look at in the manual. I am not the same person after completing this course. I have a deep affinity for our planet and all that she offers. I look at scent in a different way and can really smell what's out there. My garden has doubled in size and I'm really looking forward to it blooming this summer. Lyn has blessed me with a deeper look at my spiritual side. I'll be forever thankful to her for her kind heart and generous soul. Thanks, Lyn" Love MM, Southern USA

 

"I'm working towards my degree and use the course as a reward for when I've done my other homework. Lyn is a great teacher who knows her stuff; a true gem of a person." IM, USA

 

"I'm working on creating abundance in my life so I can come and meet Lyn in person. Her course is amazing and I'm learning so much." BB, USA

 

"I enjoy to Lyn courses so much. My English not good. but course is good. Thank You." JC, USA

 

"I love this course! This is the best thing I have done for myself. It's as if my soul is saying to me...'you finally listened to what I want you to do'." MN, USA

 

"I am grateful to find your course. For many years when I smell a scent of a flower I feel so curious how could I recreate that same natural scent and share the beauty of it with others. That is why a wish to take this course and find out am I creative enough  to make fragrances. Again I deeply thankful to find this course teaching about NATURAL perfumery but mostly to connect with you,-someone who is not afraid to share this secret knowledge with others." JI, AU

"I'm loving this course. It is opening up spaces within me that I did not know where there. I'm happy to recommend this course to anyone interested in having a better understanding of natural scents. With love and gratitude for your wonderful gift to the world." JG, AU

"I am an intuitive learner so I knew right away it was the course I wanted to take. I felt very good about your approach to the essences. For my Birthday, I decided to give myself the perfect gift for me - your course. I've been happily enjoying it ever since - the gift that keeps on giving. Thanks, Lyn" CN, Japan

      Hyacinth

... a five minute meditation. If you will have all your components ready (listed in the text below) you can go ahead and make up this lovely perfume called "Perfumers' Journey". If you create it in alcohol, use a 5 ml bottle you will need to add 68 drops of Perfumers' alcohol to these 32 drops of blended essential oils for a 32% Perfume. Enjoy.

Perfumers’ Journey… 

 

First, we want to ground to Gaia, our Mother Earth. The base notes of Vetiver grass, the tree resin from Frankincense, the heartwood of Sandalwood, and the root of Iris are rich and grounding; all of these connecting us to the earth and manifesting the full-bodied notes from the spiritual into physical realm.

Creating the Centre of Being from the floral heart notes of Rose maroc, Jasmine g, Ylang Ylang, Osmanthus, Orange Blossom absolute, and Neroli, we flesh out the aroma and give it heart. One by one, we drop them in to form the whole and find synergy as a group, creating something else, entirely.

Finally, those elusive head notes, which momentarily flicker before leading the way to Spirit; teasing, frolicking, promising the Light touch of the Ethereal. Eventually, these are the ones that will make the first fleeting impression on the sniffer. Rosewood, Coriander, Bergamot, and Cinnamon leaf. 

 

When the last drop is in, they react to one another forming alliances and taking the traveler to exotic destinations. 

 

What do you want the wearer to feel? Where do you want them to go? … leading the willing deeper and deeper, note by note,  into the depths of  the scent. Journeying whiff by whiff to bygone and long forgotten times; except by the nose.