NBP Education ~ Foundation of Natural Perfumery Course by Ayala Sender

Foundation of Natural Perfumery Course by Ayala Sender of Ayala Moriel Perfumes

Photo: Ayala Moriel Perfumes Foundation of Natural

Perfumery Course

Ayala Moriel currently offers a Foundation of Natural Perfumery Course. This is a 4-year program, broken down into  8 terms or "intensive weeks". The program is followed by an optional 1 year internship program at Ayala Moriel Parfums Studio, offered to qualified students only, who completed the program's requirements and were found suitable for the internship program.

In this program, you will learn the fundamentals of natural perfumery, and will lay the foundation to develop your own style as a natural perfumer later on. We recommend the course for those interested in pursuing a career in natural perfumery, although students with personal interest and development and no professional aspirations in the field are also welcome.

The week-long intensive sessions take place twice a year at Ayala Moriel Parfums studio, where you will get to interact with rare essences and learn from Ayala’s first hand experience in the industry. Each student also receives one-on-one personal sessions in the lab that will focus on each student’s individual needs and development as natural perfumer, to prepare you for working in the field.
The program's current module allows for more flexibility for students from out of town or from other countries. Sine most of my students in the past 3 years of teachign the program had to travel a great distance to attend the sessions, I have switched from a monthly session module to a bi-annual module that gives students the opportunity to focus on perfumery and learn a great deal of theory and apply their knowledge in the lab session during a condensed period of 5 days.
Each week will be dedicated to a particular fragrance family (so there are 8 weeks in total to choose from - Eau de Cologne, Oriental, Fougere, Chypre, Citrus, Floral, Leather and Soliflore), and also offers a featured workshop to expand your skills beyond perfume making alone. Featured workshop may be taught by Ayala Moriel or another teacher. Some fo the featured workshops: incense making, truffle workshop, candlemaking, potpourri, tincturing, solid perfume making, scented body products, etc.   
While it is not mandatory that you experience all featured workshops, it is crucial for the completion of the course that you cover all the following topics to which each week will be dedicated. You can take them at your own pace, depending on your schedule and resources.
The cost is $1,450 for each week for early birds, $1,600 for late registration, and include materials used during the classes.

You will get a certificate of completion for each week you've done, and will get your diploma for the program once you have completed all 8 weeks and covered all the fragrance families.
It is up to you how fast or slow you'd like to proceed in the course. You can take them at your own pace, depending on your schedule and resources.

Important Dates:

Fall 2010 Registration Deadline

August 20th - by this date, all students applying should have paid their course fees in full.

Fall 2010 Intensive Week: ORIENTALS & INCENSE

September 20-24

Spring 2011 Registration Deadline

January 15th - Early Bird registration

Spring 2011 Intensive Week: FLORALS 

April or May - exact dates TBA Class schedule: Monday-Friday 9am-3pm

Fall 2011 Registration Deadline

June 30th, 2011
Course fees per each week long course:

$1,450 for all students applying in time for Early Bird registration fee
$1600 for all applying after June 30th (for fall session) or after January 15th (for spring session). 

The course fees includes:
- Course handbook
- Materials and equipment needed for all lab sessions during the intensive week. 
- 1 one-on-one personal session with each student during the intensive week
- Evaluation and feedback of assignments and exercises during lab sessions

Depending on demand, a Natural Essences Kit of 25 different notes will be offered at an additional cost of $150 - $350 (several different kits for different levels). Purchasing the kit will enable you to further your studies and creative perfumery experiments on your own time between session. 
In order to complete the program,
The following is a summary of the ongoing curriculum for this course, in addition to the theme of each week.
Part 1: PREPARATION
- including how to prepare your workspace, tools, equipment and materials

Part 2: METHODOLOGY & RECORDING
- this section will cover topics such as: importance of recording, how to record a formula throughout its development (including keeping track of modifications in the process); maintaining a perfumer’s journal, and how to observe materials and perfumes through their evolution

Part 3: AN OLFACTORY JOURNEY: EXPLORING THE BUILDING BLOCKS
- Sniffing techniques, developing an olfactory vocabulary, expanding your olfactory repertoire, and systematically observing the various building blocks we’ll be using.

Part 4: ODOUR CLASSIFICATION AND CATEGORIZATION
- categorization of building blocks, understanding the different roles of notes, and fragrance families

Part 5: APPROACHES TO BLENDING
- In this part you will learn about the different approaches that can assist you when creating a perfume. We’ll discuss approaches such as the architectural approach (using horizontal and verticalblending), exploratory blending, working from a brief, and other approaches to perfume design.

Part 6: FORMULATION
- This section will explain in much detail the technicalities of developing a perfume formula, and the differences between formulating alcohol based, oil based and solid perfumes. You will learn how to create a standardized formula (which is the industry standard),and also learn about the concentration required for an effective performance of natural perfumes (i.e.: sillage and longevity).

How to apply?

As class size is extremely limited (only 6 students per course), we have a screening process in place. Please contact us with your CV and a cover letter explaining why you want to study natural perfumery at Ayala Moriel's studio. You may also send sample of your work if you have created any perfume, blend, aromatherapy synergy, soap, scented potpourri etc. (only ONE sample please).
Your application will be followed by a phone interview and if you are accepted into the program, a $290 non-refundable deposit is required to reserve your spot for the next program (starting September 2010).  
To pay for this course, click here.

Table of contents for the book accompanying the course:

PREFACE
1.0. PREPARATION: SPACE, TOOLS & MATERIALS

2. METHODOLOGY AND RECORDING
2.1 The Importance of Recording
2.2 Observing the Materials
2.2.1. Fragrance Note Study Guide
2.3 Recording Formulas
2.4 Keeping Track of Modifications
2.5 The Formula Book
2.6 The Perfumer’s Journal

3. OLFACTORY JOURNEY: EXPLORING THE BUILDING BLOCKS
3.1. Unveiling the Mystery of Aromatic Extraction
3.2. Sniffing Techniques
3.3. Developing an Olfactory Vocabulary
3.4. Expanding your Olfactory Repertoire and Olfactory Literacy
3.5. Building Blocks Observation

4. ODOR CLASSIFICATION and CATEGORIZATION
4.1. Perfume Notes and The Fragrance Pyramid
4.2. The Different Roles of Notes
4.3. Odour Classification by Odour Type

5. INTRODUCTION to FRAGRANCE FAMILIES
5.1. Oriental
5.2. Floral
5.3. Chypre
5.4. Citrus
5.5. Fougère

6. APPROACHES TO BLENDING
6.1. The Architectural Approach
6.1.2. Horizontal Blending
6.1.3. Vertical Accords
6.1.4. Integrating Horizontal and Vertical Blending
6.2.1. Central Theme
6.3.1. Intuitive or Exploratory Blending
6.4.1. Abstract Concepts
6.5.1. Vision to Perfume: Working From Briefs

7. FORMULATION
7.1 Units and Measurements
7.2 Standardized Formulas
7.3 Concentrations
7.3.1. Formulating for alcohol base
7.3.2. Formulating for oil base
7.3.3. Formulating for solid perfume base

Appendixes:
8. THE HISTORY OF PERFUME
9.  DEFINITIONS
10. FORMULAS & RECIPES
11. PROBLEM SOLVING & TROUBLESHOOTING
12. SUPPLIES AND MATERIALS
13. SUPPLIERS AND RESOURCES
14. BIBLIOGRAPHY & RECOMMENDED READING

Students' Testimonials:

“Ayala's teaching style is one of demanding patience. She is incredibly
good at encouraging students to get the basics down then build knowledge and experience on to that strong foundation. The mix of theoretical and practical exercises really helped me get a firm grounding inperfumery - knowledge that I could not have acquired on my own. I highly recommend Ayala”.

- Monique Trottier, Perfumery Student, Internet Marketing Consultant (Boxcar Marketing)

“It is just a matter of WHEN not IF this talented young perfumer is celebrated for the skills and enthusiasm she brings to natural perfumery. She is a wonderful and sincere teacher on the cutting edge of a very exciting new field”.

- Anita Kalnay - Perfumery student, Registered Aromatherapist

“Ayala Moriel (...) creates some of the most beautiful natural perfumes available. Her perfumery course is comprehensive and highly organized. The classes are unique in that she bridges both her artistic talents and the foundational principles of natural perfumery.

I have had the opportunity to study with other well-known and published natural perfumers and I find Ayala’s classes to be professional and to have a spirit of openness, community and integrity. Ayala Moriel is a teacher’s teacher and we are fortunate to have such a wonderfully gifted and gentle mentor”.

- Lucy Miller, Perfumery Student, Anesthetics Nurse, Certified Aromatherapist