teaching perfumery...and the natural perfume playset

Well, the question has reared it's head again....Ive been asked so many times over the years to teach classes on natural perfumery...and I'm still torn.
On one hand, I love teaching....and sharing my 30 years of perfume research and knowledge is a very tempting idea..
On the other hand, I've worked so hard to gain the knowledge I have...and I'm not sure how I feel about sharing my secrets and bredding my own competition so to speak.
Anyway, last week a lovely young woman walked into my shop and asked me to teach her. And I sort of got talked into it...

Ive been thinking about how I would do this for a long time. My methods and approach are a bit different to most of those I have seen out there. And beyond anything, I think you first of all need to educate your nose and learn how to "smell" really.
Ive had this idea of putting together a sort of "playbox" of premixed scent ingredients, so that would be perfumers can have a go at putting together scents of their own. And providing a booklet with it to guide them through approaching their experiments in a way that will teach them the basics of perfume making as they go along.
And I found these delightful little dropper bottles a while back which are just perfect (I'm such a sucker for pretty bottles!).

It's not easy deciding which oils to include in the set. I have so many favourites, but I don't want to make it too complex, because
a) it makes it too confusing and
b) too expensive
So I've chosen 9 of the most important oils in perfumery. I've picked a collection of oils that will almost all work together harmoniously, so that you can actually make really lovely scents with them. And I've also added a few that will work with some, and not with others. This is on purpose, to give you an idea of how easily you can go from a lovely blend to a yucky muddy clashing nightmare, and most importantly, to teach you WHY this happens.
It's a pretty versatile collection, allowing you to make everything from sweet musky florals to herbal men's colognes. Daniela will be the first person to receive one of these, so it will be interesting to see how she finds it!

Green Mandarin Friday

Working on new bath and body oil bends...and today it's green mandarin that I'm playing with.
This stuff has been begging me to play ever since I got it...
And now I finally have time and space to do so....

It's such yummy stuff...the freshness of mandarin, without the fruity bite! It's so soft, and well, green!
What you can see in the bottles are blue corn flowers... the colour backs up the fresh restfulness of the scent, but corn flowers are also some of the few safe flowers to use in infusions for skin too....
I'm combining it with mint in a few different forms....
just lush and soft and fresh.....Suggestions anyone?

Website Rebuilt

My new Webshop

Well, after a few weeks of sleepless nights and tearing my hair out in frustration, my new website is finally up and running!
I loved the look of my old website, but it was handmade by another programmer, and I simply didnt speak enough techie to be able to update it at all....
So this one was built on a shopping platform by a friend of mine, Rowan from www.lifesytes.com and I can actually upload new products onto it myself, edit the shipping etc etc....
There's still some bots which need fiddling with, but at least its working, and my customers can place orders through it!
And best of all, it's finally got all the perfumes on it that weren't available through my old one! Things like "Avalon" and "Craving" and my beloved "Sense of Honour".
I'll also be able to offer short runs of wierd and wonderful things I come up with now that I've got time and space in my new workshop!

And the very first is a range of "Love Potion" Bath and Body oil!
I used to sell this one years ago, and people have been asking for it...so here it is again! It makes a lovely after shower moisturizer too if you pour a small amount into your hands and rub it over your still damp skin! All over body scent.....