I Don't Supply Formulas for Students of the Anya's Garden Natural Perfumery Institute

-


Nowhere in the 350 page textbook, nor in the online study area of the website (access via password to the private area) will at student of the Natural Perfumery Institute find a formula.  Not a formula for an accord.  Not a formula for a basic perfume.  I don't instruct students to study existing perfumes, either mainstream or niche, synthetic types, or natural.

Students are given the skill set to properly evaluate, analyze and categorize the array of natural aromatics that they obtain, either by purchasing the course kits, or have purchased on their own.  They are instructed how to create accords and evaluate how the aromatics interact.  They then are given instructions on how make a perfume.

This system works beautifully, in my opinion, and allows the students intellect and creativity to combine, allowing them to set their own aesthetic.  They still adhere to the fragrance family paradigm, and select a cohesive theme for their perfume, say, a gourmand floral, but they arrive at that perfume by their own power, not because "xyz" that they constructed under someone else's tutelage gave them the idea.

This quote sums it up:
There are many people who reach their conclusions about life like schoolboys; they cheat their master by copying the answer out of a book without having worked out the sum for themselves. -Soren Kierkegaard, philosopher (1813-1855) 
Thanks to Anastasia on FB for sharing that quote.  It fits my philosophy about learning precisely. 
ETA: several comments and lots of "likes" on Facebook - the energy it takes away from blogs is always very noticeable.  I'm going to start giveaways here that only work if you leave a comment *here*.  Blogs were the first lines of communication on the 'Net, and I respect that. 

Comments

  1. Amy H.3/28/2011 8:00 PM

    Anya, I really appreciate that teaching philosophy more and more as I get older. In my youth I did my share of cheating my master and myself by focusing on the end (a good enough grade, a perfume that smells good) and not the journey/process.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Janina4/22/2011 3:58 PM

    This post alone really sets your study course apart from others, it expresses a facet of your ethos beautifully.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Boxgasm - for perfumers, aromatherapists, bath and body manufacturers, chandlers. What the heck is a boxgasm? Well, read below and you may have one.

-
Image
Project Boxgasm Announcement: If you are an artisan who makes perfume, bath & body products, aromatherapy products, candles - you can now make your own custom boxes! The Natural Perfumers Guild wishes to share this discovery with everyone, so please share the link to this blog with other groups, forums and chat places you may frequent.  The more the merrier - let's upgrade our products to the next level, with lovely, custom boxes!  I am the President of the Guild, and I like to roam social media sites and check out, and "like" the various projects and announcements of the Guild members.  Little did I dream when I visited a Facebook page of one of our members, a page that only had 21 followers, since it's new, that I'd discover something that can help all artisan small business owners. But there it was, an iconic image out of South Africa - custom perfume boxes! When I called some members of the Natural Perfumers Guild and told them about the discovery th...
Read more

Natural Isolates and the Natural Perfumer - Being the Captain of Your Own Fragrant Ship

-
Image
Get a cup of coffee or tea - this is a long blog post, with lots of twists and turns and surprises - good surprises!  Please see the blog post yesterday on the Guild member vote on the definition of natural isolates if you have not already read it. Backstory Do you ever wonder why I never taught a course in natural isolates or began to sell them on my website? After all, I was the pioneer natural perfumer who first used them in my MoonDance and StarFlower perfumes, both best sellers and award winners. Something told me that I needed to do a lot more research because a wrong move, the wrong isolate sold, could ruin the creations of lots of perfumes made by my (natural perfumer) customers. I have a duty as a trusted authority in natural perfumery, a person who heads the Natural Perfumers Guild, and who started a Yahoo discussion group on natural perfumeryin 2002, to be responsible and proceed slowly. Currently there are no regulations that address natural isolates, or ...
Read more

Ask the Perfumer Sunday Oct 21, 2012

-
Image
Ask the Perfumer - and an Ambergris hypothesis Guild member Lisa Coburn posted a link on Facebook that took me to a video on how cephalopods--squid, cuttlefish and octopus, are masters of disguise.  As I watched it, I made a perfume connection, straight to the elusive, mysterious, rare and valued ambergris, a gorgeous material used in perfumery. Photo of the famed 'Yeti' chunk of ambergris. Ambergris is produced by the stomach/intestinal secretions of the sperm whale to protect its insides from the sharp beaks of the squid and cuttlefish, two main items in its diet.  The whale evacuates the chunk of ambergris when it becomes large enough to be an irritant on its own, albeit a softer, rounder irritant compared to the beak and cartilage of the squid or cuttlefish.  As a perfumer, I often have to gently remind excitable newbies ;-)  that the scent of the ambergris is secondary to its major contribution to a perfume, which is its ability to 'marry' and a...
Read more