Topic 1: Expectations of a perfumer

Question 1

What are the 3 main stages for perfumery training

Answer 1

1. Memorize - learning the ingredients building a strong fragrance vocabulary through smelling exercises
2. Learning the building blocks of fragrance - awareness of basic ingredients in the creation of accords
3. Examination - successful reconstruction of other’s perfumes

Question 2

Challenges faced by a perfumer

Answer 2

1. Tight timelines due to clients urgency to launch product
2. Restriction in the usage of specific ingredients due to regulatory
3. Budget constraints
4. Clients giving vague description of fragrances

Question 3

Describe a perfumer’s day at work

Answer 3

• A perfumer seldom works at his organ. He works between an office and lab
• The office is for assessing scents, meeting clients, and doing paperwork
• His assistant will be working at the organ creating his formulations
• Important that perfumer trains regularly exercise his nose in smelling ingredients.
• Average ingredients in a perfume: 30 to several hundred ingredients
• Ingredients are weighed in parts per thousand