Podcast appearances and mentions of mandy aftel

Jala is joined by Mike to discuss The Art of Flavor by Daniel Patterson and Mandy Aftel (https://www.betterworldbooks.com/product/detail/the-art-of-flavor-practices-and-principles-for-creating-delicious-food-9781594634307) as well as their own personal experiences in the kitchen conceiving of flavor combinations and crafting tasty dishes. Check out the Swag Shop (https://www.teepublic.com/user/fireheartmedia) to share your love with the world! Support this show via Ko-fi! Just like Patreon, there are subscription tiers (with bonus content!) in addition to the ability to drop us a one-time donation. Every little bit helps us put out better quality content and keep the lights on, and gets a shout out in a future episode. Check out ko-fi.com/fireheartmedia (https://ko-fi.com/fireheartmedia) for the details! Don't forget to rate & review us on your podcasting platform of choice~ Jala Prendes Bluesky - @jalachan (https://bsky.app/profile/jalachan.bsky.social), Bluesky - @fireheartmedia (https://bsky.app/profile/fireheartmedia.bsky.social) Instagram (https://instagram.com/jalachan) The Level (https://thelevelpodcast.com/hosts/jala) Mike Prehn Bluesky - @michaelprehn (https://bsky.app/profile/michaelprehn.bsky.social) Special Guest: Mike Prehn.

For over 30 years, Mandy Aftel has been a trailblazer in natural perfumery, crafting exquisite fragrances without synthetics—a rarity in today's industry. Through her renowned Aftel Archive of Curious Scents in Berkeley, California, Mandy tells the story of humanity through the story of scent, weaving the centuries-old connection between natural ingredients and past civilizations into her work. As the founder of Aftelier Perfumes and author of multiple books, she has dedicated her life to preserving the art of scent, showcasing rare artifacts, ancient raw materials, and the profound ways fragrance has shaped cultures around the world. Open only one day a week, her archive draws visitors from across the globe, eager to experience its wonders.In this episode, Mandy sits down with Scentbird's Marianne Mychaskiw to explore the lasting power of scent, take a virtual tour through her archive, and learn techniques for engaging with scents all around us.Highlights:• Scent as a window into human history• A treasure trove of rare artifacts• How to reset your nose after smelling lots of things• The world's most legendary perfume ingredient• Precious oils from a century ago• The “Cabinet of Curiosities”• Mandy's secret for training your nose• An aristocratic artifact from the times of the plague• How perfume has evolved over centuries• The botanical ingredient that costs $50,000 per kilo• The story of musk and animalic ingredients• The key to working with raw materials• Mandy's process for creating a fragrance• Breaking down a perfume• The power of scentShop Mandy Aftel's newest perfume, Sacré Bleu, made with 100-year-old sandalwood oil.The video version of this episode drops later today, 11/21 at 2 pm EST, on Scentbird's YouTube channel.Soak in all of our audio and video content at https://podcast.scentbird.com.

“You don't just smell an aroma; you fall into it,” writes artisan perfumer Mandy Aftel. And entering her exquisite small museum, the Aftel Archive of Curious Scents, tucked into a backyard in Berkeley, is to fall into an ancient, mysterious world. Amid centuries-old books, bottles and curios are natural fragrances that come from the secretions of civets and the bowels of sperm whales, as well as from resins, rare flowers, roots and so much more. We talk to Aftel about her collection, the art of building a fragrance, and her new book, “The Museum of Scent: Exploring the Curious and Wondrous World of Fragrance." Guest: Mandy Aftel, artisan perfumer and founder, Aftelier Perfumes and the Aftel Archive of Curious Scents in Berkeley; author, "The Museum of Scent: Exploring the Curious and Wondrous World of Fragrance"

In this week's whiff of wisdom, award-winning natural perfumer, educator, and author Mandy Aftel shares what you need to understand about naturals, including natural isolates. To listen to the original full episode go to episode #48. Whiff of Wisdom is a new format that's being added biweekly, which spotlights an inspirational insight from a guest on the pod. The goal is to offer you a whiff of wisdom for your aromatic life, as well as give you some inspiration to try new things that use your sense of smell more.  Mandy's website: ⁠https://www.aftelier.com/Follow Mandy on Instagram ⁠@aftelierperfume Subscribe to Frauke's Substack at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://anaromaticlife.substack.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Visit Frauke's website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.anaromaticlife.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Check out Frauke's Scent*Tattoo project: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.scenttattoo.com⁠⁠ ⁠ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/anaromaticlife/message

In this episode, Hana Tisserand, co-founder and director of operations and communications at the Tisserand Institute, offers her guidance on navigating the world of aromatherapy. She shares tips on safe use of essential oils, providing insights into what to do and what to avoid for optimal well-being.EPISODE LINKS:• Tisserand Institute Website: https://tisserandinstitute.orgBOOKS:• "Essence and Alchemy: A Natural History of Perfume" by Mandy Aftel• "The Complete Aromatherapy and Essential Oils Handbook for Everyday Wellness" by Nerys Purchon and Lora Cantele• "Harvest To Hydrosol Second Edition: Distill Your Own Exquisite Hydrosols at Home" by Ann Harman• "Essential Oil Safety: A Guide for Health Care Professionals" by Robert Tisserand and Rodney YoungFull list: https://tisserandinstitute.org/recommended-texts/Connect with your Host: LinkedIn Instagram E-mail: neparfumer [at] gmail.com Let the podcast flourish: Subscribe for upcoming episodes Leave a review on the platform you use Spread the word by sharing an episode Your support keeps our olfactory tales alive. Until next time, happy smelling!

“You don't just smell an aroma; you fall into it,” writes artisan perfumer Mandy Aftel. And entering her exquisite small museum, the Aftel Archive of Curious Scents, tucked into a backyard in Berkeley, is to fall into an ancient, mysterious world. Amid centuries-old books, bottles and curios are natural fragrances that come from the secretions of civets and the bowels of sperm whales, as well as from resins, rare flowers, roots and so much more. We talk to Aftel about her collection, the art of building a fragrance, and her new book, “The Museum of Scent: Exploring the Curious and Wondrous World of Fragrance”. Guests: Mandy Aftel, artisan perfumer and founder, Aftelier Perfumes and the Aftel Archive of Curious Scents in Berkeley; author, "The Museum of Scent: Exploring the Curious and Wondrous World of Fragrance"

We have mountains of messages from listeners giving fascinating fragrant feedback (including from a teacher who's noticed something really interesting about the way her pupils interact with their sense of smell). Plus, of course, your #perfumeprescription questions, this week including another desperate to rediscover their lost scent love. More in search of their perfect vanillas, and a fragrance fan searching for long-lasting all natural perfumes.Plus, we're discussing @aftelierperfume Mandy Aftel's utterly brilliant new book: The Museum of Scent: Exploring the Curious and Wondrous World of Fragrance. And telling you what we've been enjoying wearing lately. Tune in, bliss out, with your weekly dose of fragrance heaven… Suzy's been wearing: @nancymeilandparfums Kabosu - the MOST unique (and seasonally perfect) citrus. Nicola's been wearing:@edenisteparfum Energy - an immediately reviving, mood-boosting burst of freshness that keeps on giving. And both Suzy & Nicola have been wearing:@marcantoinebarrois Ganymede Extrait - a sizzling, suede-esque, mandarin-zinged scent that resonates maple-infused warmth. @Simontm141 is desperately searching for a long lost perfume and we know it's a long shot, but you never know! Simon writes: “Hello Suzy, Alice Du Parcq passed me your way, hope you don't mind the message. Not sure if you ca help, but I'm trying to find Royal by Fair perfume - I had a sample of it a few years ago, but now saying the price is £5k a bottle :-/ Any idea anywhere that may stock it I may not have thought of? Any suggestions welcome!”Listener Perfume Prescriptions Questions:@ellisbrooklyn Vanilla Milk@burberrybeauty Goddess @bonparfumeur 603 leather, incense, tonka @sun.dayoflondon Afar@parfumsdemarly Althaïr @the7virtues (we mention Vanilla Woods & Cherry Ambition)@maisonlouismarie Bois de Balincourt@dshperfumes@and_fragrance@hereticparfum Patreon subscribers have *THIRTY EIGHT* EXTRA weekly episodes to work through on our Patreon website to date [see Patreon highlights beneath our bio for the link], with another going live Sunday. AND a live Zoom party! Meanwhile, until next time, we wish you a joyous, fragrance-filled week! Love, Suzy & Nicola xx

“Every culture in history has used natural scented materials for the most important things in life—eating, praying, making love, being buried,” says psychotherapist turned natural perfumer Mandy Aftel, in this fascinating interview. The founder of the Aftel Archive of Curious Scents, in Berkley, California, is here to celebrate the release of her latest book, The Museum of Scent, by sharing a few of her stories. She tells us about the time she taught Apple's Jony Ive natural perfumery; how she scented Leonard Cohen's funeral; why oud is misunderstood; the controversial story of ambergris; the backstory of a rare gardenia extract from Tahiti; and so much more. We're calling it now: This is a Fat Mascara classic. Enjoy! Products mentioned in this episode: shopmy.us/collections/291217Episode recap with links: fatmascara.com/blog/mandy-aftelSponsor links & discount codes: fatmascara.com/sponsorsPrivate Facebook Group: Fat Mascara Raising a WandSocial media: @fatmascara, @jessicamatlin, @jenn_editSubmit a "Raise A Wand" product recommendation and be featured on the show: email info@fatmascara.com or leave a voicemail at 646-481-8182 Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/fatmascara. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dawn Spencer Hurwitz, lovingly referred to as DSH by her customers/fanbase, is in the Perfume Room today! And here's the thing: WE SIMPLY CANNOT DISCUSS THE AMERICAN INDIE/ARTISAN FRAGRANCE MOVEMENT WITHOUT DISCUSSING DAWN. DSH Perfumes, the brand she launched over 30 years ago, essentially laid the blueprint for all brands and perfumers that followed. Dawn is an absolute delight and we chat about everything from vintage notes and accords that are making big comebacks, to how DSH came to be, what synesthesia really feels like, vintages that feel modern, and Dawn even shares the real gems (both hidden and obvious) of her perfumer's organ. FRAGS MENTIONED: Andrea Maack Pavillion, MFK Oud Satin Mood, Lush Rose Jam, DSH Jacinthes Noires, Chanel Cuir de Russie, Chanel No 5, Guerlain: Shalimar, Jicky, Mitsouko; Parfums de Nicolai, Annick Goutal, Mandy Aftel, Coty Chypre, Guerlain Apres l'Ondee, Coty Ambre Antique (1911), Balenciaga Fleeting Moment, Jacques Fath Iris Gris, Jean Patou, DSH: Emerald Hyrax, Chinchilla, Foxy, Bergamot Trio (Grappa Y Bergamatto, Herbe Bergamot, Potager de Bergamot), Electric Summer, Rose Vert SHOP THIS EPISODE: shopmy.us/collections/111387 SHOP DSH: dshperfumes.com FOLLOW DAWN: @dshperfumes FOLLOW PERFUME ROOM: @perfumeroompod (IG) @emma_vern (TT)

This week Kristina kick's off with 15-minutes of feng shui. The message? The fastest way to get to where you want to go is to *appreciate* where you are now. And Kristina will teach you HOW! Click here to learn more about Welcome the Wealth. Click here to learn about Front Door Feng Shui Click here to learn about The Transformation Series About This Week's Guest Heather Radke Holistics: "I was once in a place where I had zero spark, not even a baby flame. I had suffered for years with poor health and an autoimmune diagnosis that caused me to wonder if I would ever get ME back! In 2010 I was fed up with being sick, sad and stuck. In an effort to help myself, I took charge of my life and became a Certified Natural Health Professional. As I learned about flower essences and saw how they worked for me, I knew that I needed to make a commitment to help others too. Since then, I have become a tree hugging, meditating and flower picking girl who LOVES to be of service to the world. I desired to learn as much as I could about the body, mind and spirit. In 2012 I became an Integrative Holistic Health Coach. Shortly after, I began studying Naturopathy and in 2016 I became a Board Certified Holistic Health Practitioner. Although I am grateful for all that I learned through the Naturopathic studies, that broad scope was not where my passion was. I knew fairly quickly that I wanted to stay solely focused on flower alchemy. I discovered that working with flower essences and essential oils is where I feel the most complete and able to serve. In 2018 I traveled to Berkley, California to study natural perfumery under Mandy Aftel who is a brilliant Artisan Perfumer and natural perfume educator. The correlation between scent and emotions is profound. I also began using Color Light Therapy in my Custom Blends after intensive workshops on this subject enlightened me as to how our moods are affected by color. As I began to feel like myself again ... I am wholeheartedly here with YOU in mind and I bring you my experience to help you be in the best alignment with yourself. As my brand expands, flower essences will be at the core of each product. Every item is crafted and hand poured by me and as cliche as it sounds, made with love." Click here to work with Heather! Click here to learn more about Heather!

This week Kristina kick's off with 15-minutes of feng shui. It's Mercury (+ Mars) Retrograde until 1/18. Learn the *best* thing for you to do before the Lunar New Year on 1/22. It's simpler than you think... and the rewards will be easier flow of money + opportunities in the NEW YEAR! Click here to learn more about Welcome the Wealth. Click here to learn about Front Door Feng Shui Click here to learn about The Transformation Series About This Week's Guest Heather Radke Holistics: "I was once in a place where I had zero spark, not even a baby flame. I had suffered for years with poor health and an autoimmune diagnosis that caused me to wonder if I would ever get ME back! In 2010 I was fed up with being sick, sad and stuck. In an effort to help myself, I took charge of my life and became a Certified Natural Health Professional. As I learned about flower essences and saw how they worked for me, I knew that I needed to make a commitment to help others too. Since then, I have become a tree hugging, meditating and flower picking girl who LOVES to be of service to the world. I desired to learn as much as I could about the body, mind and spirit. In 2012 I became an Integrative Holistic Health Coach. Shortly after, I began studying Naturopathy and in 2016 I became a Board Certified Holistic Health Practitioner. Although I am grateful for all that I learned through the Naturopathic studies, that broad scope was not where my passion was. I knew fairly quickly that I wanted to stay solely focused on flower alchemy. I discovered that working with flower essences and essential oils is where I feel the most complete and able to serve. In 2018 I traveled to Berkley, California to study natural perfumery under Mandy Aftel who is a brilliant Artisan Perfumer and natural perfume educator. The correlation between scent and emotions is profound. I also began using Color Light Therapy in my Custom Blends after intensive workshops on this subject enlightened me as to how our moods are affected by color. As I began to feel like myself again ... I am wholeheartedly here with YOU in mind and I bring you my experience to help you be in the best alignment with yourself. As my brand expands, flower essences will be at the core of each product. Every item is crafted and hand poured by me and as cliche as it sounds, made with love." Click here to work with Heather! Click here to learn more about Heather! Click Here to connect with Heather on Instagram! https://www.instagram.com/heatherradkeholistics/

On this award winning show with Molly Oldfield discover the answers to three questions sent into Everything Under The Sun by children around the world!First up we tackle Connie's question how do we make perfume? With the help of Mandy Aftel, perfumer and author. Find out more about on her website https://www.aftelier.com/ We also think about how the Earth was made, answering Kate from Manorfield School's question. Finally, we find out the answer to Beatrice's question, where does snow come from?Enjoy the show!Do check out Molly's book filled with 366 of your wonderful questions, one for every day of the year. You can find out about it here:www.mollyoldfield.com/everything-under-the-sunand more info is on social media@mollyoldfieldwrites and @everythingunderthesunpod on instagramand @mollyoldfield on twitterThank you! Have a lovely week! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Frauke sits down with award-winning natural perfumer, educator, and author Mandy Aftel to talk about her amazing museum in Berkeley, California called the Aftel Archive of Curious Scents, plus a whole lot more. Mandy takes us through her creative journey that led her to the work she's doing now, incl. why she insists on keeping things small. She reveals how much has changed since she started in perfumery and gives advice for those looking to start their own perfume brand. Mandy explains what she believes people get wrong about natural essences, including isolates, and shares insights on what's important to understand. She also reveals her obsession with quality and working with upcycled materials. Most importantly, Mandy shares what prompted her to create her incredible museum and tells us what you can expect to find there (hint: it includes a jewel pomander from the 16th century and an oud exhibit to die for). Needless to say, this episode is jam-packed with goodies you don't want to miss and there's a good chance it'll leave you heading to Berkeley, California very soon. Visit Mandy's website www.aftelier.com Learn more about Mandy's museum Aftel Archive of Curious Scents Take a virtual tour of Mandy's museum here Shop books by Mandy Aftel here Connect with Mandy on social media: Instagram Facebook Twitter Pinterest Learn about Frauke's new online blending course Aromatherapeutic Blending With Confidence Get Frauke's free Smell To Be Well audio training Get Frauke's free Aromatic Wellness Kit Follow Frauke on Instagram @falkaromatherapy Follow Frauke on Facebook @falkaromatherapy Visit the FALK Aromatherapy website: www.falkaromatherapy.com Check out Frauke's Scent*Tattoo project: www.scenttattoo.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/anaromaticlife/message

Artificial nails have come a long way, from the late Middle Ages (their first appearance) to the Lee Press On Nails of the 1980s. We share their history, then celebrate the current revival and tell you about some of the best press-on nails we've tried. Before that, lots of news to discuss, including the Machine Gun Kelly PR blitz for his new nail polish line; big changes at Proactiv; Galderma's purchase of Alastin; a new beauty column from Linda Wells; and details on a fascinating exhibit of Agarwood Oud at Mandy Aftel's Archive of Curious Scents.Links and sponsors: fatmascara.com/blogShop the products mentioned on this episode: shopmyshelf.us/collections/5022Private Facebook Group: Fat Mascara Raising a WandSocial media: @fatmascara, @jessicamatlin, @jenn_editSubmit a "Raise A Wand" product recommendation and be featured on the show: email info@fatmascara.com or leave a voicemail at 646-481-8182 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/fatmascara.

The sun and the moon, the rain and ocean, the rose and the jasmine: these are just some examples of the phenomenal bounty that nature provides. In this episode we explore what our planet offers us, and how we can respectfully make use of it in perfumery. GUESTS (IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE)Simon Constantine (ånd Fragrance)Mandy Aftel (Aftelier Perfumes, the Aftel Archive for Curious Scents) Contributions from members of the Perfume Lover's Writing ClubDonna Lipowitz (Lipowitz Smells)Virginia Riley (perfumer)Sara Rashkin (writer) Host: Saskia Wilson-BrownABOUTAiring on Los Angeles' Lookout FM on the second and fourth Thursday of every month and as a podcast thereafter, Perfume on the Radio is a radio show about scent culture, perfumery and olfactory art produced by the Institute for Art and Olfaction. Learn more at perfumeontheradio.comCREDITSPerfume on the Radio title song composed by Maxwell Williams. Additional music composed by Stephen Rimlinger and Darian Zahedi. Music list:Moonrise by Darian ZahediMazurka in b Flat Major, by Frederic Chopin (musopen.org)Arabesque No. 1. Andantino con moto, by Claude Debussy (musopen.org )Symphony No.3 in D major - IV. Scherzo, by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (musopen.org)Sounds From the Atlantic Rainforest by Tvilgiat (freesound.com))

Welcome to another Max Forti chat.Today I have the pleasure to host and chat with Mandy Aftel, she is an American perfumer. Owner and nose behind the natural perfume line Aftelier as well as the author of nine books, including four books on natural perfumery and a cookbook on essential oils.Mandy also has a special place called: The Archive  which is the first museum in the United States dedicated to the experience of fragrance, including her collection of one-of-a-kind-antique artifacts. She is a founding advisor of The Institute for Art and Olfaction, which has created the Aftel Award for Handmade Perfume in her honor.TOPICS:  Natural PerfumeryNatural vs Synthetics (Myth-busters)Perfume Compounds The 5 essential essence in notes (the hallmark of perfumery) Books and great perfume literature Creative process and bespoke perfumesThe Archive Museum (dedicated to perfume)The fun and witty Rapid Fire Session! Discover Natural Perfumery and say hello to Mandy Aftel: https://www.aftelier.com/The Max Forti Chat Podcast is brought to you by: https://fragrancebuy.ca/''Redefine your fragrance journey''Enjoy and stay tuned for the upcoming episodes, much more to come! 

MANDY AFTEL is the Berkeley based perfumer behind the natural fragrance line Aftelier, in addition to being a teacher and the author of nine books on the topics of natural perfumery and essential oils. She's considered an authority and leader within the field of natural fragrance, which is why Heretic's founder/perfumer looked to her early on as a mentor when starting his brand. The fragrances Mandy creates are entirely different from the standard synthetic-based fragrances commonly found on the market, so her work has been a major inspiration for Heretic. Not to mention, she's an incredible, funny, and extremely interesting human.

Over an original cocktail called a "Ginger & Gay" which is simple syrup, vodka, fresh lime juice and soda water,. Tory regales us with her thoughts on switching from the British Anglican faith to Judaism, while Philip explains Rosh Hashanah and blowing...shofars. Cheese is “fat man’s candy” and the discussion turns to the five main trans categories: transgender, transsexual, transvestite, etc. Tory talks briefly about her time in the Kinky Boots musical. Philip shares a racist backstory on his Chinese neighbors. Tory gives a brief review of Mandy Aftel’s new book The Art of Flavor: Practices and Principles for Creating Delicious Food on fermentation and flavor combos. New segment “Unconditional love on the weekends” is introduced. A new approach to sharing cancer news with friends and family is discussed. Tory comes to grips with being a SAHM (stay at home mom). Home renovations begin with San Francisco housing scams. Additional topics: Pooh talk Embarrassing dog poop stories Having an audience when you poop Rewarding kids’ good behavior with food It’s fall y’all! Sweet potatoes everywhere Adorable Halloween costumes for 2-year olds

Host Lisa Kiefer speaks with Mandy Aftel, author and natural perfume maker, about her new museum in Berkeley dedicated to perfume and the experience of fragrance, The Aftel Archive of Curious Scents.TRANSCRIPTSpeaker 1:Method to the madness is next. You are listening to method to the madness, a public affairs show on k a l x Barkley Celebrating Bay area innovators. I'm your host Lisa Kiefer, and today I'm speaking with Mandy Af [inaudible]. Mandy is one of the most sought after custom perfume makers in the world. Her first book on perfume essence and Alchemy is accepted as a seminal text. She has collaborated on two cookbooks with celebrated bay area [00:00:30] chef Daniel Patterson exploring the connections between food and fragrance. And most recently she has opened a museum, the [inaudible] archive of curious sense right here in Berkeley on Walnut Street. This is a show about innovators and you have perfect story about how you got started. Speaker 2:I had a practice for 30 years as a psychotherapist in Berkeley and I specialized in artists and writers and I loved my work a lot. I really did. It [00:01:00] was just wonderful. And I wrote a book called the story of your life and it was about how stories work in therapy and in fiction. And I love research. So I read a lot of books about plot and it's just fascinated by, by how people tell stories. And I wrote this book and then after that I kind of knew so much about plot. I wanted to write a novel and that I should make my main character perfumer. And I have no idea why none. I had never been that interested in perfume. I don't know where it came from, but I thought this would be good. This will be kind of sexy [00:01:30] and interesting and juicy. Speaker 2:And I thought, oh, I can do a lot of research, which is very appealing to me. So I began getting books and I knew that perfume was synthetic now, mostly synthetic, if not totally. And I was very interested in real ingredients and real flowers and real trees and leaves and stuff. So I began to collect books from the turn of the last century and they were so fascinating, so beautiful. So interesting. I just loved them. And so then I thought, well, maybe I should take a class for my research, for my novel. So [00:02:00] there was a place I think north of here that taught a little solid perfume class, which it was in a ramen therapy studio and you could make a little perfume with a wax, bees wax and oil. And I went there with a person who was a friend at the time and I got to smell all of these materials and I just totally fell in love with them. Speaker 2:And I also felt like for some reason I could kind of understand them. I could kind of figure some things out about how to work with them. So I made this perfume in class and then my friend who I went to the class with, she said, well, let's start a perfume line. [00:02:30] You know, you'll make all the products and I'll do all the business. And um, and we did, which was kinda crazy. And it got picked up by Nieman Martin, Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman. And it was like really amazing. And nobody could be more surprised than me. And I loved it. I loved making this stuff. The business came to kind of unfortunate. And I got taken away from me and I thought I was never going to make perfume again quite honestly. And I also thought it was just awful at business. And then my editor, who's also my best friend and I wrote this new book, um, the art [00:03:00] of flavor with her and wrote also wrote the story of your life with her. Speaker 2:She suggested this is several books path, right? Something on Pershing because by then I had 200 turn of the century books. I had hundreds of essences cause I'm very obsessed when I like something. And so I wrote this book called essence and Alchemy, which was I think 15 or so years ago. It's kind of the Bible of perfume. It is. A lot of people got their start with it and then kind of, I just sort of, you know, without being too corny, followed my nose and sort of landed [00:03:30] where I am. We're going to talk about where you are now because you just opened the first museum in the United States about natural essences. Yes, yes. It's called the [inaudible]. It's called the aff tell archive of curious sense. And it's located right here in north Berkeley, so it's at 1518 walnut. It's in a converted garage. It's like a cottage behind my house. Speaker 2:I think it was a garage like 50 years ago. It's on a few doors down from Pete's and we're only opening police. It's right behind chase and it's only open one day a week [00:04:00] on Saturdays by ticket. And it is the best thing I have ever done. I just love it. Well walk me through, if I were to go in there, I know you have what is called an Oregon. Yes. What is that? Oh, it's so cool. It's a a perfume organ is very thin shelves and many of them that you put the perfume bottles on. So when you're sitting beneath that, it kind of looks like an Oregon assence's used for perfume, natural essences, but also synthetics as well are called notes and you put them together and they make chords. [00:04:30] So in perfume, different essences like rose or jasmine or orange or Frankincense, they're called top notes, middle notes or base notes. Speaker 2:So you arrange on this organ, on these shelves, the top notes together, which are the ones that reach your sense of smell very quickly and disappear like orange or mint or Lyme, things like that. Things are familiar from gardening or eating. Then the middle notes are more complicated. They have more layers like rose and jasmine and they last [00:05:00] maybe two to four hours. And then base notes are the really deep heavy materials that had been in man's spiritual life since the beginning of time, like sandalwood and Myrrh and Frankincense in there from roots and barks and trees and residence and grasses. And so they kind of have different smell registers if you will, light down to heavy all of your ingredients. Some are very exotic. And I wanted to ask you, you know, you probably have a lot of stories. What is the been the most exotic [00:05:30] smell or essence that you have been able to find and how did you go about finding that? Speaker 2:You know, I really like the hunt and I'm a very passionate human being. So kind of almost everything I have has a hunt connected to it. And one of the things I'd say too about the hunt and finding things is even if I find them, it's not stable, so it's not like I can go back and find that again. So if you marry perfume for someone, then [00:06:00] that perfume is a onetime deal. Yes. So I have Gardenia, which was really a hunt, really, really a hunt and I thought it didn't exist. And honeysuckle, which I also, when I wrote essence in Alchemy, I said they didn't exist. I knew at that point I had never found them. People can render these materials if they want to take the time and somebody wants to spend the money, but natural essences for such very high prices are not really in demand in industry. Speaker 2:So no one wants to pay the kind of money. I think the story of the Tiara is pretty interesting. [00:06:30] Tre is a gardenia that's in Tahiti. One of my students who was snorkeling I think in Tahiti, ran across this guy who had this gardenia that was just so beautiful, so incredible. She put me in touch with him. I got in touch with him and it's just, he has this stuff. I have a fantasy of his life. I'm sure I'm wrong. I feel like he might be like on a yacht boating. I don't know where I call him cause he doesn't call me back. I believe I'm his only customer only because he's difficult to [00:07:00] pin down and get anything from. It's clear to me, he doesn't care if he sells this stuff, but he has, you know, all the right analysis of his material, his materials, very beautiful. Speaker 2:When he sends it, you have to follow all these rules. It's very touch and go. Whether it'll actually get to me, which is why I think I could be the only one because I take all the risk on it coming because lots of forms need to be filled out and they always, you know, call us and ask us to fill them out. But it's this very beautiful, voluptuous gardenia smelled. It's just [00:07:30] narcotic. And what form does it come to you comes to me in a form that's called an absolute, which is a solvent extraction, which is a cold process that releases these very volatile, flighty, rich, layered kind of smells that are inside that Gardenia. So it's extremely heavy and very scarily expensive. I mean truly scarily expensive. Like what? Like around 10 $12,000 a kilo, which is 2.2 pounds. I don't buy 2.2 pounds. Speaker 2:He will sell less to me. So [00:08:00] I buy it in smaller amounts, which means I'm continually, when I run out cause I don't buy very much cause it's so expensive. You know, he sells it to me again, which I'm very grateful for. You talk about the history of sense. Can you tell us a story about any in particular that in history that you uncovered that was an astounding story? Well aren't you I think is a pretty amazing story. [inaudible] is really fascinating. There are these shells, they're very ordinary looking like the [00:08:30] top of a shelter like this big and they're there. They're not gorgeous. Your shells can be really beautiful little shells. And I found that they were in the original recipe for incense that God gave to Moses. And so in the, in the cataract, I'm not positive I'm saying that correctly, but they're in there and they've been using incense tradition for a really long time and they're pretty fascinating. Speaker 2:I have them in the museum and I have very old, I think from 1600 on handmade paper and hand colored illustration [00:09:00] of them from that far back of the shelves. They're very lowly but they're very famous. And so I pound those up with a mortar and pestle and then I soak them in very, very high proof alcohol and the smell comes out of them and it's a kind of briny sea, slightly animal kind of mysterious kind of smell. And that was like amazing to find and be able to use almost sounds like a sexual, well, there are ones that are really sexual, that ones less sexual. What are some of the, some of the others? Well all [00:09:30] the animal ingredients which are very, have very complicated pass in a lot of ethical issues to them but have very tangled histories with us. And some of them are endangered, so I'm not, you know, suggesting people, you know, run out and use them. Speaker 2:But they are very sexy. Mosque is the original, very, very sexy kind of aroma. And it's very intense, real Musk. And I do have that also in the museum. In my museum, I have a hundred year old essences, like I have a hundred year old ambergris, I have a hundred year old things and some to be compared to modern ones. So they've aged [00:10:00] over a hundred years and they're extraordinary smelling. And I think I may have the only bottles of them if someone else has them. I haven't run into them yet, you know? And when I bought them, I'd never heard heard of anyone having these very, very old bottles of these things. And so I have one little exhibit in the museum comparing old and modern ordinary oils and not these, these animal ones. But there's an ingredient that is in jasmine and orange flower and an animal ingredient called civit, which is called indoor. Speaker 2:[00:10:30] It's also in poop. So it's kind of this fecal floral kind of edgy sort of Yin and Yang kind of smell that's really a piece of the natural perfume world in terms of something, not just being sweet or not just being a beautiful flower. So like jasmine, when you really smell jasmine, when you go in Berkeley at night past a real patch of jasmine and it kinda like, you know, knocks you out. It's very sexy and it's got a kind of dirty aspect too. It's not just like this clean, [00:11:00] sanitized smell. It's got that kind of dirty aspect, which makes it sexy and interesting. Well, I have to tell you, I live back east for a while and then came back to the bay area. Yes. And one of the things I really noticed walking around in Berkeley was that very thing, that sort of jazz, mini sweet but stinky, almost like nauseated. Speaker 2:And I thought, wow, I wonder if she ever does city smells like you know, here's your bottle of Berkeley. You know, it's that aspect of natural aromas that drew me in in the first place. [00:11:30] Their beauty is so complex. It's the, it's the complexity of a really good cooking or gardening. We have really fragrant plants. When smells are really good, they're very complex. They're not just one thread of a smell. They're a rich kind of cocktail of different aromas and I just love that. I love the worlds that open up when you really take the time to inhale and smell deeply. Speaker 1:If you're just tuning in, you're listening to method to the madness, a weekly public affairs [00:12:00] show on k a l x Berkeley Celebrating Bay area innovators. Today I'm speaking with Mandy [inaudible], founder of f Telia perfumes and the app tell archive of curious sense a museum which explores the natural history of perfume right here in Berkeley. Speaking of cooking, you've done a couple of books with, Speaker 2:you know, Patterson, the chef of Kwon. Yes. Most recently it was called [00:12:30] the art of flavor. You did a Roma with him. How is it different from what we did, I think about 15 years ago and it really focused on essential oils for cooking and for personal care. So Daniel would have like three cooking recipes for say rose and I would have one personal care thing, a a a body oil or lip balm, a something for your face, bath salts, whatever for each of the ingredients. This book is really different and it was really exciting. Came out art of flavor from Riverhead in August. And so we just have been doing [00:13:00] some things about it. Daniel, first of all is you know, brilliant and amazing to work with and we discovered we'd been friends for many years that our ways of working were the same. When we would talk about how I would create a fragrance and how he would create a flavor. Speaker 2:We were both thinking our heads were in the same place, thinking about ingredients and complicated ingredients. And so we thought let's do something on flavor. Let's kind of teach this to people because we wanted to. So we want to do something for the home cook that's really simple, that focuses on things [00:13:30] that you have, not expensive stuff. Very simple stuff. And what we found was so much was interesting about how to create flavor because it's, it's like creating perfume. So we focused a lot on shopping with your nose, really smelling ingredients, really thinking about the different shapes of ingredients, the different textures of them, things that I think about with scent. Then we also went on and talked about how your, you're effecting flavor. The minute you start cutting into something and all the cooking techniques, [00:14:00] everything's oriented towards flavor. And then we have a thing in the book, there's a really wonderful flavor compass, which is all the aroma, all the very, very aromatic and very essential oil rich ingredients. Speaker 2:So it's citruses, herbs, spices, and flowers. So we talked about how to use those ingredients because they're very complicated in a way that you wouldn't think about. So like when you're using Bazell, why would you use Bazell instead of tear gum? We wanted to empower people to make good decisions. Why use lemon instead of line? [00:14:30] But in the book there's no real using of essential oils. You're using these essential oils that are in the plant. So it's in the leaves of the man and you're talking about Basal medium that is best to use to extract that. No, you don't need to do any of that stuff. With our book, we basically say smell these ingredients like smell Thai Bazell. If you're in a store, rip off a little leaf and smell it or drip off a little flower and smell it really smelled the end of the the care Rick really smell the things [00:15:00] you buy and then use them and be smelling all the way as you're cooking so you don't need to render anything because he essential oils will leave. Speaker 2:That's what you're really getting the flavor from. It's the essential oils in mint that make for the mint flavor. The minute you start to crush it or cut it up, the oils coming out. Same with Bazell or if you're with an orange and you just push your finger nail into the peel of an orange, that's the oil. So I have to do is use the zest and some of it is in the orange juice of the lemon juice. [00:15:30] Or if you're clove, if you pound it up or you stick your finger in there, there's the oil oil is right there. So we wanted to make it very easy to use those oils right there in the plants. We talk a lot about that and it's just book I'm really proud of. I'm very excited about what we discovered because if you think about it, people tell you what to put together in food, but they don't tell you why. Speaker 2:So you're empowered to do it on your own. If you're in a farmer's market or you're in Safeway or wherever you are and you see something, you think, well, I've got these kind of crummy carrots at [00:16:00] home, what could I put with this to make it good? We talk about that. So simple and very special. And you have your own f Tele, a perfume company, and um, you do perfumes for individuals. You know, when you go into department stores or really any big stores that sell perfume, it's such a [inaudible] of horrible, I don't even wear perfume anymore. My customer is the person who doesn't wear perfume. What is the difference between synthetic perfume and natural essence? Perfume is big business [00:16:30] and you can make a lot of money in perfume with the big, big brands and things like that. And so they moved almost a century ago to using synthetics. Speaker 2:And those are manmade chemicals. So the natural essences are still there. They're still around and they have, they're really, really different in the first way they're really different is they don't last. So if you put on a perfume of mind, I probably wouldn't be able to smell it from here. They're very personal. You need to be very close to the person [00:17:00] and also they evolve with your skin and so they change on each person and just fade away. So my big selling line, if someone calls me, it gets me on the phone is how would you like to buy a perfume that costs a whole lot more money that doesn't last and the bottle is tiny. Does that sound good because of this? Sounds good. I'm your perfumer. So it's a reeducation of people to not expect something that's cheap in a bottle that it has no real relationship to the earth and [00:17:30] so when you wear it, it's a really different experience and it's what I fell in love with. Speaker 2:There are people who love synthetics and there's also people who work with both naturals and synthetics and working in artists in a way. I just love natural essences, all that complexity, all that tangled history with us as a species. All the places around the world that they come from. It's local, but it's really exotic. I like all that. So that's why I like to work with. If you have a client that comes in, I can imagine that you maybe [00:18:00] unwittingly call on your psychotherapy skills to help a person determine, I don't, you don't have such a disappointment. It's like such a great like I am and I'm not, I mean it's there but it's not know how you think. So let me explain that. Most people who do custom perfume have a questionnaire which I don't have and they ask psychological questions, which I also don't have like, you know, do like winter. Speaker 2:Do you like spring and can you tell me a memory that you, you know, that happened that was important and [00:18:30] what's your favorite color and a lot of stuff like that. I don't ask anything. So nothing at all. You come in to my studio, but I do pay a lot of attention about people. The main thought for me is that it isn't your conscious mind and your identity to the world that helps you decide what smells you like. And that's what you would tell me in those questionnaires. I feel that's not what's true. What's true is what you resonate with when you smell the ingredients. [00:19:00] So I give you the opportunity to smell all these different top notes and middle notes and base notes and you pick your favorites. I give you lots of bottles of things to smell, not to overwhelm but to kind of get a sense of your taste. Speaker 2:And when you smell the individual ingredients on their own, then you get to make a decision that you may not have made otherwise. I've done a lot of custom perfumes for men. They pick a lot of florals. So you would think by questionnaire and psychology, they wouldn't pick florals, but they do. And women pick lots of woods [00:19:30] and resins and so on. So I find the sexual stereotyping to be completely out the window. And also very early in my custom career, that part of it, I remember this woman came to see me and she was very corporate, you know, and I made a real snap decision about how she looked and who she was and whatever. I was very prejudiced. She picked the sexiest, wildest, unconventional style. And that was like a life changing thing for me. Cause I thought you or your presentation is totally [00:20:00] different than what's going on with you. Speaker 2:So that for me, the essences have personalities. So when you pick them, I learned about you but not the other way around. So if a magazine calls me to say, Oh, you know, it's Valentine's Day and we have a really sporty mom, or we've got one that likes to go clubbing a woman, you know what suggest a perfume. And I would always say, God, I have no idea because I mean cause she likes to go clubbing this, you know, or she's driving her kids around, you know, on a station wagon to send, tell me what perfume she'd like. I can't help. [00:20:30] So it's very different for me. So you have had some very interesting clients, one of which one of my heroes of all time. Leonard Cohen. Yes. I would love to hear about that interaction. Well I had a, a relationship with him for 20 years. Speaker 2:I was very afraid to meet him. So, so we wrote back and forth when I made stuff for him, we wrote back and forth and I was kind of incredibly, I was very lucky that he loved my work and that was like [00:21:00] beyond, I mean really beyond, beyond the, beyond to me. Um, cause I idolized him and I was just too fearful to ever meet him until right before he died. I knew he was ill and I knew I needed to like either get over it or regret it. So I did go and and meet him. But we had been in touch, we were in a lot of touch over the years with many different things I made and we had a kind of gift giving relationship. I think I frustrated him a lot by not letting him [00:21:30] pay cause I could see it disturbed him. Speaker 2:And every once in awhile I would say, I'm going to charge you for this. But the thought of him paying, I wonder if he ever wrote a song about, he has fragrance in a lot of his songs and he was a very, he was just loved smells. He like smells that had a very deep, like the Anja from the Kettering. When I got involved in that, he sent me one of the formulas for the Kettering from some Kabbalah group he was interested in. So he was very interested in the things that [00:22:00] I made from head. Very ancient materials in them and he loved that and he wore it whenever he went out. And that was kind of unbelievable too. I mean, still still utterly unbelievable to me. Did you listen to his last hello? Oh my God. Yes. Well, when we went to finally go meet him, he asked if I'd like to hear a song and he played the whole album for foster and I in his living room and talk to me about it. Speaker 2:And it was like one of the most amazing experiences of my entire life. So I want to talk to you about the business. [00:22:30] Okay. You say you aren't really a business person. I love business. I love business, but I like it my way. Well, let's talk about that. You really followed your passion. Yes. Without any kind of business school. Oh my God. [inaudible] classes are these. So tell us about your business structure and um, well this is my favorite. I just love my business, our business. I do it with my husband foster and we're partners in it together. Our business is so unusual and [00:23:00] we love it so much. We barely can go to sleep at night. We work a lot, really a lot. Um, I am the sort of person who has always has not fit in certainly from my background in Michigan and I'm just eccentric would be a nice word. Speaker 2:I'm just kind of different and I lost my first business so I thought I was really bad at business. And um, we have this very unusual business model that we made up. Just kinda like the museum. I mean all of it we kind [00:23:30] of concocted. I remember being there making the museum day after day after day for three years and thinking, you know, people go to school for this, you know, like display or any of this stuff we were doing and we did a lot wrong. We were very willing to like do it wrong and do it again. I mean you can tell we, we are people that have no boss cause a boss would have probably fired us by now because you know, if we get it wrong we just start all over again. We just forget where are you profitable, you're profitable. We were profitable pretty early. Speaker 2:We are profitable, [00:24:00] we're very profitable. So to me that says like if you do what you love, guess you're going to make it. Is that an assumption? That is, I think, I think that we're so lucky to be profitable and I think that, um, I do do what I love. I believe in what I'm doing. I work really hard and sodas foster and we spend a lot of time thinking through how we could improve because it's fun for us. So we, we pay attention. And I, one of the things [00:24:30] I've said a lot about businesses that anyone can get a customer, it's getting a repeat customer that makes a business and a repeat customer that tells their friends. And that's, that's our base. So people that come to us are by and large very happy with their experience with us and we're happy with it too. Speaker 2:So we write, for example, I write a note to everyone who buy something and we call everybody back immediately. If we do something, you know, we've send the wrong stuff, we send other stuff. On the other hand, we educate [00:25:00] our customer to what we have. So we have no free samples. We're never open. We, we have, you know, we're not, don't fight. I mean people expect free samples in the perfume world, but we feel that our, it's called the juice. Our, our thing is very valuable to us. It takes us a long time to make it so we don't want to give it away because we want people to value our work. Have people tried to buy you? Yes, but I don't have any interest in being yes. But I see a few times, but I don't have any intro. [00:25:30] I'll tell you, I had this incredible experience with this very wealthy man who's now dead in Los Angeles is very interested and I was interested, I mean, some of this stuff, I was interested in these things because I needed to see them to realize they weren't for me. Speaker 2:So it's very easy for me, which I think is a big key to business to say no. Like I'm not seduced very easily at all because so many things just look bad. You know, I feel like what I'm doing, [00:26:00] I love and want to protect. So having lots more money is not interesting to me. Doing work for, you know, tons of people or whatever. I, I don't want to grow. I don't want to be bigger. I don't want to do the things that most people want to do. So it's of no interest. So it's very easy to stay on track. It's not, I'm not struggling with anything. So when people have tried to buy me, they have this, this is very telling when to this man and, and he was really loved my work and stuff and he [00:26:30] wanted me to know, for example, my cost of goods, which is I think what people know. Speaker 2:I don't know. I don't know. I still don't know. I think people like think I'm lying, but I don't, because let's say I buy a kilo of rose or a pound or whatever I buy, I have my old one there too, and then my old one cost a different amount of money. Or maybe I got it somewhere else. You need to know the price per drop, but I can't figure that out. Then I sell some of it. So I have a little bit of my business is my overflow [00:27:00] of my oils that I love and I source. So people who like my taste or other perfumers sometimes buy from me, I make a profit on that. Not a ton, but I make a profit. So then I'm completely, cause I'm dyslexic, confused about what that drop of rose must cost since I've sold some off and made some mix them together. Speaker 2:So when I went to this man and he wanted to buy me, I had to give him the cost of goods. I spent a lot of time trying to work it out like what a drop of rose cost me or whatever. [00:27:30] And in the end I thought this is a sign I can't, I can't do this if this is what you do in a real quote, real business because we think of our businesses, kind of a toy business. I wasn't going to get there. So I feel like a lot of things people do for business kind of rips the heart and soul out of what you're doing. And I just don't want to go that way. It sounds like that your best advice is if you don't love something, forget about it. Yes, and so we're, we're very tiny. We, we work together with foster son Devin. Speaker 2:It's three of us that [00:28:00] WHO's really there. I greet when I'm there. I greet every person who comes in the museum. I love what I do. I feel so lucky. We're lucky to have you right here in Berkeley. And how can people reach you if they want to take a tour of your museum or buy your book or buy your perfume? Oh, I would love that. The museum is open on Saturday. A. First of all, you can go to my website, which is www.ftelia.com which is a like Adam F, like frank t like Tom, e, l I e r.com. Or [00:28:30] if you can't remember that, just look my name up and hopefully my website will show up also, uh, there at the website. If you go to www dot [inaudible] dot com forward slash archive it would take you to the museum, which I hope everybody will come. Speaker 2:And what's the name of that museum again? It's called the AF tell. Archive of curious sense. It's located at 1518 walnut street between cedar and Vine Open on Saturdays we, we usually have eight people an hour, so we can't have a lot of people. So, but if we can have people we do [00:29:00] and then I have my stuff on my website or you can just call us up if you want to call us up and ask a question and want to buy something. (510) 841-2111. And if I wanted to have a perfume made, perfect, my having a perfume made is the most expensive thing I do. So it's a lot of money. It takes several hours to come and sit with me. It's kind of like a portrait. Speaking of the psychology. So I've had people come back over the years and it changes because I of course look up what they picked before and what they're picking now as [00:29:30] their life changes, their taste and smells changes, and you get a whole, you know, you get like four or five different things. It's really pleasurable. You learn all about the different aromas that go into your preference, a very Speaker 3:personal purchase to really one of a kind experience that I love doing it. It sounds beautiful. I really want to thank you for being on the program. Speaker 1:You've been listening to method to the madness can find all of our podcasts [00:30:00] on iTunes university. Speaker 4:[inaudible]. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Do you smell good? We don’t mean body odor. We mean your sense of smell! Chef Daniel Patterson and perfumer Mandy Aftel are authorities on fragrances, flavors, and aromas and are here to share their wisdom. They are also co-authors of the new book, The Art of Flavor: Practices and Principles for Creating Delicious Food, a compilation of recipes and advice. Daniel is the Oakland-based award-winning chef, author and restaurateur behind Coi, Alta Group's Alta at Mid-Market, the newly opened Alta at Minnesota Street Project, and several other Bay Area restaurants. He is also the co-founder of the "revolutionary fast food venture" LocoL. Mandy Aftel is an internationally known Berkeley-based artisan perfumer and award-winning author, most recently of Fragrant: The Secret Life of Scent. She is one of the world’s foremost authorities on natural fragrance and recently opened a by-appointment-only fragrance museum in Berkeley, right near Chez Panisse. Radio Cherry Bombe is powered by Simplecast

This week on Cooking Issues, Dave and Nastassia are joined in the studio by Michelin two-star chef Daniel Patterson and celebrated natural perfumer Mandy Aftel, co-authors of the new book The Art of Flavor: Practices and Principles for Creating Delicious Food. Plus, we take questions about the best food cities, Orbitz (the drink, not the gum), and more! Cooking Issues is powered by Simplecast

Mandy Aftel is world renowned expert in the natural fragrance field and is the founder of Aftelier Perfumes, a Berkeley-based company. She creates bespoke fragrances for her clients and also has a line of culinary essences and sprays for use in professional and home kitchens. Mandy has written several books on fragrance and co-authored a book of food and fragrance recipes with Chef Daniel Patterson called Aroma. She also has contributed her work and expertise to a number of museum exhibits and lectures regularly on the subject of fragrance. Thessaly La Force, writing for The New York Times, said Mandy “could be considered the scent world’s Alice Waters, borrowing customs from the French in that effortless yet mindful California way.”

Martin talks to internationally known artisan perfumer Mandy Aftel about her new book Fragrant: The Secret Life of Scent. An evangelist for the transformative power of scent, Aftel explores the profound connection between our sense of smell and the appetites that move us, give us pleasure, and make us fully alive. A riveting initiation into the history, natural history, and philosophy of scent, Fragrant also includes simple recipes for fragrances and edible and drinkable concoctions that reveal the imaginative possibilities of creating with – and reveling in – aroma. The interview was recorded on December 23, 2014.

Mandy Aftel is widely acclaimed as a trailblazer in natural perfumery. Over two decades of sourcing the finest aromatic ingredients from all over the world and creating artisanal fragrances, she has been an evangelist for the transformative power of scent. In Fragrant, through five major players in the epic of aroma, she explores the profound connection between our sense of smell and the appetites that move us, give us pleasure, make us fully alive. The Avid Reader Show is sponsored by Wellington Square Bookshop in Chester County, PA. The show airs every Monday at 5PM EST. Please visit our website at www.wellingtonsquarebooks.com

As an authority on natural essences and custom perfumes, she has participated in panels for the perfume industry under the auspices of the Fragrance Foundation and in addition to her work as a perfumer, She is the author of six books. I had the pleasure of meeting Mandy last June as a student in one of her classes on blending natural perfumes.