An immersive one-day workshop in botanical perfume composition
Sunday, October 25, 2026
10:00am–5:00pm
School of Lost Arts / Illuminated Perfume
1600 Lena Street, Unit A6
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505
A perfume is so much more than a collection of beautiful ingredients. The magic begins when individual materials enter into relationship with one another and create something new. This immersive day is devoted to that very special relationship.
Designed for those who have taken Art of Botanical Perfume—either live or online—or who already have some experience working with botanical perfume, this workshop explores the language and architecture of scent through chord building, olfactive families, facets, and perfume types.
Drawing from my essay The Vocabulary of Botanical Perfume, we will move beyond simply identifying what a botanical smells like and begin asking:
What is this material doing?
What facets is it bringing to a composition?
What happens when materials begin to speak to one another?
PART ONE — CHORD BUILDING
A chord, or accord, is a term borrowed from music. In perfume, it describes the relationship of several materials which, when combined, create a new and unified olfactory impression.
Rather than simply adding one note after another, we will learn how to orchestrate botanical materials into chords—building complexity, depth, contrast, harmony and movement.
Together we will explore eight broad olfactive families and categories:
- Green
- Floral
- Earth
- Wood
- Spice
- Gourmand
- Citrus
- Fruit
We will examine how these categories overlap and relate to one another, and how a single botanical can participate in several olfactive worlds at once.
Through hands-on exercises, you will create several chords of your own and begin to develop a more intuitive understanding of how individual materials can transform one another.
PART TWO — PERFUME TYPES & STRUCTURES
In the second part of the day, we move from individual chords toward larger structures.
Perfumes have historically been organized into families, types and styles according to their overall olfactory impression and compositional character. We will explore several of these traditions, examining the materials and relationships that give them their distinctive identities.
We will work with:
- Chypre
- Oriental — a historical perfume term
- Fougère — meaning "fern" in French
- Floral
- Green
- Leather
We will look at the characteristic materials within these structures and construct one or more perfume-type compositions, depending on the pace of the group.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
By the end of the workshop, you will have a deeper vocabulary for talking about and composing with botanical materials, including:
- How to recognize facets within an individual botanical
- How materials interact to form a chord or accord
- How to build complexity without simply adding more ingredients
- How olfactive families and descriptors overlap
- How chords can become the building blocks of larger compositions
- How traditional perfume types are constructed
- How to begin thinking about the architecture of your own formulas
You will leave with several constructed chords and new compositional tools to continue developing your perfume work.
MATERIALS
All botanical materials, supplies and tools are included.
You will work with a curated palette of natural perfumery materials, including essential oils, CO₂ extracts and absolutes.
Please bring a notebook for recording your observations and formulas.
WHO THIS CLASS IS FOR
This is an intermediate workshop and is intended for students who have already taken Art of Botanical Perfume live or online, or who have previous experience working with botanical perfume materials.
If you are new to botanical perfumery, I recommend beginning with Art of Botanical Perfume before taking this class.
THE STUDIO
The workshop takes place inside the working botanical perfumery of Illuminated Perfume and the School of Lost Arts in Santa Fe's Lena Street arts district.
The group is intentionally kept small so that there is time for individual guidance, discussion and hands-on exploration.
PLEASE ARRIVE UNSCENTED
This is especially important for this workshop.
Please arrive free of perfume, scented lotion, fragranced hair products and strongly scented laundry products. We need to keep our olfactory palettes as clear as possible for this intensive day of smelling.
DETAILS
Date: Sunday, October 25, 2026
Time: 10:00am–5:00pm, with approximately one hour for lunch
Location: School of Lost Arts / Illuminated Perfume
1600 Lena Street, Unit A6
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505
All materials and tools are included.
CANCELLATION POLICY
Because of the planning and preparation required for live classes and workshops, registrations are not refundable. If you are unable to attend, your payment may be applied as a credit toward another class, course or workshop of the same type.
We recommend purchasing travel or event insurance if appropriate.
WANT TO DEEPEN YOUR STUDIES?
Students enrolled in this workshop may add the Art of Botanical Perfume Online Course at the special student rate of $995.