Highlights of Florientals Week - Spring 2019
Apr 05, 2019
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Filed under Ayala Moriel School of Perfumery & Aromatic Arts, Clil, Floriental, Floriental Week, Florientals, Perfume Course, Perfume School, Week Long Perfumery Course

Highlights of Florientals Week - Spring 2019

Florientals Week-Long Course, March 31 - April 4, 2019

The second perfumery course this spring was dedicated to the Florientals fragrance family - certainly one of the most charming and popular of all the floral categories. Narcotic white florals are the stars, supported by the contralto warmth of amber, woods and incense.

Among some of my favourites lined up here are Samsara, Songes, Opium Fleur de Shanghai, Azure de Soleil/BronzeGoddess, Velvet Gardenia, Fleurs d'Oranger, Vintage Gardenia as well as some serious bombshells such as Narcisse Noir, Gardnia and l'Heure Bleue.

Some of my contributions to the genre include Moon Breath, Yasmin, White Potion, Treazon and GiGi.

Our Spinning Organ for Florientals Week-Long Course, March 31 - April 4, 2019

Our palette seemed particularly indulgent, with all the gorgeous, intoxicating white floral absolutes: Jasmine grandiflorum and jasmine sambac, orange blossom, tuberose, and a few kinds of ylang ylang.

Raw Materials for Florientals Week-Long Course, March 31 - April 4, 2019

The base notes were no less rich and delicious, with sandalwood, tonka bean, ambrette seed, vanilla, benzoin and several other balsamic notes giving the characteristic ambery quality. We learned how to create amber bases and how to incorporate them within the Florientals genre.

Scent Strips from Florientals Week-Long Course, March 31 - April 4, 2019

We ran through thousands of scent strips (my scented paper project round 2 is underway). These were used not only to study close to thirty fragrant building blocks, and doing several "blind tests", but also longingly through the composition process.

At the Baha'ii Gardens in Akko with My Fabulous Students! Florientals Week-Long Course, March 31 - April 4, 2019

And we visited the Bahji gardens and tomb near Akko, which is the Baha'ii faith's holiest site, to seek inspiration and scout out new scents, smells and insights. Each student found a different aspect of the garden inspiring and built a unique Floriental fragrance based on what they've found. Perfume school is not just about theory and technique, but also about being open minded, open hearted, and with nostrils wide open for new smells and ideas. And most importantly - being perceptive to the other students and their process, because we always have something to learn from one another as well.

Seeking inspiration in the forms and structure of the garden.

Finding new fragrant plants...

Raindrops on Hibiscus at the At the Baha'ii Gardens in Akko

Inspiring visuals and textures (Raindrops on hibiscus).

My Fabulous Students! Florientals Week-Long Course, March 31 - April 4, 2019

Thank you so much for such lovely two weeks, with wonderful students from across the globe! It was wonderful to spend this spring together, delve deep into the world of perfume and get to know you from up close. I'm truly blessed to have this opportunity to share my passion and knowledge with such lovely ladies who appreciate it and are so receptive to learning, respectful of one another, the raw materials, and this unique art form. I can't wait to see you all again this coming Autumn for the continuation of the course. We'll be studying Orientals (November 10-14, 2019) and Leather/Tobacco (November 17-21, 2019).

Fougere Week Summary - Spring 2019
Mar 29, 2019
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Filed under Ayala Moriel School of Perfumery & Aromatic Arts, Fougere Week, Perfume Course, Perfume School, Week Long Perfumery Course

Fougere Week Summary - Spring 2019

Fougere Week-Long Course March 24-28, 2019

Fougère Week has come to a close - after spending a week with five amazing women from all over the world (there were representatives from almost all continents!) - it's time to say goodbye. But before we move on to next week (three of them are staying for the more advanced Floriental course), I'd like to share some photos.

Our studies are focused on the Fougère fragrance family, yet tackling it from many different direction. As you can see from our setup, we study not only raw materials but also classic Fougère fragrances and this genre's pre-cursor Lavender Waters. So we enjoyed sniffing classics such as Jicky, Polo, Yerbamate, Caron Pour Une Homme, Azzaro, Brut as well as some naturals from my collection (Lovender, l'Herbe Rouge, Gaucho and Orcas).

We also went on a field trip to find inspiration and open our senses to nature. We went up to Park Adamit and Keshet Cave and strolled on the Perfume Garden Path, where we were able more than a dozen perfume and medicine plants, such as lavender, wormwood, bay laurel, wild rose and more.

My Students Rock! Fougere Week-Long Course March 24-28, 2019

My Students Rock! Fougere Week-Long Course March 24-28, 2019 Perfume Trail in Park Adamit

We met different plants along the way, including one from the apiaceae family that I never met before (and am still struggling to identify). It has leaves very smilier in taste and shape to celery, but it is not wild celery from as far as I could tell. The flowers were honeyed and fragrant in a most surprisingly delicious way.

(This is Keshet Cave, also sometimes spelled Qeshet Cave - a cave that had its roof cave in and disappear, leaving this impressive arch behind).

In addition to exposing the olfactory world and places outside of the studio, we also bring herbs, fruit and flowers from outside to tincture, study and smell. For example - various lavenders from the garden, and local natural sources of coumarin, such as wild purple clover (see below).

Purple Clover (Local Source for Coumarin)

It's amazing how each one of the students came out with a completely different brief, inspiration and Fougère fragrance out of this very same place of inspiration we all went to at the exact same time. It is important for me to teach not only the technical but also the creative and process-oriented problem-solving required to develop each student's unique voice and eventually style. It's not just about technique and raw materials, and I like to get this point across even in the beginner courses (Fougère is the second in the order of my courses).

If you too are interested in studying natural perfumery, I'd love to hear from you! The next beginner-intermediate session will take place November 10-14, 2019 and registration is already open. Before applying you should complete the Citrus & Colognes and Fougère correspondence courses.

Summary of Floral Bouquets Week, Spring 2018
May 06, 2018
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Filed under Ayala Moriel School of Perfumery & Aromatic Arts, Clil, Floral Bouquets Week, Perfume Course, Perfumery School, Week Long Perfumery Course

Summary of Floral Bouquets Week, Spring 2018

Setting up the Perumer's Organ for Floral Bouquets Course (April 29 - May 3, 2018)

A second week (in a row!) of intensive perfumery studies has come to a close: Floral Bouquet Week-Long Perfumery Course. This is the fourth course I'm teaching at my new space, and I'm thoroughly enjoying all aspects of the new location: the proximity to the flowers and wild plants and herbs, the quiet atmosphere that truly allows for deeper studies and absorption of the materials (no city distractions for students means they can both study extra materials and get much needed rest between the daily sessions).

Gardenia in all its fresh, dewy, tropical glory!

We were blessed with many beautifully fragrant flowers in bloom, such as the star jasmine and gardenias, which I could demonstrate enfleurage method though in a most direct manner.

Star Jasmine in bloom

Laying fresh star jasmine flowers on the Enfleurage tray

Pomade from Enfleurage

Melting the fat in alcohol to produce the Extrait from Enfleurage

We were able to study fresh flowers in different times of the day...

Floral Bouquet Week Long Course: Studying Seasonal Flowers

And even eat them for lunch in a lovely floral-fresh salad!

And for dessert (rosy Rahat Loukum, anybody?)

Druze Coffe and Turkish Delight (Rahat Lukoum)

We dug out a fresh rhizome of Iris germanica in my garden, from which orris powder and orris butter are made of. Here it is in all the various forms it is used:

My students studied five out of 8 fragrance families meticulously and methodically (Soliflores, Florientals and Aquatic Flowers receive their own separate course in my program!). They spent this intensive week-long course studying the most important flowers in perfumery (Rose, Jasmines, Orange Blossom, Ylang Ylang, Tuberose, Orris Butter, Violet Leaf etc.) as well as rare and exotic raw materials (Boronia, Broom, Pink Lotus, Champaca and more), studying historic floral formula such as Mille Fleurs, Bouquet A La Merchale, Frangipanni etc.,

There were a lot of dissecting modern florals - both purely natural and those containing synthetics, to get the feel for each one of the styles in which florals can be composed, and trying to create a match for each one of the representatives of the family (some of them you can see in the photo - for example: Vent Vert, Joy, Diorissimo, No. 5, Arpege, Apres l'Ondee and more).

But of course, the focus of this advanced program was the composition and creative aspect. At the end of the week, each had at least five creations representative of each category, including the most challenging feat: a natural Floral Aldehydic!

Asa and Jenny Amber - I'm very much looking forward to seeing you again in my next courses. Here's what's scheduled:

Autumn 2018:
November 4-8: Chypre
November 11-15: Leather & Tobacco (advanced students only!)

Spring 2019:
March 24-28: Fougère

March 31 - April 4: Soliflores (advanced students only!)

Perfumes

Bath & Body

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