Eleven Week Perfume Materials Course - Module 2

Perfumer Ashley Eden Kessler leads an online eleven week session exploring the crucial materials in the perfumers' organ: an indispensable first step in learning perfumery and an opportunity to grow a technical familiarity with the materials.

Registration includes a Materials Kit of all 55 materials introduced throughout the eleven weeks.

ABOUT THIS MATERIALS COURSE

This is Module Two of a total of three modules. These modules are not consecutive: any student can start at any module (though modules one and two cover more commonly used materials). This module is appropriate for beginners and intermediate perfumers alike.

In each 2 hour online session, Ashley will lead the attendees witth an "attend live + video replay" ticket in smelling and discussing five crucial perfume materials of natural and synthetic origin. Over eleven classes, we will systematically go through the materials organ, category by category. Each session will thoughtfully explore the function, aesthetics and technicalities of each material in the context of others aromatics from the fragrance family. Both attend live and video-only participants will gain a fluency in the most important molecules of modern perfumery.

This course focuses on each student’s unique experience with the materials. By sharing these experiences, we work towards developing a language, both personal and communal, for our experience of scent.

For newcomers interested in deepening their knowledge, knowing the materials intimately is indispensable.

For curious-minded fans of smelling, this course introduces a grounding and deeply enriching practice, bringing us into the present and connecting us more deeply to our lived experience—and our creativity.

For beginners, this class presents an indispensable first step in practicing perfumery and growing your familiarity with the materials.

For more experienced perfumers, the class presents an opportunity to enrich your process and technical knowledge.

Join us!

SESSION BREAKDOWN: MODULE 2 (Tuesdays)

Sept 2: Week 1 Fruity (Synthetic)

Sept 9: Week 2 Fruity Aldehyde

Sept 16: Week 3 Rosy (Natural)

Sept 23: Week 4 Rosy (Synthetic)

Sept 30: Week 5 Rosy (Synthetic) / Oranger (Synthetic)

Oct 7: Week 6 Oranger / Jasmine (Natural)

Oct 14: Week 7 Jasmine (Synthetic)

Oct 21: Week 8 Marine (Synthetic/Natural), Green Aquatic

Oct 28: Week 9 Floral (Natural)

NO CLASS NOVEMBER 4

Nov 11: Week 10 Amber (Synthetic)

Nov 18: Week 11 Amber/Sweet (Natural)

Materials Needed: Just your nose! The Institute for Art and Olfaction has created a new Materials Kit for the attendees of the Eleven-Week Materials Course. The cost of the kit and shipping is included in the course fee (with an exception for participants outside the United States, which will require an extra shipping fee).

Each Materials Kit contains:

• 55 glass vials of materials covered in the 11 weeks, pre-diluted in perfumer’s alcohol
• 200 scent strips

We were inspired to produce and offer this companion Materials Kit after extensive feedback from previous attendees that the cost and labor in individually ordering the materials and labware was steep and difficult. The IAO is committed to reducing the barrier to entry for the smell-curious. To that end, we are now providing this Materials Kit for each attendee, included in the price of the course.

Takeaways:

• Technical knowledge about the molecular components of the studied material
• Knowledge of aromatic materials' origins and use in fine perfumery
• A greater familiarity with aromatic materials and fragrance families
• Proficiency with sensory evaluation

Ticket Types: This is an online class. The Zoom link will be sent by email to the twelve registrants with the "Attend Live + Video Replay" ticket 24 hours before each class session. Please be sure you can attend all the classes live before registering, as this course has an interactive component. Registration for "Attend Live + Video Replay" is capped at ten students.

After each session, a link to the class recording will be sent to registrants with the "Video Replay Only" ticket as well as the "Attend Live + Video Replay” ticket. We will share the video for this class with all registered participants for 14 days after it takes place.

DETAILS

• Dates: Tuesdays, September 2 - November 18, 2025
• Time: 4:00PM - 6:00PM PDT (use a time converter to find your local start time)
• Location: Online

Learn about our eleven week session modules here.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Refunds

There are no cancellations or transfers allowed for this class. We cannot offer credit for missed classes. Event tickets are non-transferable.

Shipping

To receive the Ready-to-go Kit, you must provide your shipping information in the Google Form at the link sent to you upon registration.

INTERNATIONAL ATTENDEES: Any international shipments will incur an additional shipping charge, for which we will invoice you separately. We prefer payments made via Paypal or Zelle, but can accommodate direct deposit if necessary.

Attendance

"Attend Live + Video Replay" Tickeholders - 12 spots

This is an online class that will take place on Zoom. The Zoom link will be sent by email approximately 24 hours before the class. To prevent this email from ending up in your spam folder, please be sure to add hello@artandolfaction.com to your address book.

+ Event times are listed in Pacific Time (PDT); please use a time converter for your local start time.

+ For students of the live class: Please download and install Zoom before the class starts, to avoid last minute technical issues.

"Video Replay" Ticketholders - 60 spots

+ For all students: We will upload the class recording after each session, and share it for 14 days with all attendees. This video is view-only, and expires at the end of the 14 day window.

+ Learn more about how we teach and our community guidelines here: https://artandolfaction.com/newcomers/.

ABOUT ASHLEY EDEN KESSLER

Ashley Eden Kessler grew up in Hancock Park, Los Angeles. She learned from a young age there were two valuable things to do with a life’s work: help people, and make useful objects of beauty. She was drawn to fields that required the dual skills of creativity and practicality. Ashley went on to study fine art, science, and architecture at Sarah Lawrence College and UCLA and began her professional career in film. These were the initial steps in her search for a mode of expression that would support both a dreamer and a pragmatist, a creative mind fascinated equally by science and by art. An unexpected injury and the subsequent recovery propelled her towards a very different discipline that grounded her in her physical senses. Perfumery, the science of the ineffable, is where the road finally took her. She began as an apprentice to a respected niche perfumer. Then, in 2010, Ashley moved to Grasse, France to pursue a formal perfumer’s education.

In perfumery Ashley found massive liberation, a realm where trekking back from failure and bad ideas was routinely integral to success. At the prestigious Grasse Institute of Perfumery, she distinguished herself with her final brief, winning a coveted award. After concluding her studies, she relocated to New York City to work as a Perfumer’s Assistant at Drom Fragrances International and Mane et Fils.

She later returned to Los Angeles and opened Studio Sentir, a private label fragrance lab. Ashley’s compositions are marked by refinement, complexity, boldness, and the quality of completely inhabiting and furthering clients’ ideas.

In 2012 Ashley met Saskia Wilson Brown, the founding director of the Institute of Art and Olfaction in Los Angeles. As a non-profit, the IAO’s mission is to create access to perfumery for the public and to promote multi-disciplinary arts collaborations with an olfactive component. Ashley was offered the position of Perfumer in Residence and during that time she began teaching and building out an educational curriculum with the team. Ashley creates rigorous programming on accord construction, materials evaluation, fragrance families, and the sensory intersection of mindfulness and a perfumery practice.

Her work has led her to develop a philosophy about perfumery as a dynamic art and reflective practice. In sharing this approach with students, she fulfills her childhood credo: offering tools for others to confront their fears, counter their tendencies, and learn to observe themselves in pursuit of the unknown.

Studio Sentir is located only a few blocks away from Ashley’s childhood home, a place which still invokes the play and magic of her earliest memories.