Perfume 101, 202, 303 Course (Online: Live + Video)

This class meets online on November 26 from10am to 12pm PDT for Perfume 101 and December 11 from 10 to 11:30am PDT for Live Q&A for Perfume 202 and 303, with the prerecorded lectures for Perfume 202 and 303 released on December 4.

Course Description

Perfume is an art, a science and a craft. This set of classes serves as an orientation session for newcomers to the field, olfactive adventurers, curious minds, and budding scent enthusiasts who need a little boost.

Perfume 101

In this lecture-based introduction to perfumery, participants will learn about perfume basics such as fragrance families and classifications, get an introduction to perfume-making in a lab, and get an introduction to the different kinds of aromatic materials.

Participants will leave with the basic knowledge they need to start a journey down the rabbit hole of appreciating and even making scent, as well as a more considered understanding of what they encounter at the fragrance counter.

Topics covered:

+ Introduction to scent literacy

+ Introduction to aromatic materials

+ Introduction to perfume creation

+ Introduction to learning resources provided by The Institute for Art and Olfaction

This is an online class that will occur live on Zoom. The video for this session will be available to replay on Zoom for one week after the session ends.

Perfume 202 + Perfume 303

Thoughtful creative preparations and revisions can provide the structure for a thriving artistic output in perfumery.

Join Ashley Eden Kessler in two pre-recorded lectures and one live Q&A as she guides you through the important first steps of setting up your own perfume laboratory and working on perfume blends.

Perfume 202: Lab Strategies

Good lab practices can provide the backbone for a thriving creative practice and – for that reason – perfumer Ashley Eden Kessler leads a class that is designed to provide you with the important next steps in your practice.

Providing crucial information for setting up a professional perfume lab, and helping you ensure that your practice is built on a solid foundation, Perfume 202 covers the important technical minutiae of your perfume practice, from how to use a scale to how to make a lab solution, an overview of lab hygiene and organization, and how to set up and maintain a working scent organ.

This class will allow you to orient yourself as an aspiring perfumer, and help you set up a thriving independent perfume laboratory of your own.

Topics covered:

+ Pipette techniques (basic and advanced)

+ How to use a scale with confidence

+ Overview of lab hygiene and organization

+ Setting up your work station

+ Overview of perfume organ set-up and maintenance

+ Making dilutions from pure, for safe use in perfume-blending

Perfume 303: Perfume Composition Techniques

Designed to provide important next steps for budding perfumers, Perfume 303 will teach you the crucial information for setting up a professional perfume organ, conceptualizing and creating perfume formulas, and helping you ensure that your practice is built on a good artistic habits.

This recurring online class will cover the important creative minutiae. We will review how to organize your library of aromatic materials, talk about how to select your palette for composition, discuss how to best track your formulas, and learn strategies for how to evaluate your trials.

This class, in short, will allow you to ground yourself as an aspiring independent perfumer, and help you develop a methodological approach that will support your long-term practice and give structure upon which your creativity can thrive.

Topics Covered:

+ How to choose a material palette for perfume composition

+ Overview of perfume formula writing and maintenance

+ Introduction to organizing perfume formula writing

+ How to evaluate perfume trials and revise formulae

+ Techniques for saving perfume trials

This class is a hybrid video and live online Q+A session. We will send the link to the video portions before the live Q+A. All participants must watch the prerecorded videos for Perfume 202 and 303 before attending the live Q&A session.

For the live event, Ashley Eden Kessler will join for a 1.5 hour Q+A session to cover questions and more.

Schedule of Classes

• Perfume 101 - November 26, 2025 -10am-12pm PDT live on Zoom, with 1 week video replay.
• Access to pre-recorded lectures for Perfume 202 and 303 - December 4, 2025. Video replay.
• Live Q&A for Perfume 202 and 303 - December 11, 2025 10-11:30am PDT live on Zoom, with 1 week video replay.

A ticket allows for access to the live classes, prerecorded lectures, and videos of the classes after they’ve taken place. Videos are available for 7 days after each session.

About the Instructors

Minetta Rogers

Trained in architecture and design, Minetta Rogers is the director of programs at the IAO and has been teaching newcomers to perfumery for almost a decade. Drawing inspiration from the design approaches that she learned through her studies in architecture and in the field, she brings an approach to education that is rooted in facts, curiosity supported by rigorous research, and design strategies.

Ashley Eden Kessler

A Los Angeles native, Ashley came to perfumery after forays into other creative disciplines. Sculpture, Architecture, Theater, Film and Design were the initial steps on 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. Perfumery, the science of the ineffable, is where the road finally took her.

Her first introduction to scent was by way of a gift on her 16th birthday: a bespoke fragrance formulated by renowned perfumer Sarah Horowitz. The study of architecture and design led to travel and work in film art departments, but ultimately it was to Sarah Horowitz Parfums she returned. From apprentice to Junior Perfumer at SHP, she was smitten with the field. Dropping everything else, she immersed herself in study and practice.

Her education in niche perfumery continued at LA’s Lucky Scent, and seeking a more formal education in the field, she moved to France to study at the prestigious Grasse Institute of Perfumery. There, she distinguished herself with her final brief- winning one of GIP’s coveted awards. After her studies, she returned to the U.S., having accepted a position as a Perfumer’s Assistant at Drom Fragrances International, one of the world’s top fine fragrance studios. After two years in that position, she was offered the chance to move back to Los Angeles as consultant for Sarah Horowitz’ new business initiative, Original Scent. In 2013, Ashley joined the Institute for Art and Olfaction as an instructor, and in 2015 she founded her perfume company, Sentir Studio.

ATTENDANCE AND REFUND POLICY

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. Lest this email end up in your spam folder, please be sure to add hello@artandolfaction.com and noreply@order.eventbrite.com to your address book.

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

+ Please download and install Zoom before the class starts, to avoid last minute technical issues.

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

+ We will share videos of each session after each session ends, viewable for 7 days. These videos are view-only, and expire at the end of the 7 day window.

+ Unfortunately, we cannot offer refunds or credit for this class. Note also that event tickets are non-transferable.