How to Get Into Perfumery: From Enthusiast to Perfumer
By Emmanuelle Moeglin, Founder & Perfumer
In short
1
There are five routes in, from curious enthusiast to working perfumer.
2
You can learn at home: an online course paired with ingredient sets, at your own pace.
3
To work as an industry perfumer, formal training is usually the next step.
Perfumery has long been a closed world. Tell anyone as a child that you could smell for a living and it would have been met with surprise, since most people would not even think of it as a job. Happily, the internet and the opening up of crafts to the mainstream mean there are now many more ways to immerse yourself in scent. Here are five routes in, from curious enthusiast to working perfumer.
Five routes in
From curious enthusiast to working perfumer.
01
Route 1
For the social: join a community
Want to widen your knowledge but not sure where to start? Surround yourself with other scent lovers. At EPC, our Academy and our in-store events bring together people at every level, from total beginners to seasoned noses, to smell, blend and talk fragrance together. Learning with others is one of the fastest and most enjoyable ways to train your nose, because so much of perfumery is shared language and shared memory.
02
Route 2
For the readers: read, listen and learn
There is a wealth of writing on scent, from quick critique to serious history. A good starting point is our own EPC Journal, where we explain ingredients, techniques and the stories behind fragrance without the jargon. When you are ready to build a shelf, see our guide to the best perfume books to learn from perfumers, the titles working professionals genuinely return to.
A wealth of writing on scent, from critique to history.
For your shelf
Perfumer's Handbook
Our guide to how perfume ingredients are really used.
Discover the Handbook03
Route 3
For the curious noses: take a workshop or blending experience
Workshops are how Experimental Perfume Club began. We wanted to democratise perfumery and bring blending to everyone, letting anyone with a love of scent have a play. Today you can start with a Blending Discovery Session in our central London studio, or go further with the Luxe Blending Experience, guided start to finish by our team. There is no quicker way to understand how a fragrance is built than to build one yourself.
04
Route 4
For the practical: blend at home
Blending at home is a wonderful place to begin: your own space, your own pace, free to learn through trial and error. An online course will guide you through the process. Our Fundamentals of Perfume Creation programme gives you all the guidance and material to start wherever you are in the world. If you would rather simply get to know the raw materials first, our ingredient sets help you learn each note on its own, which is exactly how perfumers build their palette. And our beginner's guide to blending is full of practical tips to get you started.
Learn at home
05
Route 5
For the serious: go to perfumery school
You have read, you have played, and now you want to master the real craft, perhaps to become a perfumer or an evaluator. There are options for that too.
Where I trained
I trained at ISIPCA, a prestigious school leading in fragrance, cosmetics and flavour, and loved my time there. Founded in 1970 by Jean-Jacques Guerlain, it has trained countless professionals now working across the industry, and offers both full-time study and shorter summer courses.
Paris
L'École Supérieure du Parfum in Paris offers a five-year training straight from school.
The perfume houses
The Givaudan Perfumery School sits outside Paris, with a campus in Singapore; other houses such as Mane, IFF and Firmenich run their own in-house academies, among the best in the world and fiercely competitive to enter.
Grasse
To retrain in the world's perfume capital, the Grasse Institute of Perfumery teaches in several languages.
Closer to home
And if you are London-based and want to study closer to home, University of the Arts London runs short scent courses covering the perfumer's palette, blending accords and translating ideas into scent.
ISIPCA. Picture courtesy of ISIPCA.
Further reading
Frequently asked questions about getting into perfumery
How do I get into perfumery?
Start by smelling widely and reading, then take a workshop or online course. If you want to go professional, formal training is the next step.
Can I learn perfumery at home?
Yes. An online course paired with ingredient sets lets you learn the raw materials and start blending at your own pace, anywhere in the world.
Do I need perfumery school to become a perfumer?
To work as an industry perfumer, usually yes. For personal creation and enjoyment, not at all, you can go a long way with courses and practice.
What is the best school to become a perfumer?
ISIPCA near Paris is among the most prestigious, along with the Grasse Institute of Perfumery and the in-house schools of houses like Givaudan, IFF and Firmenich.
How did EPC start?
With blending workshops, born from a wish to democratise perfumery and let anyone with a love of scent create their own.
What's the first step for a beginner?
Learn to recognise individual notes. Smelling materials one by one is exactly how perfumers build the palette they create from.
Emmanuelle Moeglin is the founder and perfumer behind Experimental Perfume Club. Classically trained at ISIPCA, with 20 years in the fragrance industry, she is a member of the French Society of Perfumers, a multi-award-winning creator and a public speaker. She designs the brand's blends and teaches perfumery from EPC's central London studio.
Keep exploring
More from the Journal
