Lab Technician For the Senses

A glimse into the office and the process of a perfumer...

When asked, "What do you do for a living"?, I sometimes jokingly answer, "I play with molecules".

But not all molecules have a fragrance.  As a perfumer, I work only with fragrance molecules.  A typical perfumer's organ contains  single molecules produced in the laboratory as well as complex materials of natural origin.  My personal organ contains a quantity of materials from both categories.

These performance molecules come in many sizes, shapes, and families. Their function is to impart specific fragrance qualitites that can be sculpted into perfume.

I keenly enjoy the challenge of balancing  the scientific  aspects of  botany, phsysiology, chemistry and toxicology with  the history and the art of sculpting with air.

Shelley Waddington

April 10, 2010