There’s more than one way to become good at something
When you Google the question “how to become a perfumer?” there’s a clear-cut answer offered: “To become a professional perfumer, you generally need a degree in chemistry, specialized perfume school training, and a multi-year apprenticeship”. An answer which looks to have been pulled from Reddit, so the information isn’t fact, but by reading on, it does appear to be the route most people believe must be taken.
Yes, this is one way to become a perfumer. But it’s not the only way. And as far as I can tell, it’s not even necessarily the best way. How you become a perfumer depends on the kind of perfumer you want to be. If you want to work for a large international perfumer house, you likely need every qualification you can get while choosing the professional and sensible approach.
If you want to be an artisan perfumer there’s a different path you can follow, one that’s made up of years of research and exploration. One where you look at what others have done before but then do it your own way in hopes of discovering and creating things that excite you, and that don’t already exist.
Either way, you still need to understand your materials, safety guidelines, and the rules to be followed. And that it never ends; there will always be more to experiment with.
Here’s what Sarah says about her learning style:
“My learning style has been to read books and papers by recognised experts, to follow and listen to people whose advice I trust, and to experiment constantly to check for myself. We can all make discoveries by accidentally dropping ten times the intended amount into a blend. (They might be bad, they could be great!) We just need to keep our minds and noses open to the unexpected, and to keep good records.”
Two people who make perfume for a living can have two very different jobs.
If the road into something doesn’t feel possible or the right option for you, have a look around, there could be another way in, one that excites and motivates you into doing something more interesting than if you were to take the expected path.
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