The Institute for Art and Olfaction

Make your own perfume! Brown and Tan (in person)
2026-08-27 17:30 - 19:30 (America/Tijuana) | The Institute for Art and Olfaction, 932 Chung King Rd, Los Angeles, CA, 90012, United States
Sign up: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/make-your-own-perfume-brown-and-tan-in-person-tickets-1996529926756?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=true
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Saskia Wilson-Brown celebrates gluttony with a perfume-making class that emphasizes brown and tan smells, with a distinctly gourmand edge.

Let’s indulge our sweet tooth by discussing and smelling all facets of the sugariest, nuttiest, beeriest colors: Brown and tan. IAO founder Saskia Wilson-Brown leads attendees through the basics of perfume composition, with a very simple goal in mind: To make ourselves an interpretation of brown and tan, in perfume.
The first half of class will focus on learning our aromatic palette, as we smell and discuss a curated selection of materials. The second portion of the class will consist of perfume composition: Each participant will be invited to work with the curated materials to create an original formula, each leaving with a 30ml Eau de Toilette-strength perfume.
Expect some olfactory adventures along the way!

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Almonds: Photo by Elisabeth Rosenak on Unsplash

Open Session for Returning Students (in person)
2026-09-02 17:30 - 19:30 | The Institute for Art and Olfaction, 932 Chung King Rd, Los Angeles, CA, 90012, United States
Sign up: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/open-sessions-returning-students-only-tickets-1996517641009?lid=zj5izzdshlrl
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Aromatic materials are not included. Bring your own materials or purchase small quantities from us.
Our open sessions for returning students only are designed as an informal, convivial space in which to co-work with other perfumers. Relaxed and self-directed (don’t worry, we’re here to help), these sessions are a great chance to refine a formula, work out an idea or just hang out with like-minded colleagues. Let’s learn from each other, and make new friends.
Relaxed and self-directed, these informal sessions are a great chance to refine your blending techniques in the presence of other scent enthusiasts and #friendswithpipettes. Open Sessions are the IAO’s longest running program. These Open Sessions for Returning Students Only are designed precisely for newcomers who have already attended one Open Session for First Timers, intermediate perfumers who want to explore new materials, or advanced perfumers who want to co-work with a diverse and creative community.
As a returning student, you will be able to independently tinker with materials of your choice in a casual, social setting.We have everything you need: aromatic materials (natural, synthetic, and some accords), beakers and droppers, scent strips and bottles… All you need to bring is a notebook, and and open mind. Down the rabbit hole you go!

Perfume 101: Perfumery for Beginners (in person)
2026-09-06 14:30 - 16:30 | The Institute for Art and Olfaction, 932 Chung King Rd, Los Angeles, CA, 90012, United States
Sign up: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/perfume-101-perfumery-for-beginners-in-person-tickets-1997637547680?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=true
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Perfume 101 serves as an orientation session for newcomers to the field, olfactive adventurers, curious minds, and budding scent enthusiasts who need a little boost.
In this theory-focused 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. As a group, the class will learn the difference between top, middle and bottom notes, what’s in a perfume lab, get a brief introduction to perfume math concepts, and more. We’ll smell and look at different aromatic materials, useful labware used in blending scents, and more!
Participants will leave with the basic knowledge they need to start a journey down the rabbit hole of appreciating and even making scent.
Please note: This is primarily a lecture-based class, with a smelling component. There is one group blend exercise and one individual blend exercise, with participants taking home a small spray vial of their individual scent blend and select reference materials. If you wish to take a class with a hands-on focus, please register for Introduction to Perfume Blending.

Introduction to Perfume Blending: Freestyle (in person)
2026-09-07 17:00 - 19:30 | The Institute for Art and Olfaction, 932 Chung King Rd, Los Angeles, CA, 90012, United States
Sign up: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/introduction-to-perfume-blending-freestyle-in-person-tickets-1996518883726
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Join us for Introduction to Blending, a class for beginners to perfumery that is focused on learning how to blend with aromatic materials, and how to create (and balance) a formula. Perfume-lovers and burgeoning olfactory artists have the opportunity to jump right into making their scent dreams a reality, with access to the hundreds of aromatic materials in the IAO lab space.
The class will begin with a quick primer to the world of aromatic materials: synthetics vs. naturals, top/middle/base notes, and dilutions. Participants will be guided through the process of setting up a workstation and how to write a perfume formula, with proportions and balance in mind.
The second portion of the class will be the open exploration of the IAO Organ by all participants. After making individual selections, we will get to blending! With Julianne Lee guiding the class, each participant will learn to make bold changes, subtle refinements, and expand their final formula into a small spray vial to take home.

Online Perfume Intensive, with Spyros Drosopoulos (online)
2026-09-08 09:00 - 12:00 | On Zoom
Sign up: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/online-intensive-with-spyros-drosopoulos-tickets-1992742946797?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=true
More information: here
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Spyros Drosopoulos leads an online intensive over five sessions in September – November, 2026. Designed for newcomers and experienced perfumes alike, the course covers the most important information and materials for a new perfumer hoping to start their practice – or for an experienced perfumer who needs to level up their technical skills.
Taught by veteran independent perfumer and frequent IAO collaborator Spyros Drosopoulos, this course will help newcomers ground themselves in science-based, factual education. Lectures will focus on perfume materials, accord-building, perfume creation, and other crucial information.
More experienced perfumers will gain technical tips and tricks to help expand their knowledge and control over aromatic materials.
Materials needed: As part of this class, we have partnered with Perfumer’s Apprentice to provide a materials kit containing the aromatic materials required for the class, with which you can implement Spyros’ lectures to create a number of accords and compositions. The kit is not included in the class fee, and materials must be purchased separately. IAO students get a 30% discount on the kit, for a total cost of materials kit of $367.50. Information about how to obtain the discount on purchasing the kit (or a list of materials for people with existing labs) will be provided upon sign up.
Class meets:
Tuesday Sep. 8, 2026
Tuesday Sep. 22
Tuesday Oct. 13
Tuesday Oct. 20
Tuesday Nov. 3
Every class takes place between 9am to 12:00pm PT / 12pm – 3:00pm ET / 6pm – 9:00pm CET Time convertor: https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html
More information

Sandalwood: Perfume Accords (online)
2026-09-10 10:00 - 12:00 | On Zoom
Sign up: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sandalwood-perfume-accords-online-tickets-1990593551899?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=true
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In this online class, perfumer Ashley Eden Kessler teaches perfume composition with a complex, rich sandalwood perfume accord.Learning how to assemble perfume accords leads to a greater adeptness at blending, and well-trained noses. Learn how to construct accords as you explore the individual aromatic components of these perfume accords.
Our accords series helps students of perfumery understand the molecular components of the various facets and types of the most important notes in perfumery. By attending this class, an emerging perfumer or scent artist will expand their capabilities and training, gain the materials knowledge to add a new accord to their arsenal, and leave with a deeper understanding of the artistry and science behind perfumery.
Materials Needed/Pre-Class Homework: We will send you a master document containing the materials list and formulation exercises upon signup via the confirmation email from Eventbrite. Please purchase these materials before attending class. The estimated cost of the perfume materials is $85, not including any labware you may need to purchase. The formulation exercises must be accomplished before the class meets.
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Photo by Sandalwood Australia on Unsplash

Lab Skills for New Perfumers (in person)
2026-09-14 17:30 - 19:30 | The Institute for Art and Olfaction, 932 Chung King Rd, Los Angeles, CA, 90012, United States
Sign up: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lab-skills-for-new-perfumers-in-person-tickets-1997716004346?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=true
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For people who have started (or plan to start) a new perfume practice, IAO founder Saskia Wilson-Brown systematically covers the basics for a healthy and productive at-home perfume studio.
Over the course of an information rich few hours, we will cover:
+ An overview of common carriers and diluents
+ Setting up your organ
+ Materials and lab safety
+ Making solutions by weight (scale), and by volume (drops)
+ How to handle tricky materials
+ How to track formulas
There will be plenty of time for questions, and hands-on demonstration.

Tracing Perfume: Fruits (in person)
2026-09-15 17:00 - 18:30 | The Institute for Art and Olfaction, 932 Chung King Rd, Los Angeles, CA, 90012, United States
Sign up: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/tracing-perfume-fruits-in-person-tickets-1994983883499?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=true
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Dana El Masri explores the history of fine fragrance through a series of classes that cover the genealogy of scent. How did aromatic materials influence perfumery? How did perfumers draw from the same source to produce such diverse expressions? Each class in this series explores the most important perfumes in 20th and 21st perfumery from the perspective of the materials that inform them.
In this class, Dana covers perfumes highlighting fruits, including peach, mango, fig, and tomato leaf. She will explore the material provenance, aromatic aspects, and notable perfumes that make use of these notes in various ways. Then, as a group, the class will smell and discuss a series of notes and perfumes that elucidate the category.

Topics covered:
History and cultural impact of perfume materials
Technical information about perfume materials
Overview of these materials in classic, contemporary, mass market, and niche perfumes

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Photo of mango by Allec Gomes on Unsplash

Olfactory Provocations: To exist in a space is to inhale it (Online)
2026-09-17 10:00 - 11:00 | On Zoom
Sign up: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/olfactory-provocations-to-exist-in-a-space-is-to-inhale-it-online-tickets-1995562115005?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=true
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Join Yati Sharma in exploring how Mumbai taxi drivers navigate smell and shared air in the micro-lived-environment of a taxi cabin.

“बाँस, त्रास और साँस ”: Smell, Endurance, and Breath in Mumbai Taxi Cabs.
This session reflects on how smell operates differently from other senses. While interviewing taxi cab drivers in Mumbai to understand how smells interact within micro-environments, one idea kept returning: to exist in a space is to inhale it. In a taxi, before any conversation begins between driver and passenger, there is already a sensory encounter through shared air. Unlike sight, touch, taste, or sound, smell is difficult to avoid once we are exposed to it. One can close their eyes, cover their ears, or avoid touching something, but smell is tied directly to breathing. To exist in a space is to inhale the shared air.
Inside a taxi cabin, this shared air carries a constant layering of smells. Drivers described how perfumes, sweat, food, incense, rain-soaked clothes, tobacco, city pollution, and car fresheners accumulate and overlap over the course of a day. Each passenger leaves behind a trace, which blends with the next, creating a shifting olfactory environment that the driver must continuously inhabit. And how these smells are often signifiers of cultural and socio economic identity of a person.
Image Credits: Yati Sharma

IAO Collections Smelling Session: Industrial (in person)
2026-09-20 14:00 - 16:00 | The Institute for Art and Olfaction, 932 Chung King Rd, Los Angeles, CA, 90012, United States
Sign up: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/iao-collections-smelling-session-industrial-in-person-tickets-1994238542163
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What does industry smell like? Join us to experience a curated set of scents from the IAO Collections, with fellow enthusiasts of perfume and industrial smells! Our discussion will focus on our impressions of these scents, as well as their concordance with the theme. This session presents a unique opportunity to smell and discuss otherwise inaccessible fine fragrances, perfume materials, and ephemera from deep inside our archives; excellent for both the die-hard perfume fan and the casual but curious nose.
Note to returning students: If you have attended past smelling sessions, there may be some overlap with previous scents from earlier sessions.

Introduction to Perfume Blending: Freestyle (in person)
2026-09-21 17:00 - 19:30 | The Institute for Art and Olfaction, 932 Chung King Rd, Los Angeles, CA, 90012, United States
Sign up: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/introduction-to-perfume-blending-freestyle-in-person-tickets-1996520739276
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Join us for Introduction to Blending, a class for beginners to perfumery that is focused on learning how to blend with aromatic materials, and how to create (and balance) a formula. Perfume-lovers and burgeoning olfactory artists have the opportunity to jump right into making their scent dreams a reality, with access to the hundreds of aromatic materials in the IAO lab space.
The class will begin with a quick primer to the world of aromatic materials: synthetics vs. naturals, top/middle/base notes, and dilutions. Participants will be guided through the process of setting up a workstation and how to write a perfume formula, with proportions and balance in mind.
The second portion of the class will be the open exploration of the IAO Organ by all participants. After making individual selections, we will get to blending! With Julianne Lee guiding the class, each participant will learn to make bold changes, subtle refinements, and expand their final formula into a small spray vial to take home.

Autumn Smells: Perfume-Making Workshop (in person)
2026-09-22 18:00 - 20:00 | The Institute for Art and Olfaction, 932 Chung King Rd, Los Angeles, CA, 90012, United States
Sign up: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/autumn-smells-perfume-making-workshop-in-person-tickets-1994237003561
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A session celebrating the solstice and smells of fall through the art and craft of making perfume. For beginners, in person.

Join Minetta Rogers for a guided blending session celebrating the solstice, the smells of fall — and, of course, perfume-making! For beginners, but all levels are welcome.
For the first portion of this smelling and blending session, we will learn about some smells of the season. Scent strips will be handed out by your friendly Institute for Art and Olfaction team, and we will spend time smelling and discussing our impressions of aromatic materials associated with the season.
We will start the second portion of the session by briefly discussing and practicing blending scent. Each student will have the opportunity to blend with aromatic materials from the session’s selected palette. We will spend the rest of the session experimenting with our own short formulas.
Each attendee goes home with a small trial of their aromatic blend.

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Image credits: Photo from Pexels

Lectures on Tap: Culture and Perfume (in person)
2026-09-23 19:30 - 21:30 | CA
Sign up: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lectures-on-tap-culture-and-perfume-how-perfume-shaped-history-tickets-1997805809957?aff=oddtdtcreator
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In this lecture, Saskia Wilson-Brown shares and discusses three perfume materials that shaped human culture. Drawing from her research for her upcoming book, The Cultures of Perfume: Scents That Shaped History(releasing in November, by D.A.P.), she will start the talk with a brief history of perfume, going on to explore how jasmine perfumes have been historically intertwined with narratives of seduction. We will then smell musk, and investigate its role in narratives of power in key Islamic texts and 18th century France. The talk ends with bergamot, and how its use in Eau de Cologne impacted religious practices in the Americas. Join us for a lively exploration of scent’s role in the human experience.
Location shared upon signup.

Industrial: Perfume Accords (online, 3 hours)
2026-09-24 10:00 - 13:00 | On Zoom
Sign up: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/industrial-perfume-accords-online-3-hour-tickets-1990597995189?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=true
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Explore fragrance categories through specific classes designed by The Institute for Art and Olfaction to help new perfumers gain sensory understanding and technical perfumery skills.
In the latest of her accords classes, Ashley leads an investigation into industrial perfume accord, including motor oil, black rubber, vinyl pool toy. Learning how to assemble perfume accords leads to a greater adeptness at blending, and well-trained noses. Learn how to construct accords as you explore the individual aromatic components of these perfume accords.
Our accords series helps students of perfumery understand the molecular components of the various facets and types of the most important notes in perfumery. By attending this class, an emerging perfumer or scent artist will expand their capabilities and training, gain the materials knowledge to add a new accord to their arsenal, and leave with a deeper understanding of the artistry and science behind perfumery.
Materials Needed/Pre-Class Homework: We will send you a master document containing the materials list and formulation exercises upon signup via the confirmation email from Eventbrite. Please purchase these materials before attending class. The estimated cost of the perfume materials is between $145 to $170, not including any labware you may need to purchase. The formulation exercises must be accomplished before the class meets.
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Photo by Goh Rhy Yan on Unsplash

Eleven Week Perfume Materials Course - Module 2 (online)
2026-09-28 10:00 - 12:00 | On Zoom
Sign up: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/eleven-week-perfume-materials-course-module-2-tickets-1988493959963
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Ashley Eden Kessler leads module 2 of her popular online materials course, over eleven sessions spent exploring the crucial materials in the perfumers’ organ. This slow, steady emphasis on deep sensorial study provides an indispensable first step in learning perfumery, and an opportunity to grow a technical familiarity with perfume materials.
Registration for US-based students includes a materials kit (55 materials, scent strips).
All attendees are invited to join live on zoom or catch the class as a video replay: All registrations provide access to the live zoom sessions and 11 week replay access to the recorded sessions. Recording access for all sessions will end on December 28, 2026.
This is Module 2 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.
Class Experience
In each 2-hour online session, Ashley will lead attendees in smelling and discussing five crucial perfume materials of natural and synthetic origin. Over the eleven total sessions offered in this course, the group will systematically go through the course material, category by category. We thoughtfully explore the function, aesthetics and technicalities of each material in the context of other aromatics from its fragrance family.
Each session focuses on our unique experience with the materials. By sharing these experiences, we work towards developing a language, both personal and communal, for our experience of scent. Through this course, participants will gain fluency in the most important molecules of modern perfumery. Growing a familiarity with the materials is, after all, a crucial first step in practicing perfumery.
There is a lot to gain from this slow-paced work. For newcomers to fragrance, this intimate knowledge of the materials is indispensable, offering a grounding and deeply enriching practice that brings us into the present and connects us more deeply to our lived experience—and our creativity. For more experienced perfumers, the class presents an opportunity to enrich the process and technical knowledge necessary to mastery.

Classes take place on Mondays, 10 am – 12 pm PT (Pacific Time)
Sep 28, 2026 – Week 1 Fruity Synthetic
Oct 5, 2026 – Week 2 Fruity Aldehyde, Violet Synthetic
Oct 12, 2026 – Week 3 Rosy Natural
Oct 19, 2026 – Week 4 Rosy Synthetic
Oct 26, 2026 – Week 5 Rosy Synthetic, Oranger Synthetic
Nov 2, 2026 – Week 6 Oranger Natural, Jasmine Natural
Nov 9, 2026 – Week 7 Jasmine Synthetic
Nov 16, 2026 – Week 8 Marine Synthetic, Marine Natural, Green Aquatic
Nov 23, 2026 – Week 9 Floral Natural
Nov 30, 2026 – Week 10 Ambery Synthetic
Dec 7, 2026 – Week 11 Ambery/Sweet Natural

Unconventional Perfume Blending: Petrichor Accord (in person)
2026-09-28 17:30 - 19:30 | The Institute for Art and Olfaction, 932 Chung King Rd, Los Angeles, CA, 90012, United States
Sign up: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/unconventional-perfume-blending-petrichor-accord-in-person-tickets-1997637326017?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=true
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Join us in exploring the world of wet, earthy petrichor and go home with your own accords of the earth after the rain.

Petrichor. Unless you’ve been living under a rock (soon to be rained upon), you may have heard this word, defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as: “a distinctive, earthy, usually pleasant odor that is associated with rainfall especially when following a warm, dry period and that arises from a combination of volatile plant oils and geosmin released from the soil into the air and by ozone carried by downdrafts”.
So, the scent of earth after the rain! Petrichor’s etymology is somewhat more poetic: Australian researchers Bear and Grenfell coined the term in 1964, using the Greek root petras, or stone, and ichor, or the fluid in the vein of the Gods.
In “Unconventional Perfume Blending: Petrichor Accord,” led by instructor Julianne Lee, we’ll start by enjoying some perfumes from the IAO Collections that feature the note of petrichor. Next, we’ll smell a bevy of molecules and natural materials that evoke petrichor in its many forms: wet, earthy, humid, mushroomy, concrete. You’ll then play with those materials and practice balancing a formula. Is your petrichor rising from the sun-baked desert or from the gridlocked city streets?
We recommend having at least one IAO class under your belt, but beginners are completely welcome. By the end of class, you’ll leave with your own petrichor accord formula in hand, along with a working understanding of accord-building that you can apply to any other fragrance notes.

Image: Roman Synkevych, www.unsplash.com

Alchemies of Scent: Text, Experiment, Replication (online)
2026-09-29 09:00 - 10:00 | On Zoom
Sign up: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/alchemies-of-scent-text-experiment-replication-online-tickets-1992154458613?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=true
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Prague-based Sean Coughlin presents research during a five-year attempt to reconstruct five ancient Greco-Egyptian perfumes from Greek, Latin and Egyptian recipes, combining textual scholarship, experimental methods, and analytical chemistry. For this session, Coughlin will review and explain what his team set out to do, the methods they built (and threw out), and what they learned about how ancient perfumes were made. Expect myrrh, cinnamon, galbanum, lily, smoke—and a few honest failures.
The presentation will be followed by a Q&A session with attendees.
Olfactory Research Notes is a lecture series presented by the Institute for Art and Olfaction that highlights important research done in the field of olfaction, directly from the scientists, researchers, academics, and artists who do it.
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Image credits: Wikimedia Commons

Fougère, Raw to Refined: Natural Perfume Workshop (in person)
2026-10-03 14:30 - 17:30 | The Institute for Art and Olfaction, 932 Chung King Rd, Los Angeles, CA, 90012, United States
Sign up: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/fougere-raw-to-refined-a-natural-perfume-workshop-in-person-tickets-1997633975997?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=true
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Learn how to think and design like a natural perfumer, using solely botanical materials. Fougère, Raw to Refined is a sensory-driven class designed to introduce beginners to perfumery, and to learn to work with a palette of natural materials.

Jeffrey Paul leads an immersive introduction to natural perfumery, with a focus on the materials and composition of the fougère fragrance category. Over several hours, participants will smell and assess beautiful natural aromatics and learn to create classic fougère structures using a palette that includes fresh lavenders, elegant mosses, and some unexpected surprises.
This class will help train your nose while sharpening your olfactory perception, providing the tools and knowledge that will allow you to transform a handful of raw aromatics into a traditional, structured fougère, based on your own formula developed in class.
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Photo: Sarah Janes on Unsplash

Tinctures and Tincturing for Perfumers, with Lakenda Wallace (online)
2026-10-06 17:00 - 19:00 | On Zoom
Sign up: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/tinctures-and-tincturing-for-perfumers-with-lakenda-wallace-online-tickets-1994229896303?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=true
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Perfumer Lakenda Wallace explores the technicalities of creating tinctures and absolutes for perfumery, in an online class.
In this online session, Lakenda covers the how-tos and what not-to-dos of tincturing, systematically guiding you through every step of converting enchanting aromatics into lovely tinctures for use in perfume-making.
In addition to a deep dive into the technical aspects of the process, Lakenda will also discuss need-to-know topics for those making tinctures at home. These will include foraging and sustainability, choosing plants for skin safety, equipment set-up and recommendations, and how to work safely. Lakenda will also briefly discuss the creation of absolutes. The online class will end with a list of resources for hands-on tincturing, with ample time for questions and discussion.

Oud: Perfume Accords (online, 3 hours)
2026-10-08 10:00 - 13:00 | On Zoom
Sign up: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/oud-perfume-accords-online-3-hour-class-tickets-1964460155206?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=true
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Explore fragrance categories through specific classes designed by The Institute for Art and Olfaction to help new perfumers gain sensory understanding and technical perfumery skills.
In the latest of her accords classes, Ashley leads an investigation into a complex, deep, oud perfume accord. Learning how to assemble perfume accords leads to a greater adeptness at blending, and well-trained noses. Learn how to construct accords as you explore the individual aromatic components of these perfume accords.
Please note this class runs 3 hours, rather than the typical 2 hours, online.
Our accords series helps students of perfumery understand the molecular components of the various facets and types of the most important notes in perfumery. By attending this class, an emerging perfumer or scent artist will expand their capabilities and training, gain the materials knowledge to add a new accord to their arsenal, and leave with a deeper understanding of the artistry and science behind perfumery.
Materials Needed/Pre-Class Homework: We will send you a master document containing the materials list and formulation exercises upon signup via the confirmation email from Eventbrite. Please purchase these materials before attending class. The estimated cost of the perfume materials is $113, not including any labware you may need to purchase. The formulation exercises must be accomplished before the class meets.

Fougère, Raw to Refined: Natural Perfume Workshop (in person)
2026-10-15 17:30 - 20:30 | The Institute for Art and Olfaction, 932 Chung King Rd, Los Angeles, CA, 90012, United States
Sign up: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/fougere-raw-to-refined-a-natural-perfume-workshop-in-person-tickets-1997636448392?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=true
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Learn how to think and design like a natural perfumer, using solely botanical materials. Fougère, Raw to Refined is a sensory-driven class designed to introduce beginners to perfumery, and to learn to work with a palette of natural materials.

Jeffrey Paul leads an immersive introduction to natural perfumery, with a focus on the materials and composition of the fougère fragrance category. Over several hours, participants will smell and assess beautiful natural aromatics and learn to create classic fougère structures using a palette that includes fresh lavenders, elegant mosses, and some unexpected surprises.
This class will help train your nose while sharpening your olfactory perception, providing the tools and knowledge that will allow you to transform a handful of raw aromatics into a traditional, structured fougère, based on your own formula developed in class.
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Moss photo by streetsh on Unsplash

The Margins of Good Taste: Perfume and its Producers in Ancient Greece (online)
2026-10-20 09:00 - 10:00 | On Zoom
Sign up: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-margins-of-good-taste-perfume-and-its-producers-in-ancient-greece-tickets-1992158985152?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=true
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Sean Coughlin presents research into attitudes and positions towards perfumery in the Ancient Greek world. Ancient perfumery in the Greek world wasn’t a Greek practice, or at least according to many in power it was not supposed to be. It was something done by women, enslaved workers, foreigners, and migrants — people the literary record either erases or moralizes about. This talk reads the sources for the practitioners rather than the moralists, and asks what we learn about a craft economy whose expertise sat with people the elite considered suspect.
The presentation will be followed by a Q&A session with attendees.
Olfactory Research Notes is a lecture series presented by the Institute for Art and Olfaction that highlights important research done in the field of olfaction, directly from the scientists, researchers, academics, and artists who do it.
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Image credits: George E. Koronaios, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Musk: Perfume Accords (online, 3 hour)
2026-10-22 10:00 - 13:00 | On Zoom
Sign up: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/musk-perfume-accords-online-3-hour-tickets-1990599740409?aff=oddtdtcreator
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Explore fragrance categories through specific classes designed by The Institute for Art and Olfaction to help new perfumers gain sensory understanding and technical perfumery skills.
In the latest of her accords classes, Ashley leads an investigation into a complex, nuzzly, animalic musk perfume accord. Learning how to assemble perfume accords leads to a greater adeptness at blending, and well-trained noses. Learn how to construct accords as you explore the individual aromatic components of these perfume accords.
Our accords series helps students of perfumery understand the molecular components of the various facets and types of the most important notes in perfumery. By attending this class, an emerging perfumer or scent artist will expand their capabilities and training, gain the materials knowledge to add a new accord to their arsenal, and leave with a deeper understanding of the artistry and science behind perfumery.
Materials Needed/Pre-Class Homework: We will send you a master document containing the materials list and formulation exercises upon signup via the confirmation email from Eventbrite. Please purchase these materials before attending class. The estimated cost of the perfume materials is between $122, not including any labware you may need to purchase. The formulation exercises must be accomplished before the class meets.

Musk deer: 📸 Private purchase, public domain
