The Institute for Art and Olfaction

Unconventional Perfume Blending: Petrichor Accord (in person)
2026-09-28 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/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
