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.