After taking a slight detour to the Rose Retreat last week, Karen is back with her ‘Lessons that Last’ mini-series, and this week she is taking a look at the process and importance of learning materials.  The most important, but also time-consuming aspect of perfume making is learning materials, because without knowing how they smell, interact with each other and react to the skin, you simply can’t make fragrances. There are so many materials the task of learning them inside out can appear to be impossible. But fear not, it is possible, and Karen is here to share all the tips and tricks you need to get through the materials phase without losing your mind.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Most people are faced with huge overwhelm when they first encounter materials, mainly when the realization hits them that the task of learning them is so much bigger than they expected. Karen breaks down why this overwhelm occurs and how best to manage it.
• Your understanding of materials will change over time. With this in mind, Karen gives suggestions for how you might plan your learning and also how to make sure you keep going. 
• Another great way to reduce that overwhelm is to work in a space that feels good to you. Karen shares her top tips on creating the perfect workspace. 
• Creating a ritual, or as Karen says “Making it something you want to do as opposed to something on your to-do list”, can be a valuable tool to help ease the burden on learning materials. Karen gives some suggestions on how to implement this way of working. 

BEST MOMENTS 

“Materials are part of a building block of a fragrance. Some don’t smell great on their own. Some don’t click until you start to understand how they work.”

“You don’t have to master materials on day one, but you do have to keep going.”

“Learning materials is like learning a language, and the best way to learn a language is by using it.”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Getting Started Guide

Artisan Perfumery Mastermind  

ABOUT THE HOST

Fragrance expert, author, teacher and speaker; Karen Gilbert runs courses in the UK and online which demystify the secretive world of perfumery in a fun and interactive way. 

Karen has inspired thousands of students to explore their olfactory sense and create their own personalised fragrances.

With extensive product development experience in both the commercial perfumery and the organic skincare industry, Karen is able to offer a unique insight into creating natural and mixed media fragrances for fine fragrance, room scents and skincare/bodycare products using commercial perfumery techniques.

Karen is also a certified meditation teacher and has a passion for helping people to create daily rituals that integrate scent with other modalities to shift state and increase your sense of wellbeing.

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This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/