July 06, 2025

The Architecture of Aroma - Structuring Floral Fragrances

26 minutes

Karen has a new live course coming up, on the 7th of July, and in this episode she wants to explore two things that link into that live course - Floral Fragrances and Structure. Working with florals, without experience, can be an overwhelming task that often leads to disappointing results as florals are dense materials that fight with each other if you don’t know how to mix them. But, when you get florals right, they can lead to some of the most rewarding results in all of perfume making. In this episode, Karen gives a brief overview of the challenges you will face when working with florals, the methods you can use to overcome them and how, by signing up to her live course, you can become a master of working with florals.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Floral materials by their very nature are dense and heavy. This can lead to less than pleasing results the first time you work with them, which can be off putting. However, the answer, as Karen explains, is making sure you have a structure in place.

Despite popular belief, working with florals doesn’t just mean working with natural products. Karen explains how to mix naturals and synthetics to give your floral fragrances a structure that works.

A common mistake people make when working with florals is trying to ‘patch up’ a fragrance that doesn’t smell the way they were hoping. Karen talks about why this is a mistake and the importance of getting your heart accord correct to avoid this problem.

Karen gives a brief overview of the structure she teaches, why it works and what to expect from your fragrances once you’ve learned it through her live course.

BEST MOMENTS

“Once you create a solid fragrance structure, you’re going to be able to use that in every other fragrance type.”

“The issue isn’t the materials, it’s the space between them.”

“People often think that more florals equals better floral fragrance, but it doesn’t work like that.”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Perfume Making 101 Masterclass

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.

CONTACT DETAILS

Website

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

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By Karen Gilbert

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