For many years I have held one-day perfumery workshops at which I explore the world of perfumes with a group of about 20 people. The emphasis is on the word – explore – an active word which describes the active smelling which dominates the day.

In the morning we concentrate on acquiring the fundamentals of a smell vocabulary, whilst learning to tune-in to the emotional messages which the aromas convey.

The afternoon is exhilarating as each participant, working with a partner if they prefer, create their first perfume – albeit with just a little help.

For the perfume I usually choose a fragrance theme which is familiar such as rose, lily-of-the-valley, lilac, narcissus, gorze, or some other floral theme. We explore this floral theme and around the theme we construct a perfume which can be as floral or as abstract as suits the taste of the creator.

There is always boundless enthusiasm at these sessions and only one potential hitch – some folk become so deeply immersed in this new exploration of emotions through perfume that they will not go home; and the occasional session which was scheduled to finish at 17.00 hours is still going strong for some folk past midnight (it is not of course a problem, except when the rooms are hired!).

Now I want to see whether it is possible to harness the new power of the world wide web and so reach a wider, world audience with whom I can explore the domain of perfumes. So this is an experiment which is being tried for the first time.

For the first perfume for a world audience I choose a rose theme; a familiar and universally loved scent which can be moulded in the most surprising directions.

Rose Scent Kit:
A new product containing entirely natural oils coming early 2005