Overview
A perfumist is someone with a background in chemistry who specializes in creating and testing new perfumes and colognes. She works with scents and odors derived from nature or artificially created to come up with a perfume that will be bottled and made available for sale through various distributors. Perfumists often collaborate with different professionals such as fashion designers, beauty company owners, celebrities, and cosmetics manufacturers to create a unique and marketable perfume product.
Typical Workday
A regular workday for a perfumist is spent experimenting with many different types of scents. Some of the most popular odors for perfumes include roses, sandalwood, vanilla, citrus, licorice, chocolate, lilies, cinnamon and various fruits. The perfumist works with these materials in the raw and extracts their key odors by heating the specific item (such as licorice or rose petals) and removing the essential oil. Then the essential oil derived from one substance is mixed in with one or more types of substances to create new combination of scents. The perfumist works closely with a client such as a designer or cosmetics manufacturer to produce his desired scent.
Qualifications and Other Information
A perfumist must have a degree in chemistry to be able to extract essential oils from raw materials. Some perfumists also work as apprentices to established perfumists and learn the basics of perfume-making. A perfumist may work independently in a laboratory or be employed by a beauty or cosmetics company or even a major design house that produces signature scents. In addition to making personal perfumes, perfumists mix scents for a variety of other products such as soap, body lotions, shampoos, conditioners and even dish washing liquid or toilet bowl cleaners.
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