Perfumers are trained, not born. Most people can learn to recognise hundreds of odours; what makes the difference is daily repetition and giving every smell a name. Research on odour memory shows that a smell you can label is far easier to recall than one you can only “feel”.
This masterclass is the foundation for everything else in Venaro Learn. You will set up a simple smelling routine, learn the vocabulary perfumers use, and finish by evaluating finished perfumes over 24 hours, exactly as an evaluator would in a fragrance house.
By the end you will be able to
- Describe any material by family, character, intensity and tenacity
- Recognise 24 core materials blind with at least 70% accuracy
- Separate the top, heart and base of a finished perfume
- Write a clear, objective 100-word fragrance review
Your kit
- 30 paper smelling strips (mouillettes) per week
- About 24 materials diluted to 10% in perfumer’s alcohol or DPG (six to eight a week, listed below)
- Glass droppers or pipettes, labels and a pencil
- A notebook or a spreadsheet: material, date, three words, intensity 1–5, what remains after 1 h / 4 h / 24 h
- Nitrile gloves and a well-ventilated room with no scented candles or diffusers
Week 1 · How to smell, and the citrus–herbal family
Label the strip first, dip only the tip (about 1 cm), wait a few seconds for the alcohol to flash off, then smell in short sniffs of two or three seconds. Rest between materials by breathing clean air for 30 seconds; you do not need coffee beans.
Materials: Bergamot, lemon, sweet orange, lavender, rosemary, peppermint
Exercises
- Describe each material in exactly three words: one for the family, one for the texture (sharp, round, powdery…), one for a memory.
- Rate intensity from 1 to 5, then smell again at 15 minutes and 1 hour. Note how quickly citrus fades.
Homework: Smell all six every day for five days. On day five ask someone to code the strips and identify them blind.
Week 2 · Florals and their key molecules
Floral oils are complex, but each has a few molecules that carry its character. Smelling the natural next to its key molecule is the fastest way to understand both.
Materials: Rose oil or rose base and phenylethyl alcohol; jasmine and Hedione; ylang-ylang; orange blossom and methyl anthranilate; a violet note (ionones)
Exercises
- Pair test: smell the natural, then its molecule, then the natural again. Write what the molecule explains and what it misses.
- Place every material learnt so far on a fragrance wheel (fresh, floral, amber, woody).
Homework: Smell flowers wherever you find them this week (markets, gardens) and add three real-life entries to your notebook.
Week 3 · Woods, ambers and musks: the long-lasting base
Base materials evolve slowly and many are smelled more by the skin than the nose. It is normal to find one or two musks or woody ambers almost odourless: specific anosmias are common and are not a sign of a poor nose.
Materials: Cedarwood, vetiver, patchouli, Iso E Super, Ambroxan, vanillin, coumarin, a clean musk (Galaxolide or Habanolide)
Exercises
- Tenacity test: keep every strip for 48 hours and smell at 1 h, 4 h, 24 h and 48 h. Rank them from least to most tenacious.
- Smell vanillin and coumarin side by side; describe how “sweet” differs from “warm hay”.
Homework: Blind test of all 18 materials learnt so far.
Week 4 · Evaluating finished perfumes
Professional evaluators smell on strip and on skin, at fixed times, and write before they discuss. Skin adds warmth and changes the base; the strip shows structure more clearly.
Materials: Three finished perfumes from different families (for example a cologne, a floral and an amber)
Exercises
- Smell each on strip and wrist at 0, 15 min, 1 h, 4 h and 8 h. Map what you smell to top, heart and base.
- Triangle test: a partner prepares three strips, two the same and one different. Find the odd one out. Repeat five times.
- Write a 100-word review: opening, heart, dry down, projection, who would wear it.
Homework: Final blind test of 24 materials. Aim for 70% or better; repeat the weeks you found hardest.
Final project
Final project: a personal odour library of 24 materials, each with your three words, intensity, tenacity and a real-life association, plus two written perfume evaluations.
Safety
Never smell undiluted materials straight from the bottle and never apply them to skin. Work with 10% dilutions, wear gloves, keep materials away from children and pets, and label every bottle with name, dilution and date.
Further reading
- Jean-Claude Ellena, The Diary of a Nose
- Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez, Perfumes: The A–Z Guide
- Michael Edwards’ Fragrance Wheel (fragrancesoftheworld.com)
