Denyse Beaulieu of the Grain de Musc blog will be teaching a 3-day course titled 'An intensive perfume primer' at the London College of Fashion this coming December:
The course, designed and given by the Paris-based fragrance writer Denyse Beaulieu, will be a direct, hands-on, sensory initiation to perfume appreciation through games, visuals, discussions and of course smell, smell, smell... Discover raw materials, both synthetic and natural, and how they're used in fragrance composition. Experience the greatest perfumes in history and the way they echo the social and sartorial trends of the 20th century. Explore the cutting-edge scents of the 21st century, with the development of auteur perfumery and experimental compositions. And above all, learn to connect smells to words and images. Your world will never smell the same.
The course will be held Monday through Wednesday, December 12 through the 14th, from 9 am to 5 pm. You can read more (or register) here; the cost is £390.
That would be about $800 Canadian for a three-day course, add the flight to London plus hotel… I’m in! The class better be getting some boffo samples out of this for that kind of outlay$$.
LOL…no idea if samples are included, but guessing not!
Hi Robin, Lydia: I’m working on the samples angle but that’s not exactly the type of info you put up on a university website, is it?
The course was initially conceived for fashion students, who can earn credits for it, but the London College of Fashion has decided to open it to non-students, aka perfume lovers. I think the mix will be great fun!
Feel free to contact me for info: graindemusc at gmail dot com…
And thanks, Robin!
Thanks Denyse!
Can’t say enough good things about Denyse. Not only does she write exquisitely, her depth of knowledge, both technically and culturally, is spectacular. I would attend in a heartbeat if I had the money. Which I don’t — not even close. But I’d say it was worth every penny for those who do.
Thanks R!
oooohhh, jealous of every single person who gets to enroll. What a fun intro to perfume….alas by noon the first day my nose would be unable to differentiate any of the smells! I know—a 3 day program to hook ’em and then a 3 WEEK program…..sigh….the midwest is a long ways away….
I was thinking the other day how it would be fun for a bunch of us to go on a perfume retreat. We could all meet up somewhere, smell our way around town during the day, drink wine at night, smell more things…
FUN!!!!
What a great idea! I’d be in on that! Flight to UK, flight to US is pretty much the same for me from Oz. I already have plans for December – heading home to Malaysia for Xmas with the family – so can’t make this course.
There isn’t much on offer perfume-appreciation-wise here, so I have resigned myself to the fact that I will have to go overseas to further my interest!
Do keep us posted
I think we need to figure out where our perfume mecca would be, and then plot from there. New York? (I would say Paris, but, although I can’t speak for anyone else, that would be way out of my realm of possibilities.)
I’d like to be in on that escapade. Let me know when & where.
cool, let’s all meet at Rustic’s house tomorrow at 6:30 am—because 6:00 would just be rude…..**wink wink**
(clearly I am over tired and need to hie off to bed)
No worries. I’m an early riser.
I’d love to take Ms. Beaulieu’s class, but won’t be able to this time, alas.
Next time!
It would be awesome to see Denyse manage to organize one of these courses through one of the fashion schools in NYC and/or Los Angeles.
Oh, and Miss Kitty, I vote for a “perfume retreat” in Portland! I’ve been dying to get back up there.
Yep!
Okay…change of plans…we’ll all meet at ANGELA’S house at 6:30 a.m. She’ll be wicked surprised! Don’t worry, I’m sure she’s just screaming cuz she’s so excited.
Hey, that would make it easy for me! I’d totally be into that!
I wonder if this would be covered by a Pell Grant? Just kidding.
HA…wouldn’t that be funny!