Published in 2014
288 pages
Mandy Aftel is an internationally known artisan perfumer and educator on natural fragrance and flavor. She was born and educated in Michigan and has been living in Berkeley, California since 1970. She is the owner of Aftelier Perfumes and the Aftel Archive of Curious Scents in Berkeley, California. The Archive is the first museum in the United States dedicated to the experience of fragrance, including her collection of one of a kind antique artifacts.
She participated in many exhibitions, panels and conferences concerning scent, has demonstrated and taught the art of natural perfumery across the nation, and regularly collaborates with top-name chefs and mixologists. She was named one of the top seven bespoke perfumers in the world by Forbes.com. Her work has been featured on CNN and in The New York Times, Vogue, Vanity Fair, In Style, Time, Bon Appétit, Food and Wine, W, Self, O: The Oprah Magazine, and Elle.
What is this book about?
The “Alice Waters of American natural perfume” (indieperfume.com) celebrates our most potent sense, through five rock stars of the fragrant world.
Mandy Aftel is widely acclaimed as a trailblazer in natural perfumery. Over two decades of sourcing the finest aromatic ingredients from all over the world and creating artisanal fragrances, she has been an evangelist for the transformative power of scent. In Fragrant, through five major players in the epic of aroma, she explores the profound connection between our sense of smell and the appetites that move us, give us pleasure, make us fully alive. Cinnamon, queen of the Spice Route, touches our hunger for the unknown, the exotic, the luxurious. Mint, homegrown the world over, speaks to our affinity for the familiar, the native, the authentic. Frankincense, an ancient incense ingredient, taps into our longing for transcendence, while ambergris embodies our unquenchable curiosity. And exquisite jasmine exemplifies our yearning for beauty, both evanescent and enduring.
In addition to providing a riveting initiation into the history, natural history, and philosophy of scent, Fragrant imparts the essentials of scent literacy and includes recipes for easy-to-make fragrances and edible, drinkable, and useful concoctions that reveal the imaginative possibilities of creating with—and reveling in—aroma. Vintage line drawings make for a volume that will be a treasured gift as well as a great read.
