Perfumer

A Perfumer isn't just someone who makes liquid that smells good, its way more complicated than that. Perfumery is a science and an art, the bonds between perfumery and chemistry are extensive. There are so many interactions and chemical transformations that occur in perfumery, to get the full "gist" of understanding the profession you must first understand the fundamental nature of substances and how they interact in different environments.

Becoming a perfumer can be very rigorous. First off you must have some sort of background in chemistry to enter a perfume university program or a perfumery school within a fragrance company. The training process is the most intense part of the learning, which could take up to years to complete. The first task for a trainee is to study hundreds of natural and synthetic materials memorizing all of them and assuring you can recognize them all by their specific odors. After learning all of this, the trainee must have the ability to create new and unique substances by combining and balancing raw materials in many different ways. Another important aspect in the training process is having the ability to incorporate these fragrances into various consumer products.

Most perfumers specialize in one of two categories; functional or fine fragrance toiletries (fashion such as Paris Hilton or Ralph Lauren). Functional perfumers design scents for products, for example, shampoos, detergents, and deodorants. A perfumer has numerous clients to compete for from day to day. Each project has several tasks including creating a new fragrance formula, configuring all the ingredients, reviewing it, and challenging it assuring that everyone is satisfied and the new fragrance does the job. Although, it's not as easy as it sounds, every formula contains about forty to one hundred ingredients of both natural and manufactured molecules. Participating in lab meetings and working with clients is very important with

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