Making cents from scents

One of Karen’s favourite products is her handblended perfume, Central #6, based on the scent of Central Otago.

“…with top notes of uplifting fruit, pine and lavender, heart notes of rose, aromatic herbs and a hint of spice, and a warm, dry earthy finish with vetiver, musk and frankincense,” says Karen.

The fragrance is the result of a Wellingtonbased workshop that Karen took in 2012. She says while it may seem intimidating at first, anyone can make a perfume.

“A perfume is a combination of perfume alcohol, distilled water and essential oils, and the process is really about blending essential oils together and finding the right combination. I choose to stay away from chemicals and stay as natural as possible.”

There are a few factors that make perfumes difficult to master.

It’s hard to make a perfume that remains consistent over the years. Scents change, and like fruit or plants, the oil is affected by the conditions that the crop is grown in. Some years are better than others, which for small producers makes it hard to craft a scent with consistent quality.

Perfume is more expensive to create than other scented products. Each one requires a large amount of good quality oils, and blending takes a lot of time.

Perfumes then need to benefit from good marketing and a higher price point in order to make a profit.

Blending a perfume is time consuming and your nose will simply give up after a while. Karen says you’ll need to bring in friends and family to smell the difference between recipe #4 and recipe #44.

“Good smellers would always go back to the same scent but it is hard and they have to be in the right mood. Choosing a scent is incredibly personal - all perfumes react differently with skin, so they can smell different from person to person.”