Training Day

Yesterday, I extracted myself out of bed at stupid o'clock to head down to London for a perfumery training day. All in all, it was a lot of fun. There's something magical being up before the sun has properly risen, when it's a winters day, the mist lying in the frosty fields and over mirrored ponds. I took my camera with me and got a couple of quite arty shots from the train. Boy quite liked them when I showed them to him last night. As the training started at 10am, I managed to miss the bulk of the commuter crush going down, for which I am grateful. I don't like crowds at the best of times and the thought of fighting up in the tube at that time, did not fill me with a great deal of warmth and joy.

I arrived in Liverpool Street on time and rushed to get to the tube. I'd worked out my route the night before on the internet, so I knew which line I wanted and the train. I had a quick check on the map, scurried off to the platform and pushed my way onto the train. Unfortunately, their idea of westbound and my idea of westbound were two different things: at the next stop, I realised I was going the wrong way. Out I got, practically ran up the steps to the other platform and waited for the train going the other way. Fortunately, it wasn't long and I got to the hotel on time for a cup of coffee and biscuits before we got stuck in.

I've been to quite a few training sessions, I've even delivered a few. So when I say yesterday was fun, informative and the trainers great, I do believe I know what I'm saying. The trainers led us through some of the different fragrances on offer and taught us about their development, history and occasional anecdotes about the designers. It was my first proper perfumery training and I found that I wasn't as ignorant as I first thought. The information I've been reading has actually lodged itself into my brain, I'm no longer bullshitting my customers blindly. I can now bullshit with style and expertise. During the course of the day we had opportunities to win goodies, try the various fragrances and body products as well as taking away a goody bag filled with training notes, posters and, well.....goodies.

The journey home was fun. I spent some time people watching and doing some journal writing. I was able to take some time to think about what it was that so moved me about fragrance that cosmetics and fashion has not been able to do. I realised that perfume is good for your well-being. It's not about anti-aging, making you appear years younger, tightening the saggy bits. Fragrance doesn't rely on your dress sense, or sense of style. Anyone can wear a fragrance, regardless of their looks, social status, gender, sexual orientation. I'm not so naive that I don't recognise there is a link between these things. I know people buy a fragrance hoping to buy into the designer experience, and a fragrance is often designed with this in mind. However, I do believe it is possible to step out of fragrance in this fashion sense. I know this is stepping out of the mainstream idea of perfume and where it sits in fashion, but I am coming at it from a different perspective. I am not trendy, young or even vaguely fashionable. My dress sense is dictated by comfort and what goes with jeans and comfortable shoes. I do not possess a genuine designer anything.

I suppose I'm thinking about fragrance in a more of an inclusive way, it embraces rather than excludes. A fragrance won't care how a woman looks, how old she is, how much money she has. It will smell fabulous on her, or it won't. Therefore, by wearing a fragrance, a woman or man, is making a statement about their personality, their self-esteem, their sensuality. It is possible to be completely skint and to still wear a scent, if only a dab of sandalwood essential oil on your pulse points. I have customers who are highly allergic to some of the ingredients in fragrance and it's a real tragedy for them, they feel as if they are missing out on an experience. In these cases, I always point them towards perfumers who pay attention to quality ingredients and to essential oils.

Fragrance is a sensual experience, best worn on your skin. It's something first and foremost for you to enjoy. A fragrance will react to your stress levels, for women - where you are in your monthly cycle and in your life-cycle, a fragrance will react to your diet. So whatever a fragrance smells like in the bottle, on a piece of card, it only really comes to life on the warmth of your skin. Despite the trend for celebrity fragrance, a person has to genuinely like a perfume to wear it. While there are trends in fragrance, it's not possible to fake liking a fragrance. I dare anyone to wear a fragrance they loathe and to try repeat the experience. You might make a mistake, but you won't want to do it again. There's nothing worse than putting on something which is your olfactory equivalent of Cat's Piss.

A year ago, if you would have told me I would become so passionate about fragrance, I would have laughed at you. Amazing isn't it, what life brings your way? Even if I stop working in perfume, I think I've now got a life-long obsession. No one ever need worry about what to get me for Christmas and birthday now.