So what is your day job?
- Thread starter ParadiseofOils
- Start date
indrashis90
Oud Beginner
I'm a consulting Civil Engineer working at the planning side of things for last 10+ years, mostly road infrastructure projects
Alamande
True Ouddict
I do information management, mostly on large semiconductor and biopharma projects...it’s kind of a weird, niche job, done mostly by weird people without the typical construction background 😅. Nobody grows up wanting to do this job…but I like that I get to move around and work in different countries. I’ve been lucky so far🤞
Joe
Resident Artisan
sounds awesome to me. I gather your day job sufficiently keeps you busy. Mine doesn't. It's boring, but it beats taking calls in an HR Call Center, which is the worst, I bet.
Kai Leon Art Perfumer
Oud Knight
Well, overcoming my discreet 'niche' seclusion (since You've asked nicely - Joe) -
Aroma-profi and a free artist here, sharing my creative activity between the World of Fine Art and the World of Fine Fragrance:
I'm an Art perfumer, creating bespoke personal perfumes (based on the doctrine of Aroma-Genera - that combines Archetypal Psychology with Individual Aroma-Profiling and Diagnostics),
- and my other artful passion is classical Painting (oil on canvas). In the past though I had a long career in Therapy and in Academy in the fields of Holistic Psychotherapy and Herbal Medicine (as Aromatherapy); occasionally - as a consultant and educator in the Industry (of Natural Aromatics & Skin Care). But these days mostly - creating luxurious (single-bottle) personal perfumes 🙂
Aroma-profi and a free artist here, sharing my creative activity between the World of Fine Art and the World of Fine Fragrance:
I'm an Art perfumer, creating bespoke personal perfumes (based on the doctrine of Aroma-Genera - that combines Archetypal Psychology with Individual Aroma-Profiling and Diagnostics),
- and my other artful passion is classical Painting (oil on canvas). In the past though I had a long career in Therapy and in Academy in the fields of Holistic Psychotherapy and Herbal Medicine (as Aromatherapy); occasionally - as a consultant and educator in the Industry (of Natural Aromatics & Skin Care). But these days mostly - creating luxurious (single-bottle) personal perfumes 🙂
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Be en Foret
Oud Fanatic
That is a beautiful and meaningful basis for creation. Other than oud, what materials do you find yourself often reaching for?
Kai Leon Art Perfumer
Oud Knight
Everything 🙂 I like conceptual and complex yet seamless, fused compositions with atmospheric 'feel' - fragrant stories, which requires technically a lot of subtle nuancing - practically meaning that on average my perfumes contain anywhere between 60 to 200 individual essences (plus some natural isolates), or more - if I count different batches of the same type - for instance 6 different Rose essences to make a single 'Rose' tone. To create the desired vibe it takes sometimes months of numerous subtle adjustments, trying new varieties of Ouds, Vetivers, Herbs and Citruses, making versions, tracking the maturation, changing again...
I don't really know, how many materials I have at any given moment, as I've lost count (many hundreds), so just for illustration I've counted - how many different Rose essences I have now - 13 (plus two are just entirely finished - but still sniffing freshly emptied bottles), Petitgrains - 5, many Ouds (which I use profligately - in my last perfume alone I've used 7 different types - 3 plantation and 4 wild ones, and three of those - are used up to the last drop), and so on.
Just as a painter does not discriminate any colours or shades per ce, I love all the aromatics of the Fragrant Spectrum -from the most luxurious - popular or rarified (like the mentioned Roses and Ouds, along with Boronia, Wild Narcissus and Tobacco Flower) right to the humble (Gurjun, Copaiba) and obscure (Fabiana imbricata)... But always - of the finest quality available.
I do have personal favorites, which change once in a while, and with an arrival of some captivating new batches I switch to some new ones - but those end up used-up the fastest... But it also depends on the project I work on - meaning it reflects the taste of a client.
Excluding Oud in all its diversity (the absolute favorite), the recent July favorites are Malaysian Red Frangipani absolute, Japanese Sudachi Citrus (cold-pressed), 30-years' ripened Bourbon Vetiver and some artisanal Karnataka Sandalwood - but I feel soon there will be a shift for the new excitements 🙂
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melkhaldi
True Ouddict
That must be serene 😀
melkhaldi
True Ouddict
That sounds like a white lab coat 🥼 job!
Joe
Resident Artisan
I'm only familiar with CBT and psychodynamic therapy, as well as Jungian and psychoanalysis, but I've never heard of holistic therapy.
Alamande
True Ouddict
Only in the sense that if you do it long enough, men in white coats will have to come and take you away 🤣
Joe
Resident Artisan
lol
Joe
Resident Artisan
Wow. 200 materials?! Most commercial perfumes aren't that many. Do u work with just naturals or synthetics and some naturals?
Kai Leon Art Perfumer
Oud Knight
Well, there are some rare examples of the complexity and wealth in the mass-produced perfumes - in the glorious distant past though, like the Balmain's 'Le Vent Vert' and 'Joy' by Jean Patou - allegedly each was cleverly constructed out of nearly 1000 ingredients, and their creators surely inspire me in my work. Besides, I am definitely not 'the most commercial' folk - to put it mildly:
I create 'Wearable Aroma-Art' of the most luxurious type and of the finest quality available - bespoke personal perfumes (single bottle for single individual), and that requires the utmost sophistication. Besides, as I said, that really depends on how we count - if I use twelve different Rose essences to make a single 'Rose blossom' tone, does it count for one ingredient - Rose - or 12? (5 absolutes - Moroccan Rose de Mai, two Gallicas, one Indian Bourbon and one Chinese Cymosa, plus 7 ottos - one 'Royal Georgian', three 'Persians', one Azerbajiani and one White Bulgarian) 🙂 - When I've mentioned 200 ingredients, I've meant the counting of each individual product (including those 12 different Roses for instance).
Also, please keep in mind that when creating an accord, let say 'Spring floral field', I may use just a single drop of 1%-diluted natural isolate of Melonal - on 10 ml of the accord's volume, and then to use only a single drop of that accord - so at the end in the final fragrance there will be mere 0.00002% of Melonal out of the entire composition, yet it should be counted as a present ingredient, right? 😉
I work almost exclusively with fine natural essences and with natural isolates (as for example the above-mentioned Melonal). On rare occasions, and if a client wishes so specifically, I certainly can use synthetic materials - I am capable (saying it not humbly - quite expertly), but the Synthetics are just not my personal preference at all - at soul I am a 'Nature boy'. But I do have some synthetic molecules, particularly from the naturally 'impossible' materials, like 'Ozone-Fresh Air' for instance, or some 'impossible' flowers.
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