Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    Essence and Alchemy: A Book of Perfume
    Unavailable
    Essence and Alchemy: A Book of Perfume
    Unavailable
    Essence and Alchemy: A Book of Perfume
    Ebook305 pages4 hours

    Essence and Alchemy: A Book of Perfume

    By Mandy Aftel

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    An artisan perfumer reveals a lost art and its mysterious, sensual history.

    For centuries, people have taken what seems to be an instinctive pleasure in rubbing scents into their skin. Perfume has helped them to pray, to heal, and to make love. And as long as there has been perfume, there have been perfumers, or rather the priests, shamans, and apothecaries who were their predecessors. Yet, in many ways, perfumery is a lost art, its creative and sensual possibilities eclipsed by the synthetic ingredients of which contemporary perfumes are composed, which have none of the subtlety and complexity of essences derived from natural substances, nor their lush histories. Essence and Alchemy resurrects the social and metaphysical legacy that is entwined with the evolution of perfumery, from the dramas of the spice trade to the quests of the alchemists to whom today's perfumers owe a philosophical as well as a practical debt. Mandy Aftel tracks scent through the boudoir and the bath and into the sanctums of worship, offering insights on the relationship of scent to sex, solitude, and the soul. Along the way, she imparts instruction in the art of perfume compositions, complete with recipes, guiding the reader in a process of transformation of materials that continues to follow the alchemical dictum solve et coagula (dissolve and combine) and is itself aesthetically and spiritually transforming.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Publishers
    Release dateApr 1, 2011
    ISBN9781429936125
    Unavailable
    Essence and Alchemy: A Book of Perfume
    Author

    Mandy Aftel

    Mandy Aftel is the founder of Aftelier, through which she creates one-of-a-kind perfumes for individuals and private labels. She is also a counselor who specializes in working with artists and writers. She is the author of three previous books, most recently THE STORY OF YOUR LIFE. She lives in Berkeley, California.

    Related to Essence and Alchemy

    Related ebooks

    Wellness For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      The Poet

      Oct 2, 2020

      The Poet
      3 min read

    • Article

      Garden To Skin

      Sep 6, 2017

      Garden To Skin
      5 min read

    • Article

      Fill Your Life WITH JOY!

      Jul 29, 2021

      Fill Your Life WITH JOY!
      4 min read

    • Article

      Be The Author Of Your Story

      Dec 1, 2020

      Be The Author Of Your Story
      2 min read

    • Article

      The renaissance OF SCENT

      Aug 19, 2019

      The renaissance OF SCENT
      8 min read

    • Article

      What’s Your Line?

      Aug 12, 2021

      What’s Your Line?
      1 min read

    • Article

      The New Kenzo

      Nov 22, 2019

      The New Kenzo
      4 min read

    • Article

      Still Life: The Working Process

      Feb 21, 2021

      Still Life: The Working Process
      4 min read

    • Article

      Mycelium

      Jul 22, 2021

      Mycelium
      11 min read

    • Article

      Reality Check

      Sep 3, 2021

      Brian Henderson studied at Edinburgh College of Art. He has won numerous prizes and exhibits widely in the UK. He currently has work in the Morningside Gallery, Edinburgh, Resipole Studios, Argyll and Scotland Art Gallery, Glasgow. brianhendersonpain

      4 min read

    • Article

      Embrace Your Life

      Aug 21, 2018

      Embrace Your Life
      8 min read

    • Article

      The Infrastructure of Joy

      Jun 27, 2019

      The Infrastructure of Joy
      3 min read

    • Article

      4 Wisdom

      Mar 23, 2021

      INTERBEING IS A TERM INVENTED by Thich Nhat Hanh to describe the profound interconnectedness of all things: that nothing can exist by itself alone; it can only ever inter-be with everything else. So when in Buddhism we speak of “no self” or “emptines

      2 min read

    • Article

      The Gift Of Fragrance

      Oct 16, 2020

      The Gift Of Fragrance
      6 min read

    • Article

      Stop Believing in Free Shipping

      Dec 11, 2019

      It was a pair of feather earrings that helped Ann Miceli get out from underneath strangers’ cars. For years, Miceli had worked as an auto mechanic and picked up shifts in her spare time at Indianapolis restaurants. One day, she came across those earr

      6 min read

    • Article

      Three Letters from Switzerland

      Aug 15, 2019

      Three Letters from Switzerland
      4 min read

    • Article

      Iris Apfel

      Sep 29, 2021

      Iris Apfel
      6 min read

    • Article

      What Did the Past Smell Like?

      Dec 9, 2020

      When people entertain transporting to the past, 19th-century Berlin, say, they don’t often imagine a dramatic shift in smellscape. The inhabitants talk differently. Their fashion looks strange. But what do those streets smell like? Suddenly, it hits

      8 min read

    • Article

      Wafting On The Heritage Trail

      Oct 30, 2021

      The exotic world of perfumery is no stranger to heritage and legacy. Warmly ensconced in the scented pages of history, buffeted by rich traditions and expert craftsmanship, the art of perfume making has been searing hearts since our ancients realised

      4 min read

    • Article

      The Scent of Death

      Apr 15, 2022

      The Scent of Death
      9 min read

    • Article

      A Quest to Bottle the West

      Apr 6, 2021

      Mandy Aftel says the idea for her perfume Sepia came while she was driving through ghost towns in California’s gold rush country. “I was struck by their desolate splendor…the beauty of ruins and old buildings and the countryside,” says Aftel, a niche

      2 min read

    • Article

      The IMAGINARY Odyssey

      Nov 21, 2021

      The IMAGINARY Odyssey
      2 min read

    Reviews for Essence and Alchemy

    4/5

    43 ratings1 review

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      I picked this up for the history of perfume part. Content-wise it was interesting, but I found Aytoun Ellis's "The essence of beauty : a history of perfume & cosmetics" a more enjoyable read.If I had been reading this as a how-to manual on sourcing and mixing essential oils to create my own compositions, I think I would have found it more useful.

      2 people found this helpful