Over 15 years ago, when I first fell in love with the idea of using invisible materials to engage audiences, I had to rely naively on the essential-oils-with-vodka-macerate-for-6-weeks model, then followed by a serendipitous workshop in Northern California where I was exposed to beautiful, highly specialized, and barely available natural perfumery materials. The sources of these materials were kept hidden, and there were no recipe or formula books to follow as I fell headfirst into an obsession that continues to this day. Over the years I’ve been continually baffled by the gatekeeping that plagues even the most well-meaning projects and individuals in the scent world. Equally, I am inspired by the people who are trying to make a difference.
Just this past week I discovered a tool that would have helped me enormously as I grasped in the dark for how to make, mix, and complete formulas. Olfactorian is an open source community for scent makers where makers share formulas, knowledge, and general know-how. As with other commons and community platforms in software (e.g., GitHub, Stack Overflow), documentation is shared in order to study and adapt it to build things further. Transparency like this creates mentorship at scale, where newbies can see working examples and ask questions, while pros can refine their approaches by “teaching” others. Shared perfume knowledge as care and community investment, not a risk to be guarded against. Yes please.
I interviewed the co-founder, Alex, who shares a similar background. He was a math major (I was too, then switched to art last minute), he worked in finance (I worked for Hambrecht & Quist years ago, and had the wild ride of consulting for startups during the dot-com boom), and he started playing around with fragrance as a hobby as I started exploring scent as a side project. He and his co-founder Sophie have combined their love of scent materials and process with his data know-how over the past two years, building an impressive community of perfumers and data for the Olfactorian project. They are working with fashion brands, connecting them with perfumers on the platform, and continue to develop projects for the community.
Unlike the many classes and workshops that cost anywhere between 1,000 and 8,000 USD, Olfactorian is a free database available to anyone. Materials from throughout the world are more accessible than ever, and the comprehensive database keeps thorough descriptions, performance metrics, and up-to-date IFRA standards on materials. You may request evaluators through the database, enter challenges, get inspired by formulas shared, and learn as much as you want about making scents.
Olfactorian has clear guidelines about the use of AI on the platform and is bold in its understanding that the art of scent making will not thrive unless the knowledge is shared and open. As with all community efforts, engagement is key, and I invite you to check it out, open a digital lab space, and play. Your lab space is kept private unless you wish to share formulas for feedback, and the site offers services to connect you with compounders if you would like to scale your creations. No white lab coat accessory required to make beautiful, high-quality compositions with creativity and integrity.
Olfactorian founders:
Alex is a co-founder of Olfactorian. He is a self-taught perfumer living in London with 12 years of experience building financial data platforms. Outside perfumery, he is deeply involved in tea ceremonies and tango dancing.
Sophie is a co-founder of Olfactorian. She is a scent enthusiast with over 10 years of professional experience in fashion, jewelery, and software development. Outside work, she is a foodie and loves traveling.
WORDS:
Olfactorian: someone dedicated to the art and craft of scent-making. Olfactorian is a community platform described as having a comprehensive data library that empowers people to explore the essential building blocks of fragrance, from aroma chemicals to natural materials, building a community of shared knowledge. An “Olfactorian” seems to refer informally to a member of that community or someone devoted to the craft of scent making. Founder Alex shares “the name olfactorian came to me because I wanted the platform to bridge the old and the new, to preserve the history of perfume and build on top of it into the future”.
Open Nose: The concept that having an open mind, community, and collaboration (between perfumers, between brands and perfumers, and between scent enthusiasts and perfumers) will create honour, clear lineage, and more authorship for makers/perfumers. As Olfactorian founders believe an open nose environment will create a “perfumer first” ecosystem.
Odorbet 
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