Marla Bosworth is the founder and owner of Back Porch Soap Company. She teaches classes, corporate events and experiences including candle making, soap making, organic skincare and perfumery.

September 06, 2011

Charna Brings Her Two Natural Perfume Classes Back to Boston this Month!

Have you gotten a whiff of the popularity of natural perfumes lately? Natural perfumes are hot, hot, hot! If you're new to the idea, Natural Perfumery (NP) is the creative art and science of using natural aromatic raw materials that are beautiful and complex to produce lovely perfumes. These aren't synthetic or man made fragrances - instead they are made with natural essential oils. Whether you want to learn to make natural perfumes for yourself or add it to your product lineup, mark your calendars for two Boston area workshops on September 17.

We welcome back workshop instructor and natural perfumer extraordinaire, Charna Ethier! She is the “nose” and founder of Providence Perfume Co. (Providence, RI) a natural perfumery specializing in luxurious botanical fragrances. After spending years working with large beauty and fragrance companies such as Aveda, she desired to create her own line of perfumes that were truly natural.

She is member of the Natural Perfumer’s Guild obtaining Professional Perfumer status and a regular participant in global perfume projects and collaborations. Her perfumes have received critical acclaim and have been featured on AOL, The Rhode Show, numerous magazines, and fragrance websites and blogs.

On Saturday, Sept. 17 from 9 a.m. to noon, Charna will teach a "Blending Natural Perfumes" workshop. Under Charna's guidance, students will create and take home:

  • Two Liquid Perfumes
  • One Solid Perfume
  • 10 essential oils (to take home after use in class blending)

In addition, Charna will share her knowledge on:

1. The Components of Natural Perfume: Essential oils, Absolutes, Floral waxes/concretes, Natural Isolates and Alcohol.

2. Tinctures (Hows and Whys)

3. Importance of Notekeeping (formularies, impressions, revisiting)

4. Measuring

5. Labeling and Ageing

6. Storage of Perfumes and Perfumery Ingredients

7. Accessory Notes

8. Botanicals Requiring Dilution

In addition, each student will receive a valuable handout containing reputable sources for ordering supplies; standard proportion of base, middle, and top notes; as well as formulation guidelines.

On Saturday, September 17 from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Charna will teach "Fine Tuning Natural Perfume Blends."

In this class, students will learn a myriad of techniques to create well-balanced, well-blended natural perfumes. Under Charna's guidance, students will create accords and bridging accords, as well as accessory notes. Charna will share her tips and tricks on creating perfumes with longevity sillage (the lingering of perfume).

Join us and experiment with accessory notes. You'll learn the effects and importance they play in building your natural perfumes. We'll also discuss how to measure these effects in proper dosages.

Students will take home three accessory note samples and a tincture created in class, along with instructions for further developing the tincture at home.

It will be a lively and interesting class, as Charna explains fragrance family classifications and perfume potency. Students will learn how to fine tune and troubleshoot perfume formulas. In addition, Charna will share how to store and preserve natural perfumes and perfumery materials. In addition, students will learn the importance of filtering.

This class is held in our Duxbury, Massachusetts studio, which is located approximately 40 minutes southeast of Boston and one hour from Providence. For more information and to register, please visit our website.


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