Good Morning everyone! I hope you had a wonderful weekend. Let me introduce you to our next artist, Mandy Aftel.
Mandy Aftel lives on a quiet street in Berkeley and is the only woman I have ever known who is a maker of perfumes. She is quiet, dignified, and exotic! Rochelle Bloom, President of the Fragrance Foundations, says, “Mandy Aftel is a recognized authority in Natural Perfume and a true pioneer in the modern field of Naturals.
When I walked through her front door, I turned left into what was probably intended at one time to be the living room. I saw instead a magnificent room with a perfumer’s organ. This, I learned later, is a structure with several very short, stepped shelves to hold bottles, suggesting an organ console. And the bottles — a fabulous collection of vintage and new — were filled with scents from around the world.
As we went around the room trying to photograph every inch, it was such an experience for so many reasons. Each one of Mandy’s drawers was completely organized and as beautiful as her collection of bottles.
Everything she uses in her making of perfumes is a piece of art. She has a folded book that sits on an antique shelf, and while she is testing her combinations of oils, she puts her scent sticks between the pages. I am certain most testers would simply throw their sticks away as they finish each single test.
She even makes her own tea — and I am not a lover of hot tea — but it was fabulous and I, of course, came home with tins to relieve my own stress-filled afternoons!
Mandy was an inspiration and escorted me on a fabulous journey though the world of perfumes with all of its mystery and wonder. Every time I put on any kind of perfume, it is her I always think of and wonder what she would have to say!
Please visit Mandy at http://www.aftelier.com.
