Le Parfumeur Rebelle
The Importance of Being Innocent

by Fabienne Christenson, President of Possets Perfumes

Normally I am a big fan of education. The more you know, well,
the more you know. However, I am going to spout heresy and
say, when it comes to perfume do not ever under any
circumstances go to any school and become educated in how to
make perfume. Do. Not. Do. It.

Why? You will surely destroy the urges to do things which break
the rules and will cause you to make perfumes you love and are
utterly unique to you.

Don’t believe me? Consider this: I used to be good at painting
but I was persuaded to go to art school to get my Bachelor of
Fine Arts degree. Big mistake. I went to class and slavishly
listened to all the rules, memorized them, and could reel them
back to anyone who wanted to hear them like magnetic tape
going through a tape recorder. “Never use black.” “Do not paint
with line, only use mass and value.” “Paint your emotions, but
don’t hit the subject too hard.”

You might think that I was old enough not to let those
admonitions get to me, wrong. When we start out we are all
tender highly influenced by our teachers. In many ways my art
became stilted. I stayed my hand when I should have flung
paint. My confidence was broken by several teachers.
Eventually I left painting. Not a very good track record.

I really do not want this to be the case in perfume, especially
since I have created quite a few blends which break a lot of
rules and have become many of my favorites simply because
they are different and daring. I don’t think there is anything
wrong with knowing rules and applying them, but it’s the Rule
Which Stays Your Hand that is wrong, very wrong. I don’t want
a bite at that apple, and I want to warn others against it.

It’s a bit scary going into something so subjective as perfuming.
However, I believe that even the wackiest blends have their
rabid fans, and the more rangy you are in your work, the better
your work is. I hope to see even more creative action come out
of the perfuming community and would much rather be the
practitioner who fights for indulgence rather than strictures
hemming us all in. “You Must have a top, a middle, and a
bottom note….” Yes, that is nice, but there are blends which
have captivated me with only bottom notes, and hollow middle
notes and all sorts of things which I have bought , made, kept,
and worn with great appreciation when the spirit moved me;
and those blends have been far from “orthodox”. That’s the fun
of it all.

So, enjoy your own lights and good things to those who do as
they please. Those are the pioneers and the great ones among
us, and if we are all great because of it, Bless Us All every one!

Fabienne Christenson is the president and founder of Possets
perfumes. She holds a variety of degrees of wildly disparate
usefulness from large research universities. Her website is: www.
possets.com.



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