Mandy Aftel discusses ‘Essence and Alchemy’

Some names, in perfumery, resonate. Mandy Aftel, an artisan perfumer based in Berkeley, CA., is one such person. She has spent almost thirty years immersed in scent (as her bio puts it) "culling the most beautiful natural essences from all over the world and using them to create exquisite fragrances."
In addition to this, she is an influential author. She has published several seminal books about the art and history of perfumery and in so-doing has inspired a generation of perfumers.
Mandy Aftel joined founder of the Institute for Art and Olfaction Saskia Wilson-Brown for a broad-ranging talk about the book, her work, and perfumery as a whole.