Report on May 2017 Perfumery Course – Second part - All Natural Perfumes by AbdesSalaam Attar

FROM AMIR
Iran. Chef

I departed from Tehran and arrived at Germano Reale with a little apprehension, as I got my kit only on the last day, and I thought that I would have some difficulties because I had not practised and experimented with the kits.

On the evening before the course starts, we all met Salaam and he reassured me. What I had never imagined is that we would be making perfumes already on the very day.

As he says making perfume is easy, and after the second day, one can see he’s right and I could make sixteen within a week.

While guiding us in making our perfumes, he was giving us practical information about all the aspects of making perfumes. Know-how, bottling, selling and so on. But more than telling and writing on the papers, Salaam writes on the soul. He teaches by doing and also makes you learn by doing. Learning by doing with precious essences. And he’s most with his pricey essential oils and the rare substances and raw materials that he has, that very few people have had the chance to see and smell them.

There in Germano Reale, you might feel far away from the world but is a good opportunity to learn so many things all at once. Salaam doesn’t give any certificate, you don’t need any. He gives two most precious things, his knowledge and his time, before, during and after the course. God bless him.

Perfumes composed during the course by Amir

FROM ZITA
Spain

“Distill yourself”. Reading this quote from Salam in a perfumeries blog, I knew that I had to go to Italy.

Two words only to understand that I had a unique chance to learn something different. Not only to learn about aroma and scent but also about myself.

From my first telephone call on I feel guided by Salam’s unique way to teach.

Starting the pre-course he gave us already a taste of what it means to experience the quality of essence. Opening little by little the bottles from our perfumer’s organ under Salam’s instructions immediately I could smell and sense the transforming effect of his natural oil and tinctures. But that is only one aspect of the course.

He showed us to target our goal, to come to the point without wasting time, to become a real perfumer: blending and creating an accord with the right attitude.

Scent as a language to talk to others, to share. Each day we could bring the examples of his teachings in our own bottles.

At the end of the course, each of us had a large number of perfumes to take with him. We used the well-prepared scent organs in front of us, ready to blend their content with Salam’s scent of knowledge and wisdom.

And not beside but in a perfect balance we learned a practical way to create a perfume and how to sell it. Distilling Rosemary on the last day completed the course.

The essence of perfume making. Thank you, dear Salam

Perfumes composed during the course by Zita

FROM PAUL JEFFREY
Celebrity makeup

Last year I took this amazing course in natural perfume with AbdesSalaam and Profumo.it. It’s a natural perfumery workshop where we study smells and learn to create custom bespoke perfumes for clients. For me, it was a transformative experience and it literally catapulted me deeper into the world of Scent. After that class, I became obsessed with the smells and feel very connected to the plant kingdom. But, the question is, why would I repeat the course a second time? Well, I felt as if the course summoned me, to deepen my skills and reveal my new Path and passion for perfume.

It is like this quote from Rumi.

Isn’t it time to turn your heart into a temple of fire? ~Rumi

I started my Europe journey in Berlin with the art and olfaction awards and planned to go from there to the Cannes film festival. In my mind the dates of the May 2017 class were the same time as the festival, after talking to Salaam, I realized I was wrong and the class would fit into the 6 free days I had before, the Cannes film festival… I feel like this was magic and my heart and mind felt open and excited to dive back into the class.
I wasn’t planning on taking the course a second time, but as God would have it, I was able to return. To me, learning is an ongoing process and it just gets better when your passion is involved, and this reignited my desire to be one with the scents I was about to create.

I remember waiting at the train station for Gimmy to come to pick me up and bring me to the hotel. The moment I landed at the train station, I was excited, and I felt as if I was part of the class without being in the building. I think that is the magic of the essences, they are living breathing entities and I started to get this extra sensory awareness about smells and the etheric feeling before I arrived at the hotel.

The first thing you do is breath, relax and take in the essence. This is important with no stress we can feel the perfume and compose scents.
The classroom is alive with the energy of the people, the energy of the plants’ essences and energy of Salaam, he is so generous and filled with immense knowledge we get to learn and apply it immediately and compose perfumes.

Our first creation was an Italian holiday. It was a strong concept that was actualized by choosing ingredients that represent Italy and blend them to make harmony. I chose the ingredients, coffee orange flowers and almond. The three things that remind me of Italy. I feel like I can fall down in bliss when smelling and mixing the ingredients, But then I feel like that with all of the essences from class. I felt like I was returning to love. My love of perfume and my love from the passion the essences ignite within me.

Our next exercise was to sit with a client as they choose 3 or more ingredients by blind submission. The magic is, their nose becomes their doctor. They choose ingredients that help their body heal or transform. My clients picked three main ingredients that help regenerate from stress, nervous exhaustion and fatigue. He was unaware of what he was choosing, but the remedy was to help him battle his stress and fatigue.

I feel making perfume is a chance to love the person sitting in front of us. Salaam says perfume is a bridge between two people, like love! I agree!! The experience is the most profound I feel we are getting to communicate with the heart and soul of the person we are blending for.

I feel that the perfumes are created through me, they are like my children, but are really archetypes of healing. I feel they are alive and have their own specific energy.

My greatest gift was to compose and create a perfume for my teacher and friend Salaam.

The prayers by the Sufi/Muslims can be intoxicating when done with the proper devotion. One day I heard Salaam singing such prayers while at lunch, it moved me beyond words, I loved hearing the devotion and singing, I was absolutely transfixed. So, I wanted a fragrance to encapsulate this moment of beauty. Imagine blending a fragrance for your teacher and inspiriting mentor? Getting a moment to touch the soul and compose that moment in time.

I thought of all the attributes that moved me about Salaam, spirituality, otherworldly or heavenly, calming, transformative, deep, compassionate and funny! So, I chose ingredients and blended. I feel that perfumes are their own creation but we get to have that energy move through us. I had so much joy at that moment I couldn’t hold it in. He loved my perfume and said it would be his Friday prayer perfume. When I breathe this fragrance, I feel that I have a deep connection with Salaam. I am so lucky I got to blend a bottle of “Salaam” for myself. It is one of my treasures of the class.

Salaam says every person is a universe to discover, an infinite universe like none other. With perfume, this person and Universe comes alive in a prismatic cascade of colour and smells.

On the last day of class, we participated in distilling rosemary and Last year we did cypress. It’s another deepening experience of scent and connecting to the plant world. It’s a practical and indispensable tool for the perfumer to know how to make your own essential oils. The product has more vitality than, what you buy from some suppliers. For me, it’s another way to be in and communicate with nature.

The benefit of taking the class again is I have more experience and confidence. I have more knowledge of perfume ingredients and aromatherapy healing benefits. It brought me great joy to be able to assist Salaam in the class because of previous experience and assist other students in blending.

Now, I am holding 17 blended perfumes and a deeper passion for the perfume part of the work. I know and believe in the healing power of perfumes made with aromatherapy benefits and see the effect it has had on me and those that I have made blends for.

With great gratitude, I thank God and Salaam for being a part of this workshop again.

Now my goal is this Rumi quote… I want to do this with perfume!

Now is the time to unite the soul and the world. Now is the time to see the sunlight dancing as one with the shadows. ~Rumi

with love and gratitude

Jeffrey Paul