Mandy Aftel
Encyclopedia
Mandy Aftel is a leading natural perfumer and author of three books on natural perfume. Essence and Alchemy: A Book of Perfume has been translated into seven languages, won the 2001 Sense of Smell Institute's
Richard B. Solomon Award, and has helped pioneer the trend toward using natural ingredients.
Aroma, a cookbook co-authored with chef Daniel Patterson
, focuses on the essential link between food and fragrance. Scents and Sensibilities guides the reader through the history and creation of solid perfume
.
Aftel founded the Natural Perfumers Guild in 2002 to increase public awareness and education in natural perfumes. She has taught on natural perfume and aromas at University of Southern California, University of California Berkeley, the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone, the James Beard Foundation, New York University, Slow Food, London Design Festival, Esalen Institute, French Laundry Restaurant, San Francisco's Exploratorium, San Francisco Decorators Showcase, Women in Flavors and Fragrance in Commerce, and COPIA (The American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts).
Mandy Aftel was named "best scent" in San Francisco Magazine's "Best of the Bay", included on the "it list" of perfumers in Perfumer and Flavorist magazine, was listed as one of the top seven bespoke perfumers in the world by Forbes Magazine, and was chosen as one of the twenty-five most influential people in perfume by Basenotes.net.
In 2005, Aftel was invited to participate in a collaborative project between the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum in San Jose and the Stanford University School of Medicine, recreating a perfume for a two thousand year old child mummy, unofficially dubbed Sherit, from chemically analyzed resins that were scraped from the mummy's burial mask.
Mandy Aftel had three of her fragrances nominated for the 2011 U.S. FiFi Awards
(the perfume industry's equivalent of The Oscars) in the Best Indie Brand category, the first time an all-natural perfume has been nominated for a FiFi since the awards began in 1973, and the first year that the Indie Brand category was included as part of the proceedings.
The Fragrance Foundation
The Fragrance Foundation is the non-profit, educational arm of the international fragrance industry.-FiFi Awards:The FiFi Awards & Celebration is an annual event hosted by The Fragrance Foundation and honors creative excellence and achievement in the fragrance industry...
Richard B. Solomon Award, and has helped pioneer the trend toward using natural ingredients.
Aroma, a cookbook co-authored with chef Daniel Patterson
Daniel Patterson (chef)
Daniel Patterson is an American chef, restaurateur, and food writer, considered a leading proponent of California cuisine.A self-taught chef, Patterson was born in Lynn, Massachusetts. His mother was a French and history teacher, and his father was a lawyer. He says his family's frequent travels...
, focuses on the essential link between food and fragrance. Scents and Sensibilities guides the reader through the history and creation of solid perfume
Solid perfume
Solid perfumes or cream perfumes are perfumes in solid rather than the more common liquid form. Historically, ointment-like unguents have been used as a type of solid perfume since Egyptian times. Normally the substance that gives the cream its base comes from a type of wax that is initially melted...
.
Aftel founded the Natural Perfumers Guild in 2002 to increase public awareness and education in natural perfumes. She has taught on natural perfume and aromas at University of Southern California, University of California Berkeley, the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone, the James Beard Foundation, New York University, Slow Food, London Design Festival, Esalen Institute, French Laundry Restaurant, San Francisco's Exploratorium, San Francisco Decorators Showcase, Women in Flavors and Fragrance in Commerce, and COPIA (The American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts).
Mandy Aftel was named "best scent" in San Francisco Magazine's "Best of the Bay", included on the "it list" of perfumers in Perfumer and Flavorist magazine, was listed as one of the top seven bespoke perfumers in the world by Forbes Magazine, and was chosen as one of the twenty-five most influential people in perfume by Basenotes.net.
In 2005, Aftel was invited to participate in a collaborative project between the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum in San Jose and the Stanford University School of Medicine, recreating a perfume for a two thousand year old child mummy, unofficially dubbed Sherit, from chemically analyzed resins that were scraped from the mummy's burial mask.
Mandy Aftel had three of her fragrances nominated for the 2011 U.S. FiFi Awards
FiFi Awards
The FiFi Awards are an annual event sponsored by The Fragrance Foundation which honor the fragrance industry's creative achievements and is the most prominent and prestigious celebratory event of the fragrance industry...
(the perfume industry's equivalent of The Oscars) in the Best Indie Brand category, the first time an all-natural perfume has been nominated for a FiFi since the awards began in 1973, and the first year that the Indie Brand category was included as part of the proceedings.
Selected writings by Aftel
- 1982 "Death of a Rolling Stone: The Brian Jones Story" Delilah Books ISBN 0-933328-37-0
- 1985 "When Talk Is Not Cheap" with Robin LakoffRobin LakoffRobin Tolmach Lakoff is a professor of linguistics at the University of California, Berkeley.Lakoff's writings have become the basis for much research on the subject of women's language. In a 1973 article , she published ten basic assumptions about what she felt constituted a special women's...
Warner ISBN 0-446-51309-1 - 1996 "The Story of Your Life – Becoming the Author of Your Experience" Simon & Schuster ISBN 0-684-81557-5
- 2001 "Essence and Alchemy: A Book of Perfume" North Point Press ISBN 0-86547-553-9
- 2004 "Aroma: The Magic of Essential Oils in Foods and Fragrance" with Daniel Patterson, Artisan ISBN 1-57965-264-6
- 2005 "Scents & Sensibilities: Creating Solid Perfumes for Well-Being" Gibbs Smith ISBN 1-58685-738-X
External links
- Aftelier Perfumes.
- Natural Perfumers Guild.
- The Fragrance Foundation.
- Mandy Aftel on Facebook
- Mandy Aftel on Twitter
- SFGate article: Berkeley's Mandy Aftel creates scents for the stars
- Yahoo video: Second Act: Mandy Aftel
- Forbes video: CEO Spotlight
- San Francisco Weekly article: Making Scents
- FiFi Awards article: Independent Creativity: Profiling Mandy AFtel