Interview by Justine Crane with Cher Lynne of Essential Oil Apothecary-Graduate of the Natural Perfume Academy
Justine Crane: Can you introduce yourself and share a bit about your journey in the world of natural perfumery since completing the NPA Course?
My name is Cher Lynne and I completed the course in June of 2023. I came into the program as the owner of a well-curated apothecary and I specialize in rare aromatics. After the course, it was kind of a two-fold thing in terms of my journey. First of all, it’s been an essential instrument in terms of helping my customer base. One of the things I get asked a lot about from customers who haven’t gone through any formal perfumery training is how to dilute aromatics and how to work with them. I had generalized knowledge but didn’t have specific dilution rates on certain things because I didn’t know. When I went through the program I learned through all of the exercises and came to understand dilution and the importance of dilution. I have made perfumes since childhood, but I didn’t understand how to put compositions together. I didn’t even realize that they were compositions and that certain things had to work with other things. I always did things by ‘feel’ and I think that’s kind of the story for a lot of natural perfumers initially. What this course did is it provided a lot of those building blocks that I needed so I could create a perfume that would last long on the skin, have a good balance, wouldn’t have too much jasmine, and had all the right elements that make a perfume a good perfume.
Justine Crane: How did you first become interested in natural perfumery, and what led you to enroll in the Natural Perfume Academy?
I have been interested in natural perfumery since I was a kid because my mother grew – well, first of all, we grew up in rural Alberta, Canada and it was just cold 10 months of the year. My mother and grandmother would grow these amazing roses, the rugosas, and other flowers, but the rugosas were the prominent thing in my mind, and it was what I worked with most. Even at that young age, I would try to boil petals to make rose water, tried to figure out how to make a perfume out of them, dry them, and sugaring them to eat. I was doing everything with plants, and specifically with the roses, so it was always there for me. As a middle schooler, I was doing things like writing essays about ancient Egyptian cosmetology, and this was when I was 12 years old. There weren’t even any books to feed off, and, of course, no internet in those days, so I just wrote about perfumes from my experience. It was always in me. I would read an entire book, either fiction or non-fiction as a kid, if it contained a single line about the ‘perfumes of somewhere’, so like the orange blossoms in Versailles, that just blew my mind, and I would try to find snippets everywhere in any works that I could get. So it was always with me. I loved perfume. Possibly because I lived on a farm that had so many aromas, fetid and floral, and I was just always into aroma – always, and it was always in my face and I loved it. What led me to the Academy was a two-year search because I was looking for a long-term course. I was looking at all things. The expense was part of it, but I was willing to do whatever. I wanted the training, and I looked at a lot of different programs. What I was looking for was a serious study. I wanted something that had an academic feel to it. Again, it goes back to wanting to construct something based on concrete ways of doing things, like a chemist works. That’s what I wanted, I wanted that foundation because I knew if I had that, I could go wild on my work. Honestly, out of all of the schools I looked at – and there was even one that was close to me that I felt wasn’t going to fit the bill – it wasn’t until I found the Academy that I realized that it was the school. It is an academy, it is an academic study of natural perfumery. I circled it for about a year, and when I found out I could work through it and I had time to do it – because that was another issue, I didn’t want a weekend course, I wanted a committed year or two, whatever it took, I wanted a long-term study, and the Academy fit every bit of criteria I was looking for. The decision to apply was a no-brainer. I had to do it.
Justine Crane: Can you share any specific projects or creations where you implemented techniques learned during the course?
I have applied the knowledge and skills I’ve acquired with the course, and that’s an action I would say I use pretty much every day. It’s in action by guiding budding perfumers, and – and that’s also a bridge in a way because many of these novice perfumers need simple directives on how to work with the aromatics they purchase from me. I insist that they get some education because when you’re buying top-end aromatics you want to know how to work with them, so for me, it’s like a prompt to get them thinking in terms of an academic study of perfumery. I use it in my work so now I’m starting to gear up and do more of my compositions, because why wouldn’t I? I have access to literally anything I want. I’m in a unique position because I have the skill set now to build what I may have only dreamed about. Whenever these beautiful aromatics come in I’m like, okay, what can I do with them? I now understand because I have that skill set. That’s helped in that way immensely, that’s been so huge for me because I was timid before to release any of my work. I’ve learned a lot, and I like that I can help the perfumers understand how to work with their materials and guide them to get more education.
Justine Crane: Can you share any specific projects or creations where you implemented techniques learned during the course?
I get a lot of requests for bespoke work. Bespoke perfumery. I was never completely comfortable with doing that before I went through the Academy. I wasn’t comfortable with it at all because I felt like I just didn’t understand how I could make a natural perfume last long, and I was always worried about the durability of a perfume, or sillage. I was always worried that someone would get a perfume that I’d made and it would disappear in ten minutes. That was something that I didn’t want to happen because it felt like I would then be perpetuating the idea amongst synthetic perfume makers that natural perfume doesn’t last on the skin, and I felt like it could, but I just didn’t know until I had the tools how to do that. I’m now able to take on a bespoke project and create a perfume and have a happy customer on the end, have a good product, a beautiful perfume, and I’m very proud of that. It’s a culmination of my entire life of working with aromatics.
Justine Crane: Were there any particular challenges that you faced during the learning process, and how did you overcome them?
Yes, I had a few. I worked through the program and I loved all of it, even the tough stuff, but when I got to dilution and ratios and any of that kind of stuff, I really struggled. I learned later that I wasn’t the only one. I had to overcome some major fears and I had to just get over myself. I’ve had so many challenges in life with any sort of numerical work (Haha!). When I got to that part of the course, I came to a screeching halt and then I held off for a month, and then I was like, okay, I just have to do this. Even when I did the dilution work halfway through the course, I realized I had done it wrong, and I was devastated. I was playing into my fear even more, telling myself I couldn’t do this. I remember taking a minute and visualizing because that’s how I work. I visualize things, and then I do them. I visualized how it would look, and then I gave myself a day or two and then knocked it all out. I got the dilution and ratios project done. It calmed my soul down because I was able to overcome some major mental obstacles. That’s what it was, and that was my challenge. It isn’t anymore. I feel confident now. I needed to do that, and I mentally fought it in the beginning asking myself why I took this on. This is too much! I had to do it; I had to learn dilution and ratios. I can’t do anything that I’m doing now, or my projected future projects – I can’t do any of that without knowing this work. This is the foundational stuff. I’m glad now (Hahaha!) This goes into the insights that I gained. Once I got out of my way and stopped acting in fear it was like, let’s just do this, walk through, go at my pace, and just do it. And I did it and it was fine. It was great. I vividly remember a light bulb moment at the end. Okay, I understand now. I needed to visualize it, go through the process of setting it up, diluting it, aligning everything, taking pictures, and then reflecting on it for a while. It finally clicked – yes, this was exactly what I needed to do. It all fell into place perfectly. I did get over myself eventually.
Justine Crane: Can you describe your creative process when developing a new natural perfume? Are there any signature elements or themes that consistently appear in your creations?
My creative process is interesting. I have a massive library, and I read a lot. I tend to read at night, so sometimes when I’m feeling like I want to create something, I’ll pick a random book and start reading. It’s all reference material, that’s all I read is reference books. I will read parts of a book, and dream about things from the book that I use as inspiration for a project. I get a lot of inspiration when I go out wildcrafting. I almost need to wildcraft to be creative. Whether I’m writing an article, or I’m going to create a new project, whatever it is, when I get out there I smell things, the memories come, and the stories pour in. Sometimes I feel that ancestral stuff comes through. A lot is going on in my creative processes, and I find I’m not creative if I’m not outdoors. It’s not just in the woods, it’s in a rose garden, it can be anywhere, just somewhere where beautiful things are growing. I go out after the rain and I find a piece of broken birch wood with birch polypore. There are memories there, there are stories to that, and there is a future project as well. All of that comes in. That’s the process. I dream about it and I wildcraft and it all comes together. It’s very organic in every sense for me. I don’t like looking at other people’s work, I don’t like experiencing other people’s stuff when I’m going to create a project. I just want to have my things, my experiences, my ancestors channeling through, not other people’s stuff. I’m clear about sticking to that. A consistent theme for me is my heritage. I’m from Canada, and one of the things that Canada has that I feel are glorious are the conifers. We have those conifers, it’s not just maple for us. The conifers are absolutely beautiful, and I try to always incorporate some kind of Canadian essential oil. And it’s not just conifers, it can be fleabane, osha seed, and stuff like that. I try to include something Canadian in all of my projects. I love doing that. Seaweed, that’s another one, because I’m a West Coast girl. That is a recurring theme because that’s where I’m from. It’s paying homage to that. I feel like I have a personal relationship with the aromatics, I feel like this is a given if you’re creating perfume. I have to evaluate samples for my business, so I sit with them for a while, and I revisit them many times for months before I decide if they should go in my shop. I spend a lot of time with these materials and I suss out their personalities. That’s where it gets a little esoteric for me in terms of how I choose my aromatics for my perfumes and my shop. I always say it’s random, but in a way, it isn’t because I’ve spent a great deal of time with these aromatics and let them come to me. I don’t know if everyone would understand that. To me, they have distinct personalities and I let them be where they want to be. I tried to be a perfumer who said I want this base note, this middle note, and this top note and I realized I don’t function that way. That isn’t how I work. I’m going to continue doing it the way that I do because I have a solid foundation, and I know how to put these things together. I’m not that regimented when I create. Going back to signature elements or themes, it has to be the trees. The Canadian trees always show up in my work, some way, somehow. I love working with the Canadian trees in nearly everything I create, and the other thing is it relates to my days as a silversmith. One of the things I loved to do was to get a big piece of silver and not have any idea of what it was going to be, and I always said it would tell me what it wanted. I would get in there with my jeweler saw and start sawing things, and then I’d have a piece finished in this wholly organic way. It’s like that with conifers. My bespoke clients are accepting of the conifers, but one of the things they say is that they don’t want it to smell like a Christmas tree. Everybody says that. Other perfumers say that. Nobody wants that. I don’t want it either. But I love having that as a challenge. That’s a theme for me too. I live for that wild and rebellious spirit, and to face that challenge. And even though I do incorporate those ‘Christmas tree’ notes into my work, it doesn’t come through that way. This rebellious spirit also comes out in my distillation work. I have an adventurous spirit when it comes to what can be distilled. For example, I hadn’t heard of anyone distilling feijoa before, and I wondered why not. Let’s try that. Throw it in, let’s see what happens, and to no surprise to me, magic happens.
Justine Crane: How has your career evolved since completing the Natural Perfume Academy course? Have there been any notable milestones or achievements since graduation? What advice would you give to aspiring natural perfumers who are considering enrolling in a similar course?
I’m getting ready to launch a perfume line, which is incredible. I never thought I was going to be that person. I never planned on it, but I feel like I need to. I love doing this work and I’m feeling good about it, so it should go out there. That’s one thing that I feel is a milestone. Another thing is I feel like I can be of better service to budding perfumers who come to the apothecary, and that means a lot to me. It means so much because I love the excitement that they have, and I feel I’m in a much more informed place to help them. They remind me of me – I’m still in that place of excitement too. I’ll always be excited about aromatics. Always. People tell me that I’m wildly enthusiastic and full of energy about aromatics, but guess what? I was like that at seven! I don’t see it slowing down any time soon. Another thing is I feel like I’m doing a good service of providing information to my clientele. That’s important to me. Those are a couple of achievements, I believe. The advice I would give to aspiring or budding perfumers is the same advice I give to them almost every day when they visit my apothecary – get some education, and make sure it’s a good education. Get an academic sense of how to do this work so you can create masterpieces.
The trees, for one, but that’s also a hard question. It’s like asking someone who their favorite child is. All these material’s personalities are special. I like all of them. Nobody is a bad guy in my group. I do have a lot of flowery oils, I have all kinds of materials and I love and respect them all, even the asafoetida essential oil. I have some funky stuff in the apothecary, but I would say it’s typically the tree notes I like working with. Tree. Seaweed. Any of the natural oceanic stuff. Sitka spruce, yes, I love all of that. How do I stay inspired? Are you kidding? I walk outside! I’m inspired every minute of every day. I can look at all of my orchids, that’s inspiring to me. Going into my backyard, I’m inspired. I can’t but be inspired. I’m always inspired.
Justine Crane: How important has networking and being part of the natural perfumery community been for your career?
Networking has been crucial because honestly, almost four years ago nobody even knew I existed and that I was doing all of this. I was also doing this back in Canada, and nobody knew about me there either. I didn’t do any kind of networking, or marketing, nothing on social media, I did none of that, and there I sat with all of these beautiful aromatics wondering where everybody was. Well, you have to work at that, and you have to network, and you have to be on forums to say yeah, I got this, and this is why you have to get that from this country and – you have to be on the ready to network. I’m fearless about that anyway. I’m not out there endlessly plugging. I give away a lot of free content and a lot of how-tos, and I’m happy to do that. If I was rich, I would do all of this for free. Networking is crucial. Nobody will know anything about you otherwise. As you start to grow, you start to gain recognition but also validity. People start to realize that this is someone to be recognized, and that’s what’s starting to happen now. It’s been quite a journey. If you want to advance, you have to network.
Justine Crane: Are there specific groups or platforms you recommend for natural perfumers to connect with others in the industry?
Facebook is an okay place. It isn’t a fit for everyone, but for now, I think the Facebook groups are the easiest. I think Rebel Perfumers and Le Parfumeur Rebelle are good pages. I don’t have a lot of luck with some of the other groups there. There is a lot of gatekeeping going on in this industry. I did join all of the groups on Facebook, but I don’t interact with them a lot anymore. They can sometimes be shark-infested waters.
Justine Crane: What are your future aspirations as a natural perfumer?
I am working out the details to launch a line of perfumes. It’s going to be on ‘the heart of’, so it will be a series of perfumes that I create that are done in French, le cœur de la mer, or le cœur de la forêt. That’s a major deal for me, and I’m excited about it, but there are a lot of moving parts and details that I’m trying to work out. That is a specific project that I’m excited about because I never thought I’d be there. I always thought I would be the retailer offering curated oils and maybe make some things. Now I make a lot of things, and I love that I’m able to do that. I have always made solid perfumes, but I like that I now understand how to create a better solid perfume with more body to it. I like that I can do alcohol-based perfumes. That was an area I didn’t think I would like to do, but also I didn’t think I would want to create them. It felt like it would be too difficult, but I’ve found it isn’t. I do a lot of macerations in alcohol, and I didn’t feel like that was a way that I would go. I always went with things in fat and solid perfumes with beeswax. The course opened the door for me so I feel confident in creating all types of perfume.
Cher Lynn Bio:
“Scent is a very personal story for me. As a child, I was mesmerized by history books offering glimpses of aromatic production and daily use. I was struck by Marie Antoinette’s orangeries at Versailles and ancient Egyptian aromatics use in both daily life and the afterlife. By the time I was eight, I was picking my mother’s beautiful French roses and heating up the soft fragrant petals in water to try and recreate rose water. Most flowers on the farm did not see the autumn with my experimental hands. It wasn’t until 2014 that I purchased my first still, back when copper stills had to be imported from Portugal. There was very little information which gave space for plenty of mistakes but more so, plenty of experimentation. Completing no less than three hundred distillations yearly has taught me a thing or two about the still and with that, a desire to teach classes and demonstrate the connection between plant and highly useful finished products such as hydrosols and essential oil. Distillation is truly an art form, from choosing plant or flower material to regulating heat and finally to incorporating uses. Some speak to the magic of the still and indeed there is alchemy, a special kind of magic or soulful ancient experience that happens when producing an aromatic water or oil from a foraged or hand grown plant. “
Cher Lynne
Curated Essential Oil Supplier, Published Botanical Writer, Natural Perfumer, Essential Oil & Hydrosol Distiller and Instructor, Natural Perfume Academy Graduate, Third Generation Herbalist, 2024 AIA Artisan Distiller Grant Recipient
Pleased to meet you, Cher.
Ane*, thank you so much for your comment and for taking the time out of your day to do it 🙂
Fascinating background. Smiled reading about your overcoming your challenges. Best wishes on your ‘coeur de’ line, sounds luscious.
Thank you so much for your kind words, Sunday! It’s always heartening to hear such thoughtful feedback.