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6 Tips If You're Struggling To Create Unique Fragrances
by: Dr. Ziad El-Desoki "The Founder of Perfumer Archive" | Updated: May 24th, 2025
The feeling of wanting to give up, leaving perfumery, moving to another company, or even considering a different career path hits many perfumers like you,
especially if you're a fast learner, a workaholic, but lack strong mentorship.
You create a few things and feel like there’s nothing special about them, nothing truly unique.
You search online, read books, and ask other perfumers how to create something original... but nothing changes.
In this article, I’ll share a few powerful tips that can help you move beyond creating “just okay” fragrances, start creating creative formulas, and take your work to the next level. 👇
1. Stop making fragrances, create bases & accords.
Save some time for your skill development and spend time creating new accords and bases you haven’t made before.
Try to imitate things you smell in real life.
This will give you a chance to discover new materials and use your commonly used materials at different (higher or lower) levels.
This process will encourage you to break your ordinary boundaries and limits in creation.
Remember: to master the whole, you must first master the parts.
2. Understand the components of natural odors.
Reading GC-MS analyses of natural ingredients will show you how small amounts of specific molecules can harmonize with others.
A headspace analysis report can give you an idea of why the flower smells different from its absolute.
This understanding will help you create fragrances that achieve balance and teach you the role of small doses of certain molecules.
3. Decode the work you like of other perfumers.
Collect open-source fragrance GC-MS reports or buy them to understand how the fragrances you like were created.
Jump into their Creators' minds, and try to imitate (for educational purposes only).
This practice of reverse engineering formulations will help you improve your creation techniques.
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Instead,
Support the goal.
We won't drink coffee.
Instead,
We will add new formulas, more articles, and new GCMS reports,
so you can grow your perfumery skills.
4. Then, create more fragrances.
After completing the first three steps, make as many fragrances as you can (even aimlessly).
Apply your learnings from the previous points.
Break your rules, because to do something you’ve never had, you have to do something you never did.
5. Document everything.
Whether on paper or digitally (which I recommend), document everything.
This habit will help you remember your mistakes and lessons, keeping your mind fresh and creative.
Because remember: if you don’t analyze your work and point out the mistakes you made, then you’ve done nothing, and you’ll stay at the same skill level until you do.
6. Don’t stress yourself.
Mastering perfumery takes patience, just like any craft.
But it usually takes even longer because of the huge number of variables in this field.
So normalize that, don’t stress, keep learning, and don’t stop trying.
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