The
Natural Perfumery Course.
An Invitation Into the Living Art of Scent
For Those Who Sense That
Perfume Is More Than Fragrance
If you’ve ever felt that scent carries meaning beyond what’s written on a label, you’re not alone.
Many people are drawn to natural perfumery not because they want another hobby, but because something deeper is being stirred.
A recognition that aroma is more than decoration,
a simple adornment, or a commodity.
That it shapes atmosphere, memory, emotion,
and presence in ways that are difficult to explain,
but impossible to ignore.
Natural perfumery invites you into a relationship with plants through scent, one rooted in perception,
patience, intuition and craft.
Why Natural Perfumery Often
Feels So Difficult
Crafting natural perfumes can feel far more challenging than expected.
Blends don’t last very long when applied.
Fragrances feel flat, muddy, or unfinished.
Materials don’t seem to work together the way you imagined they would.
When something isn’t right, it’s hard to tell why.
Many people end up relying on formulas, trial and error, or borrowed recipes, wasting time, materials, and confidence along the way. Even with beautiful ingredients, the results can feel inconsistent and frustrating.
Over time, this leads to a quiet discouragement, the sense that natural perfumery is elusive, unpredictable, or only accessible to a select few.
But this struggle is not a personal failure...
The Real Issue Isn’t Creativity — It’s Fragmentation
Most people struggle with natural perfumery not because they lack talent or intuition,
but because of how the craft is typically taught.
Modern perfumery education, even much of “natural” perfumery, is fragmented.
Techniques are taught without context. Materials are introduced without
understanding how they behave as living substances.
Formulas are shared without first training scent perception.
When perfumery is learned this way, students are left trying to solve
a perceptual problem with more information.
No amount of recipes can replace the ability to truly smell, evaluate,
and understand how aromatic materials interact, evolve, and come into balance.
Natural perfumery is not meant to be guesswork.
But without a coherent foundation, that’s exactly what it becomes.
This is for those who feel that call and want to respond with intention, care, and craft...
Introducing...
The Natural Perfumery Course
An Invitation Into the Living Art of Scent
Natural perfumery is not simply about replacing synthetic ingredients with botanical ones.
It's about learning to work with scent as a sensory language, one rooted in material intelligence, balance, composition, and tradition.
When you understand how aromatic materials behave, how they relate to one another, and how they unfold over time, perfume-making becomes clear, grounded, and deeply creative.
Instead of guessing, you learn how to listen.
Instead of relying on formulas, you learn to trust your nose and intuition.
Instead of forcing results, you compose with intention.
The Natural Perfumery Course was designed to teach this foundation through the craft of perfume: a way of working with scent that can naturally extend into any type of aromatic preparation where clean beauty, function, and experience matter.
Your Guide Into the Craft of Natural Perfumery
This course is guided by award-winning natural perfumer, JK DeLapp, who has spent 15+ years working with botanicals, at the bench, in practice, and in professional perfume and attar creation.
JK’s path into natural perfumery began with a deep love for fragrant woods, flowers, and resins, and grew into an internationally respected body of work through his Rising Phoenix Perfumery.
Over the years, his practice has been shaped not only by formulation, but by long hours spent observing materials, refining compositions, learning how scent behaves over time, and traveling abroad in search of aromatic wisdom, traditional understanding, and to initiate collaborative distillation projects.
What makes this course unique is not only a particular style or aesthetic, but the way the craft is taught.
Formulas are taught and explored throughout the course, but are never treated as the destination. Instead, JK teaches natural perfumery as a foundational skill — training perception, material understanding, and composition as an integrated practice. The goal is to help you develop your own aromatic voice with confidence and clarity.
In a time when much of natural perfumery is being simplified, commercialized, or disconnected from its roots, this course represents a living transmission of the craft that honors tradition while making it learnable, grounded, and alive.
The Broader Rewards of Learning Natural Perfumery
The benefits of this work extend far beyond making perfume.
Create & Craft
• Create beautiful natural fragrances for personal use, meaningful gifts, or professional offerings
• Experience the joy of working with some of the world’s most exquisite aromatic plants
• Build confidence & pride through refined, handcrafted creations
Health, Well-Being & Daily Life
• Support a healthier, non-toxic lifestyle through plant-based scent
• Experience the calming, therapeutic effects of aroma on mind and body
• Reconnect with pleasure and beauty as essential parts of well-being
Creativity, Meaning & Memory
• Expand your creative expression through the language of scent
• Capture memories, emotions, and moments in your own formulas
• Enjoy the meditative, exploratory process of blending scents
Tradition, Connection & Community
• Explore perfumery traditions & connect with a wider aromatic community
• Deepen ritual, meditation, or spiritual practice through intentional scent
Beyond Perfume
• Apply these skills beyond perfume into incense, ritual blends, remedies, clean beauty & functional products
• Make the things you already create smell better, making them more inviting, memorable, and loved
Here's What You'll Learn
THE FOUNDATIONS OF NATURAL PERFUMERY
A cross-cultural exploration of the histories, stories, and many styles of natural perfumery. You'll learn about the main types of perfume, the various extracts used as ingredients, and how to best work with each in your practice.
PERFUMER THEORY & COMPOSING FRAGRANCES
Discover various methods for composing new fragrances and how to turn your inspiration into natural perfumes that delight the senses. Unlock essential elements that all perfumers must know to not only succeed, but thrive on this path.
HOW TO MAKE & USE PERFUME ACCORDS
Get instruction for making classic perfume accords and understand why they're an important backbone in perfumery. Recreate masterpieces from your bundle of sample formulas or experiment with other ingredients to find new wonderful scents and creations.
UNDERSTANDING MATERIALS & SENSE OF SMELL
Learn age-old classification systems for understanding individual materials and how they interact with each other in perfumes. Discover professional techniques to strengthen your sense of smell and caretake your most important tool: your nose!
TRADITIONAL FORMULATION TECHNIQUES
Discover methods for formulating and blending natural materials that result in perfectly-balanced, head-turning perfumes that last all day. Learn how to fine-tune your fragrances to make them smell just how you want them to.
HOW TO CREATE YOUR OWN NATURAL PERFUMES
Understand the exact steps and expert processes for making your own custom alcohol-based spray perfumes, attars, oil-based perfumes, and solid perfumes. Gain priceless tips, tricks and insights from an award winning master perfumer.
From Students with Formal Perfume Training:
“I have studied perfumery in Grasse, France, at several schools in the US, and one in Israel. None have compared to this course. This is the course I wish I had had at the beginning. It is so comprehensive, clearly explained (without dumbing down), while also encouraging novel approaches to fragrance creation. I appreciate your approach to the material and found JK to be very inspirational.”
- Anne Du Bois
What’s Included with Enrollment:
PLUS, work at your own pace and complete the training stress-free in your own time.
Course Outline:
The course unfolds over six structured modules, each building on the last.
Week 1 - Natural Perfume Beginnings
• Lesson 1: An Introduction to Natural Perfumery
• Lesson 2: Perfumer Supplies & Equipment
• Lesson 3: A Natural Perfume History
• Lesson 4: The Many Uses of Perfume
• Lesson 5: The Different Types of Perfume
• Lesson 6: Conclusion & Getting Started
Plus, our Sustainable Sourcing Guide, Source List, & Aromatic Materials Species List
Week 2 - Perfumer Foundations
• Lesson 1: Introduction to Foundational Practices
• Lesson 2: Extraction Methods & More Tools of The Perfumer
• Lesson 3: The 17 Fragrant Facets - Part 1: Top Notes
• Lesson 4: The 17 Fragrant Facets - Part 2: Heart Notes
• Lesson 5: The 17 Fragrant Facets - Part 3: Base Notes
• Lesson 6: Sustainability - The Politics & Perils
Plus, pdf guides to solidify your understanding and deepen the lessons
Week 3 - Knowing Your Nose & Your Materials
• Lesson 1: An Introduction to The Sense of Smell
• Lesson 2: Olfactory Awareness - Smelling Like A Perfumer
• Lesson 3: Attaining A Mindfulness of Materials
• Lesson 4: Practices For Opening Your Olfactory Sense
• Lesson 5: Evaluating The Evaporation Curve Through Dilutions
• Lesson 6: The Role of Umami In Perfumery
Plus, step-by-step workbooks for strengthening your sense of smell and your assessment of materials.
Week 4 - The Art of Composing Perfumes
• Lesson 1: Choosing Your Perfume Medium
• Lesson 2: Perfume Math Made Easy: Calculating Perfume Dilutions
• Lesson 3: Prefixing Alcohol With Aromatic Materials
• Lesson 4: Compounding Accords & Doppelgängers
Plus, simple step by step pdf guides for composing, calculating combinations & compounding perfume.
Week 5 - Compounding Perfume Accords
• Lesson 1: The Importance of Accords In Perfume
• Lesson 2: Building A Fougère Fragrance
• Lesson 3: Building An Amber/Oriental Base Fragrance
• Lesson 4: Building A Chypre
• Lesson 5: Perfecting Perfume Replication
Plus, divine perfume formula handouts & step-by-step instruction.
Week 6 - Crafting Your Own Perfumes
• Lesson 1: Inspiration For Composing Fragrances
• Lesson 2: Getting to Know Fragrance Families
• Lesson 3: Understanding Fragrance Facet Accords
• Lesson 4: An Awareness of Synthetic Materials
• Lesson 5: Evaluating Aromatic Materials
Plus, loads of JK's personal perfume formulas & step-by-step instruction.
“This course opened up a whole new world for me—not just the art of crafting natural perfumes, but a deeper connection with the spirit of the plants. Before, I saw natural perfumery mainly as a tool for healing and beauty. Now, I see it as a sacred language—a way to preserve culture, honor tradition, and tell the story of where I come from. If you’re looking for a path that weaves creativity, soul, and sustainability together, this course is a precious place to begin.”
- Phạm Dương Phan Nguyên
This Program is for You If:
For Both Beginners & Experienced Practitioners
If you’re completely new to natural perfumery, this program provides the proper foundations you need to work with confidence and competence.
And if you're already making your own fragranced products, great!
This course helps you elevate your practice and create perfumes and other
aromatic preparations that feel cohesive, confident, and fully resolved.
Wherever you are on your path, this training meets you there,
and helps you move forward with clarity.
A Comprehensive & Accessible Training in Natural Perfumery
This course offers one of the most thorough and approachable trainings available in the art of natural perfumery. Rather than fragmenting the craft into disconnected techniques, it brings years of hands-on experience into a clear, practical system you can actually apply.
That's over 15 years of:
• Working directly with countless aromatic materials, from time spent in nature to the perfumer’s bench
• Learning what works and what doesn’t, through years of real-world experimentation
• Formulating perfumes that have won international awards.
• Sharing fragrance with tens of thousands of customers, and witnessing the joy and meaning scent can carry
I’ve put my heart and soul into this course, and I genuinely believe you won’t find another training that offers this depth, clarity, and grounding in the living craft of natural perfumery.
Words of Praise
“The Northwest School of Aromatic Medicine has. played a pivotal role in shaping my relationship with scent, plants, and perfumery. Before taking the Natural Perfumery Course, I had largely stopped wearing fragrance altogether. Even high-end, conventional perfumes consistently gave me headaches. Through the course, I learned how to engage my olfactory senses with far greater awareness and discernment. I am now able to create fragrance compositions that are layered, emotionally resonant, and deeply expressive. Perfumery is now a central and deeply fulfilling part of my life and work. I currently offer nine natural fragrances, each developed with intention, patience, sustainability, and care.”
- Nicky Gordon, Rose & Co. Botanicals
“Having worked with essential oils for 7 years, when I created an aroma in products, I was always disappointed with the outcome. Now that I’ve completed this course, not only do I have the ability to create beautiful perfumes, but I can also incorporate my new skills in my aromatherapy practice and I can create unique, aromatic compounds in my new passion: functional products. If you love to create things, the idea of crafting luxury perfumes speaks to you, or you’re just looking for a new obsession, this is it!”
- Debbie Boggs
“As an aromatherapist this class was the core I was looking for. I was always a recipe follower and not always happy with the final scent of whatever I was creating [room sprays, lotions, oils, bath products & perfumes]. Last year, I made two outstanding perfumes from this class, and I’ve gotten a lot of compliments from customers and clients. Now I feel much more confident to put a dash of this and a little of that in there to make it smell even better! I like the confidence I have in creating more of an experiential scent.”
- Lisa Franklin
“Before I joined this course, I had just started a soap-making business. Although I had an idea of how to make my products stand out from others in the market, I realized I was limited in my understanding of how to properly use aromatic materials. This resulted in spending a lot of money on expensive oils I didn’t realize should be reserved for other means. This course taught me how to compound more accessible essential oils into blends you’d expect from a high-end perfumery. It also helped nourish my hunger for understanding how to compound fragrances to wear. I’m incredibly grateful for what I’ve gained from this course, and can’t imaging it will end here.”
- Gabriel L.
Ready to Start Making Perfume?
It’s Time to Take the Next Step
If you’ve been drawn to fragrance
but haven’t been sure where to begin, you’re not alone.
Many people spend years piecing together information from books, blogs,
and experiments, yet still feel like something essential is missing.
Others have already begun blending, but find their perfumes don’t quite
come together, despite time, effort, and good materials.
And some are ready to go deeper, sensing that expanding their
perfumery skills could open new creative ground,
but unsure how to move forward with clarity.
Wherever you find yourself, the path is here.
Join The Natural Perfumery Course and take the next step into a grounded, living relationship with scent.
Enroll below and begin your beautiful perfumery journey!
Elevate Your Fragrant Journey By
Enrolling in The Natural Perfumery Course Today
Your 30-Day Guarantee
Enroll in The Natural Perfumery Course and take the time to explore the material, experience the teaching style, and begin working with the practices.
If within 30 days you feel the course isn’t the right fit for you, simply email our team and you’ll receive a full refund. No explanations required.
Your Bonuses
Crafting Supreme Attars Mini-Course ($225 Value)
A complete, stand-alone training in the art of traditional attar perfumery.
In this 8-lesson mini-course, you’ll learn how to create refined Indian and Middle Eastern–style attar perfumes using cost-effective methods and high-quality aromatics. Explore the history, styles, and composition techniques of attars, along with detailed insights into the materials that define this revered tradition
Get A Certificate of Completion
Frequently Asked Questions:
When does the program start?
As soon as you enroll you’ll have instant access to the first module. From there, every 7 days a new module will be released to you for a total of 6 modules. Though you can start the course whenever you are able and can work at your own pace.
How long do I have to complete the course?
This is a 6 week course. However, there are no time constraints so you can start, complete, and revisit content in your own time.
How can I use this skill to support myself financially?
There are many ways to support yourself with the art of perfumery:
- Sell your perfumes at your own shop or website, at events, fairs, or farmer’s markets, or sell wholesale to other stores.
- Branch out with your new fragrance compounding skills to make countless other fragranced cosmetics, beauty and body products.
- Create custom formulas for other companies.
- Host in-person workshops to share the gift of crafting perfumes.
Will I be able to communicate with you and other students?
You’ll have excellent student support, and can also ask questions to JK in the student community Facebook group. You’ll also be able to ask questions and converse inside the course itself within each module with JK and other students.
What materials do I need for the course, and how much will it all cost?
This course teaches you how to craft many different types and styles of perfume. The world is your oyster with countless possibilities and this is an investment that will pay off 100 fold once you start making amazing creations. There are hundreds of aromatics to choose from, all at very different price levels. So the investment you put in to your practice is dependent on what types of ingredients you choose to work with.
We suggest starting out that you at least have 5-15 different essential oils or absolutes of various aromatic plants. Over time you will likely be compelled to gather more once you realize how much fun and fulfilling this art really is. And of course, the more materials you have, the more creative freedom you'll have for playing around and experimenting. Think of each material like adding a new paint color to your pallet, allowing you to create more diverse pieces of art. We advise having at least 15 ml - 1 oz of each material. As you begin the course you will find sourcing information for aromatic materials in the downloads section.
For all other materials and ingredients, you will discover what you need throughout the course. At bare minimum, is possible to spend as little as $100 for materials and tools you will use during the course. Some students who already have essential oils and absolutes and other possible materials needed could get away with zero start up costs. Though most students will spend between $100 and $300 on average to get started. Again, it depends on where you want to take your practice and what materials you see yourself working with. For those with expensive tastes for top shelf ingredients like Oud, Sandalwood and Jasmine oils, you could spend $300 - $500 gathering materials that will allow you to make many batches of exquisitely divine perfumes.
Will I get a certificate for completing the course?
Yes. Upon course completion of all modules and lessons you will be awarded a certificate of completion.
Do you have a guarantee?
Yes! You have 30 days to decide if the program is really right for you. If it’s not a good fit for you at this time, let us know and you’ll get a full refund.
Have A Question Or Concern?
We're more than happy to help you.
Send your questions to support@aromaticmedicineschool.com