Mandy Aftel: 1st Life – Psychotherapist, 2nd Life – (Novelist, scratch that) Perfumer

Mandy Aftel:  1st Life – Psychotherapist, 2nd Life – Novelist => Perfumer

Mandy Aftel started her professional life as a psychotherapist working primarily with artists and authors.  Being surrounded by that much creativity rubbed off on her so she set out to write her first novel with a central character who was a perfumer.  As Mandy started the research she became fascinated with the art and history of making perfumes so much so that the novel got sidelined.   Instead she took a class in how to mix fragrances and soon after Aftelier was born.  But Mandy doesn’t just combine scents; she blends top and base notes of all natural ingredients to capture a sensual experience of her own concept or that of a client.   

She's what the industry calls a natural “nose” and has been featured in a number of exhibits and written up in dozens of publications like Vogue, Time and Gourmet.  Mandy has also collaborated with some of the great chefs exploring the relationship between taste and smell.  Forbes names her one of the top seven custom perfumers in the world.  And she did get to write that book after all….six to be exact, three of which are about fragrance:  Essence and Alchemy: A Book of Perfume;  Aroma, a cookbook co-authored with chef Daniel Patterson and Scents& Sensibilities on the history and creation of solid perfumes.  That novel is still on the backburner but that sidestep was more than a detour…it became her second life.