Pictured is the batch of Laboratory Series #1. I think it’s important to let perfumes sit for a while before bottling them. A perfume formula can contain many hundreds of molecules that have suddenly all been mixed together. It simply takes time for them to sort themselves out and learn to live together; to somehow become one thing rather than many things. All kinds of little chemical reactions likely happening along the way. Sharp edges will soften and many materials will balance themselves, kind of like finishing the seams. The more complex the formula, the more it will probably benefit from some time to sit. Maturation is about nuances to me as I’ve found it uncommon for changes to be drastic. In other words, If something doesn’t smell good when freshly blended it’s probably not going to magically become great after sitting for six weeks. However, sometimes materials can become more pronounced in a blend over time too (hello oakmoss!). This can really slow down the process of developing a perfume since I have to wait a little while to fully evaluate the work.

My typical process for aging a new batch has two steps:

1 - Fully blend the perfume concentrate (this means all of the pure, undiluted materials) and allow to sit for two weeks (often much longer if I have the time). The more complex the formula, the more it will benefit from maturation.

2 - Add perfumers alcohol to the matured perfume compound to bring it to desired concentration and mix well. Then the fully diluted perfume sits for another ~two weeks (or longer) to allow it to blend with the addition of alcohol before filtration and bottling.