by Mandy Aftel 

This is a book about perfume and history.

"Reading Mandy Aftel's Essence and Alchemy  I felt I was recovering a beautiful lost art and it's pleasures and possibilities, which are on a par with the pleasures and the possibilities of the kitchen.  Her explorations into the history and aesthetics of perfumery are inspired not only by intimate knowledge but by a passion so profound that the book is truly a sensory awakening."

Alice Waters

owner/chef Chez Pannisse  in Berkeley CA 

 Celebrate the Artisan perfumer and Alchemists of the past learn some basic perfumery concepts. Mandy was  inspired as a perfume student of Victoria Edwards.