About
Sarah Dwyer
I blend and bottle fragrances by hand in small batches using exquisite oils and absolutes.
Ingredients are carefully sourced from around the world as well as locally in Aotearoa New Zealand
Everything I have done has led me here. I started out as a teacher of food and fabric, dedicating my spare time to painting, cooking, and sewing. My outlook on life changed with my diagnosis and recovery from cancer. My life was now on a different course.
Life is now richer, I am more in the moment and mindful of what I put in and on my body. I realised the evocative nature of scent, and how important the sensation of smell can be for wellbeing.
I discovered essential oils and their fragrance, leading to a passion for making perfume. This took me to San Francisco in 2016 and 2019 to study with Mandy Aftel. Further study has been with the Institute of Art and Olfaction in California and Sarah McCartney, an independent perfumer in London.
The Art of Perfumery
Spices add wonderful heart notes, creating depth, complexity and surprise in my blends. Exquisite essential oils, absolutes and scent molecules are sourced from all over the world to ensure beautiful premium fragrances. The very essences of everyday garden herbs and flowers are captured and evoke memories and emotions from times past.
Contemporary techniques enables me to carefully compose perfumes balancing rich resins, woods and musks with complex floral notes and fleeting bright citrus. These French vials with ground glass stoppers hold the precious extracts. I was given a very special material - Ambergris - 30 years ago. This tincture transforms and softens a blend like a deep 'sense of knowing'.
‘ Obsessed with Eleve, the others are also beautiful ‘
Emma