The Mice are setting off on an olfactory adventure. As part of our 5 Senses series, we will participate in an introductory perfume workshop with Brooklyn-based aroma maven Anne McClain who will teach the Mice the fundamentals of perfumery, and equip us with a basic understanding of standard perfume vocabulary and concepts.  Throughout the course, natural and synthetic ingredients that form the perfumers’ palate will be sampled, and their origins, properties, and uses will be discussed. We will then dissect several mainstream and niche fragrances to see if we can identify the raw materials contained in them, and discuss how harmonious blends are made.

We will finish with wine and snacks. At that time we'll have the opportunity to speak with wonderful artisan jeweler, Scosha, about her craft. As an additional bonus, Scosha is offering all participants 20% off her jewelry the day of the event.

Raised in Rhode Island and Japan, Anne’s many travels instilled in her a great sense of adventure and appreciation of other cultures and ways of thinking. 

In 2005, Anne moved to Brooklyn, New York, where among all of the creative people, she felt she had found a place to call home.  The energy and optimism of New York allowed Anne to follow what was at the time a budding passion.  Anne turned to the fine art of perfumery after an extended interest in photography as another way to flatten an experience into something tangible, yet ethereal.  Anne also enjoys learning about aromatherapeutic qualities of natural ingredients, to understand the psychological effects that the distilled oils of flowers, resins, barks, peels, leaves and other plant materials have on the mind. 

Anne graduated with honors from the Grasse Institute of Perfumery in 2009.