Mandy Aftel

Mandy Aftel is an internationally-known artisan perfumer and educator on natural fragrance and flavor.  She was born and educated in Michigan and has been living in Berkeley, California since 1970. She is the author of eight books, most recently with Chef Daniel Patterson The Art of Flavor: Practices and Principles for Creating Delicious Food. Her Essence and Alchemy: A Book of Perfume has been translated into seven languages and won the Sense of Smell Institute’s Richard B. Solomon Award. Her book Fragrant: The Secret Life of Scent won the Perfume Plume award for writing. She is the owner of Aftelier Perfumes and the Aftel Archive of Curious Scents in Berkeley, California. The Archive is the first museum in the United States dedicated to the experience of fragrance, including her collection of one-of-a-kind-antique artifacts. She is a founding advisor of The Institute for Art and Olfaction, which has created the Aftel Award for Handmade Perfume in her honor.