Artisan perfume brand founder encourages Northampton community to come and make bespoke fragrance
A highly-experienced artisan perfume brand founder is encouraging the Northampton community to come along and make their own bespoke fragrance at regular workshops.
Olena Stoianova is the founder of Ozornina in Northamptonshire, which she launched after nine years of experience in perfumery – having studied in Russia and France, as well as learning from British perfumers.
Olena creates bespoke perfumes and ensures each fragrance is personal and unique to the client. Every one has its own special formula, created exclusively for that client, and it cannot be purchased by anyone else.
The founder also works with businesses to create their own custom perfumes and fragrance products, and the final part of Olena’s work is sharing her passion through perfume-making workshops at Hazelrigg House in Northampton town centre.
Ozornina is run from Olena’s home in Daventry and launched in the county around a year ago, after following her interest in how fragrances are created, how they make people feel and understanding the creative process.
“My philosophy is one formula, one person or brand and someone else can’t buy it,” Olena told this newspaper. “Scent can reflect the journey of a brand and communicate its identity in a unique way. It’s part of the customer experience and connection, as scent is closely linked with memories and emotions.”
Olena’s laboratory is based at her Daventry home and she runs four workshops a month from Hazelrigg House, with English-speaking and Russian-speaking groups available. The beginner workshop involves two-and-a-half to three hours of creating a molecular perfume, and each person makes their own unique scent to take home.
When Olena works to create a bespoke perfume, she finds out what kind of notes the client would like, the impression they want the scent to have, and what part of their life it will be used in.
The client is then sent two samples and is asked to provide feedback after a few weeks of trying them out. Sometimes Olena needs to reformulate, add or remove notes, and it depends on the perfume and the person as to how long the process takes.
When asked what she believes sets Ozornina apart from other perfume brands, Olena said: “It’s the individuality. Each one is unique and the fragrance should reflect who they are. I work closely with each person to learn their personality and preferences to create something that tells a story.
“There’s not many perfumers in Northamptonshire, and the education and materials are expensive. With the molecular perfume workshop, we take 15 ingredients from different parts of the world. It’s £70 with everything included, and a complimentary gift of a small sample of perfumes I’ve created.”
The next workshop is being held on Sunday, November 15 from 6pm at Hazelrigg House, and Olena looks forward to the bright future of Ozornina in introducing more people to the world of perfumery.