Sherry Stone has been interested in the five senses, particularly smell, since she was a little girl.  Whether it’s the smell of a Christmas tree, the smell of her grandmother’s baking or even the scent of waxy crayons, each inspired her. 

The idea of getting into perfume came ten years ago, when Sherry read Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, a story set in 18th Century France.  She immediately became very intrigued by the perfumery process.  However, rather than going through years of traditional training in a job that is still somewhat male-dominated, where moving up was hard and jobs aren’t guaranteed, Sherry decided to do it on her own.  After all, there are more and more small, independent perfumers who specialize in all natural fragrances as well as synthetic ones, producing amazing scents outside of the Old Guard.

Sherry began dabbling with producing her own bath and body products for fun, using essential oils for their wonderful, delicious scents.  However, it wasn’t until she lost her corporate job in 2005 that she decided to turn this into a business.

On the differences between body spritzes and perfumes:

A perfume is a complex creature that can contain 20, 30 or more essential oils.  My perfumes contain up to 30% essential oils and botanicals, so they’re quite concentrated to give a long-lasting, complex scent.  A body spritzer is a water-based formula with a light, simple scent, containing fewer essential oils.  It’s meant as a pick-me-up to be used any time, so the light scent means you can’t overdo it by reapplying frequently.  They also have aromatherapy benefits, and use hydrosols, the purified, delicately scented water left over after distilling flowers, herbs or other plant matter for their essential oils.  Some of the volatile oils stay behind in the water used in distillation and that fragrant water is a hydrosol.  My room mists are similar to body spritzers in that they’re also water-based, and they’re used to scent your environment rather than your body. 
 
On how long it takes to produce a scent:

It depends on the complexity of the final result and how clear my vision of the end result is.  If I’m going into it thinking simply, “I’m going to make perfume” then it can take weeks or even months to start.  Some perfumers take a year to complete a fragrance as there needs to be aging time between sessions so ingredients can merge and meld (scents change as they age).  For scents that are less complex, like room mists, which may have three essential oils, the aging process isn’t necessary and can be completed as brief as a few days.
On her workspace:

I work from home, and my kitchen is transformed into an alchemist’s lab!  I lay out a protective cover on the counter, and set out my precision-scale, beakers, glass stirring rods, and the raw materials I’m working with.  And of course a notebook and pen is by my side, to record my work.  The worst thing that could happen is stumbling upon an amazing formula that is exactly what I was looking for, but not being able to reproduce it because I didn’t write anything down!!  My future plans are to expand into a small office or workspace outside my home, but for now the amount I produce is manageable from home.  I also have a laptop to research ideas and ingredients on the Internet, and to design my labels.  I invested in a colour laser printer so that I could print my own product labels only in the quantities I need, which allows me greater flexibility to try out small batches of new products or improvements to the formula. 

On who she’s inspired by:

There are a number of independent niche perfumers out there now, working with both natural and synthetic materials.  All of those renegade perfumers out there creating their own amazing perfumes inspire me!  Many of them are one-person operations too.  I’ve also had the privilege to know many amazing, creative entrepreneurial women—they inspire me greatly as they remind me of what we are all capable of. 

On whether she’s going to expand to other products:

Definitely!  I am working on a cuticle butter, and a tinted lip balm to introduce a little colour to my collection.  I would also love to do a men’s cologne and aftershave, and a men’s lip balm.  My perfumes currently are oil or solid cream—I would love to do more traditional alcohol-based perfumes.  I’m also considering natural beeswax or soy wax candles scented to match my room mists to expand my home products and provide another way for customers to complement their interior design with scent. I really think we will see scent used as a design element in homes and other spaces more and more, and if I can contribute to that with my own unique natural fragrances, all the better. 

On how she feels about celebrity fragrances:

It’s something of a frivolous trend, and based on market research, consumers don’t buy it because it’s say, “Britney’s” or “Cher’s”.  The decision to purchase these scents are the same way as non-celebrity scents – by sniffing it and trying it on.  Historically, celebrity scents are not destined to become perfume classics like Chanel No. 5 or Shalimar.  They tend to last around five years or so, partly because they smell very similar and consumers get bored or because the scents are trendy, and trends don’t last long. Also, most celebrities have little to do with the scent’s development and just attach their name to it.

On where she’d like to take Stone Fragrances:

Canada-wide this year, with online sales and boutique retailers across the country, with the USA following soon after.  Eventually I also want to open my own boutique specializing in natural and organic perfumes and related products, showcasing my own line as well as those of other independent perfumers. 

Advice for first time perfume buyers:

I’d like to encourage anyone interested in perfume to seek out a natural one and compare it to the regular synthetic-laden fragrances (which is most of the perfumes on the market today), and smell the differences themselves.  Natural perfumes resonate differently than synthetic ones, and they have a depth and a mysterious quality that to me is quite enchanting.  I really believe natural is better, and I think that the more people experience the difference the more they will be inclined to agree.  Natural perfumes are subtle and stay closer to your skin, so to me they’re more polite and sophisticated as they’re don’t need to broadcast themselves to the whole room.  They’re also a more personal statement as they have a much stronger tendency to interact with personal body chemistry than regular perfumes.  I tested my perfume Sparkle on half a dozen women at the same time and it smelled quite different on each lady.  It still smelled like my perfume but each woman’s chemistry brought out different nuances in the perfume.  It was fascinating to smell the differences! 
 
You can purchase Sherry’s fragrances on her website.

Image credits: ©  Sherry Stone