I was once asked to sum up my work in three words or less. It took me about two seconds to arrive at:

“Scent is Life.”

And so it is. We live because we breathe and with each breath, we smell. This is inevitable. The Sense of Smell is our first and most immediate link to the world around us. It reminds us of what (and who) we love. Smell is perhaps the most complex sense we possess and possibly this is why it is the least understood and most often taken for granted… Yet we also know, that none of the other senses can touch us so profoundly as scent. Not even music can stir the mind & heart so powerfully as one tiny whiff. Scent is always individual. Your sense of smell is one of the most unique things about you – more individual than your fingerprints, than the shape of your ear, than the pattern of your retina. Your sense of smell is one of the most important factors that defines you as YOU. The way you respond to any scent is unlike anyone else’s – no one remembers what you do, no one feels what you feel. There is a reason you remember certain scents so fondly – it’s the way nature designed you. Scent is the record of your own special life – it’s your experience. My mission is to capture that experience. I bottle it so you can have it, use it and love it whenever you wish. I can give you scent experiences you never dreamed possible. I create perfumes as unique & individual as those who wear them. And I use a great many scents never before thought of as “perfume”. But I know these are just the scents that really hit us where we live – they’re the ones we remember and love. These scents are life.

To me, this is what the art of perfume is all about.

For me, perfume is a special individual experience so I prefer to keep things small. I design all my perfumes myself and each is carefully compounded, blended and bottled by hand here in my workshops. My traditional methods are laborious but allow me to create perfumes that are unique and impossible to mass-produce. Should you visit the gallery on certain days, you can see for yourself my assistants and I making perfume.

Perfume is an art always informed by science and the look of my perfumes reflects that marriage. The bottles and boxes I use are drawn from laboratory equipment and the materials of the artist’s studio. They are elegantly spare yet constantly remind that the point of a perfume is its scent. Perfume is meant to be enjoyed.

Q: Why don’t you use alcohol?
A: I have never been happy with specially denatured alcohol as a base for fragrance; it evaporates quickly, dries the skin & hair and is highly flammable. Oil & water are what the skin naturally needs to hold fragrance the longest – I use those as the bases for all my perfumes instead. From an esthetic view, alcohol always interferes with the true nature of the scent and you need to wait for it to “burn off” before you can truly appreciate perfume. Without alcohol, my scents are presented immediately exactly as I designed them.

Q: Can I wear several scents at once?
A: Yes. The point of wearing perfume is to smell the way you want. I encourage you to experiment with special combinations of your own.

Q: How long does the perfume last when I wear it?
A: The longevity of any scent is dependent upon a number of factors – the two main ones are the natural condition of your skin and the volatility of the scent itself. Your skin’s condition is affected by diet, moisture level, acid balance and inherent genetic chemistry. You can prolong the life of a scent on your skin by applying an unscented lotion, cream or oil before you apply your scent. The volatility of a scent is dependent upon the molecular weight of the chemicals it’s composed of. Lightweight molecules (like those in citrus fruits or delicate flowers) will evaporate more quickly. Heavyweight chemicals (like sandalwood or leather) will linger much longer. I design all my scents to last as long as possible while maintaining the integrity of the intended scent – most last at least a few hours and others all day.

Q: How long does the perfume last in the bottle?
A: If properly stored, my perfume absolutes will last indefinitely. If kept properly closed, stored out of direct light and at normal room temperature, they will last as long as you like. It is a myth that perfume “turns bad” with time. Only those made with poor quality ingredients or unstable chemical formulations will deteriorate and smell bad as they age. Well made perfumes will change with time however – they grow richer with each passing year. I have smelled many perfectly stored classic perfumes made in the early to mid twentieth century and they are still perfectly beautiful and magical when their owners wear them.

Q: Are CB Perfumes for men or women?
A: Both. While certain of my scents are more popular with one or the other, I do not define scent by gender. I prefer to let people choose for themselves.

Q: How do I apply Absolutes?
A: Please see the “How To Use” section or simply click here.

Q: What’s the difference between HOME Spray and Water Perfume?
A: Concentration. Water perfumes are designed to be worn on the skin and have a higher fragrance level.Home Sprays have a lighter scent suitable for rooms without ever being overpowering.

Q: Will Water Perfume stain my clothes?
A: Most likely not. I test all my water-based scents on white silk and to date, have had zero issues. It is important however, to hold the spray at least 8 inches from the fabric when applying. CB Water Perfume or Home Sprays should NOT be used on leather, plastic or hand-painted fabrics however. If you’re uncertain, you should do a small test on non-visible areas of the fabric in question.

Q: Can I use HOME spray on my skin?
A: Yes you can. The base formula for both my water perfumes and home sprays is the same – only the concentration varies. CB HOME sprays are perfectly safe to wear on the skin.

Q: Oh my god! This smells exactly like (whatever it says on the bottle)! How do you do that?
A: It’s a gift. I am a natural born Nose and I have an innate olfactory talent for capturing the reality of scent. I also often rely on an odor analysis technique called “headspace”. Working with several fragrance labs, we can molecularly analyze virtually any odor. This provides a framework that the technicians and I can use to rebuild a single accord. “Headspace” is a valuable tool but it cannot yet replace the human Nose.

Q: Do you test on animals?
A: Yes. But the ONLY animal I test on is me.