CaFleureBon Profiles in American Perfumery: Laurie Stern of Velvet & Sweet Pea Purrfumery + A Purrfect Perfume draw

 Laurie Stern sweet pea & velvet purrfumery cafleurebon

 Laurie Stern, Natural Perfumer of  Velvet & Sweet Pea Purrfumery

Profile: I was born in Longport, New Jersey, and grew up about five houses from the beach. Nobody really knows where Longport is, but everyone knows Atlantic City – that’s the closest big city. Longport is a very peaceful and quiet place, and it was desolate then. I used to spend the summers working on the boardwalk in Atlantic City at my parents’ store. They had a store where they sold Spanish imports, like dolls, handcrafted furniture, perfume… My parents loved Spain and went there often. I ran the store during the summers. It was a great place to grow up.

 

laurie stern 1

Laurie as a pre-teen

Some of my earliest memories are of walking on the beach, collecting shells, breathing the salty, clammy air. This is where my awe of the natural world began to take shape, watching the tides come in and out and playing in the sand. And I always loved animals, especially cats! I got my first kitty when I was 6 years old. I was at a birthday party and this man drove by and asked me if I wanted a kitten. He put it in my arms and I was in love! I named her Caramel and pretty much launched my animal rescue career that afternoon. I have been an animal activist ever since, and to this day I avoid products that were tested on animals or cause harm to animals. I made a conscious decision years ago to forgo the use of animal musk or fixatives. It’s amazing how a kitty can change the way you look at the world!

sweet pea and purrfumery

There are two people who really shaped who I would become as an artist and perfumer – my Nana and my older sister. My Nana taught me how to sew when I was 10 and together we used to make the most beautiful doll clothes in the world! With her English chintzes and floral prints, she really influenced my love of textiles and fine laces. When I started my first business making one-of-a-kind lingerie for Bendels and I. Magnin, I traveled to Belgium and France and roamed the outdoor flea markets looking for lace and fabrics, just like my Nana taught me. I was just 20, wandering around Europe (I also visited the perfumeries in Grasse, never thinking I would ever make perfume!), and when I was finished shopping for materials, I would relax by making pen and ink drawings and watercolor paintings.

Velvet & Sweet Pea’s Purrfumery’s Songbird crème perfume

My sister loved art when we were growing up – we always went to museums with our parents – and she eventually became an artist and museum curator. She used to take me everywhere, and one of our favorite things to do was visit antique stores. She was older, so she always had money to buy really beautiful antiques, but as a kid, all I had was a handful of dollar bills. That’s when I began to develop my collection of antique and Victorian cat cards and ephemera – it’s all I could afford at the time, but those post cards influence my aesthetic to this day. They are so elaborate and fanciful and so delightfully silly!

 cafleurebon velvet & sweet pea purrfumery studio

 Velvet & Sweet Pea Purrfumery Studio

My Purrfumery represents years of study and many of my passions. I reflect on my family and influences, my art background, my previous work as a fashion designer and my career as a wedding florist. I also draw on my love of flowers, of animals, of Victoriana, of collecting little antique boxes and making unique gifts. I am happiest when I’m in my Purrfumery, totally immersed and creating a new flower that transforms the way someone feels when they step into the world. Scent has that power. My line of perfumes, crème perfumes and eau de parfums has been very meaningful to me. And while I plan to keep that aspect of my collection going, I have gone back to my roots, back to the art of custom perfumery. There is nothing more joyous than sitting with a Purrfumery visitor, sipping a cup of tea in the garden overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge, and watching them react to the palette of natural materials I have spread out before them. It is an incredible, intimate and holistic time. I absolutely love the magic that emerges from interacting with people and making their dreams come true. Pink lotus, blonde tobacco, Assam oud, antique Sandalwood… I believe that different essences speak to you at different times in your life – the scents you love or hate are an emotional signature. When I create a custom perfume, I capture that emotional signature.

And art has power, too. I want everything I make, from the perfume to the one-of-a-kind scent card and packaging to be a little work of art, and a true gift. My “adventure tours” remind me of my visits to Grasse when I was 20, but I add something more, something different – visitors see a working natural perfumery, how a natural perfumer works and how perfume was made in antiquity, with tinctures and incredible materials. And then they see all that’s available through modern technology, like co2 extracts and phytols, and how I marry the new and the old.

 

louis wain tea and scandal

On American Perfumery: As a natural, artisanal perfumer, I get to work with the most gorgeous materials in the world! What could be more exquisite than working with an antique rose or an incredible Chinese osmanthus? Or infusing Tahitian vanilla beans and gardenias in alcohol or jojoba oil? These are the materials and methods that perfumers thousands of years ago used to create their scents, and I am completely inspired by their legacy of sensuality, luxury and their sense of wonder in all the natural world had to offer.

velvet and sweet pea purrfumery natural perfumes

I think that American perfumers and West Coast, natural and niche perfumers are really innovative – they’re changing the game. They have thrown out the old rules, but at the same time, they’re going back to perfumery lore and creating scents from real flowers, wood, seeds, grasses and roots. It’s an exciting time and it’s all in line with the sustainability and green movements that are revolutionizing how food is grown and how animals are treated. People are taking the time to create their own natural materials for their perfumes, and in the process they are making the world a better, healthier place. I love that this is an artisan craft! It’s wonderful to be part of this movement!

zandra rhodes english designer and fashion icon

Zandra Rhodes, Fashion Guru and Style Icon

Favorite American (by way of the U.K.) Artist: In high school and beyond, fashion designer Zandra Rhodes was a major influence. She was big in the hippie era and later in the punk scene. Zandra is British, but lived in New York too, and was inspired by Native Americans and cowboy culture. Wherever she traveled she incorporated the place and the culture into her art. And she made everything whimsical and beautiful! She has an intensely personal sense of style and she broke the rules and created something totally new. Back then, I loved that she used art, culture and history in her designs – her textiles were inspired by everything from seashells to Victorian art. Her designs are gossamer, romantic and incredibly gorgeous, with fine workmanship and beautiful technique.

-Laurie Stern, Founder and Artisanal Botanical Perfumer for Velvet & Sweet Pea Purrfumery.

cafleurebon velvet  & sweet pea purrfumery

Thanks to Laurie we have a Purrfect Reader's Choice draw of  6ml ($135 value) Fleur de Carmel Eau de Parfum (Limited Edition), The best Selling Black Cat,  Songbird Pure Perfume, 8ml ($185 value) Jasmine Dawn and Dusk (8 ml $185 value) , or Terrain. Laurie regrets that at this time that the draw is open to readers with a US address only; Laurie is working on resolving international shipments issues. To be eligible please leave a comment on what you found fascinating about Laurie Stern and your choice of fragrance. Draw ends  May 20, 2013

sweet pea &velvet purrfuemry logo

Editor's Note: What's with the collection's whimsical name? Velvet and Sweet Pea were Laurie's  rescue kitties at the time she starting her business, they were lab animals, (which is one of the reasons she advocates against animal testing for cosmetics and perfumes). They live on in Laurie's fanciful packaging and had dream come true lives after rough beginnings.  A Cinderella kitty story. Purrfumery.com, well that's a no  brainer.

Sweet Pea and Velvet Purrfumery will be exhibiting FRAGments Underground Artisan & Indie Perfume Collective Event at MorYork in Los Angeles, CA on June 22, 2012.

Best All Natural Scent Gold Award Winner -San Francisco Artisan Fragrance Salon 2012


Michelyn Camen, Editor In Chief 

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36 comments

  • Being a huge animal lover I’m so impressed with her devotion to animals and the incorporation of her love for cats into her fragrance line. After reading the descriptions I would love to try Jasmine Dawn and Dusk. Thanks for the opportunity! (I live in the US.)

  • I love that cute pre-teen photo-very now! Love your presentation Laurie. I was interested to learn that fashion designer Zandra Rhodes was a major influence. She is surely one of the most timeless designers around. You think she’s gone but she emerges, reinvented! I rather think SongBird would be delicious to try should I have the luck of the Portuguese on my side 🙂

  • I’ve never heard of Victiorian cat cards, but they’re adorable! I would choose Jasmine Dawn and Dusk.

  • Heather F says:

    I’ve always been curious about this line, and it was lovely to find out about Laurie Stern’s background, particularly her collection of Victoriana and her early career as a bespoke lingerie creator–how awesome! Black Cat sounds great, thanks as ever for the giveaway.

  • angiefunk says:

    I love every perfume that I smell by Laurie. Very Dangerous:) She is a master perfumer. I knew some of her background in being a floral designer and an animal activist. I learned so much more about her family in this post. Traveler, growing up on the coast, learning to sew with her Nana and her sister being a museum curator. Laurie really is a sweet person and hearing about her background growing up, it is understandable where her kindness originated. Thank you for the draw opportunity!! I would love all of them but I will narrow it down to Fleur de Caramel.

  • I love the image of her going out to look at fine fabrics and lace. I knew that the line was named after her cats, which were rescues, but I didn’t know that they were lab animal rescues. (All my kitties have been rescues.) Anyhow, I’m most interested in Jasmine Dawn and Dusk.

  • ringthing says:

    I enjoy many of Laurie’s interests like a love of textiles and antique & Victorian ephemera, and of course, cats! It’s very telling of her deep creativity that she was able to have a business at such an early age that enabled travel and inspiration for her current work. She shows great love for her craft and sharing it with others. It would be wonderful to visit the Purrfumery. I look forward to exploring these perfumes because I want to try everything, but Jasmine Dawn and Dusk is my choice. Thanks!

  • I so admire Laurie’s convictions and passion for compassion and art! We have similar backgrounds as I am from New Jersey as well but had a big woods to roam rather than the beach though I spent a lot of time in the quaint beach towns of Southern New Jersey when I was growing up. I also feel strongly about using only naturals in my work and no animal anything. It’s a challenge but so worthwhile!
    The whimsical nature of Laurie’s packaging is fabulous! I can imagine how much joy it must bring to those who receive her beautiful perfumes.
    I would love to smell any of Laurie’s perfumes but if pressed I would like to experience Jasmine Dawn and Dusk as I love jasmine!
    Thank you!

  • I was lucky enough to visit Laurie at her home and studio. Kitties everywhere! And amazing raw materials and such attention to detail in every aspect of the space. She was very generous and supportive of someone considering stepping into perfumery and I sill treasure the “Fir Ever Young” that I got from her. Anything she makes would be lovely I’m sure but Songbird has my attention at the moment.
    Thanks for the draw!

  • Sherri Volf says:

    Laurie’s path that led her to perfumery is so interesting. Her having grown up by the ocean, and love of animals, and love of textiles and fine laces all tell me that her fragrances must be as well rounded as she seems to be. I would love to try Caramel. Thanks for yet another great article and draw!

  • FearsMice says:

    I’m intrigued by Laurie’s love of tactile pleasures — fine fabrics, lace, kitten’s fur… And to visit Grasse as a 20 year old! Heaven! I’d like to try Songbird. Thanks for the draw

  • I have tried Laurie’s perfumes, and not only are the scents beautiful but the packaging and presentation is exquisite. She is an artist in every sense of the word. I would pick Fleur de Carmel, as it is the only one I haven’t tried, but reading descriptions I am sure I would love it.

  • What’s fascinating? Being born in NJ and making great perfumes.

    I would pick Terrain!

    USA

    thanks…

  • d3m0lici0n says:

    I really like that she makes everything look really fancy, bottle and the packaging and obviously the perfume, it looks that a bottle of her creations is a really nice gift. I’d love to try Terrain.

  • I would love to sit with her and have a cup of tea!
    Before this, I had not heard of her, but I admire her
    sense of style. I would choose Fleur de Carmel.
    I live in the US
    Thanks for this interesting article and draw!

  • Thanks so much Michelyn, and Cafleurbon for inviting me to do this, it has been so much fun to look back at my inspirations and reflect on where I have come from! You need to have some years on you to do this, I would never have imagined this when I was young! And thanks to everyone for your really nice comments, wow. The kid picture of me is from my “mod Beatles” phase! I saw them when I was 13 at Convention Hall! Big hugs! XOXO~Laurie

  • What a talented and creative person! Clearly Laurie was an artist from the get go, in fact it sounds like her entire family is very artistic. I really hope to visit her Purrfumery one of these days. I would love to try her Jasmine Dawn and Dusk. I also liked the Profiles in American Perfumery.

  • Marion Low says:

    What a fascinating as well as talented artist. I admire Laurie’s way of life/working, all is done with much love; this love shows in her devotion to her kitties and in the fabulous packaging of her perfumes. I have visited her Purrfumery on line, every scent sounds so ravishing, I could wish for them all. I am especially drawn to Songbird.

  • I adore Zandra Rhodes and Laurie seems like a quirky passionate lady

    I also grew up in New Jersey and I have a rescue cat named inky
    I would love to try fleur de Carmel

  • As a lifelong stray picker-upper and broken animal recessitator, I am thrilled to hear of this wonderful smelling woman with frilly knickers and a garden full of cats! What an interesting life she has lead. I wish I were within reach of her cat infested garden and scented naturals but since I am not, I would choose Jasmine Dawn & Dusk (to wear in my own cat infested garden). Thank you so much for this draw.

  • Liked hearing about the smells of her childhood- the beach and the clams! I am in th eUS and would like to be entered for Jasmine, Dawn, and Dusk. Thank you!

  • wefadetogray says:

    There are actually many beautiful things about Laurie. I would have to start by who she considers to be her her inspiration: her nana and her sister, which I find not only adorable but moving. The presence of these two women signifies both art and technique for her. But perhaps the most interesting thing of all is her passion for cats which I share without restrains.
    I’d love to try Fleur de Carmel or Black cat. I am in the US, thanks for the draw.
    ps: I love the card that says “Tea and Scandal”!!

  • Enjoyed the whole profile, but I have to admit, as an aspiring cat lady myself, the part I’ll take away most fondly is the fact that Laurie named her company after her 2 rescue lab cats! What a sweet tribute. After reading about her, I really like Laurie, and hope to meet her someday. And should I be so lucky, I’d live to try Fleur De Carmel.

  • monstersillage says:

    Love this, “I want everything I make, from the perfume to the one-of-a-kind scent card and packaging to be a little work of art, and a true gift.”

    I’m impressed that her ethics run as deep as her commitment to quality all-around. Such consistency really speaks volumes about a person’s integrity, and if a perfumer’s integrity is intact you know you’re going on one heck of a ride with their perfumes! I have four cats I always feel a kinship to fellow cat-lovers.

    Thank you for this special draw opportunity, I choose Black Cat of course. 😉

  • Sounds like a lot of fun growing up as a teenager who lives near the beach and gets to work on the boardwalk in your parent’s store. I appreciate her combining her love of art with her love of perfume. It seems like she pays so much attention to the details of her bottles and packaging. I would be thrilled to win her Caramel fragrance. Thanks!

  • ElizabethN says:

    I love to hear about other Californians who are transplants from the east. And Laurie is my neighbor, though I’ve never met her (hope to soon!). Black Cat sounds purrfect…

  • I love how Laurie says when she creates a custom perfume that she captures an emotional signature. I have a few of Laurie’s products and love them dearly. Would love to try Jasmine Dawn & Dusk. Thanks for the draw.

  • What’s NOT to find interesting? But as an avowed “cat person,” her fondness for felines is something that appeals to me to no end: “Purrfumery,” indeed! I’d love to try the terrific-sounding Terrain, and I live in the US. Thanks, Laurie!

  • Fazal Cheema says:

    hehheh, cant stop being amused at tea and scandal portrait..the name immediately told me the perfumer is a cat lover

  • USA and FB like

    I love the animal angle of the Purrfumery– got my first two cats at age 6 also, though we spent many weeks meeting them and planning. Doubt my parents would have been quick to get on board with a drive-by kittening, though I would have been over the moon!
    Glad to see the happy ending for the rescue cats and Laurie. Loved learning about Victorian cat cards also!

    I’d choose Fleur de Caramel

  • I loved learning that her life and perspective was changed by a Caramel 😉 Laurie is certainly a woman to be admired using the talents shared with her by respected family members right along side with her own unique gifts. Great article.
    I too would choose Fleur de Caramel.

  • I live in the USA. My favorite part about the article was her take on modern American West Coast perfumery 🙂 I also love cats! All of the perfumes sound interesting, but I would most love to try Jasmine Dawn and Dusk. Thanks!

  • I’m a cat lover/rescuer who loves Laurie’s Purrfumery! I enjoyed this profile. I’d be so happy to win any of her beautiful fragrances. Thank you for this draw!

  • Having recently rescued 4 cats I am feeling an affinity for Laura’s experience in having cats inspire her from her first cat at six years old to her current kitties! I am intrigued by her reputation and would love to try her scents. If I were selected I would love to try Fleur de Carmel or Black Cat, though I would not turn down any of her scents!

  • PatriciaC says:

    Everything about laurie is facinating to me as i am a cat person too. I rescueud 2 kitties- george and LuLu my baby kitties. Jasmine Dawn and Dusk sounds beautiful! I heard cats love the smell of honeysuckle, i don’t know. Wishing you much success in all you do!

  • I admire your passion toward your work as a perfumer. It was actually nice to know about your art background. Since you have worked as a fashion designer and wedding florist as well, all your previous work experience best complements you current area of work. Good luck ahead!