Lisa Fong of Artemisia Natural Perfumes
Profile: I was born and grew up in the Central Valley of California. My father was a lawyer from Fresno and my mother was a nurse who emigrated from Canada. As a child I loved the outdoors. I climbed trees and rode horses when I could. My family camped in the mountains and along the Northern Pacific Coast. My scent memories are mostly trees, grass, the rich Valley soil, the Sierras, and the Pacific Ocean.
Lisa growing up in California
I went to Mills College in Oakland, California and studied Math and Music. I was fortunate to be instructed in music by David Harrington of the Kronos Quartet and the composer Lou Harrison. Exposure to contemporary classical music was a huge influence, opening up my understanding of art and music in new and different ways. Pure mathematics was like entering an alternative universe that existed only in the mind. The ability to conceptualize abstract ideas has been very useful in creating fragrances. After a year of graduate study in Math at UC Berkeley, I worked in San Francisco as an actuarial assistant. I read many books, travelled to many places, and began dancing Flamenco. I married, had three children in five years, and stayed home to care for them. My husband is Asian American, which is why my last name is Fong. My ancestry is Danish and Polish.
My journey to becoming a perfumer began late in my thirties'. I was searching for a perfume to call my own. Knowing very little about perfume at the time, I was unsure of what I was looking for in a perfume. It was all a mystery. I began reading reviews and ordering many samples. I couldn't understand why the fragrance smelled so different on me than in the bottle. Then I bought a tiny solid rose scent. It really smelled like roses! It happened to be natural and was made, as I would later find out, by Mandy Aftel. I came across Essence and Alchemy in a book store. After reading it, I wanted to learn more, and signed up for a class by the author, Ms. Aftel. The discovery of natural perfumery was a turning point. The essences smelled like the plants I knew and remained soft and beautiful on my skin. The fragrances made sense. I have continued to study with Mandy Aftel, who I consider a great perfumer and friend.
Making natural perfume became a passion. I bought essential oils and absolutes. In my first year I learned two important lessons. Cheap ingredients smell cheap and blending more than two or three oils together is a waste of time and materials; nothing is learned. I began to slow down and invest in better natural ingredients. I still work incredibly slowly. Natural fragrance materials are complex, containing about 100-300 molecules each. They are notoriously inconsistent and unstable. I always wait several days to determine how a blend of two materials works together. Sometimes they enhance each other, which is great. Other times the blend is just plain bad. It is a long and tedious process, but when it ends in a fragrance that I love, it is all worth it.
Finding a fragrance that works well is a challenge for both the customer and the perfumer. In addition to personal likes and dislikes, the fragrance must blend with the customer’s unique body chemistry. There is now a great variety of unique fragrances to choose from. Natural perfumery, due to the expense of the ingredients, is not feasible for large fragrance houses. However, the internet cuts out the middlemen, making it possible for a very expensive fragrance to be sold directly to the customer from the perfumer at a decent price. Naturals are no longer the patchouli-laden scents of the sixties. With the many new essences available to natural perfumers, naturals can be very elegant and sophisticated. I have the privilege of creating a beautiful perfume out of the fragrant materials I love. The ability to reach others and have them respond joyfully to my creations is the greatest thrill of being a perfumer.
On American Perfumery:The greatest thing about being an American perfumer is that America is all about individuality. We are encouraged to try new things and think on our own. The Pacific coast is wide open and free of cultural traditions that inhibit creativity. There is a constant ferment of new ideas in California which interact and enable amazing innovations. The internet is primarily responsible for proliferation of new independent perfume houses. People all over the planet can read about and experience fragrances from perfumers that they would not otherwise know about. For the perfumer, very little upfront capital is needed to produce, advertise, and sell their creations. The internet has democratized a huge industry that was once highly secretive and controlled by only a few entities.
Lisa Fong, Violinist
–Lisa Fong, Perfumer and Founder of Artemisia Perfumes
Thanks to Lisa Fong we are offer the following 17 ml bottles of eau de parfum: Saveur de 'Abricot. (Editor's Note: this is gorgeous for osmanthus lovers) Ondine, Eros, Drifting Sparks (Editor's Note: a soft botanical musk and the first Artemisia I fell for) and Havana to one reader.
Read Tama Blough's reviews of Ondine, Saveur de Abricot, and Eros here To be eligible, please leave a comment with what you found fascinating or what resonated with you in Lisa's Profile, your choice of perfume and Please LIKE CaFleureBon Profiles in American Perfumery on Facebook, and support American Perfumers. Your comment will count twice. Draw ends March 7, 2013