Whitney Swales of Wit & West Perfumes
Profile: From as early as I can remember I have had a passion for scent and the world of perfume. Growing up, perfume and everything scented including body oils and perfumed body powders, soaps and candles were a staple in my life. My mom wore Chanel No. 5, Youth Dew and Private Collection by Estee Lauder and my dad wore Polo by Ralph Lauren and Lagerfeld by Karl Lagerfeld. One Christmas, my dad got my mom a limited edition of Private Collection pure parfum that came in a beautiful crystal bottle complete with a tassel and drawstring leather bag. My mom cherished this little bottle of perfume for years, wearing only 2-3 drops for special occasions. Even after the bottle was empty it sat on top of her bedroom dresser in a vintage glass jewelry box that I would admire from afar. Fast forward to my early teens – the point in which I really started taking an interest in fragrance. Being a child of the 1980s and 1990s, my initial fragrance loves were the mainstream youth fragrances of the time such as Exclamation, Tribe, CK One, Vanilla Fields and Sunflowers. For holidays and my birthday, I received more elevated fragrances including a perfume miniature set and the originals of both Clinique Aromatics Elixir and Happy. I loved how I felt when wearing perfume. Aromatics Elixir made me feel sophisticated and enigmatic, Happy made me feel refreshed and alive.
Whitney Swales – as a child in her dad’s boutique shop, Swale Hall in Colorado Springs
Even outside my home with my parents, the world we lived in was connected to all things scented. My dad owned a British imports boutique shop in Colorado Springs called Swale Hall (named for our last name Swales, as well as the namesake for the 16th century estate of Sir Solomon Swale, 1st Baronet, Yorkshire, England) that included everything from beautiful wool sweaters and scarves to British teas, candies and chocolates, as well as perfumes, soaps, lotions and scented body powders from Floris of London. I loved visiting my dad at the shop as there was always something new to explore. My memory of the shop recalls a vivid and fragrant world of delicious candies, tea and of course Floris of London’s, Lily of the Valley.
Rob & Whitney – An Evening at the House of Wit & West Perfumes
Beyond fragrance, my husband Rob and I have always been captivated by music and the visual and gastronomic arts and drawn toward travel and unique cultural experiences. Both my husband and I have worked in the corporate world for over two decades (Rob is an aerospace engineer and I am a marketer in the hospitality industry), but our passions outside the 9-5 have always been creative in nature – Rob is a percussionist and drummer, and I am a ballroom dancer. My love for sensorial experiences and artistic self-expression led me to ballroom dance about 11 years ago and since then, I have competed at the amateur level in what is known as American Style in the ballroom world (“9 dance”, i.e., 9 different dances in the American Style).
Peony Enfleurage by Whitney Swales of Wit & West Perfumes
As a lifelong appreciator of rare and unique fragrances, I never dreamed becoming a perfumer was within my reach, until a few years ago. I had started to get an itch to do something different with my career…something more fulfilling. I began studying perfumery on my own and then decided I wanted to take it to the next level and set out to learn from world-renowned natural perfumers such as Anya McCoy of Anya’s Garden Perfumes and the Natural Perfumery Institute, Mandy Aftel, owner of Aftelier Perfumes and Charna Ethier of Providence Perfume Co. After studying for a couple of years I told Rob I wanted to do something with perfumery – and to my delight, he said “Go for it!”
Wit & West Perfumes Bespoke Perfume Experience
Wit and West Perfumes is a Colorado based artisan natural perfumery founded in 2021 by myself (Wit), and my husband Rob (West, short for Rob’s last name, Westendorf). Wit & West is a passion-based business, paying homage to traditional methods of artisan perfumery through both our Bespoke Experience (custom designed perfumes) and our process of handcrafting our perfumes and colognes in small batches using 100% all-natural ingredients including custom handmade tinctures and enfleurage extraits carefully selected, sourced and handmade from raw materials including those from our very own garden.
Whitney Swales of Wit & West Perfumes working in her Studio
On American Perfumery: Being an American Perfumer and perfume brand is about accessibility and breaking down the barriers of entry into the world of perfumery. The interweaving of perfume, culture and history has evolved for thousands of years and is something to be celebrated. To me, perfume is more than a fad and more than simply smelling good. It is about creating a personal story and attaching us to history, culture and the natural world around us. The focus of Wit & West is on artisan natural perfumery as a genre or artistic choice, a style of perfumery that was largely abandoned and viewed as outdated until more recently. I owe the ability to carve out my own space as an artisan natural perfumer to other American indie, artisan and natural perfumers who have been helping shape the industry for the last 20-30 years.
Louis Van Amstel on Dancing with the Stars (Image Credit ABC)
Favorite American Artist: My favorite American artist is Louis Van Amstel, a Dutch-American ballroom dance champion, professional dancer, and choreographer who previously appeared on the U.S. reality television series Dancing with the Stars. As a ballroom dancer, I feel incredibly fortunate and thankful for the opportunity to learn from Louis, a coach and teacher who visits my ballroom dance studio several times per year as a guest coach. One of the things I appreciate and admire about Louis is his ability to leverage both the technical and artistic sides of ballroom dance. In both perfume and dance, I feel like you can never stop learning as there is always something new to be explored or expanded upon.
Whitney Swales & Ballroom Pro Partner Instructor Scott Koogle
Anytime I feel like I am stuck or like I am hitting a creative wall in perfumery I think of what Louis would tell me about dancing, “…Define your goal and be deliberate in your actions so that you can achieve it. Once you define the goal, you must start with the foundational elements, the basics. From there, you can add in the artistic and personalized layers that give depth, interest, beauty…”
–Whitney Swales, Perfumer & Co-Founder of Wit & West Perfumes
Thanks to Whitney Swales we have a draw for a registered reader that is USA-based (contiguous 48 states) for a Wit & West Sample Set that includes all 15 fragrances in 1.5ml sample spray bottles including: ten (10) Signature Collection Eau de Parfums, three (3) Cologne Collection Eau de Colognes, and two (2) Reserve Collection Eau de Parfums. In addition to the Sample Set, the winner will also receive a $75 digital gift card that can be used toward the purchase of a full-size bottle of their choice. To enter the draw, you must be a registered reader.
Wit & West Perfumes Rosa de Bolero Eau de Parfum
Please leave a comment with what you found fascinating about Whitney’s path to perfumery and which perfume you would buy should you win the draw. Draw closes 2/29/22
Whitney Swales of Wit & West Perfumes is our 163rd in our American perfumer series, which officially began in 2011 with Dawn Spencer Hurwitz of DSH Perfumes.
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