Artisan natural perfumer Susan Farber guides CalNAM visitors in building transportive scents from the ground up

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Work and play go hand in hand for perfumer Susan Farber, whose wrists often wear dabs of her own customized fragrances. The Buellton resident has many fond memories of her childhood hobby that eventually evolved into a profession.

“My mother, when I was a little girl, gave me a perfume-making kit. And there were all these little colored bottles,” Farber said in front of her desk, which shares a corner of her studio space with stacks of vials not unlike the ones from her recollection.

“They were probably fragrance oils. And I started just combining them all,” she continued. “I was an only child, and it entertained me. … [I] would just do it for hours.”

On March 16 and April 13, Farber will lead perfume-making workshops suitable for beginners (the program is recommended for ages 14 and older) at the California Nature Art Museum (CalNAM) in downtown Solvang.

“The first part is educational,” said Farber, who will introduce participants to a variety of essential oils and fragrance absolutes before they dive into formulating a blend of their own to take home. They’ll also get workbooks with descriptions of each component at their disposal.

Attendees will use scent strips, gently fanning them near their noses to test out ingredients (all derived from plants and natural sources, rather than synthetic) they may like to incorporate, such as which base notes and accessory notes they’d like to combine.

“You’re trying to create a harmony,” Farber said. “It’s like a symphony, with different notes.

“I have them run by their formula [with me] before they start blending, and then give them personalized guidance in creating this fragrance. … Everyone gets personalized attention,” she added. “We all, at the end, share our formulas and pass the perfumes around to see how the same ingredients can create many different types of fragrances. … And then everyone leaves with their own fragrance.”

In conjunction with CalNAM’s new photography exhibit, Yosemite: Sanctuary in Stone, Farber curated a selection of ingredients fit to craft fragrances inspired by forests and florals. 

“I found a distiller who distills pine needles and woods from Yosemite,” said Farber, who’s excited to integrate her latest findings into the workshop, with a goal akin to that of the museum’s photo showcase: to help transport visitors to settings infused with conifers, pine, and other greenery Yosemite’s known for.

Through her company, Sol Aromatics, Farber specializes in both perfume and aromatherapy blends. She’s also a certified aromatherapist and licensed psychotherapist. With some clients, she’ll work with them to customize a fragrance that helps alleviate anxiety and other issues. 

In one case, Farber said the scent of honeysuckle helped a client relax because the aroma alone elicited a happy memory.

“When we smell something, we immediately go to the emotional area of your brain, which is your amygdala,” Farber explained. “It can stimulate. It can trigger emotional memories, both positive and negative.”

During her perfume-making workshops, Farber said she’ll often warm up participants with a scent game, which involves asking questions around what sorts of things race through participants’ minds upon whiffs of different notes.

“We do it with a few of the ingredients. … ‘What does this remind you of? What color does it remind you of?’” Farber listed. “‘[Do] you have any emotional memory associated with it?’”

Arts Editor Caleb Wiseblood’s favorite scent comes from “new car” air fresheners. Send comments and candles to cwiseblood@santamariasun.com.

This article appears in Mar 13-23, 2025.