New growth, new graduates, new courses, and fresh aromatic beginnings

Dear friends,

May always feels like a beautiful turning point here in Ireland, the hedgerows waking up, blossoms opening, and that wonderful sense of creative movement returning after the quieter months.

At the Natural Perfume Academy, we have a lot beginning to bloom too. From new graduates and international certification milestones to upcoming courses, new learning resources, and community projects, this month feels full of momentum.

Here’s what’s happening inside the Academy.

Congratulations to Our Recent Graduates and Certified Perfumers

We are delighted to celebrate our recent NPA graduates and newly certified perfumers.

Each completed course, final perfume, assessment, and certificate represents real dedication. Natural perfumery is not something you can rush. It asks for patience, observation, curiosity, and a willingness to sit with materials over time.

So to everyone who has recently completed a course, submitted a final perfume, or received certification, congratulations. You are part of a growing international community of botanical perfumers carrying this work forward with skill and care.

Our First Licensed Perfumer in Hong Kong

We are especially delighted to celebrate a very exciting Academy milestone, our first licensed NPA perfumer in Hong Kong. We will be announcing the details very soon. 

This is a beautiful moment for the Academy and a reminder of how far natural perfumery now reaches. From Ireland to Mexico, Greece, South Korea, Brazil, Hong Kong and beyond, the NPA community continues to grow in thoughtful and inspiring ways.

It is always moving to see students take what they have learned and bring it into their own culture, landscape, materials, and creative voice.

Updates from South Korea and New International Graduates

We are also delighted to see continued activity and growth from our South Korean students and graduates.

One of the most lovely things about the Academy is seeing how natural perfumery is interpreted across different countries and traditions. Every student brings something unique,  their local plants, their climate, their memories, their language, their way of smelling.

This global exchange is one of the things that keeps the Academy alive, evolving, and genuinely meaningful.

Ane Walsh’s Sunday Readings

Ane Walsh’s Sunday Reading sessions continue to bring warmth, rhythm, and community to the Academy.

These readings offer a gentle way to stay connected with botanical perfumery, especially for students who enjoy listening, reflecting, and learning in a more relaxed format.

The live Sunday sessions are free to attend, and recordings are available through the course archive for those who want to catch up or listen back in their own time.

Link: Ane Walsh’s Sunday Readings

New Distillation Course in the Pipeline

We are also working on a new distillation course, which is currently in the pipeline.

This will be a lovely addition for students who want to understand aromatic plants more deeply,  not only as finished materials in bottles, but as living plants, harvested botanicals, hydrosols, essential oils, and aromatic waters.

Distillation is such a beautiful bridge between plant, process, and perfume. We are very excited to begin shaping this into a structured learning experience for the Academy.

More details will follow as the course develops.

Juliana’s New Online Business Course Is Coming Soon

We are also delighted to share that a new course by Juliana is on the way.

This course will focus on helping creatives and perfumers understand how to begin building their own online business presence,  from brand foundations to online visibility, product presentation, and selling with more confidence.

For many natural perfumers, the creative side comes naturally, but the online business side can feel overwhelming. This course is being designed to make that process clearer, more practical, and much less intimidating.

More information will be shared soon.

The Scent Panel Is Nearly Ready

The Scent Panel has taken longer than expected to bring together, but it is now almost ready.

This will be a new discussion and learning space where we explore aromatic materials in more depth, not just by saying “lavender” or “rose” or “vetiver,” but by looking at the real differences between origins, extractions, qualities, and sensory character.

Because in perfumery, those details matter.

A lavender absolute is not the same as a lavender essential oil. A French lavender is not the same as a Kashmiri lavender. A material from one supplier may behave very differently from another.

The Scent Panel will give us a place to slow down, smell carefully, compare honestly, and deepen our shared language around natural materials.

Organoleptic Tincture Training Kit

We are also very excited about the development of an Organoleptic Tincture Training Kit, designed with input from an intern from ISIPCA.

This kit is intended to support students in developing their smelling, observing, and describing skills, the essential foundation of good perfumery.

Organoleptic training is not just about whether something smells “nice” or “strong.” It is about learning to notice texture, diffusion, tenacity, dryness, sweetness, colour associations, aromatic families, emotional tone, and how materials change over time.

This is exactly the kind of practical, sensory training we want to keep building into the Academy.

Mayday, Beltane and the Season of Creative Renewal

May begins with Mayday and Beltane, an old seasonal threshold associated with fire, fertility, protection, growth, and the return of life.

For perfumers, this time of year is full of inspiration. Blossoms, green leaves, damp earth, herbs, grasses, citrus, florals, and fresh air all begin to call us back into our senses.

I have also written more about this seasonal turning point on Substack, reflecting on May, Beltane, creativity, and the aromatic imagination.

Read the Substack post here: https://substack.com/@naturalperfumeacademy

⭐ Could You Leave the Natural Perfume Academy a Google Review?

If you have studied with the Natural Perfume Academy, attended a session, joined one of our courses, or simply found our work helpful, we would be very grateful if you could leave us a Google review.

Reviews help new students find us and help the Academy continue to grow internationally.

You can leave a review by clicking the link below or scanning the QR code.

Leave a Google Review:
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Thank you so much to everyone who takes a moment to support the Academy in this way. It really does make a difference.

Thank You for Being Part of the NPA Community

As we move through May, it feels like the Academy is entering another season of growth, rooted in Ireland, but reaching across the world.

Thank you to every student, graduate, perfumer, teacher, reader, listener, and supporter who is part of this community.

Whether you are just beginning your perfumery journey or returning to your materials after a long pause, you are very welcome here.

Warm regards,
Ruth
Natural Perfume Academy Diploma Course
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