Aftelier Perfumes, Mandy Aftel & the Twenty-First Century Alchemist

It really isn't all that often that either a product or a company truly causes me to come undone from my own effusive gushing. It also is quite infrequent that the company is owned and operated by a longtime reader who then emerged to offer me a sampling of her beautifully handcrafted artisanal perfumes and luxury oils. It is, indeed, even more seldom that this person and her company would have already been firmly placed on my radar, and on the shortlist of things that I really needed to try. And perhaps the final tour de force would be the (un)likelihood that this lovely woman and her beautiful company would be in my hometown. Literally everything about Mandy Aftel's Aftelier Perfumes resonates with me, and the prospect of featuring her products is one of my greatest recent blog pleasures!

As a girl who grew up in Berkeley, buying and mixing my scented oils from the original Body Shop (now known as Body Time after selling the name to what we now know as the The Body Shop) was a part of my life reaching back into childhood. Therefore, it is safe to say that beautiful oils have been a part of my life as long as I can remember, but Mandy Aftel's oils take this to a whole new level.

Everything is so aesthetically pleasing from the mailer envelope, to the sticker affixed to the mailer, to the gorgeous boxes that housed the products themselves, to gorgeous glass bottles, and finally to the lovely note. The whole experience of unpacking everything was a delightful experiential component that heightened my anticipation. Then the crescendo was smelling, seeing and touching the products themselves. This is what someone expects from an Atelier experience, but Mandy Aftel's attention to detail has an added aesthetic flair that makes her peerless. Mandy is something of a Postmodern Alchemist, and you will be astounded by the quality of her beautifully handcrafted lovingly made products.

I am so excited about these beautiful handmade treasures, and will begin reviewing them once I have used them a bit longer. In the meantime, please go visit Mandy at Aftelier Perfumes- you will definitely want to bookmark her website!

Press Samples. Unaffiliated link provided for your convenience.