Perfumer Alec Lawless Dies

British perfumer Alec Lawless passed away after an accident. Although few details are known about his death, we know a lot about his background in perfumery. Lawless authored Artisan Perfumery or Being Led by the Nose, a book about perfumery and perfume blending.

It's certainly a topic he knew a lot about—he sourced oils for and co-founded essential oils company Aqua Oleum with his then-wife Julia Lawless, author of The Encyclopedia of Essential Oils. He then went on to start perfume company Essentially Me, which he ran out of a 19th century woolen mill in England's Cotswolds. Essentially Me produced mostly natural fragrances and had some limited editions, such as Empress of India, which he created for a BBC show called Victorian Pharmacy.

In addition to creating fragrances in his old barn, Lawless taught courses on perfume-making, designed custom fragrances for people and even hosted the occasional meditation retreat, inspired by his essential oil–buying trips in the Far East.

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