When I was little, I found a rose or peony bush deep in the brambles of our back yard. The soapy, voluptuous scent struck me. The vivid memory has stayed with me since.

Scent called out to me my whole life. I cherished the smoky, contemplative sandalwood incense burned in the meditation hall. I loved a dollar hair mist I used when I was 11. I was drawn to the perfume counter in the department store and the airport from the youngest age, loving ethereal florals.

I came to perfume through candles. Ten years ago, I got a spruce candle in Ithaca, NY, and in 2020 I set out to make one by hand. I learned almost all candlemakers use premade fragrance oils.

I started to dig into gas chromatography analyses of coniferous trees. I joined online perfumery communities. I was entranced by the complexity and possibility of literally thousands of natural materials and synthetic aromachemicals available today. Thus Kônos Perfume was born.