Articles Written By: Karen

About Karen

"Some people are inspired by a piece of music, some are moved by a painting, a photograph or sculpture. For me the real magic is the sense of smell and how it connects to our deepest emotions and desires." Natural skincare and fragrance expert Karen, originally trained as a make-up artist and cosmetic scientist at The London College of Fashion. After many years working as a fragrance evaluator for one of the world’s largest perfume manufacturers, she decided to pursue her lifelong passion for natural health and beauty by training in aromatherapy and joining the product development team at Neal’s Yard Remedies. As well as helping to create many of their award winning products, she also ran training courses for staff and members of the public. Karen has a clothing, custom printing and tattoo studio Time Bomb and runs artisan perfumery and natural beauty workshops in London and the South of England.

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Images of Beauty

Date: January 12, 2012 Author: Karen Leave a comment

Most of us, no matter how healthy usually let things slide a little over Christmas so we are feeling (and possibly looking) a little rougher around the edges than we usually do. Come January, magazines bombard us with diets, detoxes and post party season recovery tips which accompanied by pictures of stunning models doesn’t do a great deal for our self esteem when we are at our most vulnerable self image wise. I saw a video via Twitter this week and thought I would share it with you here as it really does put things into perspective. It’s very tongue in cheek and made me chuckle but is something to keep in mind next time you are flicking through a magazine!

Fotoshop by Adobé from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.

Links

Date: October 19, 2011 Author: Karen 2 Comments

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Perfume Class Video

Date: October 1, 2011 Author: Karen Leave a comment

More info about the class and how to book CLICK HERE

Free Body Scrub Recipe

Date: September 25, 2011 Author: Karen Leave a comment

This year has been a bit of a whirlwind for me with so many changes. Last summer I decided to take a break from my retail business to focus on my first love perfumery with the view to writing a book. I have always loved teaching and sharing my knowledge so when I spotted an opportunity to teach the make your own cosmetics classes at The Make Lounge I jumped at it. Really it was just for fun while I worked on my perfumery book and classes, I didn’t dream that I would be approached by a publisher and have a book out by this year! We have now added a new workshop for Christmas so check it out if you want to make some bath treats as presents for the festivities.

The book has been very well received and I have been getting lots of lovely emails from people all over the world. Here is a Body Scrub Recipe from “A Green Guide to Natural Beauty” as featured on the Daily Mail website Barbados Ready Body Scrub

If you like the recipe and want to try more, grab yourself a signed copy of the book here. I can also personalise it if it’s a gift.

Perfumery – Covent Garden to Birmingham

Date: September 20, 2011 Author: Karen Leave a comment

I have just recovered from an intensive 2 days whizzing around the country teaching and talking perfumery. I always forget how much talking for 2 days solid strains your voice, I really must remember to drink more water!

Saturday was in Covent Garden at the training centre of Neal’s Yard Remedies where I had 13 students from a wide variety of backgrounds, including a staff member from Lush,a chemist , a psychiatrist and a staff member of Neal’s Yard that I haven’t seen since I worked for the company seven years ago. As it turns out she now has my old job as company trainer.

After a quick whiz through the theory we spent a very intensive afternoon creating some simple accords which were then put together as finished fragrances. I love the fact that everyone came up with something completely different and wearable within the short space of time.

As everyone was heading home for dinner I was hopping on a train to my next session just outside Birmingham for a corporate client on Sunday morning. The venue was a gorgeous hotel and spa with beautiful grounds and a moat, which was thought to be once owned by an alchemist!

The focus was on middle eastern ingredients and the samples of Incense Oud (provided by the lovely sales assistant at Harvey Nichols) By Killian went down a storm with the attendees. As did the bottle of Ta’if by Ormonde Jayne.

Unfortunately the only bit of the hotel I got to enjoy was the gloriously comfy bed and the impressive function room built for Henry VIII in which we spent the morning – I am hoping to go back for a spa break though as they use lovely organic products by Neom.

>> More on my Perfumery Classes

Perfume Course – London 2012

Date: September 19, 2011 Author: Karen Leave a comment

Perfume Course | The Only Introduction You Will Need

I have a brand new date for my one day beginners perfumery workshop in London.

An Introduction to Perfumery – UK Perfume Course

**CLICK HERE FOR DATES**

You will have plenty of hands on experience in blending and creating your own accords and finished fragrances.

All materials and equipment are provided and no previous experience is necessary. All you need is imagination and a love of perfumery.

Topics Covered

The History of Perfume
Where Do Fragrance Ingredients Come From and How Are They Made
The Sense of Smell and What it Means To Us
The Beginners Guide to Training your Nose
Top, Middle and Base notes and Why They Are Important
Practical Blending Techniques

By the end of this 1 day perfume course you will:

Have an understanding of the historical significance of fragrance
Have learned about the different natural ingredients used in perfumery
Easily be able to classify natural aromatic ingredients into the different fragrance families
Have practised blending top middle and base notes to create simple fragrances

About Karen Gilbert

Natural Skincare and Fragrance Expert Karen, originally trained as a make-up artist and Cosmetic Scientist at The London College of Fashion.
After many years working as a fragrance evaluator for one of the world’s largest perfume manufacturers, she decided to pursue her lifelong passion for natural health and beauty by training in aromatherapy and joining the product development team at Neal’s Yard Remedies.
As well as helping to create many of their award winning products, she also ran training courses for staff and members of the public.
Karen has a successful retail business and runs artisan perfumery and natural beauty workshops in London and the South of England.

Book Your Perfume Course Today – Limited number of places available Will Sell Out FAST!

Perfumery Classes In London

Date: July 25, 2011 Author: Karen Leave a comment

I have a brand new date for my one day beginners perfumery workshop in London.

An Introduction to Perfumery

Date: 28th April 2012
Time: 10am-5pm
Venue: Imperial College South Kensington
Cost: £150

This workshop in natural perfumery will give you the opportunity to gain a basic understanding of the history of perfumery and then work with a variety of materials to design your own natural fragrances.

You will have plenty of hands on experience in blending and creating your own accords and finished fragrances.

All materials and equipment are provided and no previous experience is necessary. All you need is imagination and a love of perfumery.

Topics Covered

The History of Perfume
Where Do Fragrance Ingredients Come From and How Are They Made
The Sense of Smell and What it Means To Us
The Beginners Guide to Training your Nose
Top, Middle and Base notes and Why They Are Important
Practical Blending Techniques

By the end of this 1 day course you will:

Have an understanding of the historical significance of fragrance
Have learned about the different natural ingredients used in perfumery
Easily be able to classify natural aromatic ingredients into the different fragrance families
Have practised blending top middle and base notes to create simple fragrances

Bath Bomb Recipe | Easter Eggs

Date: April 5, 2011 Author: Karen Leave a comment

Had a great class at the Make Lounge last night making bath and body products which reminded me of the Easter Egg Bath Bombs workshop I did last year. I promised my students last night that I would put the recipe up – so here it is…

Download your free bath bomb recipe below

Easter Egg Bath Bomb Recipe

Or simply follow the bath bomb recipe below – Have Fun!

Ingredients
300g Sodium Bicarbonate
150g Citric Acid
60g Cornstarch
50ml spray bottle of Witch Hazel
¼ teaspoon power colour
20 drops of Essential Oil of your choice
6 egg shaped moulds

Method
1.Weigh the Sodium Bicarbonate, Citric Acid and Cornstarch into a bowl and mix thoroughly.

2.Add your powder colour, and blend into the mixture until there are no lumps. This is usually best done with your hands rubbing the mixture between your thumb and fingers as if you are making pastry.

3.Add your essential oil and do the same thing until the fragrance it totally blended in. You can wear latex (or non latex) gloves to protect your hands from the neat essential oils.

4.Take your spray bottle of Witch Hazel and spray the mixture 10 times whilst mixing with the other hand. Keep doing this until the mixture is the texture of damp sand . Be patient and add the witch hazel gradually, after each lot of sprays squeeze a handful of mixture and drop back into the bowl. When it holds its shape then it is ready to pack into moulds.

5.Take handful of mixture and pack tightly into each half of the mould, slightly overfill one half. Push the two halves together for 20 seconds and remove the top half. Dust off the excess back into the bowl and leave the egg to set. Repeat until you have filled all of the moulds.

6.You should now be able to remove the eggs from the other half of the moulds and place into an egg box to harden.

Please feel free to share this link or send the bath bomb recipe pdf to your friends.

Karen’s bath bomb recipe and other freebies also available at TheFragrantAlchemist.com

Workshops and New Book

Date: February 24, 2011 Author: Karen Leave a comment

I can’t believe its February already, the year is flying by! I’m looking forward to spring – my favourite time of year and always a good time for new ideas to blossom.

I have spent the last 3 months working on a new book of beauty recipes that will be on sale in the UK and USA in Autumn 2011 so haven’t had much time to update the blog.
I have seen some of the layout and the cover already and am very excited as its going to look beautiful as well as being packed full of practical information and recipes to get you making your own products at home. I have kept it simple but added recipes for lotions and showergels which are sadly lacking in most books currently on the market. If you want to be amongst the first to get your hands on a copy when it comes out make sure you join up to the mailing list. By joining the list you will also be able to download a lotion recipe that is in the book that you can use as a template to create your own face and body lotions from scratch.

I have lots more workshops coming up at The Make Lounge but they sell out quickly so be sure to book immediately if you see a class you want to attend.

I will also be running an extra special product making weekend in April at Trill Farm which is owned by Romy Fraser the original founder of Neals Yard Remedies as well as an artisan perfumery weekend in August. This is a great opportunity to make your own products and perfumes in the gorgeous countryside as well as meeting the inspirational lady herself. The workshop prices are incredibly reasonable for the value you will be getting so don’t miss out – places are limited and will go fast!

“Pink Fizz” Christmas Gift Workshops

Date: November 20, 2010 Author: Karen Leave a comment

A very good friend of mine Miss Libby Rose has just set up a pop up shop for Christmas a 6a Greenwich market. Over a glass of wine the other evening we were chatting about how we could combine both sewing a beauty classes in this gorgeous little space. We came up with some great ideas for the new year but she persuaded me to squeeze a few dates in before Christmas to enable people to make their own Christmas Gifts.

We came up with “Pink Fizz” to fit in with the theme of the shop and each evening will begin with a glass of bubbly to get you in the Chrismas spirit.

We will make some Glitter Fizz Bath Salts, Chocolate or Sparkle Lip Balm, Organza Gift Bags and Fabulous Fabric Bows for your gifts

Space is limited and will fill up quickly – you can book online here: http://selfsufficiencycourses.co.uk/courses/pink-fizz/

29th November 6.30-9pm
9th December 6.30-9pm
20th December 6.30-9pm

See you there!
Karen

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Karen Gilbert

Natural Beauty & Perfumery