Your raw idea might create a powerfully original -- and successful -- fragrance

    I was going over some of my own creations recently and it struck me that some of them are quite good. Now stop a minute. "Some," not all? And "good," not "excellent"? Let's get real.

    Some of my fragrances are better than others. Why pretend otherwise? But the better ones are good and here's why I say "good" rather than "excellent" or some other superlative. I simply do not have the skill that a professional perfumer, working in the fragrance industry, would have. I make no pretense about it and I admire the work of people whose skills are far advanced over mine. If one of them were to take the best of my creations they might, with a few adjustments, make it "excellent." They might add a little this, subtract a little that and smooth out the balance. They might polish the rough edges, the small, jarring transitions from one note to the the other. Even the best of my fragrances are a bit raw. But they have a strong voice. That's what makes them special.

    If you have ideas for perfumes, materials to work with, and the skills to use these materials to create the fragrances you want to create, yours too may be a bit raw. But if your concepts, your basic scent visions are "right," your fragrances will be worth producing and putting out to the public, even with their rough edges. If your vision is "right," and well executed, the rough edges disappear beneath the strength of your concept.

    In short, don't be discouraged by what you can't do. Go forward with what you can do and, if your vision is right, there's a good chance your customers will relate to it -- and want more fragrances from you!