Signature Scents

PERFUMER MANDY AFTEL HAS A LITERARY TOUCH

Consider Aftelier perfumes couture for the nose. Owner Mandy Mtel exclusively crafts all-natural custom perfumes from a trove of fragrant vintage oils and distillations of essences ranging from the esoteric (boronia, a Tasmanian flower that goes for $12,000 a kilo) to the sublime (Venezuelan chocolate and the Egyptian blue lotus). A therapist for artists and writers for 25 years, Aftel decided, 12 years ago, to write a novel. Drawn to the idea of a hero who is a perfumer, she began researching the world of alchemy. "I became obsessed with the materials," she says. "They are magic." But art followed art, and instead Aftel became a perfumer. While she never did write the novel, her perfume business has attracted a cult following of writers and celebrities. She tracked down white oleander for novelist Janet Fitch, paired writer William Voilman with a scent that's anchored in blond tobacco, Mexican lime, and cedar, and blended red hibiscus and sandalwood for lit provocateur J. T. LeRoy. Kate Hudson was turned on to Aftel's jasmine and orange blossom by socialite Samantha Kiuge. Donovan Leitch's signature scent includes orris and blood orange, while his wife, model Kirsty Hume, desires magnolia suffused with linden blossom. And, not surprisingly, the immortal Leonard Cohen wears a "deep and centering scent" heavy with frankincense.

ELISSA SCHAPPELL