MANDY AFTEL'S LOVE/HATE LIST
40 Things Mandy Aftel Loves and Hates
asked Mandy Aftel for a list of 20 things she loves and 20 things she hates.
Mandy Aftel is a world renowned natural perfumer celebrated for her artistry in blending pure and organic ingredients to create enriching scents. She is also the preeminent artisan perfumer, educator, curator, and author on natural fragrance and flavor.
Aftel is the founder of the Aftelier Perfumes and the Aftel Archive of Curious Scents in Berkeley, California, which houses her extensive collection of rare and historic fragrances. Her perfume museum offers visitors a sensory journey through the history and craft of natural perfumery, celebrating the artistry and heritage of scent creation.
Her nine books include: Essence and Alchemy: A Natural History of Perfume, which helped spark the natural perfume renaissance and has been translated into sixteen languages.
She also made perfume for Leonard Cohen.
I love Mandy. She’s one of the most amazing and magical people I’ve ever met. We share a deep love of Leonard and if you’re ever in the Bay area, you have to visit her museum. It’s only open on Saturdays. Mandy and her family run it so you’ll have the chance to meet her too.
Here’s a photo of me and Mandy in her garden.
I posted a new poem on my personal Substack if you’d like to read it.
You can buy our first Dream Baby Press book MOUTHFUL here.
Please feel free to send us questions, suggestions etc. hidreambabypress@gmail.com
Follow Dream Baby Press on Instagram.
THINGS MANDY AFTEL LOVES:
1. Velvet Sister and La Tur when they are so ripe and runny, I can eat them with a spoon
2. Sweaters made from ferret wool
3. Antique book: Symbolorum and Emblematum
4. De Profundis by Oscar Wilde
5. “The Window” by Leonard Cohen
6. Water-color pencils
7. Two-tone glitter fountain pen ink
8. Mini-tapestries by Shelia Hicks
9. Pomegranate popsicles
10. Natural essences
11. London in the 60’s
12. “Jude the Obscure” rose
13. Umberto Pasti’s garden in Northern Morocco
14. Northern California oak trees in the Fall
15. Streets that don’t run perpendicular
16. Palimpsest painted signs on old brick buildings
17. Ambergris
18. Kindness
19. Socks with big bright dots
20. Antique tribal kilim rugs
THINGS MANDY AFTEL HATES:
1. Fish
2. Oppressive perfume that lasts all day
3. Lying
4. Mid-Century design
5. Novels that are too long with too many characters
6. Tension in movies and the accompanying music
7. Sentimentality
8. Violence
9. Group activities
10. Fitting in
11. Taking love for granted
12. Wall-to-wall carpeting
13. Beige
14. Clutter
15. Owning unneeded objects
16. Pineapples
17. Being late
18. Experts with megaphones and little knowledge
19. Print-on-demand scans of antique books
20. Characters in novels who do things they were wisely warned not to do
- Mandy Aftel
Get a signed copy of our first Dream Baby Press book MOUTHFUL by Matt Starr.
"MOUTHFUL keeps a running lyrical tab of all of the stray, horny, quotidian, anxious but most importantly, generous thoughts racing through Matt’s handsome little head. *Chefs kiss*”
- BRONTEZ PURNELL, Author of 100 Boyfriends
Watercolor pencils are great. I can't comment directly on your poem because I'm not a paid subscriber to your personal Substack, but I'll slap you in the face if it means that much to you. When's the next writing club? I need some chicken fries.
What a wise person.