Carlynn McAneeley has always loved smell — and the way it connects to memory — but it wasn’t until the pandemic that she discovered an online community of people who felt the same way.
“They were talking about fragrances that I’d never heard of, which made me so excited,” she says. “I’d always been someone who had what I thought was a large fragrance collection, but I was shocked to see people’s rooms full of perfume. My collection has exploded exponentially.”
Pairing her growing knowledge of fragrance with her growing collection, McAneeley decided to become a fragrance consultant, recommending scents to people through her company, Dame of Fragrance. She also offers online scent education.
“I’m just a lover of smells,” she says. “I help people discover niche, artisanal fragrances, like a curator or a sommelier. I’m not making the wine. I’m just helping match your meal to the right wine.”
She offers different tiers of services, like “fragrance 101” where you can learn more about the world of fragrance. Another popular option is an in-depth personal scent consultation.
“I ask them a whole bunch of questions that might seem unrelated to fragrance,” McAneeley says. “Because most of us haven’t really thought about smells a lot. It’s an underutilized sense. I try and get at how people want to feel, what the goal of the fragrance is.”
Her questions range from where the scent will be worn to how the client wants to feel wearing it. Do they like the smell of morning coffee or lilacs? Will the scent be for special occasions or everyday wear?
“I’m asking questions about texture and colour and if there’s a character in a book that would embody this vibe, trying to get at all different angles,” she says. “I have an archive in my brain, but also a digital archive of smells that I’ve encountered and I start matching fragrances.”
For locals who want to get more hands-on with perfume making, Edmonton-based Pura Botanicals offers the opportunity to create a signature scent. Founder and director Lane Edwards launched bespoke perfuming alongside the skincare line nearly 15 years ago.
“There was interest right away,” she says. “I think it was because it’s so unique. We were the only ones, not just in Edmonton, but in Canada, offering that level of customization.”
Guests can come into the 124 Street flagship boutique on their own or with a group (but be sure to book ahead). After filling out a questionnaire to help pare down specific scents, participants smell various top notes (typically clean, fresh scents that make up 20 to 40 per cent of the perfume), heart notes (usually floral, green, or fruity — the bulk of the scent), and base notes (earthy, spicy and the smallest portion of the fragrance).
They’re then wafted together to give a sense of how they mix. In total, guests select around 16 scents from nearly 100.
“We mix it all together in our beakers and we get around 40 to 50 drops,” says Aisling Elia-Kelly, boutique and perfume lead with Pura. “The rest is the home oil, which is jojoba oil. It mimics our skin’s oil, so it sits well on top.”
Rather than scent-forward, alcohol-based perfumes (that variation is also available by request, though it can take six to eight weeks for a finished product, rather than the take-home oil-based option), Edwards calls the oil variety a “lean-in close fragrance” that’s more subtle.
Offerings vary from the rich, comforting scent of coffee to oak moss that emulates a damp forest floor to a surprisingly light and clean take on musk.
While the bespoke perfuming sessions are popular for date nights, bachelorette parties and baby showers, late this summer, you’ll find Pura at the University of Alberta botanic gardens for its French perfuming workshop series.
“The first one is in the Japanese garden,” Edwards says. “We wanted to pull notes of yuzu, matcha and rice to represent the garden.”
The workshops launch Aug. 29, 2026, and run throughout the year.
Dame of Fragrance
dameoffragrance.ca
Pura Botanicals
Westmount | 10120 124 St NW, Edmonton | purabotanicals.ca
