Alchemologie Natural Perfume

Alchemologie Natural Perfume is the perfume business of Julianne Zaleta, a herbalist, aromatherapist and natural perfumer who works from a studio atelier in Park Slope, Brooklyn, New York. She grew up in her mother's garden in the Midwest and trained with established natural perfumers and aromatherapists. The house defines its name as the turning of raw materials into perfume. Her press page lists reviews of her perfumes from 2010, when they were sold under the name Herbal Alchemy Apothecary, and a Crain's New York piece on her perfume career in 2014.

Every perfume is made by hand in small batches in the Brooklyn studio from natural materials, with organic ingredients where they can be found. The packaging is simple and recyclable, with little plastic, and nothing is tested on animals. The shop lists ten natural perfumes, a sample set and a wedding perfume, and she also makes bespoke perfumes after a consultation. Each bottle comes in a brown satin pouch with a small keepsake.

Alchemologie has no shop with open hours. The studio atelier at 438 9th Street in Park Slope is where Julianne Zaleta holds bespoke consultations and classes, by booking only. Her two part Natural Perfume Blending course costs $165 a part, and she also teaches perfume blending at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Otherwise the perfumes are sold online: a 15 ml bottle costs $70 to $90 and a 1 ml sample $9 or $10, an easy way to test the range. Try Nethermead first: it is named after a meadow in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, and smells of violet over cedar and amber.