From Music Notes to Fragrance Notes — My Journey from Singer to Perfumer

Creative expression has always been a driving force in my life. Singing was my first love, and while still a student at Berklee College of Music, I began my professional career as a vocalist in a jazz band.

In the ensuing years, I gigged in nightclubs, worked as a session vocalist and wrote music. I felt fortunate to be making a living doing something I loved.

Songwriting, like singing, gave me a lot of satisfaction. The infinite possibilities of melodies and harmonies, the opportunity to tell my stories through lyrics, the intricacies of arranging a tune — it was another avenue of creative expression that captured my attention with a passion.

But though I will never get tired of music, I did eventually burn out on the notoriously erratic music business. Desiring a more grounded existence, I took a detour and followed an avid interest in wellness to a new career in holistic healing.

It turned out to be a very rewarding way to make a living — truly an honor and an education to help people on their healing journeys. And the intuitive nature of holistic work is creative expression in its own right. If creativity has a sister, it’s intuition.

One of the treatment modalities I used in my practice was aromatherapy, which I had studied extensively. I was madly in love with essential oils. Their profound beauty and wide array of therapeutic properties bring us gifts on so many levels. For me, one of those gifts was access to a world I never thought I could be part of — the world of fragrance.

That’s because prior to experiencing essential oils, I had avoided scented products like the proverbial plague due to allergies and sensitive skin. Perfumes, room sprays, scented lotions and candles — all were impossible for me to use, or even be within several feet of, because of the unpleasant symptoms they provoked. The joy of fragrance … inviting, evocative, sensuous … was not meant for me. Or so I thought.

But essential oils changed all of that. The revelation of nature’s enchantingly fragrant and soothing plant essences — and on the flip side, the realization that the scented products I had been reacting negatively to were made with toxic synthetic fragrance chemicals — was truly life-changing for me.

With essential oils, I discovered a wonderland of fragrance without side effects. They were little aromatic miracles that my body not only tolerated, but actually benefited from.

Inspired by these gorgeous plant essences, I went on to create an aromatherapy-based body care brand called Sage Canyon Botanicals. Sage Canyon products were sold online and in retail establishments for over a decade. I personally formulated the product line, which featured complex essential oil blends in a clean, high-performance alternative to synthetic-based body care.

Along the way, I took my love affair with essential oils to the next level and began composing fine fragrances. What I bring to you here at CUSANI Perfumes are the fruits of my passion for creating truly luxurious modern perfumes that are entirely free of synthetics.

Crafted by hand with the finest organic and wildcrafted botanical essences, they contain no synthetic fragrance molecules, aroma chemicals, isolates, fragrance oils, parabens, phthalates, glycols, sulfates, GMOs or animal ingredients.

One of the many things I love about my latest creative adventure is the way botanical perfumery combines aspects of my life’s work to date. Most striking is the remarkable similarity between composing music and composing fragrances, starting with the words they share — “notes,” “accords” (chords of fragrance), etc. 

Then on to the composition process itself. If composed well, a perfume becomes a symphony of scent. There’s a melody (main olfactive theme), harmonies (secondary themes), bridges (bridge notes) and counterpoints (accent notes), just to give you an idea. I call it “music for the nose” (corny, I know, but true! :)).

There are other parallels bridging my creative journey, too: storytelling — first through music, now through scent; an ever-deepening exploration of plant essences, begun years ago as an aromatherapy student; and witnessing, over and over again, the transformative power of both music and scent. It’s all come together for me here, in the creation of pure botanical perfumes.

My desire is to make each fragrance “sing” — to create a compelling and harmonious experience through scent that resonates with you and brings you pleasure. Enjoy! — Claudia