Scents & Sensibility

CUSTOM BLENDS BY YOSH

Perfumer who splits her time between San Francisco and New York, describes fragrance in the same language that others reserve for, say, late Rembrandts or Michelinstarred restaurants. "Fennel is a strong scent on its own," she says from her Bay Area studio. "If you pair it with jasmine, you'll have a cacophony that needs tempering. When you learn to smell things that way, the compositions have a way of dancing."

Han should know; she's at the forefront of a trend that finds perfumers tailoring scents for specific clients rather than for huge demographics, focusing on organic and natural ingredients along the way. Employing an unusually patient and personalized process, Han has created her custom fragrances for such fashionable sets as the Junior League and the San Francisco Opera, for writers such as Daniel Handler (Lemony Snicket) and Nick Hornby, and for chef Gary Danko.

"Usually," says Han, "you have a perfumer—with an ego—who says, This is what I think you should wear based on your skin color, your lifestyle, your preferences.'" Han, by contrast, begins by asking for gut responses to more than 100 essential oils and narrows things down from there. The result is something highly individual and intuitive. Even many of her ready-to-wear scents, like the newly launched botanical fragrance Winter Rose, available at Takashimaya and Barneys New York, are made in limited editions.

Despite her focus on singularity, she prefers the concept of a "fragrance wardrobe" with multiple options. "No fashion consultant would say, 'Wear the same black pants every day for 20 years.'"

EVE EPSTEIN