4 Day Bath & Body Boot Camp at The Nova Studio

I attended the 4 Day Bath & Body Boot Camp at The Nova Studio back in October 2010, and this week I'm returning to volunteer as a teacher's assistant for the perfumes portion of the camp. It looks like it's changed a little, since they're now teaching lip tints and gloss, but for the most part the same classes are offered. You don't learn to make soap, but you learn to make a wide variety of bath and body products, plus information on packaging.

You can take individual days if you're not interested in everything, but if you're traveling, it's a great way to learn about a lot of products in a short time. Some are pretty easy, and you can probably make as soon as you return home, like bath salts and salt scrubs. Lotions are a little more complicated, but seeing them go through it step by step will hopefully give you the confidence to try it on your own.

I had shied away from making perfumes after first taking the class- many of the essential oils cost a lot, including those wonderful floral middle notes. When they needed a teacher's assistant for the class about a year later, I agreed to do it, since it is a fun class. After that, I pursued perfume whole-heartedly, first with Mandy Aftel's workbook, and then attending her classes. I recently took my fourth class with her, and I now have a Level 3 certificate- I was really excited to receive it. I'm working my way through her second set of workbooks now- quite the undertaking I must add.

The perfumes class at The Nova Studio introduces you to several top, middle, and base notes, and you walk away with three new perfumes. The stand alone class is a bit different now, but in the bootcamp you make one each of oil-based, alcohol-based, and solid perfumes. The perfumes class this Thursday can be taken alone, or as part of the boot camp. It's a great class for anyone interested in learning to make natural perfumes, or for aromatherapists who want to make their blends smell nicer. If you're creating naturally scented products, you can also apply your perfumery knowledge to creating unique scents for your products.