Today we’d like to introduce you to Sanae Barber.
Sanae, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I started making perfumes in 2009, but my relationship with scent began long before that. Music, somehow, lead the way, this idea of a life comprised of “notes”—it wasn’t until I took a perfume-making class in Los Angeles that I learned about the other “notes”—base notes, top notes, how to merge them in a way that felt akin to a symphony, or composition. Perhaps that’s why my scent collaborations with musicians came about so naturally – the first was with Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy in 2012, a middle-eastern inspired scent that was based around a rare oud oil. I found that a collaborative creative process was incredibly satisfying, and my next collaboration as with Father John Misty, “Innocence” by Misty, which starts out with orange blossoms and neroli and jasmine but dries down to a very deep dark, sexy sandalwood. Violet leaf is woven into it in a way that feels like psychedelic love from a wood nymph or a fairy. It really is a coming of age love story in a bottle! These two early collaborations with musicians lead to a series of perfume collaborations with brands and individuals that wanted to be associated with music and art and scents that create an altered state experience, which is really what the Sanae Intoxicants brand is. It isn’t a Sanae Intoxicant perfume if you don’t feel intoxicated when you smell it. It has to pass that test. That is the bottom line that has carried over through the last decade, and now I’m able to share this concept with the world through my flagship store in Los Feliz, the greatest crescendo of my career so far.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The path walked by any entrepreneur artist is never an easy one…although it has always been exhilarating. Before becoming a perfumer, I had worked in advertising for many years. I had decided that I no longer wanted to work in that industry, but I had no idea what my next step was going to be. I really struggled with that uncertainty, not knowing what I was going to do next, and I kept putting a lot of pressure on myself to know what I wanted to be. It was overwhelming and produced a lot of stress and anxiety. One day, I decided to let it all go. The holidays were coming up and I decided I wasn’t going to worry about it anymore. I didn’t know what I was going to do, and that was okay. I allowed myself to not know. In that period of time, something magical began to happen. I started, without even putting much thought into it, playing with oils and it fueled an obsession which leads me to take classes in natural perfumery. I started collecting rare and exotic oils and blending them together. This new passion-fueled relationships with people I never could have imagined, as they responded to my journey. Perfume opened doorways, and the next move for me was to literally stay out of my own way, and let this perfume project take on a life of its own. For a while, I didn’t tell anyone about my perfumer dreams, I just cultivated it privately, letting the dreams build in my imagination and fuel my passion for what I was creating. I let the scents form their own relationships with the outside world on their own. I have been busy ever since the day I started.
Now that I have the storefront in Los Feliz, it’s allowed me to expand my vision and services even further, and I’ve moved into an educational space, holding several monthly workshops in perfumery. I love sharing knowledge and being around people. In the early days of my business, the hardest part was working from home because I’m such a social creature. The store has really opened my world up, and I am filled with gratitude every day that I get to be there.
We’d love to hear more about Sanae Intoxicants.
I’m a perfumer who has become a fragrance designer and a brand consultant who also manages the production of the scents. I have created a beautiful team that does packaging, branding, all the production and I work intimately with my clients to bring their own Intoxicant to the world, either through perfumes, through room fragrance, candles or many different mediums. I’ve created fragrances for boutique hotels like Gold-Diggers in Hollywood. I did fragrance for a high-end lifestyle boutique in Silverlake called Night Palm with Tiffany Howell. I did the fragrance for La Tierra Sagrada, a high-end organic hair care line. I’ve worked on several candle fragrance lines like Rukske and Retablo. My latest project that I’m super proud of was a perfume for Iliza Shlesinger, goddess comedienne; it was called Christmas Mouth.
One of the things that really sets me apart is the way I’ve cultivated an in-house, one-stop-shop for people who want to create a scent for their brand that’s done in an artisanal fashion. There isn’t anyone else on the West Coast that’s offering an all-encompassing service like this—fragrance design, branding, packaging, and production, in small batches. There are many noses out there creating custom perfumes, but there aren’t any labs or shops that will do small runs that also have the teams in place to handle the branding, the packaging and the production. I’m offering a service that doesn’t really exist elsewhere; I’m trying to fill a niche for brands that want a fragrance but don’t necessarily want to invest in five to 10,000 bottles with a lab in New York.
Which women have inspired you in your life?
Laurel Stearns is a longtime friend and manager in the music business who originally connected me with Father John Misty. Laurel inspires me constantly by showing up every single day with so much energy and positivity, managing her artists like U.S. Girls and building an extremely successful antique jewelry business, Pass It On Ltd.
Tiffany Howell is the creator of Night Palm who did the interior design of Gold-Diggers and has gone on to really blossom in the world of design. Watching her continually share herself in profoundly creative ways, setting herself apart from so many designers and Instagram influencers, has been inspiring to me.
My next inspiration is Iliza Shlesinger, a very talented young comedienne and client of mine who connects with her audience in a truly beautiful and unique way. I am inspired by the way she shares her personal life with people, and her commitment to social justice and environmental change. Also, even though she is probably one of the busiest women I know, she shows up to every single meeting on time, knowing exactly what she wants, always bringing self-awareness, clarity and of course, humor to the table. On top of that, she’s killing it on Netflix, selling out audiences, and showing up for her fans on Instagram like no one else I’ve seen.
Someone who I haven’t worked with but who has inspired me constantly is Lana Del Rey. I had the pleasure of spending an evening with her and loved learning what a subtle, humble and gracious person she is. She spent the evening asking me questions about my favorite things to smell and what was it like to work with Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy. I was so touched by her genuine interest in my work and was very moved by what a thoughtful and beautiful creature she is. It is a dream of mine to one day work with her.
Contact Info:
- Address: 4651 Melbourne Ave
- Website: sanaeintoxicants.com, sanaeintoxicants-privatelabel.com
- Phone: 310.403.3396
- Email: info@sanaeintoxicants.com
- Instagram: sanaeintoxicants
- Facebook: Sanae Intoxicants
Image Credit:
Brooke Dulien, Aisleagh Jackson, Haya
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