What most surprised Emily Schaber about mixing her own fragrances was the sense of order it brought to her life. Living with a learning disability had made scheduling and organizing next to impossible, Schaber told the Mercury, but the intentional planning that perfumery required helped her break through some of those difficulties. She became a person who spent hours working on spreadsheet formulas.
“You have to be very intentional with perfume.” Schaber said. “You can’t just throw things in like the Swedish Chef. You have to really plan and have a vision—I’m constantly surprised by the results that yield from the effort you put in.”
Schaber first began mixing perfumes for friends in the fall of 2019, as part of a plan to be more creative. Then, during the pandemic, she started a label called Shelter in Perfume as an outlet to escape lockdown—envisioning far-flung, wide open destinations. Now, she’s considering how her label’s inspirations have shifted, as most of the pandemic’s public restrictions have expired.