On the scent

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/06/2021 (1922 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A new Winnipeg business is lifting the veil off the fragrance industry in Canada. Tom Jansen, owner of Denatured Lab in the Exchange District, has recently opened a fragrance workshop. A relatively new concept in Canada, it’s engineered through Jansen’s rich knowledge.

“I like to call perfumery an art that is guided by science,” said Jansen.

“I love getting people to interact with fragrance, it’s something we don’t really do here in Canada, there’s not much of an industry for fragrance so I’m trying to bring that here to Winnipeg.”

Jansen’s business functions in three parts; the lab and workshop, a lifestyle boutique and gift shop.

“The lab offers perfume education sessions and perfume creation sessions so you can come in and create your own custom perfume,” said Jansen.

The workshop, anticipated to open again in July, offers 90-minute evening sessions to create a perfume to take home. A customer can come in with up to three people for $125 to enjoy a hands-on experience.

“You get to do all your own blending, you can learn all about the industry and ingredients, and then you pick from a selection of our 50 fragrance accords which are like building blocks that we’ve made in house,” said Jansen.

“The biggest point that I try to drive home to people is that perfumery should be something that is fun and accessible.”

In addition to their own fragrance line made in house, the shop tries to carry up to 70 different brands of products and home goods you won’t find in Winnipeg. The perfumer works with nearly 500 ingredients stocked in his lab. Jansen’s passion for the industry was found at an early age.

“Ever since I was five I remember mixing little perfumes in my backyard,” said Jansen, “collecting the flowers and the puddle water and all that stuff and making my own fragrances.”

After getting a nursing degree based on limited work in Canada at the time, Jansen’s interest in the fragrance field was renewed after the chance of a lifetime to study perfumery in France for a year.

“I was one of 12 selected from across the world to attend, and the only person in my class from Canada,” said Jansen.

“The school is incredibly intense, lots of science, lots of learning raw materials. We work with over 2,000 materials in perfumery. There’s lots to know, mostly individual molecules and lots of chemistry behind it as well. A super-intensive one-year degree basically studying 12 hours a day, seven days a week.”

After selling his shares in Coal and Canary, a business he helped start, Jansen saw a chance to share his passion and knowledge of perfume with Winnipeg. It’s a decision that has not gone unnoticed.

“I think what Denatured brings in particular is a really unique product and approach to the area and the city,” said David Pensato, executive director of the Exchange District BIZ.

Denatured is one of a dozen new businesses in the Exchange to open in the last year, Pensato said. The director explained how the workshop complements existing businesses in the neighbourhood.

“They’re all geared towards lifting back the veil a little bit on creative processes and things that people don’t always get access to,” said Pensato.

“To get that exposure and be hands-on, I think it’s really timely in terms of what people are looking for.”

Pensato is encouraged by new ground-floor businesses opening and says he feels a sense of optimism in the district as we approach potentially fewer pandemic restrictions.

“I think that when you see these entrepreneurs opening in the area in the middle of a pandemic with these new shops, it is because they see it too,” said Pensato.

“Some of these businesses are hidden secrets, being right there on the ground floor makes it all the more accessible.”

Jansen is getting ready to release his summer edition of Labwork, his seasonal line of fragrance. Despite the small industry, the owner says the work that gets done on a daily basis can be found in everyday life.

“There are less perfumers in the world than astronauts,” said Jansen.

“Every product we use every day has been made by a perfumer. Whether it’s the dish soap we use, or the shampoo we buy or the home fragrance we use, it’s all been made by expert perfumers. For an industry that we don’t know much about, as general consumers we interact with it every day.”

Denatured is now open at 73 Princess St.

jbernacki@freepress.mb.ca

@JosephBernacki