Miriam's
Perfume Journey
Thirty+ years ago, Miriam changed her career direction and joined the fragrance industry in what she referred to as “the white-hot center of New York City”. This shift led her to meet and be mentored by one of the industry’s leading noses, Ann Gottlieb. Under her mentorship, Miriam received the fragrance apprentice-training traditionally reserved for times past.
Initially with Gryphon Development, Miriam was introduced not only to perfumery, but to product development from inception to launch. From there, she went on to renowned fragrance house International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF). As a professional fragrance evaluator, she collaborated with master perfumers on some of the most successful fragrances in the world. Over the course of her career, while holding positions in fragrance evaluation, product development, marketing, and sales, Miriam celebrated olfactive success with brands that include Donna Karan, Calvin Klein, Gap, Banana Republic, The Body Shop, Neutrogena, Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Works, John Paul Mitchell Haircare, as well as celebrity and niche artisan perfumery clients.
Miriam created and taught ‘The Art & Poetry of Perfumery’, a specialty master-class in olfactive evaluation and perfumery blending. Recently, Miriam designed ‘The Language of Olfaction Series’ and has introduced the signature training session, ‘A Journey through the Genealogy of Scent’.
Continuing her passions for beauty, whimsy, travel, adventure and above all, her love of smelling and for the art of perfumery, she realized a new vision - a line of her own creation. 40notes Perfume™ was born and grew into an award winning collection.
In addition to the 40notes Signature Collection, Miriam focused on natural botanical essences, has developed custom blending Soul Essence Sessions, and continued to be the Nose-Behind-the-Brand for several beauty & fragrance companies.
After the initial launch of 40notes, her curiosity of natural materials led her to delve further into the origin of these magnificent ingredients. In 2012, Miriam joined Robertet Inc, the French fragrance house and raw materials supplier of natural perfumery ingredients sourced from around the world.
In explaining her interest, she states that “each note tells an entire story; is a perfume creation itself.
In 2012, I began a nearly 4-year ‘deep dive’ into the world of natural botanical ingredients when I began working with the 160-year old French fragrance house and raw materials supplier Robertet, Inc.
It was as if I had been looking through a telescope all my life, and was suddenly given a microscope! I became aware of everything that affects the journey of an essence before it ever reaches the perfumer's' studio.
My curiosity grew as I began to appreciate crop calendars, harvest seasons, extraction methods, yield, market demand, even geo-political events and climate change... and their effect on these precious natural resources.
My passion blossomed and it is now my honor to create with Mother Nature's Formulas.”
As she continues on her journey, Miriam is now fully immersed in her new inspiration, Palette Naturals®.
In the beginning, Miriam studied architecture and interiors at the University of Oregon. With degree and portfolio in hand, she moved to New York City to work with classical design firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. With a love of design and of all things beautiful, it is no wonder that Miriam has pursued the glorious, harmonious world of perfumery. She brings her mastery of structure and the use of building blocks to the art of blending magnificent melodious accords as a starting point to inspire products with divine scents that resonate with global consumers and lovers of all things fragrance.