Penny Williams

United Kingdom To The Fairest

She builds each scent from a brief that is part image and part feeling, shaping an accord first and then a journey of notes, much as a composer scores music. Her work for To The Fairest spans a gentle powdery rose and amber, a cool cardamom and cacao blend, a gardenia white floral and a dark vetiver, so the thread is the story behind each scent rather than one house signature.

About

Penny Williams is a UK creative perfumer with about 30 years in fragrance. She is a long-term collaborator of To The Fairest founder Rebecca Rose, translating her ideas into finished scents.

Williams entered perfumery by chance at 19. She spent 17 years at fragrance house Belmay in technical and creative roles, latterly as Chief Perfumer. In 2006 she founded Orchadia, a consultancy offering creative, practical and technical fragrance expertise to companies worldwide.

She is a full member of the International Society of Perfumer-Creators and the British Society of Perfumers. She is deputy chair of IFRA UK\u0027s Technical Advisory Group and serves on its glossary and global GHS taskforces, combining creative work with regulatory expertise.

Her To The Fairest portfolio includes Cécile, Aubine, Élan Vital and Ordre Cosmique, a cardamom and cacao composition she has called a personal favourite. Her method begins with the story behind a brief, then uses odour memory to find ingredients and accords. She works with the founder from images, pack colours, ingredient ideas and feelings until the scent feels complete. Williams likens creative perfumery to composing music with odour instead of sound.