Peter Carter

About

Peter Carter is the founder, owner and perfumer of Centauri Perfumes, a fully independent niche house hand-crafted in small batches in Yorkshire, England. The house officially launched on 22 December 2019, timed to the winter solstice, and Carter is the registered company officer of Centauri Perfumes Ltd. The house describes Carter as a self-taught perfumer, and no school or apprenticeship is documented.

Centauri's concept is the movement of the stars and the epochs of time. Its logo is an eight-pointed star, the symbol of Inanna, which the Sumerians carved in stone about five thousand years ago. The house is organised into three collections: Past, which draws on the mysteries of ancient cultures and favours high-quality natural materials; Present, which blends natural ingredients with modern aroma chemicals; and Future, which leans on modern synthetic materials and a hope for humanity's evolution.

The perfumes are extraits. Alchemy is a transformation theme built on amber, incense and orris butter, and Vanillium pairs authentic Thai oud with Madagascan vanilla pod tincture and vanilla absolute, a meeting of the exotic and the familiar. The house also sells pure oud oil and a house oud blended from three distillations. Carter is also the perfumer and owner of a second line, Lila Maya.

The style is a thoughtful, idea-led independent perfumery that uses natural raw materials and oud oils alongside modern aroma chemicals, with a strong visual identity of red, white and blue collections.