Sam Macer

United Kingdom Zurai

Framework-driven, self-taught perfumery that pairs unusual combinations with tailored artwork, with the accessibility and price of designer perfume rather than the usual niche premium.

About

Sam Macer is a self-taught British perfumer. He founded his perfume company, Lux & Terra, in 2019, and it now trades as Zurai.

Before perfumery he taught himself a run of other creative skills, including 3D art, guitar, music production, digital painting, photography and video editing. He then studied chemistry in order to become a perfumer, graduating with a first-class degree from Imperial College London and spending his final year at EPFL in Lausanne, Switzerland, while completing his masters. When he could not find a job as a perfumer, he started his own company and learned on the job.

Lux & Terra stalled during the pandemic, so he took a job in software and built the business in his evenings and weekends. His focus is now helping aspiring perfumers learn at home, through his YouTube channel, his perfumery supplies shop The Fragrance Foundry and Formulair, a digital notebook for apprentice perfumers. He also offers paid online tutoring.

He still runs the perfume brand as a creative outlet. He aims for unique and special combinations and tailored artwork, as is common in niche perfumery, balanced with the accessibility and affordability of designer perfumery. He follows the frameworks of Jean-Claude Ellena, Jean Carles and Edmond Roudnitska, in contrast to the casual approach to perfumery he sees online. The perfume database credits him with Vanillawood, Moonlight Harvest and By Virtue of Sunbeams.