Stephanie Vastola has been mixing perfume professionally for three years now, but her passion started when she was just a little girl. One year she received a perfume making kit for her birthday and thought to herself, “I wish I could do this when I grow up.” Her quote in her high school year book reads, “what’s that smell?”

By chance, Vastola embarked on her perfume career. “I really couldn’t find a perfume that I liked for myself,” said Vastola, so she sought out a custom perfume. Vastola received great training from her mentor and actually learned how to mix perfumes. She became obsessed with mixing different scents.

Vastola has even mixed for TV show “Gossip Girl” star Leighton Meester and is credited with creating the only perfume Meester will wear.

“I’ve always had a really strong sense of smell,” said Vastola, and she attributes her love of mixing perfume to that unique quality. Vastola can point out the different notes within a smell, a skill that comes with experience. In order to create personalized scents, Vastola uses essential oils and plant based synthetics which make her perfume user-approved for vegans and vegetarians.

A lot of people that come to Vastola to create their own personal scent are looking for something that can’t be found in department stores.

She feels that sometimes people forget about perfume, when it’s so simple to give the wrist a little dab. Creating perfume is also a personal experience for Vastola; she has people telling her the smells remind her of a grandmother, an ex-boyfriend or a favorite dessert.

Vastola has recently branched out on her own with her personal company called Drop by Drop. If you’d like a Stephanie Vastola custom perfume email her at dbdfragrance@yahoo.com.

Via: Queens Ledger