AMIATA is an innovative perfume and scent-education brand that seeks to reconnect us to our natural environment—and to one another—by harnessing the power of smell. Crafted by poet-scholar and artist Susan Barbour, these fragrances are scent-poems designed to anchor the soul in the present moment. 

About Our Founder

Susan Barbour is an artist and poet-scholar of the senses. She first fell in love with smell and the words used to describe it while touring the vineyards of France and Italy. Her passion for language led her to publish poetry while also obtaining a DPhil in English Literature at Oxford. During this period, she led wine tastings for ex-pats and tourists in Paris and gained the Level 4 Diploma in Wine and Spirits. She found that training her nose for these difficult exams was a challenging and fascinating experience. It inspired her to teach herself the art of perfumery so she could become the creator—and not just the connoisseur—of complex, multi-layered, aromatic bouquets. You can learn more about her journey in scent by watching her TEDxRoma talk “I Smell Human.”

About the Brand

Each AMIATA fragrance has a poetic origin story about its creation. These formulas also eschew popular commercial ingredients and instead use a high concentration of sustainably sourced, organic natural oils, resulting in sensual, complex perfumes that mirror the rich, nuanced bouquets found in biodiverse landscapes or a glass of old-world wine. 

An avid traveler and lover of nature, Susan often finds inspiration for her formulas by conducting “scent walks” through biodiverse ecosystems. After a fortuitous artist residency turned lockdown at Castello di Potentino in Monte Amiata, Tuscany, in February 2020, she realized the power of scent to quell the mind and ground us in our natural surroundings. When she learned the Latin origins of “Amiata,” – from me to the earth – she knew this was to define her mission and the brand. 

AMIATA products invite us to expand our awareness by more fully inhabiting the world around us. We believe that environmentalism should be rooted in feelings of abundance and connection. Every moment of wonder, pleasure, and appreciation of nature is a gift that nourishes our own sense of well-being and strengthens our connection to the planet and to one another. As an aspiring B Corp, we seek to become leaders in the beauty and wellness industry who nurture this wellbeing in our customers while insisting on corporate and social responsibility to promote conservation and sustainability.