On corporate life, yoga, natural perfumery and the desire to create something beautiful with my own hands.
The Many Ways We Can Be Ambitious
For much of my professional life, I've worked in marketing and corporate environments. A world of strategies, deadlines, presentations, ambitious targets and an almost endless flow of information.
There are many things I appreciate about this world. I enjoy creating ideas, finding connections, building something from the ground up and understanding what makes people interested in a product or a story. These are skills I continue to value, and they have undoubtedly shaped the way I approach my own business.
I've also spent years practising and teaching yoga, where attention takes on a completely different meaning. You begin to notice the relationship between your surroundings, your body and the way you experience a moment. The light in a room, the sounds around you, the temperature of the air. Small details that can change the character of an experience.
I began paying more attention to these seemingly invisible elements of everyday life.
And among them, one fascinated me particularly.
Fragrance.
Not simply perfume as something beautiful to wear, but scent as part of the atmosphere we inhabit. Something connected to memory, personal associations and the way we experience ourselves and our surroundings.
That curiosity eventually became sense • studio • amsterdam.
When Curiosity Becomes Something You Make
I've always been drawn to natural aromatic materials. Essential oils, fragrant woods, flowers, resins and botanical extracts have an extraordinary richness that I find endlessly interesting.
But enjoying beautiful fragrances and learning to create them are two very different things.
The more I explored perfumery, the more I realised how much knowledge lies behind something that appears so effortless.
An essential oil isn't simply a pleasant-smelling liquid. It is a complex mixture of chemical constituents, shaped by the plant it comes from and the way it was obtained. Different materials have their own evaporation rates, aromatic characteristics and interactions with other ingredients.
Creating a perfume requires understanding these properties and learning how to bring them together.
What began as an interest gradually became a much deeper exploration of composition, chemistry and craftsmanship.
My collection of aromatic materials grew. So did the number of experiments.
I learned to work with precise measurements, different dilutions and increasingly complex formulas. I discovered how dramatically a tiny adjustment could change a composition, and how something that smelled beautiful on its own might become almost unrecognisable when combined with other ingredients.
Some experiments were exciting. Others were disappointing. Occasionally, an idea that seemed wonderful in my imagination turned out to be considerably less wonderful in a bottle.
That's part of the process.
And I found that I loved it.
There is something deeply satisfying about taking an idea that exists only in your imagination and slowly giving it a physical form.
Why I Chose Natural Perfumery
When I started developing my own fragrances, I wanted to work with materials derived from nature.
This was a personal creative choice, rather than a belief that natural perfumery is inherently superior to synthetic perfumery.
Modern aroma chemistry has given perfumers extraordinary possibilities. I find the science fascinating, and I have enormous respect for the creativity and technical expertise involved.
But my own fascination lies in botanical materials. The complexity of a rose absolute, the character of vetiver, the richness of frankincense, the fresh brightness of bergamot. Each material brings its own collection of aromatic nuances. I also work with naturally derived aromatic isolates, which allow me to explore certain fragrance characteristics with greater precision.
For me, this is an exciting meeting between nature and contemporary knowledge.
I want to understand the materials I'm working with, including their chemistry, their possibilities and their limitations. Natural ingredients require careful sourcing, formulation and safety considerations. Their complexity is part of what makes them interesting, but it also demands responsibility.
I don't see tradition and innovation as competing ideas. Some of the most beautiful possibilities emerge when we bring them together.
And this is the approach I wanted at the heart of sense • studio.
From an Idea to an Independent Fragrance Studio
Creating a fragrance is one thing. Building a business around it is something entirely different.
Suddenly, there are decisions that have very little to do with the beautiful smell of sandalwood or the perfect balance of a floral accord.
There are suppliers to find, materials to source, formulas to document, products to test and regulations to understand. There are packaging decisions, photographs, labels, a website and a thousand practical details that nobody sees when they encounter the finished product.
My marketing background has been incredibly useful here. But running an independent business also means learning things that don't fit neatly into a strategy presentation.
Sometimes, the day involves working on a beautiful fragrance composition. Sometimes, it involves trying to understand why a candle isn't burning quite as I intended, or discovering that an ingredient behaves differently from what I expected.
And occasionally, it's simply about finding the right solution to a practical problem.
I find this combination strangely wonderful.
The work requires creativity and discipline, intuition and precision. There is room for beautiful ideas, but those ideas also need to become real objects that function as intended.
Today, sense • studio brings together five signature fragrances, with four of them developed across different expressions: eau de parfum, perfume oil, candles and Japanese-style perfume incense.
Each product is developed and prepared in small batches in Amsterdam.
And behind every finished object is a process that I continue to learn from.
What Luxury Means When You Make Something Yourself
Building sense • studio has also made me think differently about luxury.
I've always appreciated beautiful design, exceptional materials and attention to detail. I love objects that have been thoughtfully created, where you can sense that someone has considered the proportions, textures and smallest finishing touches.
But the more I work with my own hands, the more interested I become in the human knowledge behind those objects.
The skill required to recognise the quality of a botanical extract. The experience needed to balance a complicated fragrance. The patience involved in refining something until it works.
These qualities aren't always immediately visible.
And yet, they are often what make an object extraordinary.
In a world where technology allows us to create, reproduce and distribute things with remarkable speed, I believe human craftsmanship becomes increasingly interesting.
Not because technology is something to resist. Quite the opposite. I appreciate the opportunities it creates, including the ability to research, communicate, develop ideas and run a small independent business.
But technology and craftsmanship offer different kinds of value.
There is something special about knowing that an object has passed through someone's hands, that decisions have been made with care and that the person creating it understands the materials.
For me, luxury is not simply about what something costs. It's about the quality of thought, knowledge and attention that goes into creating it.
And perhaps just as importantly, the pleasure it brings to the person experiencing it.
Creating Atmosphere, Not Just Products
When I think about the fragrances I create, I'm interested in more than their individual notes.
Goldrise began with an idea of brightness, warmth and optimism. Stillbreath explores the freshness of nature after rainfall. Heartwood brings together strength and softness, while Velvetglow is an expression of warmth and quiet sensuality.
Holysmoke has its own darker, more mysterious character.
These are not simply different combinations of aromatic ingredients. They began as different atmospheres I wanted to explore.
This is why I describe my approach as emotional architecture.
Just as an architect considers light, materials, proportions and the relationship between different spaces, I think about how aromatic materials can contribute to an experience.
Fragrance is particularly fascinating because its associations are deeply personal. The same scent may remind one person of a childhood garden and another of a place they've never visited again.
I can carefully develop a composition, but I cannot determine what it will mean to everyone who experiences it.
And I wouldn't want to.
What interests me is creating something that leaves room for those individual connections.
A perfume that becomes familiar on someone's skin. A candle that accompanies a lovely evening. A fragrance that eventually becomes associated with a particular period of life.
These are small pleasures, but I think they deserve attention.
Building Something That Reflects My Values
One of the most rewarding aspects of creating sense • studio is the freedom to make deliberate decisions.
I can choose which materials interest me, how I develop my fragrances and what kind of objects I want to create.
Of course, an independent business comes with very real limitations. Time, production capacity and resources all influence what is possible. There are always more ideas than hours in the day.
But these limitations also encourage me to think carefully about my priorities.
I want to continue learning about natural perfumery, improving my formulations and discovering new materials. I want to develop products that feel beautiful to use, but are also properly made, evaluated and documented.
I want the collection to grow from genuine curiosity and experimentation rather than simply adding new products for the sake of having more.
And I want to remain close to the creative process.
For me, sense • studio is not just about bringing a product to market. It's also about building something that allows me to combine different parts of who I am: the strategic thinker, the creative person, the yoga teacher and the endlessly curious student of aromatic materials.
I don't believe we need to choose between these different sides of ourselves.
Sometimes, the most interesting things happen when we allow them to meet.
A Different Kind of Ambition
I still believe in ambition.
I want sense • studio to grow. I want more people to discover natural perfumery, to experience my fragrances and to appreciate the thought and craftsmanship behind them.
I want to continue experimenting, improving and creating things that feel genuinely special. But perhaps my understanding of success has become a little more personal.
It's no longer only about reaching the next milestone or making something bigger.
It's also about the quality of the work itself. The pleasure of learning something difficult. The satisfaction of finally getting a formula right after several unsuccessful attempts. The excitement of discovering an extraordinary aromatic material.
And the simple experience of holding something in my hands that began as an idea.
That's what sense • studio represents to me.
A place where nature, science, creativity and craftsmanship come together. Where fragrance becomes a way of exploring atmosphere and emotion. And where beautiful objects are created with thought, curiosity and care.
I'm still at the beginning of this journey, and there is so much more I want to learn and create.
But perhaps that's the most exciting part.
I didn't start sense • studio because I had reached the end of something. I started it because I wanted to discover what else I could create.
And to me, that is a beautiful kind of ambition.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who creates the fragrances at sense • studio • amsterdam?
I'm Gosia, the founder and perfumer behind sense • studio • amsterdam. I develop my own fragrance compositions using nature-derived aromatic materials and create perfumes, perfume oils, candles and Japanese-style incense in small batches.
What inspired you to start sense • studio?
My background in corporate marketing, my experience teaching yoga and my long-standing interest in botanical materials gradually came together through a fascination with fragrance. I wanted to explore how scent can become part of our personal experience of the spaces we inhabit, while creating beautiful objects through craftsmanship and thoughtful formulation.
What makes sense • studio an independent fragrance studio?
I develop the fragrance compositions myself, rather than selecting ready-made perfumes from a catalogue. Working independently allows me to make deliberate decisions about materials, formulation, production and the character of each fragrance, with an emphasis on small-batch craftsmanship in Amsterdam.