Art takes many forms, and for Whitney (Wit) Swales and Rob Westendorf, it’s found in fragrance. The couple started Wit & West Perfumes in 2021, creating all-natural perfumes and colognes inspired by the people, places, and moments that have shaped their lives. Each scent is designed to evoke a personal connection for the wearer.
For Wit, fragrance is far more than a finished product. “Our sense of smell is directly connected to our memory and our emotions, making perfumery a very intimate and powerful form of self-expression for both the perfumer and the wearer,” she says. “And while it’s a consumer product, the process of creating perfume is both an art and a science, which intrigued me because I am both an analytical and creative-minded person.”
That philosophy informs every fragrance they create. “Everything we do is rooted in the idea of ‘slow perfumery,’ a thoughtful, intentional, and methodical approach to creating fragrance,” Wit explains. “New creations are never hurried. Every perfume is thoughtfully handcrafted in-house in limited quantities.”
For the couple, bottling their own emotions and experiences creates something far more personal than a fragrance. Their Colorado roots often shape those stories, including Summit Rose, one of the newest additions to the Signature Collection. “Place has always been one of my greatest sources of inspiration,” Wit explains. “Summit Rose takes inspiration from the wild rose of the Rocky Mountains, which grows despite the thin air and abundant evergreen forests that surround it. The fragrance is rose-centric, but it evokes the crisp air of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, transforming the traditional rose into a high-altitude oasis.”
Working exclusively with natural ingredients is central to Wit and West’s philosophy. While he has no hate for synthetic materials, Wit believes botanical ingredients offer a different form of depth and complexity, while carrying a stronger connection to the landscapes, cultures, and people from which they come. “For me, the choice to work exclusively with natural ingredients, or ingredients derived from botanical sources, is an artistic choice, in the same way that a musician may choose to play the acoustic guitar instead of an electric guitar,” she says.
Like any work of art, a fragrance has the power to tell a story and stir emotion. That’s the experience Wit and West hopes to create with every bottle. “If one of our fragrances becomes part of someone’s life, creating new memories every time they wear it, then I know I’ve created something special and meaningful,” Wit says.
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