Alexander Yashin experiences the world through scent, describing the aroma of clover as reminiscent of opera. Blind since birth, the 31-year-old can perceive only light and shadow, yet he brings vivid imagination and emotion to his work as a perfumer at Pure Sense, a Moscow-based fragrance house. Seated in the laboratory, Yashin smiles warmly as he inhales a new fragrance blend, surrounded by rows of tiny white vials holding essential oils and aromatic elixirs—his “perfume organ,” as he calls it.
Yashin is part of a four-person team of perfumers at Pure Sense, which includes two other blind colleagues. The company was founded five years ago by 29-year-old Ekaterina Zinchenko, who set out to create an inclusive and creative environment where talent could shine regardless of disability. Zinchenko emphasizes that inclusion means enabling people to excel in what they do best. For her, hiring blind perfumers was a natural step toward that goal.
For Yashin, perfumery is deeply tied to music. He compares the process of creating a fragrance to composing a musical piece, where individual perfume notes form chords and ultimately a full composition. With a background in philology and ethnography, and experience as a member of a traveling folk music ensemble, Yashin draws inspiration from his sensory-rich memories and musical intuition. His heightened sense of smell and hearing compensate for his lack of sight, allowing him to create fragrances that are both nuanced and emotionally expressive.
He views perfumery as a lifelong learning process, much like any art or craft. Each creation is a journey shaped by experience, memory, and imagination. This artistic approach is reflected in the company’s growing catalogue, which Zinchenko describes as diverse and filled with personality. Each perfumer brings a distinct style and perspective to their compositions, making the brand’s fragrances as individual as their creators.
As Pure Sense prepares to expand internationally, Zinchenko is proud not just of the unique products her company offers, but also of the creative freedom and expression it encourages among its employees. She notes with affection that she can often identify who created a new fragrance simply by its scent, without needing to check the label. In an industry driven by sensory detail, the work of these perfumers stands as a testament to the power of inclusion and the beauty of interpreting the world through scent.
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