We first got to talk with perfumer and founder Erica Vinskie of
HENNY FAIRE Co. in 2020, which you can find
here. Four years later, and Henny Faire Co. had not only thrived through a pandemic, but grown in some of the coolest ways. We decided to catch up with Erica about all the growth and change and how she manages it all so well!
Q: So much has changed since the last time we chatted. Can you fill us in on the big changes of the last few years for you as a perfumer and as a brand?
In November 2022, we opened a retail storefront in a beautiful Victorian building in historic Boyertown, PA. The boutique is the realization of a longtime dream. I love being able to invite folks into my world in a physical space and sit down with them to blend their custom fragrance.
Q: Did the pandemic, or the after effects, change anything about your work or how you create? What are the differences, if any?
The pandemic resulted in a much-needed realignment of HF’s business model with who I am as a person and a creator. In the summer of 2018, HF had greatly expanded our wholesale business with a focus on getting our fragrances into more retailers. This meant I was spending a lot of time in production and management, rather than the things that give me life, which is creating and communicating. I spent much of 2019 in a state of burnout, hating the business and craft I once loved.
The pandemic closures quieted everything, and I was able to reflect on where we had been and where I’d like HF to go next. Emerging from the pandemic, I decided HF would remain intentionally small. Consequently, I imploded the wholesale business. In a literal example of “one door closes and another opens”, in the fall of 2022, through a blessed accordance between a valued friend and a local Main Street organization, we opened our 300-square-foot retail location. Q: Can you tell us about some of the new scents that you created and the inspiration behind them?
Aside from the reformulation of Betula featured in the November Men’s collection with Olfactif, I haven’t released any new fragrances in quite some time. I’ve been focused on the brick-and-mortar shop and the custom blend service. Behind the scenes, I’ve been slowing building accords for a fragrance inspired by my love of the classic novel, Brideshead Revisited . While this fragrance might not see the light of day in 2024, I expect the quiet of the winter months to bring it to fruition in 2025.
Q: Have you worked with any new materials that you are loving or ones that were an unexpected surprise?
I had some Ambranum® Firmenich gifted to me by Sandy Carr from Bluehill Fragrances last year. (Thank you, Sandy!) Such a fulsome and gorgeous amber, like a Midas Touch that turns everything opulent gold. I now want to use it in every blend.
Q: You now have an amazing retail shop! How did that come to be? What do you love about it and what has been challenging?
While I touched on this above, I can elaborate that the realization of my dream of a permanent retail location was made possible through valued connections with another Boyertown business owner and Building a Better Boyertown, a Main Street organization. They both saw that Henny Faire Co. would bring a unique experience to Boyertown, especially for visitors.
As far as challenges, being in the craft market circuit held far more difficulties than having a retail shop. That nomadic way of doing business was not sustainable for me. Having the boutique allows me to create an immersive experience for customers and the community (without having to pack and unpack the whole shebang every weekend!)
Q: You’re also doing custom blending services in your shop and online. How do you go about creating a fragrance from others’ tastes and selections in a retail setting and also translating that in a virtual setting?
Our in-store perfumer’s organ features approximately 30 notes for customers to experience and from which they choose base, heart, and top notes for their custom fragrance. I compound the fragrance on the spot, and they carry it home.
For the online version of the custom blend service, we simply put the in-store perfumer’s organ into a web form from which customers choose their notes. I compound the fragrance, and ship it to the customer after two weeks.
The online version does require a certain amount of trust on the part of the customer since they cannot experience the notes in situ. However, since our accords are photorealistic and “true”, the model works well. Whether in-store or online, folks love getting to play perfumer, and I love being able to offer them that experience. 
Q: Of all of the scents that you have created and launched, do you have a favorite?
That’s like choosing from among one’s own children (or, in my case, cats 😉)
When I wear fragrance, which I do rarely because I’m often protecting against olfactory fatigue, I reach for something by someone else. My two current favorites are by American houses: Ariose by fūm fragrances and Kosciuszko by Blocki Perfumes. The former is a romantic feminine fragrance featuring a cloudlike meringue of orris that is instantly sensual and calming. The latter, inspired by the Polish-American Revolutionary War Hero Tadeusz Kosciuszko, is an unapologetically masculine fougère with a hazy gunpowder accord that makes me feel like I’m on the Brandywine Battlefield in the early morning.
Q: We are featuring Betula in the November Collection. Can you elaborate on its creation, the inspiration behind it and any special notes/ingredients you are really enjoying in it? All of the fragrances in my Foraged Fragrances™ collection are inspired by and include botanicals native to Appalachia. Betula is inspired by our native Eastern black birch ( Betula lenta ) and features smoky birch tar and cool, medicinal wintergreen layered on top of a mossy green chypre. Having grown up in the Anthracite Coal Fields of Northeastern Pennsylvania, the birch holds a special place in my imagination. Since this tree quickly colonizes disturbed ecosystems, you can see its ghostly form rising up out of black slag heaps and denuded landscapes throughout the Anthracite Region. For this reason, I view the birch tree as a symbol of renewal. 
Q: You recently opened up about being neurodivergent. Can you explain what that means for you? What led you to decide to be outspoken about that? How has it changed you, your brand and how you perfume, if any?
Thank you for asking about this. My particular blend of neurodivergence includes clinically-significant traits of autism and ADHD. (Emerging research suggests tremendous overlap between these and several neurodivergent conditions.) I chose to use my brand platform to speak openly about having a neurodivergent “operating system” because, at midlife, it felt like I would die if I remained silent. I spent the first half of life believing I was a defective and failed human—even as my core self knew that was not the case. I reasoned others were struggling too, and we could support one another to become the best versions of ourselves.
I now consider that I adopted the practice of perfumery because of autism. Olfaction bypasses language to connect directly with memory and emotion. I therefore find fragrance a facile medium with which to express myself and interface with others.
Q: Do you feel that your neurodivergence is an asset to your creativity, or does it make it more challenging? How so?
A key feature of autism and ADHD is monotropism, the involuntary hyperfocus on a limited set of interests and details others might view as insignificant. I reason monotropism enabled me to learn a vast array of perfumery materials, independently, in a relatively short span of time – to be able to distinguish them and mentally catalogue their interactions.
On the flip side of the coin, monotropism means I struggle with every day tasks most folks do without having to think about them or try. Without my neurodivergent traits, I wouldn’t be who I am. However, like most neurodivergent folks who experience a lack of support, resources, and acceptance, having these traits means I’m not all I could be.
Q: What can we expect in the future from HENNY FAIRE Co.?
I plan to continue to enhance and expand our retail experience and bring more beauty to the community. 
Find
Betula featured in our
November 2024 Men's Collection, Find Your Bold
Subscribe by
November 15th to get this collection in your mailbox.
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Photo Credits: Erica Vinskie / HENNY FAIRE Co.
