Stephen V. Dowthwaite is the principal instructor and founder of PerfumersWorld Bangkok, Thailand. He has been active in the fragrance industry since 1971 and was trained in fine perfumery in the UK at Picot Laboratories, one of the last creative perfumery houses in the UK before it became part of the Jovan stable.

In the 1970's Mr. Dowthwaite worked as a perfumer and cosmetic chemist with Grossmiths, Norda, and Sarants in the UK and went on to become a freelance consultant perfumer.

In 1989 Mr Dowthwaite traveled to Thailand, fell in love with its richness of fragrances, and decided to stay. At the time, Thailand lacked a perfume manufacturing industry and Mr. Dowthwaite became active in setting up agencies for Quintessence Fragrances, Ltd. in the Pacific Rim. Then, in 1992, he started the first perfume compounding facility in Thailand, Adinop Co., Ltd.

Currently Mr. Dowthwaite is a consultant for

• Thai-China Flavors and Fragrances, Thailand,
• Guangzhou Baihau Flavors and Fragrances, China's largest Flavor and Fragrance house, and the
• National Science and Technology Development Agency, Thailand.

Mr. Dowthwaite is also

• Special Instructor at King Mongkut University (Masters Degree Option) in Thailand, and
• Has at least 300 fragrances and flavors currently on the market in more than 14 countries.

Setting up agencies and new projects in Thailand and the Pacific Rim required the development of simple and efficient perfumery training program for students who spoke a multiplicity of Asian languages. Out of this need, Mr. Dowthwaite developed The ABC's of Perfumery, a method of perfumery training which has enabled students to better appreciate fine fragrances, understand how they are developed, and create their own artistic but commercially viable perfumes. The ABC's of Perfumery teaching method was described in the May/June 1999 Issue of Perfumer & Flavorist magazine.

Along with The ABC's of Perfumery, Mr Dowthwaite co-authored two versions of The Perfumer's Workbook, perhaps the only perfume creation software available today outside of the major flavor and fragrance companies. Together, The ABC's of Perfumery and The Perfumer's Workbook (available in a basic and a professional edition) constitute what is perhaps the only systematic method of odor description and perfume creation available today. These tools now form the essence of the PerfumersWorld training system which has been used to train more students worldwide than any other method of perfumery training, including the famed "Jean Carles Method" used by Roure/Givaudan.

Mr. Dowthwaite explains,

"PerfumersWorld was organized to focus on promoting fine creative perfumery and opening the art of perfumery to a much wider audience. Increasingly the perfumer has become just another member of the production team with the bulk of perfumery work becoming restrictively cost controlled for purely commercial purposes. Did you know that some international perfumery companies in the top 10 no longer stock stock natural Jasmin, Tuberose or Iris? In the 70's, Picot Laboratories had typically 5% of natural flower absolutes in every perfume formulation!

"Working in commercially oriented companies is only possible for a handful of people. There are only about 500 commercial perfumers world-wide. In order to open up the world of creative perfumery, would-be perfumers require information and training and, most importantly, access to materials. All three are available through PerfumersWorld.

"Most international perfumery houses have no training facilities for perfumers. PerfumersWorld now has students working in 8 out of 10 of the top ten perfumery houses and students from more than 40 countries worldwide including USA, UK, Canada, Mexico, Germany, Holland, France, Italy, Singapore, Switzerland, Japan, Korea, China, Israel, Poland, India, Bangladesh, UAE, Hong Kong, Australia, Columbia, Brazil, Pakistan, Turkey, Taiwan, Venezeula."

Today, PerfumersWorld is the only school in any country that offers both basic and professional level instruction in creative fine perfumery, in the English language, through both correspondence courses and on-site instruction.

Perfumery lessons at a location in the U.S. (New York Area) are currently being planned for the 2007-2008 season.

A profile of Stephen V. Dowthwaite also appears in Marquis Who's Who, 13th Edition