Amanda Buhse
Amanda Buhse didn't set out to become a perfumer. She set out to become a storyteller. After graduating from Red River College's Communication Design program, she cut her teeth in Winnipeg advertising at DesignType and Picante, then sharpened her digital instincts as Web Creative Manager at Ricki's. Candles started as a side project, a creative outlet stirred together in her kitchen with forty dollars worth of supplies. Coal and Canary grew from a hobby into one of Canada's most recognized home fragrance labels, landing in celebrity gift bags at the Academy Awards and earning her the Women-Led Award at the Women of Inspiration gala. Today she leads Coal and Canary as Co-Founder and CEO while chairing the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce, hosting Made in Winnipeg, and authoring her first book. With Piper & Perro, she steps into fine fragrance with the same instinct that turned a candle experiment into a national brand: sharp design sensibility, genuine curiosity about scent, and zero fear of starting small.
The hits
Notable creations
The signature
How Amanda composes
Buhse brings a designer's eye to composition, favoring clean structures with a single surprising note tucked into the drydown. Her Coal and Canary work earned a reputation for atmospheric, room-filling scents, and Piper & Perro refines that sensibility into something wearable. Expect considered blends that balance soft florals and warm woods with grounded, almost mineral accents. The Arid profile points to her affinity for sun-warmed, pared-back compositions, while Veil suggests a love of sheer, skin-close textures. Bud rounds out the trio with something greener and more botanical. She tends toward natural-leaning materials and reads ingredients the way a graphic designer reads typography: every element earns its place or gets cut.
Philosophy
What drives Amanda
Buhse approaches fragrance the way she approaches branding: as a feeling people should recognize before they can name. Years of studying visual identity taught her that the best work communicates instantly and lingers. She builds scents with intention, asking what mood a person wants to walk into a room carrying. Her creative process treats fragrance as emotional design, a quiet tool for confidence, calm, or delight. Buhse has spoken often about building a business that moves with her life rather than against it, and that same philosophy shapes how she composes: practical enough for daily wear, layered enough to feel personal. She wants her fragrances to feel like a signature, something a wearer chooses on purpose.
The houses
Maisons Amanda composes for
In the same league