In the first light of day, the scent of a dew-drenched garden is earthy, floral, airy.

Renée Gabet captures this essence as she blends oils into a perfume that will be named Morning Garden.

Roses grow at its heart, musk covers the ground and delicate hints of water add a decorative touch, she explains, as she carefully mixes the oils, considering several rose-scented blends from the dozens of small bottles that line the shelves at Annie Oakley Perfumery Studio in Ligonier.

Should she add one that’s warm or cool, green or musky, with a hint of geranium or without?

“It’s just a lost art,” she says. “Creating a fragrance is like painting.”

Gabet’s canvas is a round plastic tray with wells. One at a time, she’ll add a drop of this, a dab of that, building layers, which are called notes, until she’s happy with the fresh fragrance.

Her nose just knows.

Gabet, who still remembers her first visit to the Wolf & Dessauer fragrance counter as a girl growing up in Fort Wayne, is the CEO and perfume maker of the perfumery, which she started in 1980.

In March, she opened the studio to the public for the first time. Group tours are available and customers can buy the company’s products there.

A visit to the perfumery takes aromatherapy to a new level.

Gabet believes the company – named for the real Annie Oakley, who was an Ohio native – is the only one of its kind in the country, in that it creates, blends, bottles, packages and ships its own perfumes.

For the past three decades, the business has grown from her kitchen to a larger facility a few blocks away and from one signature perfume to a national brand. Gabet has traveled the world, sourcing ingredients and learning the tricks of the trade with various perfume makers.

Locally, Annie Oakley products are available at the Country Shops in Grabill, Country Charm/Peeker’s Secrets in Auburn and Kerlin Western World in Warsaw, according to www.annieoakley.com.

The first fragrance she created, Annie, has blossomed into a full line of six floral perfumes, including Honeysuckle, White Lily and Sunset, which are sold under the Annie Oakley brand.

That brand’s new, stirrup-shaped bottle was designed by Pierre Dinand, who also created bottles for Opium and Fendi, Gabet says. A flower etching, inspired by one of Oakley’s saddles, graces the bottle’s box.

“The packaging is just as important as the fragrance itself,” she says, adding that the AO boxes soon will be redesigned again, this time with fresh colors.

Those florals are still the best sellers, she says, but her Nature’s Harvest line – with Evening Lavender, Verbena Blossom and Citrus & Honey – is gaining momentum.

Her newest fragrance, Wild West, is the third she created for men, along with Sagebrush and Stampede. It was nearly eight years in the making, but it seems to have mass appeal and has become her fastest growing scent since it was launched in November 2010.

“Even grandmas buy it for their husbands. It wears well; it’s like a saddle or an old pair of jeans,” Gabet says.

That image of classic Americana is likely a key to her success. It’s just a symbol of a simpler time, she says.

Gabet believes Annie was the first perfume marketed to the Western gear market. It is still sold in tack stores, as well as resorts, airport gift shops and small department stores. She also designs private-label perfumes for corporate clients, complete with labels and packaging.

She has at least two fragrances in development. One will include “raw materials from Indiana,” she says, although she won’t divulge any secrets.

She also plans to launch more spa products, such as body washes, lotions and shampoos, before Christmas. (The company even sells lavender products for horses).

And she plans to return to her jewelry-designing roots by creating a line of necklaces and companion fragrances, inspired by some Arizona jasper she bought.

Regardless of the source of inspiration – a color, name or photo – a new product always begins its journey to market with that first whiff of essential oil.

Gabet will spend months tweaking a commercial fragrance, putting it away for a while in between.

And during the 45-minute public tours, if she has time, she might create a custom fragrance for the group and let them name it. That’s how Dames of LaGrange and Ditzy Divas were born.

Today, she runs the company with her husband, Charles. All of their five kids have been involved at some point. Someday, their 15 grandkids might have their hands in it, too.

Annie Oakley employs between six and 20 people, depending on the season and the launch of a new product.

But Gabet has no plans to retire, because she still loves her job.

“I’m coming in to play. It’s a very happy place,” she says.

sscarlett@jg.net