Par: Fum

Live deer vs. synthetic musks experiment

2010-02-19T14:06:00.000-08:00

So I decided to do something ridiculous and I wanted to see what live deer would think of a few different synthetic musks and how interested they would be in sniffing them (or if at all). Luckily I know where a magical pack of super-friendly deer live so I went over to visit them with a few dropper vials and scent strips.

For this experiment I took Galaxolide, Tonalide, Habanolide and Exaltolide as well as two controls (non musks) with me, ethyl vanillin and methyl anthranilate. I tested the deer as best I could by presenting the scent strips while my lovely assistant logged average sniffing times in seconds. Each average did not have the same amount of deer as they weren't infinitely patient but they ranged between 6 and 9 deer per material. We are fairly confident that we didn't record the same deer twice on each trial.

ethyl Vanillin: (3.6 seconds)

methyl Anthranilate (2.2 seconds)

Galaxolide: (4.6 seconds)

Tonalide: (4.9 seconds)

Habanolide (4.7 seconds)

Exaltolide (4.1 seconds)

Qualitative Data:

Above and beyond the information from the averages, we noted that the times for ethyl vanillin and methyl anthranilate had a wider distribution with outliers on the near and far ends of the spectrum, while the times for the musks were much closer to a bell pattern with future outliers.

Conclusions:

It appears there is some support for the hypothesis that live deer prefer the scent of synthetic musks to non-musk chemicals. More testing is needed.

PS - no deer were harmed during these tests, in fact we fed them a whole bag of carrots after :) this was just for fun as is not intended as a real scientific study.

RIP Alexander McQueen - Kingdom

2010-02-17T13:07:00.000-08:00

As many of you know, talented british designer Alexander McQueen passed away. As we mourn the loss of this great fashion icon, I would like to take a look back at the houses's perfume offering. The designer, who will be remembered for his innovative and bold designs, will also be remembered in the fragrance community for releasing an equally innovative and a true statement of a fragrance; Kingdom. Its heavy use of cumin a precursor to the wave of "sexual" scents released post 2000. While it may never be recognized as a landmark perfume, the combination of its innovation in defining an emerging "genre" (instead of characterizing it as an oriental we may lump it with Ambre sultan , Musc Khoublai Khan and Secretions Magnifiques as a "sexual" fragrance) and its amazing packaging (bottle, box) will surely earn its place in fragrance history.

Jasmine Grand Duke about to bloom...

2010-02-03T20:15:00.000-08:00

Here is a photo of some jasmines (variety: Grand Duke) which are about to bloom in my window. I can't wait - its just a few more days until my living space is filled with the intoxicating scent of these regal flowers which have been used in virtually every significant perfume ever made...

Men's Grooming how-to: shaving with a double edge blade

2010-02-01T17:49:00.000-08:00

This might be a little foray out of the general content for this blog, which has been mainly perfume and fragrance - but I feel that the area of men's grooming is strongly related, for obvious reasons. For this reason I would like to do a blog post about a now ancient way of shaving that is currently enjoying a renessaince among men of all ages; traditional wetshaving. This form of shaving is accomplished using a single razor blade, with bevelled edges on each side. This razor blade fits into a safety razor, which is run across the face in mostly the same way that today's cartridge razors are used. At the bottom of the first photo you will see a 1950's Gillette Tech razor. Often, traditional wetshavers will also skip the use of modern canned shaving foam, and instead will create their own laters with the use of shaving soap or shaving cream. For this example I will be using a slightly unorthodox soap, Chanel's "Coco" bar soap (hey, I had to make it marvelous, darlings!). There are however, many soaps designed specifically for this purpose from Tabac, William's, Art of Shaving, Floris etc.

The first stage is to adequately wet and warm the brush and the later mug, simply pour warm water into both for a minute or two.

To prepare the brush to be "loaded" simple squeeze once, you can also wave a few times to get out any extra water - the brush must not be very full of water otherwise you will just make a mess and your soap will not stick to the brush. A common mistake of the novice is to use too much water, you must really get your brush semi-dry! The dryness of the brush will not be a problem and you will see why in the next step...

To load the brush, one must first put a small layer of hot water onto their soap. Commonly, shaving soaps are made in a circular shape with a ridge around the top to trap the water. Otherwise, the soap is sold in a bowl shaped container which accomplishes the same thing. This hot water will partially melt the top of the soap making it soft and sticky. If you are using a shaving soap such as William's or Art of Shaving make circles around the top until you feel that your brush is beginning to stick slightly. When this happens the brush is fully loaded...

And should look something like this...

The last step before taking the razor to your face is to make your lather in a mug or bowl. I just use a mug for this tutorial because it is something that most everyone will have at home. There are specialized bowls available, and can range in price from $10 to $100 or more. This is just a preference thing of course, a mug will work just as well! In order to later, add a very small amount of water to the mug, maybe somewhere in the vicinity of one to two tablespoons (15-30ml). You dont actually have to use a tablespoon to measure of course, just turn your hot tap water on to a trickle and let slide the mug under the stream for a second. Start with less water rather than more, it is easier to add more if needed but much harder to take away if your lather is too airy!!

Now, Bon Voyage! start shaving! ( I will post another article that will deal with proper blade handling for the face and legs - ladies can use a double edge razor too ;)

Film crew (my wonderful friends) for a perfume movie shoot

2010-01-25T18:13:00.000-08:00

Here is a still from last weekend's shoot in Montreal, Canada as part of a creative perfume brief. We are hard at work shooting in Montreal, Toronto and New York in January and February. The film will be a short somewhat similar to the style of Chanel's pieces with Nicole Kidman and Audrey Tatou (except less cheesy :). I will post up as much of the film as possible when it is finished although there might be some restrictions of what I can and cannot show. I will definitely throw up some more stills soon. I've been smelling alot of new releases and working in the lab also and I have some exciting news I'd like to talk about so please stay tuned and thanks for your patience while I am not updating as much :)

I'm back!

2010-01-12T22:31:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

I haven't posted in a while and I am sure it seems like I have disappeared! I had a very busy December, and then into the holidays of course I barely had time to do anything at all! In any case, I am back, and will be getting more articles up soon! I definitely have some material I would like to share and a few things I would like to talk about. I can't write anything right now but I will throw up this photo and let you guys guess what it might be :) I'll have some more info soon

PS - the men's version of "Zen" from Shiseido is quite nice!

Francis Kurkdjian's mobile perfumer case

2009-11-08T14:42:00.000-08:00

Here is something I just found out about: Francis Kurkdjian's mobile perfumer's case. I find this especially interesting because of one of my earlier articles in which I sketched out my vision for the mobile perfumer of the future, to serve the ultra-rich as a hairstylist or wardrobe stylist does today. In my vision the perfumer would carry such a box and be able to constantly whip up new fragrances or variations on a favourite theme for a client to wear at anytime. In this case, I believe the box is more for show than actual use - but it is still a very interesting concept.

The trunk maker behind this glorious creation is Pinet et Pinet and their website can be found by clicking the link :)

Just a quick note...

2009-11-03T22:34:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note about something which happened tonight that was interesting to me... I was attending a political/cultural event at the Canadian Parliament and definitely caught a whiff of Apres l'Ondee - which was a bit of a shock to me as this is the first time I have smelled it on anyone in public. I wanted to follow the trail and hunt down the wearer but I was far too hungry and headed for the hors d'œuvres instead. After this I could not find the trail again, oh well :)

New Perfume Review : CK Free Calvin Klein

2009-10-30T12:26:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the folks at Wiredset marketing for sending me a bottle of the new CK Free by Calvin Klein for review! I've just recieved it today and have been smelling it off the strip and off my skin for the past few hours. The official notes list according to the press release I recieved looks a little something like this:

top: thailand star anise, jackfruit, absinthe, juniper berry

mid: suede, tobacco leaves, coffee absolute, south african buchu

dry: patchouli absolute, oakwood, texan cedarwood, costa rican ironwood

This is a perfume that stays fairly true to its listed notes - as long as you aren't expecting a niche interpretation of them! There is absolutely no surprise with the first spray out of the bottle; This is not a groundbreaking fragrance, nor is it particularily attention-catching. However, despite its adventure-promising advertising campaign, uniqueness is of course not the intent of the perfume. Lets not forget afterall, CkFree is a massmarket release. It is a very easy-wearing fragrance - airy, ozonic, and very dry, a modern fragrance for men. Although there are sweet notes indicated, they are very toned down, along with the modern amber accord which barely manages to bring a sweetness to this composition. All the notes are fairly clear to me, with the exception of the anise and wormwood in the top and the tobacco in the mid. I do smell a certain fresh standard green note, which I am assuming is what they refer to as the absinthe. The base is a fantasy cedar accord which borrows its structure from He wood and Dior Homme. The suede note here is especially soft, and I think it is the best designed part of the fragrance. Although I do smell the jackfruit, I wish it would be more pronounced.

The overall spirit of the fragrance is something we have seen many times, upon application you will be reminded of the feel of many of the men's shower gel products currently on the shelves, albeit slightly less aggressive. The coffee note is CkFree is also executed exactly as it was in Adidas' Adrenaline deodorant sticks for men and EDTs. The base is following the latest trend of clear, dry, fantasy cedar/woody bases with fresh laundry musks. If I had to give a percentage breakdown of the way this fragrance "feels" to me, I would have to say 75% shower product 25% fine fragrance.

If you are looking for something along the lines of One, Obsession, or the original Calvin - you wont find it here. Instead, this cologne is ideal for someone looking to complement their line of mass market shaving, shower and deodorant products, or someone who needs to have a fragrance which will not stand out or cause too much attention. This could be worn for example, in an office setting where loud fragrance is frowned upon.

Here is the pricing info I was forwarded:

eau de toilette spray 1oz/30ml $32.00

eau de toilette spray 1.7oz/50ml $47.00

eau de toilette spray 3.4oz/100ml $62.00

aftershave balm 5.0oz/150ml $42.00

deodorant stick 2.5oz/75g $16.00

Enjoy!

A list of perfumes containing immortelle, helichrysum, everlasting flower

2009-10-18T14:52:00.000-07:00

I am going to be working heavily with a certain raw material named immortelle absolute over the next few months, so I have been doing my research on it. In perfume it is a raw material that has been described as having the following characteristics: straw-like, dusty, syrupy, burnt. I find the odour to be somewhat similar to sweet fenugreek. It is used primarily in Chypres and Orientals. In medicine the flowers are used to make an infusion for the treatment of gall bladder disorders, as a diuretic. It is commonly used as an herbal tea used for medicinal purposes in the Middle East and Mediterranean regions.

It has been used in quite a few perfumes to date, so I will try and publish as complete a list as I can as I will be sniffing all of them shorty :)

Annick Goutal - Sables

Balmain - Ambre Gris

Boucheron - Initial

Christian Dior - Eau Noire

Diesel - Fuel for life

Escada - Magnetism

Lolita Lempicka - L

L’Atelier Bohème - Immortelle

Guerlain - Coriolan

Guerlain - Cuir Beluga

Guerlain - No. 68

Gobin Daude - Biche dans l'Absinthe

Iunx - Léau Interdite

Mona di Oiro - Oiro

Seems as though this is quite a popular material with the team at Guerlain :)

Growing the flowers of perfumery : Jasmine (Jasminum Sambac)

2009-10-18T12:01:00.000-07:00

Finally! after years of waiting (seriously) - I was able to pick up a jasmine plant on a business trip. Jasmine (true jasmine) plants are very difficult to find where I live because it seems that no nurseries carry them; They are not able to be grown outdoors in this climate, and I suppose they are not so popular as houseplants. They are easy to find on the internet, but importing them is quite difficult as they must be sent bare root and wait quite a while in customs. Thankfully however, after years of searching, and even trying to source the seeds myself, I have finally been able to get a plant. Mine is of the Jasmine Sambac Grand Duke variety, which is very fragrant but from my research quite slow growing. This is the second in my collection of the flowers of perfumery, my first was the Bulgarian Rose which is featured in a past blog article. I also picked up an osmanthus plant on this trip which is not yet in bloom - I will post some pictures when it flowers.

For those interested in growing jasmine themselves, you'll need a spot with at least 3 hours of sun - but 6 hours is most recommended. Also watch that it does not get too cold near the window as this is a tropical plant which is not very cold hardy at all. The fragrance however is beautiful! Prune often to create a bushy growth and remember that jasmine flowers on new wood growth :)

have fun!

Fragrant Facebook : Tiring and annoying

2009-10-15T08:36:00.000-07:00

I guess I'll never really understand internet social networking. I barely use it for my social life, and I suppose a little more for business - but I honestly don't really see the point of it. It is so over-saturated and full of bizarre nonsense - like actual grown adults sending each-other e-Guerlain perfumes as wall gifts?

I'm sorry if its not my cup of tea, I just cant get into it. I'd personally rather do my social networking with a handshake and a conversation. On the other hand, I am all for email correspondence, and I love when anyone who reads my blog sends me an email... But I don't want to join anyone's facebook groups, play online games, or whatever else there is to do on facebook. - I simply don't have the time or patience!

The last thing that bothers me is the sheer amount of "friend requests" I get for my blog's facebook profile. This was initially created just to be able to link with other blogs and readers, but now I find myself with three new people asking to be added as friends per day. I don't blindly add anyone though, if someone's profile doesn't specifically state that they are involved in fragrance in some way (which is like 75%) I won't add them. I do send messages from time to time asking people what they do that is fragrance related so I may add them, but I have never gotten a response. I'm starting to think this facebook adding is just a game most people play where they click as much as possible so they can have 10,000 friends.

I know theres absolutley no chance that most of my "facebook friends" read my blog or have even bothered to notice that I have one, as my friends list is in the triple digits and my blog's traffic is still pathetically low.

Just something to think about I guess... And I'll try and get something more "quality" up as an article soon - been doing a lot of traveling lately.

Aramis Rebranding Arrives

2009-10-08T15:28:00.000-07:00

Here is the Aramis rebranding that I talked about earlier. We are lucky that in fact no classics are lost and Havana is once again available. I have not yet had the chance to sniff any of these but I will let you now as soon as they are available to me. I'm not so sure that I like the bottles so much (they look cheap) but it will be interesting to see how the scents have changed (if there have been any reformulations). With the exception of the rather low pricing, it looks as if the brand is trying to position itself in a more niche zone, creating the look of a "collection". To further this point Aramis says that the fragrances should be treating as fragrances for different moods, as opposed to signature scents.

Dosing Ingredients: Some Advice for DIY perfumers

2009-09-05T23:37:00.000-07:00

(photo of Mathilde Laurent evaluating scent strips)

I have learned that one of the most negative things you can do to the state of your psychology is to begin to create and behave with rituals. That is to mean that you create patterns in what you do that make you feel safe and secure. Although it may seem a bit abstract to apply this to perfumery, the way that I feel it applies most is in the dosing of ingredients. As students of perfumery when we begin to learn and more about the raw materials of the perfumers palette we find ourselves assigning relative strength associations to these materials. As a less experienced DIY'er we might become prone to be very careful with materials like vetiver and mace which we feel have a tendency to take over our blends completely. We may also even get so discouraged by "chemicals" like Maltol, IsoBQ and CIS Hex that don't seem to co-operate with us no matter how low of a dosage we use...

For the DIY'er out there who is trying to learn perfume the autodidact way I have some advice... Do not stick to your rules about dosage! For instance, tonight I have been trying to copy a man's scent from the 80's and my current dosage of coumarin is very far under 1%, however while copying Lagerfeld's Floriental I found myself dosing it somewhere around 3-5% (Caveat - I am not sure anymore the exact as I cannot find my formula, I am horrible with losing them! Another piece of advice - Don't lose your formulas!). Another example of an ingredient which I commonly use to underdose is patchouli - while it seems to have a tendency to dominate blends and therefore cause dosage paranoia, I have actually found myself dosing it somewhere around 10% tonight! Don't be afraid to experiment and always trust your nose not your heuristics!

Now, the second part of my advice on dosing comes in the arena of the dilution of your chemicals. Perfumery is an expensive hobby, so spend your money wisely. Do not buy as many raw materials as you can until your money runs out because believe me, you will lose more money this way than building your organ slowly and smartly. The smartest thing to do is to keep enouhg money aside to purchase DPG and dropper vials to create enough dilutions of your materials that you can always work with the fewest amount of drops possible. This is to mean that it is often wise to have not only the 100% dropper, but also a 10% and a 1%, or for chemicals that we know are really strong we can do 5% and 1% 0.1% and even 0.01%. I have some chemicals in dilutions such as 0.25% 0.1% 0.01% etc.. do whatever feels best for you. Also, if you are unsure of how fat to dilute your chemical, my experience says to dilute until you can evaluate the true facet of the material as many strong materials smell uncharacteristic of themselves at high concentrations.

Above all, do not scour the internet for formulas thinking they will "teach you a basic skeleton" - it doesn't really work that way. Be brave and challenge yourself, take your favourite perfume and try to remake it. You will probably not succeed the first time but if you get 50% of the way there pat yourself on the back - try to get to 80% within 5 trials :)

Tom Ford Grey Vetiver : Review

2009-09-05T23:23:00.000-07:00

I was reading an article lately in Plastique magazine while waiting for my haircut. One particular interview stuck in my mind and I am not sure who I am quoting/paraphrasing anymore but they said something along that lines that we cannot expect many original artistic ideas in the coming years, and that we can expect to see more and more recycling - but unfortunately not the eco-friendly kind! I thought this was really cute...

A few days later I pick up a bottle of Tom Ford's Grey Vetiver, low and behold - I run into some of this exact recycling! Evaporating into my nose were the carefully aligned molecules of Eau Sauvage with plastic surgery to make it fit better in a 2009 outfit. They did not even really try to diguise it so much as Bois 1920 and their blatant ripoffs! I love Eau Sauvage, I know it inside and out. I have spent countless hours perfecting a copy of it... so if this is not a twist on the Eau Sauvage formula then I do not deserve to write this blog! I am sure this makes great business sense and in the end we know it is all about the bottom line, but I am not impressed!! Sorry that this is not much of a review but what else can I say?

PS. I love Tom Ford so this is nothing personal, I will continue to support his brand! This review is similar to my reaction to Dsquared's fragrance - they are one of my absolute favourite designers but I reviewed He Wood negatively, as I believe it deserved!

How world politics killed a perfume: Arsenal

2009-09-01T13:00:00.000-07:00

Back in the late 1990's when I was still a teenager and not so interested in perfumes, I ran across a spray sample of Gilles Cantuel's Arsenal (Red and Blue) for men. I was so taken aback by this incredibly sweet and mesmerizing fragrance duo; they were very unique, both sweet and sour at the same time - delicious! However, at this innocent age I did not yet wear any fragrance as I considered wearing cologne to be a "macho" thing to do - I didn't dream to wear any out of fear someone might think I was "trying too hard".

A few years later when I began to wear fragrance more regularly I would spend a lot of my free time shopping around my local stores trying to find a fragrance that was distinctly "me". Some of my early favourites included Eau Sauvage and Arrogance - but I knew they weren't truly reflective of my personality at that age. I was a fresh, young, innovative, trendy kinda guy, with an appreciation for sweet and tart flavours. I also lived off the most vile synthetic candy and 7-11 slushies during those summers. This is when I happened to run into those samplers again; digging through some old belongings and found the red vial with just enough left for a few sprays... Upon application I screamed holy *(*#$! - I must have this!

I drove to the nearest Scentiments only to find out that they were unable to stock this particular perfume after the (then recent) events of 9/11. This was due to the fact that absolutley no air shipper would touch this perfume; Its bottle shape and packaging (see above) were just too dangerous and controversial. Rather than change the iconic grenade bottle of this heavily brand/image reliant product Cantuel simply pulled it from distribution entirely in North America. I am not sure of the full story, in terms of how it met its end in Europe - but somehow it has now become a discontinued perfume and I kick myself to this day for not picking some up when I had the chance. Then again I don't think I could have afforded it with my allowance in those days anyways...

another parfum "disparu" I suppose :)

Quick Drop-In

2009-08-28T10:40:00.001-07:00

I know I haven't written on the blog much in the past few weeks and I should have put up a notice, however I have been extremely busy with perfume related things in this time which has passed. I will throw up a couple quick notes! forgive me if this looks like a twitter script!

- Bois 1920 Real Patchouly has taken way too much Ambre Sultan DNA for my liking, but good business move on their part, also Creed should have a bone to pick with them over Vetiver Ambrato. I really do not like this line!!!

- K.I.S.S is a great principal for formulation, some of my best stuff comes out when I think that way. Then again sometimes some of my best stuff comes out when I think the exact opposite way. Perfume is confusing!

- Collaborators are not always a perfect fit, in this industry (as in any other) you must know when to pull the plug on something thats not working!

- Its hard sometimes to separate the talkers from the do-ers

- The perfume business is work work work!

- The perfume business is only 25% perfume!

- There are many nice people that will help you along the way :)

I've been meaning to write an article about how politics have played a role in killing off a favourite perfume of mine, I'll try to get it up soon!

Brand New! Basenotes Print Magazine

2009-08-06T16:11:00.000-07:00

Award-winning online fragrance resource Basenotes.net is celebrating its 10th birthday by launching a print version of its fragrance consumer website. The magazine will contain the news, reviews and interviews that have helped Basenotes.net become the long-standing website of choice amongst consumers and industry professionals alike and will also feature completely new and original content. It is the first ever print magazine of its kind and its release is being celebrated by the global fragrance community.

The magazine will published on a quarterly basis at a cover price of $6 an issue and will be available via online subscriptions from http://www.basenotesmagazine.com/http://www.basenotesmagazine.com/

Visit http://www.basenotesmagazine.com/ for further information about the publication and to subscribe or contact Danielle Cooper at Basenotes.net, BCM Box 1111, London, WC1N 3XX, +44 (0)203 239 9411.

I've got my subscription don't wait to get yours ;) I'll pop a couple photos of my first volume as soon as it arrives !

(text partially sourced from official basenotes press release)

Souvenirs from the Osmotheque: Parfums Disparu

2009-07-30T21:47:00.001-07:00

Here is a photo of great pile of samples of "parfums disparu" brought back from the Ostmotheque in Versailles. Each perfume is sprayed on the evaluation strip, its name written on the cardstock - They are then they are individually enclosed in miniature envelopes as not to evaporate from the strips too quickly. In addition to perfumes, there are a number of strips which are just scented with individual raw materials, such as the banned "isoeugenol" or naturals like vetiver, patchouli etc. These strips were brought back to me by my business partner who was able to meet with Mr. Kerleo at the Osmotheque earlier this summer. The strips still smelled very fresh thanks to the little envelopes and there are a number of absolute gems that I had been dieing to try! My business partner also got the chance to sit in a great lecture led by Mr. Kerleo as he frantically wrote down everything he could, filling almost an entire small notebook! He received around 50 samples, but I will mention a few that I found most exciting (some of which I already have in perfume form in my slow-growing reference library)

Houbigant - Quelques Fleurs

Eau de la Reine d'Hongrie

Parfum Royale

Eau Sans Pareille

Iris Gris

Arpege (as it once was)

Rose de Grasse (raw material)

News from the rumour mill...

2009-07-27T11:07:00.001-07:00

It has been made known to me that Aramis may be doing some rebranding soon, the SA I talked to said the representative reportedly would not discuss the fate of all the fragrances, hinting that something may possibly be lost?

We will wait and see... be watchful over the next couple months if you have any Aramis favourites

A note for 2010 : Sweat

2009-07-26T23:46:00.000-07:00

I have been experimenting with various ideas in "the lab" over the past few days and an interesting blend I have come up with is a very transparent, liquid and synthetic feeling amber perfume. The perfume was a bizarre intellectual exercise to begin with, so I asked myself how can I give this more of a natural "feeling", in a completely unconventional manner?

Then the answer came to me, I chose to build in the most natural thing of all, a sweat note! I did a quick search on Basenotes and found no perfumes currently listed as containing such a note - so I started to think about how I would go about constructing it. By using materials which are commonly used to create the salty atmosphere of the sea side, I instead used them to create the salty/mineral air of sweat. These materials paired with just a touch of cumin seed essential oil have resulted in the most interesting sweat note I could have imagined! Since I will be in no position whatsoever to put this into a commercial formula anytime soon, I am wondering if any perfumers every stumble across my blog? (ya right! I wish...) - but if anyone out there reads this, its certainly something I'd love to see further developed by someone more knowledgeable - maybe this idea would suit someones niche project nicely for 2010 ? I mean after all we already have secretions magnifiques ;)

Fragrant Innovation from Peugot !

2009-07-25T17:02:00.000-07:00

Here is a fragrant innovation from French automaker Peugot - an air freshening perfume diffuser fitted onto the dashboards of numerous versions of the 207 and 308 model cars. It is integrated into the dash and perfumes the passenger compartment to a desired intensity via the use of the air circulation. The perfumes offered from Peugot are reported to have been developed in partnership with a major French perfumer and offer "anti-tobacco" qualities - two birds with one stone. There are a number of perfumes offered from Peugot and it is very easy to change perfumes while keeping the cartridge already begun for later use, one must simply slide in and out as shown in the illustration above!

Knowing me, the first thing I would do is rip a cartridge apart and figure out how to refill it with Ambre Sultan or Royal English Leather :)

(car incense burner offered by "MingChina" on E-bay)

I wonder if this particular innovation from Peugot was at least partly inspired by the growing popularity of these portable incense burners that gain their power through the cigarette lighter of your vehicle. I have one and have used it to burn some nice quality agarwoods and sandalwoods on the way to classes, meetings etc - I would prefer not to have my entire vehicles cabin filled with smoke though ;)

Dior - What were they thinking ?

2009-07-25T16:05:00.000-07:00

Do you ever have one of those moments where you just stop and say to yourself "what were they thinking??" - well I definitely had the feeling with this Dior ad for Eau Sauvage from 2001. I totally do not see this advertisement connecting in any way with the target audience! Thank goodness they followed it up quickly with another more traditional ad, and not too long after with a superb flanker "Fraicheur Cuir".

Heres another ad which may have had people wondering - why a man in a womens perfume ad? the reason being that it is in fact not an official Gucci ad, but an unofficial ad placed by a prankster in a Swiss magazine and billed directly to the Gucci company!! Wild!! The prankster was eventually caught but the two page spread did run for one issue in 2007 :)

A tip for novice perfumers for evaluating a mystery formula

2009-07-23T15:28:00.000-07:00

Here's just a quick tip that I would like to share with the other student perfumers out there. I did not learn this from my school or lessons but I have thought of it myself. In this case if there is some flaw with my logic I would appreciate if someone more knowledgeable could send me a note so that I don't keep this posting up... However this is a technique that has worked for me and helped me alot in my studies :)

If you are trying to evaluate a mystery formula, meaning that you do not know the ingredients -like a commercial formula etc, I always find it helpful to splash a little water on where I have sprayed the fragrance on my skin. This works on the same premise as aftershaves, since they contain alot of water... The scent is "amplified" but much less lasting, due to the water making the molecules want to escape faster. Used in conjunction with other methods such as selective nose fatigueing this can be a great tool for figuring out minor details and microaccords. Selective fatiguing should not be done often however, so use this information at your own risk :)

Asking Questions: Lancome Magnifique

2009-07-23T15:14:00.000-07:00

The newest release by Lancome - Magnifique, is my favourite fragrance (niche/mainstream or otherwise) released in the past year. It is perfectly balanced with the most curious, sweet, exotic and deep aroma! I am not yet the proud owner of one of the beautiful red flacons although I cannot help myself in testing it everytime I am near a perfume counter!

Today while taking a quick look through the mall I decided to ask some questions to the Lancome representative. Despite receiving less then great press on the internet the fragrance is selling well at both counters that I inquired at, with the largest 100ml bottle being the most popular. This is supported by the fact that I have not yet seen it discounted anywhere, nor is the Ebay price deeply discounted. According to the friendly Lancome SA, the demographic amongst which Magnifique is most popular is middle aged women, however surprisingly (but not surprisingly to me!) the second demographic group is actually middle aged men! Apparently sales are minimal to nonexistant in the younger demographic (18-25), which is a shame because I believe it would sell at least moderately well in this category if there was a sales push from the representatives at the counter. Lancome can be considered by many to be "their mother's" fragrance (Tresor) but Magnifique is equal in quality and innovation to many niche brands (and definitely surpasses some!). I believe it is an excellent fragrance for a young man or woman who is a trend setter or someone who has a taste for Middle Eastern style perfumery.

Some quick perfume reviews ( Memento Venice, Moschino Glamour, VC&A Feerie )

2009-07-22T20:32:00.001-07:00

I havent been posting much lately as my involvement in the industry is taking up extraordinary amounts of my time (sleep has become a luxury) - but I started this blog with the intention to continue writing it over the long term, so I will pop in a few impressions I had of some perfumes today. I was supplied with a generous amount of samples from my favourite SA at my local Holt Renfrew counter, a few of which I was moved by. Two of the stars from today were new releases from Memento and Moschino, Venice and Glamour respectively. I will start with my favourite:
Moschino Glamour (official pyramid as per the literature on the sample card):

Top Notes: Mandarin flower, sea salt flower accord, absinthe

Heart Notes: catteleya orchid, hibiscus, waterlily

Drydown Notes: White Musk, Amber, Cedar Wood

( Glamour also has a really cool tester vial, check out the applicator stick! )

As per my nose, I detect mainly a fruity note in the opening, reminiscent of ripe apple/damascones and sharpened by citrus. I believe the sea salt note is achieved with a material named Maritima which I have used in a few of my formulas. The wormwood mentioned in the notes does give it a classy natural feel upon application. I detect a touch of mandarin aldehyde which contributes not only a sweet candy mandarine note but also an overtone of cilantro. To comment on the style of the perfume, it is quintessential Moschino, excellently put together with ferocious diffusion/sillage. Fans of previous releases by the house will feel right at home wearing Glamour, as there is something familiar about it, yet it manages to unique new and fresh at the same time. This is an extremely sexy perfume! The heart note are strongly in the direction of the orchid and exotic flowers via the use of salicylates, which follow into a strong sweet base of cedar amber and coumarine. The base is both strong in presence, and also solid in construction meaning that it does not fall apart on the skin as many modern formulas do. The real miracle of this perfume is the aquatic feeling which is brilliantly weaved into the formula and very lasting - four stars

Memento - Venice

I had not heard of this new line until today when I picked up the sparsely marked plain rectangular bottle on the counter. As soon as I saw its basic white label and arial font markings juxtaposed against the gimmicky bottles of the designer releases, I knew I would be in for a surprise! I tried Sicily first actually, but I will write about the second scent available from this line; Venice. The bottle is curiously marked September 22nd 2007 8am Vaporetto to Lido di Venecia and it can be bit hard at first to locate the name of the producer! The official notes list is as follows:

sea breeze

salt

bergamot

star anise

peony

black rush

sand accord

sandalwood

patchouli

amber

musk

We're looking at alot of the familiar aquatic/ripe melon helional-calone accord against a sweet vanillin/ambery and woody base which is very apparent upon initial application (bottom heavy). As the perfume dries down all the components become very soft, velvety woods, powdery amber, soft vanilla absolute - its really very good. The top also has a very well-done salty marine accord. This is a brilliant fragrance that calls to my mind a seabreeze on a bright but slightly overcast day. It is not the sea in the sun but rather during more comfortable weather :) The heart of this perfume is a bouquet of orchid, muguet, rose and jasmine - to which the official scent pyramid designates the word "peony". When the perfume settles on the skin the quality of the raw materials becomes apparent. I do not know much about this line or the perfumer, but both fragrances (Sicily and Venice) have piqued my interest in this brand and I will find out more! The line is very interesting to me as the sister fragrance uses agarwood in its composition, but breaks away from the "oud" style completely! This brand seems to me a very fresh concept in both formulation and marketing/presentation, I like it - also four stars

The third perfume which I will talk about, but more briefly, is Feerie by VC&A. I have been a long time fan of First and Tsar and the house does not disappoint with its latest release either! This perfume is certainly a statement against the cookie cutter fragrances of late. I won't talk much about it but I do recommend it to anyone :)

I also tried the line of Cereus perfumes for women today, but there is nothing to talk about - mostly washing detergent in a pretty bottle - don't bother!

Im crying over bar soap and spray deo

2009-07-21T13:46:00.000-07:00

Although bar soaps, after shave lotions and natural spray deodorants (for me; Obsession and Eau Sauvage) have become severely more limited in distribution over the past few years, I have only really started to notice and feel sad about it this morning. Up until today finding these ancillary products for my favourite perfumes was like a fun treasure hunt - it was like playing a game to uncover them in smaller perfume shoppes around my city and region. Now that stocks have pretty much dried up and SA's can only shake their head from side to side when I ask for special orders, its starting to become outright annoying and depressing. The brick wall of reality has hit me. Whats up with balms and shower gels anyways ? how did the big companies manage to convince us that cheap shower gel products are superior to quality milled soaps - to the point that 99% of consumers would rather pay the same price and receive the shower gel instead?

The world we live in is bizarre sometimes, I have had SA's explain to me that people find shower gels more convenient - why ? because they leak all over your expensive luggage? and because you have to rub your hands together slightly less? maybe its because soap takes a minute or two to dry, if you don't have the carrying case that is...

I'm sorry if this post sounds a bit bitter, but I've been dealing with alot of stress and "b.s." in and out of the perfume world lately :) I guess it just got "bottled up" ha!

Follow up to the perfume sketch

2009-07-03T14:48:00.001-07:00

Just here to write a quick follow up about my last post, the perfume skeleton sketch. I've learned the same lesson for the 1000th time in my life now - I wonder if I'll remember it this time.

KISS - Keep it simple stupid

I've managed to get much better results by cutting my list down approximately 1/3rd in size and trying again. The result is that my test tube is now unmistakeably filled with the scent of this classic perfume.

On the skin it is evident there is still some ways to go, but its getting there. too much helional...

Take away lesson: always start by trying to balance the most important ingredients first :D

a sketch of a popular perfume (formula)

2009-07-01T00:03:00.001-07:00

I'm trying to re-assemble a popular perfume. Here is a sketch of it thus far (percentages omitted)...

After about an hour of tweaking, I have taken it far enough to the point that I am satisfied for a night's work. I will come back to it again in a few days as it settles, and there are a few other items on a shortlist that I think maybe be used in the actual formula which I have not added yet...

iso super e
vetiver
galaxolide
vertofix coeur
evernyl
oakmoss
jasmine
hedione
patch
iris
geraniol
cumin
rosemary
basil
petitgrain
lemon
citronellal
ethyl heptanoate
helional
coumarin
linalool
eugenol
cardamom

I guess it shouldn't be too hard to figure out what it is, if anyone would like to take a stab at a guess via the comment box please don't hesitate to post your answers :)

In Defense of Kiton

2009-06-23T18:31:00.001-07:00

In Defense of Kiton: Kiton is a brand that is respected the world over for their suits; they are very pricey - with no expense spared and no detail left unattended. A Kiton suit is truly the Rolls Royce of the men's wardrobe. Public opinion on their fragrance line however, seems to be mixed and generally biased towards dissaproval. People often claim that Kiton fragrances have no soul, and do not live up to the greatness of the menswear.

I think this is a case of misunderstanding, of wrong perspective. Kiton fragrances are meant to complement the line of suits. These suits are for businessmen, and businessmen need a corporate fragrance. As much as a VP may love a loud fragrance like Dior's Eau Noire or Arrogance - he knows he cannot wear it to the boardroom. I am sure anyone can appreciate that when someone's time is spent deciding the fate of millions of dollars, the butterly effect becomes very real. One misjudgement can break a deal and presentation is very important in the business environment; Something so trivial as your choice of fragrance can greatly offend, for the top brass generally have ego sizes to match! For this reason, Kiton has created a line of "corporate fragrances". These are fragrances which are boardroom safe yet unique enough to convey the style and refinement of the wearer. Even Kiton black, which is geared towards evening wear is primarily a corporate scent as it is safe for any evening event in which an executive may have to maintain his corporate persona.

I know we were all expected a groundbreaking incredible niche scent from a house that spends 50 labour hours per suit, however if you look at it from this angle - it all makes sense doesn't it ?

Creed Bois Du Portugal - Fragrance Re-Incarnation

2009-06-22T21:31:00.000-07:00

(a very fitting photo of Olivier and Erwin Creed :)

Although I would have loved to talked about [carnations] in this blog post, I am actually going to comment on a few things I have noticed lately regarding the generational re-use of fragrance skeletons. As we all know, Coty's l'Origan DNA can be found in classics such as l'Heure Bleu and Royal English Leather, and that Chypre launched an entire fragrance family. However, it is not always so obvious that these things are happening in modern fragrances as well. I am not talking about the fact that everything "smells the same nowadays", but more the interesting ones that are harder to spot which intrigue me. I was chatting with an SA at a Dior counter just a few months ago and he commented on how DNA will jump from season to season, never has it rung truer to me than in the past week.

Over the past few days I have been toying with reproducing Creed's Bois du Portugal. I have found just how easy it is to tweak it into Guerlain's Heritage (obvious), but more interestingly, a couple small adjustments will bring it quite close to Eau Noire territory! If one looks at the notes it becomes pretty obvious that they are at least, members of the same family. After having experienced the deconstructing of BdP I must say that I would feel comfortable betting that Francis Kurkdjian was explicitly influenced by the Creed in the process of making Dior's Eau Noire and that is it not just a matter of coincidence! I wonder if Bois du Portugal happens to be a fragance that Kurkdjian admires? if I ever get the chance to talk to him, I will remember to ask! Don't misunderstand me , I do not think there is anything wrong with this type of inspiration - afterall - the reason I was playing around with this deconstruction was in fact to eventually tweak it myself!

On a related note, I am interested to find out the connection between Guerlain and Palmolive: The famous Colgate brand soap from 1898 clearly mimcs the fragrance of 1906's Apres l'Ondee. My guess is that since the Guerlain parfum was release after the soap, the soap's fragrance must have been changed to some iteration of the current "Original Scent Palmolive" somewhere after 1906 (instead of when it was actually launched). Is it just a case of copycatting, or cooperation? If anyone knows more about this I would love to hear from you :)

Patchouli and Ice Cream

2009-06-18T13:59:00.001-07:00

Heres a sketch for a little something I have been playing around with since yesterday. I named it "patchouli and ice cream". It can still use some tinkering - possibly it could be developped into something that could be released commercially, as a "concept" perfume. I like it.

Patchouli Oil
Kephalis
Iso E Super
Benzoin
Ethyl Vanillin
Vanillin
Pyrazines
Benzaldehyde
Diacetyl
Raspberry Ketone
Aldehyde c-18

"marketing speak" notes would look something like:

top: berry syrup, coconut shavings

middle: vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup, crushed cashews, almond slivers, caramel sauce

base: patchouli, sparking woods

Parfum : Yours free with purchase!

2009-06-08T20:24:00.000-07:00

I have run into two very interesting perfume presentations this week; both of which were promotional items included free in the purchase of another product or service. The first is a mid 70's Givenchy III parfum mini-flacon from Air Canada.

It is very small, marked as 1/15 oz or 1.9ml - and it came in the outer box as well as a very cute museum display style plastic case. I assume this may have been a promotional gift for first class passengers flying to Paris because it is marked "compliments Air Canada" - as you can see in the photo above.

Only trace amounts of the parfum remain, much of which must have evaporated due to the poor quality seal (this was meant to be used very quickly). The scent however, is still distinctly that of Givenchy III, although it is predominantly the mid/bottom notes which are apparent. This interesting piece was found at a local thrift store and cost me a cool $0.49

The second and very interesting presentation which I have seen this week is a vintage Lanvin Arpege presentation. It may look like the usual suspect upon first glance, as it did to me - However, this is a very rare and consequently valuable special edition which came with the purchase of an American classic car. the individual who has this particular piece in their possession is not sure whether it was a Packard model or a Lincoln, however I will try and dig up more information on this as I can. It is currently on Ebay for $1026 with 5 bids. Updates to follow!

Amazing find: 105 year old rose oil

2009-06-07T20:18:00.000-07:00

Here is something interesting I have found, an antique item which is located not more than 200 km from where I live. It is an unopened canteen shaped container of rose oil, distilled in 1904 in Bulgaria by a distillery by the name of Guintcho Batchvaroff. The measure by weight is roughly 1.5 kilos. It is truly amazing to find such a specimen ! Probably it was a gift, which was never opened as it was considered too precious - Now it is being offered by the seller on ebay for 245,000 US dollars. I am not sure how one would accuratley price such an antique, so I am interested to follow this see if there are any takers on the auction :)

Unfortunately, during the various political changes in the history of the country of Bulgaria, much of the information regarding these old distilleries was lost. I have not been able to find out anything about the company itself yet.

Perfumed Ink: Past and Present

2009-05-26T00:18:00.000-07:00

I have always liked the idea of perfumed letters, however you have to be very careful with the perfume you use and the method of application to ensure that you don't leave a stained area, which will just make your beautifully written letter look like you spilled your coffee on it ;)

One way to solve this problem is to have the ink itself be perfumed - and after doing some research on the topic I found this interesting image which is a scan of an article from the 40's. It talks about a machine that could print a design of one colour over a freshly pressed newspaper sheet (when attached to a commercial printing press). This coloured ink would be perfumed, which would allow the reader to experience a perfume that was being advertised - of course assuming the newspaper was fairly fresh.

For 2009, if you choose to go the hand-written route, Mont Blanc created a special perfumed ink during the season of Valentine's day 2009 that you can use to write a note for that special someone.

At some point I think I would like to try my hand at making a *signature* perfume, not one that I would always wear, but in fact a perfumed ink that I could use whenever I had to sign a letter! At this point I have no clue how this would work and I can imagine there might be some very difficult solubility issues to overcome, but it is an experiment I will try at some point.

Giant Chanel no.5

2009-05-26T00:06:00.000-07:00

Here we have something I have never seen yet, an actual 450ml perfume flacon full of Chanel No.5, this is not a refiller or a drammer, as we can see the bottle is labeled and packaged just as a normal retail size. It is also not a display factice, as those are filled only with coloured liquid, this one is full of perfume. This must be one of a very few bottles of this type produced as more of a marketing device than an actual inventory item intended to be sold. I would assume that it would have been placed in a very conspicuous location with a small price tag, to draw attention and have customers purchase much cuter, smaller and more affordable 1/4 ounce bottles by the hundreds - maybe around christmas time ? ;)

(Photo is taken from an Ebay auction, the seller has placed an opening bid of 800$ for this item. I am in no way linked to this seller so I will not post a direct link to his item, however it shouldn't be too hard to find if you happen to be in the market for a half-litre of number 5 !!! )

Parfum Disparu - Vintage Guerlain: White Rose

2009-05-26T00:00:00.000-07:00

Here we have an example of a vintage Guerlain bottle, which once contained the perfume "White Rose". This is a perfume I would assume to be soliflore in its type but I haven't got any information on it at all, so I can't comment with certainty the exact nature of its composition. I will write it down as something to look out for on my visit to the Osmotheque later this summer. The bottle was claimed to be a 1904 piece from the ebay auction in which it was taken, but this perfume itself was known to be created in the preceding century - around the 1890's.

Blog Spin Off: H&R Geneologies and the future

2009-05-25T21:32:00.000-07:00

(very low res-photo of H&R Geneologies Table)

Here is just a short spin off of a blog posting on Octavian's 1000 fragrances which can be read here:

http://1000fragrances.blogspot.com/2009/05/genealogies.html

The reason that I have decided to spin-off this article is that I am currently studying the Haarman & Reimer genealogies for my perfume schooling. In my assignment I have been asked to update the H&R tables with fragrances that I would choose for a number of different categories. The categories in my assignment differ from the H&R tables slightly but the idea is the same. Instead of posting my assignment here I will just list a few of the perfumes that I might place in "uppercase" letters as Octavian mentions, basically perfumes which I would bet will be around for a while due to their total uniqueness on the market at the time of their launches.

Giorgio Armani - Aqua di Gio (men's)
Issey Miyake - L'eau Dissey
Serge Lutens - Ambre Sultan
Thierry Mugler - Angel Men
Creed - Erolfa
Calvin Klein - ck One
Lancome - Magnifique (I'm sure I will get alot of flack for this one ;)
Davidoff - Cool Water

Fragrance Review : Guerlain Heritage EDT

2009-05-25T20:40:00.000-07:00

If the idea behind Heritage is suppose to be a blending of all of the Guerlain men's fragrances released prior to 1992 (its release date) then I must say that succeeds, because the perfume is very "Guerlain" - but if I had to describe it in my terms of geneologies, I would say this is influenced by three great fragrances that have come before it, Shalimar (1925), Bois Du Portugal from Creed (1987) and Tsar of Van Cleef and Arpels (1989).

It is most immediately sensed upon application the strong similarity between Bois Du Portugal and Guerlain, and if I had to nominate and fragrance to say could be its stand-in, this would be BDP. Heritage however, certainly does make itself distinct in a number of ways along its development on the skin. The first noticeable difference would be the fruity note, which some people complain creates a bit of a sour feeling. Although it is not mentioned in the official pyramid, this fruity note is largely created by allyl amyl glycolate, which is used in other perfumes (notably its contemporary: Tsar) to create a suggestion of pineapple. This fruity note lingers for a while into the drydown at which point one notices another difference between BdP and Heritage: Heritage, true to Guerlain form (think Shalimar), concentrates its basenotes more solely into vanilla and woods (with a touch of patchouli), whereas BdP's drydown is made more complex and powdery via the use of vetiver and moss.

If I had to give my personal opinion on Heritage, I would say that it is slightly less "together" than its predecessor Bois du Portugal, and neither the fruity changes at the top, nor the softer more comforting vanilla drydown are neccesary nor are they an improvement upon BdP. However, it is readily available at a much lower pricepoint, and if one has such economic limitations (I personally couldn't afford either at retail right now!) then I believe Heritage is an excellent stand-in. Even hours into its drydown (EDT applied 6 hours ago) it still radiates class and quality. Long lasting with quality ingredients and reasonable construction - Four stars!

Coco Chanel: Just when you though pink was getting old!

2009-05-25T18:59:00.000-07:00

Just when we all thought that maybe pink juice might finally be starting to fall out of fashion, the last fragrance in the world I thought would ever become pink actually has: My beloved Coco Chanel. Soon we will start seeing this pink version replacing testers and displays everywhere, and ending up in our homes. Since the testers are very new I had to struggle to find a shop which would allow me to take a photo of the new bottle. Finally I got one who was nice enough, although I won't mention where it was as it is of course against every stores policy to allow photographs to be taken within the store. The photo above is of the EDT although the EDP is now also pink, and is sold in the same bottle as the 100ml No.5 bottle.

It seems that the colour is not the only change, as we would expect since the colour of a fragrance can also yield many clues as to what is inside. We can pretty much deduce that our new juice is made with clear raw materials and then dyed pink, which means that either naturals have been replaced with synthetics, or that more expensive colourless absolutes are now being used instead (I wonder which one is the case!)

Alas, the fragrance itself has suffered, the first word that comes to my mind is "diluted", and when I say diluted its really quite a pale lifeless version of what it once was. Baroque? Opulent? Dark ? no more! It is now sweeter, a lightly spiced floral, with just enough of the essence of what it us to be that we can still recognize it. It appears also that a large portion of the changes have appeared on the bottom end; I have had the EDP on my right hand for a few hours now, and it has fallen apart. What a shame!

Another one of my favourites, has also recently suffered the same fate. Boudoir by Vivienne Westwood was once a rich dark brown juice, and a very powerfull fragrance - it is now pink and a just a shell of what it use to be.

This marks a very sad day for me, as I can now for all intents and purpose consider Coco a parfum disparu, looks like I will have to stock up! Also, my mother who has been wearing this perfume for over 20 years will be very disappointed - At least I can take comfort in the fact that I presented her with a vintage 60ml pure parfum of Coco just about a year ago and it should last her for a while. My only question is; does Parfums Chanel really bet this new version will bring in more new customers than the loyal ones it will alienate ?

Follow up to perfumers smoking

2009-05-20T22:13:00.000-07:00

(Skull With Cigarette - MC Escher)

just found this quote by chance on the website of the Societe Francaise des Parfumeurs which ties back to my earlier post on whether perfumers smoke or not...

Mais tu fumes ? « Il faut arrêter de penser que les parfumeurs vivent en ascètes dans des jardins odorants, loin de la pollution et du vice ! ».
- Karine Chevallier

translated to english it basicly means

"I cant believe you smoke? We must stop thinking that perfumers live in isolation, in fragrant gardens far from all pollution and vice! "

thought it was interesting to get another perspective on it :)

Parfums Disparu

2009-05-20T13:45:00.000-07:00

I have always had a soft side for the brilliant things in our history that for some reason or another, should not and could not continue to exist, in the words of Hunter S. Thompson, "one of God's own prototypes -- a high powered mutant of some kind never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live and too rare to die. " For instance, a scene from my dreams is me driving a Delorean DMC wearing a Nintendo Power Glove and misting the interior of said vehicle with Chanel's Bois Noir ;)

For this reason I have always been very interested in what are called "parfums disparu", discontinued and obscure perfumes from our past, some which have become mythical and others which have just been totally forgotten. Whether it was simply the timing, or the fashion that caused these perfumes to fail upon their launches is always the question - but something can always be learned from their genius. I have actively started to collect what I can, this week will be the beginning of my campaign and hopefully I will have some reviews up in the coming month. If you are the type to search in the shadows, stay tuned ;)

Lemon Verbena: Plant Profile

2009-05-18T13:16:00.000-07:00

As some of you may know, I grow a lot of the plants which are used in perfumery. I do this to get a better appreciation of the living smell of the plant and because this helps me understand all facets of it; from the essential oil to the molecules used to create its note. I also do it because most of the time its a lot of fun and makes my house smell pretty :)

I'm sure a lot of novices to perfumery (as I once was) are a bit confused about the many different types of citrus notes - for instance, when I first started out I had no clue what a bergamot was! This confusion can be compounded by the fact that sometimes citrus notes do not come from the fruit itself but from the bark/wood of the tree and even from the flowers!

For this article I will be taking a look at a recent acquisition which is the Lemon Verbena, sometimes referred to as just "Verbena" or "Verveine" in French.

The plant is a shrub which is native to parts of South America, and the leaves are used up to this day as an herbal remedy. It is also used to add flavour to foods, jams, salads and beverages.
In perfumery we can see why it is used as a citrus note as the main constituents include Citral, Nerol and Geraniol. The essential oil is extracted via distillation of the plant matter; leaves and twigs.

As a garden plant it grows with a delightful citrus aura that can be detected anywhere within a few feet of a larger specimen :) It is inexpensive, easy to grow and neat to have around, take a look at a garden center near you - they are not hard to find!

Is 100 year sandalwood oil lost forever?

2009-05-17T12:00:00.000-07:00

The global sandalwood shortage has caused such paranoia that I no longer feel safe buying sandalwood oil from ebay vendors, online stores (or pretty much anyone else without a meticulous record and reputation online - safe sellers include Eden Botanicals, LibertyNaturals, etc). Also, with my 100 year old Mysore as a reference point, I have spent hundreds of dollars trying to buy something similar to it, and been "beyond" dissapointed each time. I have now given up! But... does this mean that the heavenly aroma of 1960's sandalwood is gone forever? I had an thought...

I emailed a few people who were much more knowledgable than I about an idea that I had (thanks Octavian as always for helping me with my questions ;) that centered around the point that essential oils can be taken apart and put back together again. You see, in perfumery there are used natural absolutes and essential oils as well as (of course!) synthetic molecules, but there is also a grey area in between these two which is the area of Isolates. Isolates are molecules removed from an essential oil (remember essential oils have many constituents) for the purpose of using as a standalone molecule - an obvious example would be linalool and rosewood oil. Well, if one were to look at sandalwood oil, one would find that ts is (on the most basic level) comprised of "90% sesquiterpenic alcohols of which 50-60% is the tricyclic α-Santalol. β-Santalol comprises 20-25%" (wikipedia: sandalwood oil). Since we know that the odour profile of sandalwood is mainly achieved by the ratio of Alpha to Beta Santanols, could we not isolate these and remix them to achieve the correct ratio? Of course this would give us less oil than we started with! but is it worth it ?

The answer is that this would be the start of a slightly more complicated and expensive process, although it is fully possible to recreate something very similar to a mature sandalwood oil this way. So, while it may be impossible to find, if you've got the $$ in the future you might be able to once again smell sandalwood of the 1960's.

Lancome Tresor : Fragrant Washroom WC Mystery

2009-04-29T04:28:00.000-07:00

As I write this, it is 7:35 AM and I have not slept in preparation for my final university exam this year - Roman Art History. This seems like an odd way to start a blog post about perfume, however I have been noticing something strange tonight. The men's washroom on this floor has a very nice woody floral smell to it, a spicy rose. It struck me as something very familiar since hours ago, but as the context is so strange it was hard for me to pinpoint exactly what it was. Now, it is unmistakably Lancome's Tresor. I am not sure how that smell would have got there and I suppose some mysteries like this will forever remain undeciferable... but there is no question in my mind about what perfume it is!

Back to studying I guess ;)

Perfume Review: Diesel Plus Plus Masculine - Masterful Mint

2009-04-09T11:02:00.001-07:00

Its been a while since I reviewed a perfume, one reason is because lately no perfumes have been jumping out at me so much to motivate me to write about them. Lately, I have been sniffing and analyzing well-selling mainstream perfumes. However, a few days ago a friend (non-perfumista) and I were talking about perfumes. He asked me whether it was true that spicy fragrances were generally more for winter wear. I told him that this can be the case, because hot weather can cause very powerful scents to become overly diffusive, but that in modern perfumery, these rules are often broken. Then out of nowhere he blurted:

"Hey! you know what the BEST spicy cologne is?? Diesel, the white one!"

I blinked for a minute after being caught off guard... and then it hit me! I decided right then and there that I would do a blog post about it. Diesel Plus Plus masculine has been one of my favourites since I first purchased it many many years ago at a super discounted price. I still have about 50% left of my (75ml?) bottle. I've always used it sparingly as I really find it precious - it is to me a perfect balance of all the elements of a teenagers/young man's romantic daytime perfume; freshness, fruityness, woodyness, masculinity, spice and above all a large dose of je ne sais quoi. The perfect synergy of these notes is something that a fragrance such as Lacoste Pour Homme (grey bottle) can only wish it could achieve. Plus Plus' "X"factor largely comes from this fragrance's most unique "milk note" which is achieved by the use of diacetyl - combined with detergent-like citrus notes the lemon gelatto is the most apparent note right off the first spritz. Also prominent in the top are green notes which Diesel refers to as "Frozen Green Notes" in their official scent pyramid. I smell menthol and I think a bit of eucalyptus to create the "frozen" illusion in this fragrance. The top of this pyramid is certainly very complicated and well balanced, while the rest of the blogosphere goes on about Roadster's use of mint, this forgotten masterpiece goes unmentioned as possibly on of the best integrations of mint in perfume history. Plus Plus is also a fruity perfume, the selection of fruits used is one that would go well with ice (such as in a pina colada), I definitley smell allyl amyl glycomate, which is used to produce a pineapple scent, as well as the tiniest touch of aldehyde c-18 to give the coconuty aspect. Also, there is a red berry mix, mostly raspberry with just a hint of cassis rounding out the fruity top. Ethyl heptaonate helps out the "juicyness" factor if im not mistaken.

The notes of of the middle fragrance are where this fragrance really shines and proves its level of sophistication. It is intensely spicy, with prominent notes of coriander, cardamom, white sage, and my favourite: pimento berries. Any fragrance which uses pimento (such as one of my all time favs Versailles Homme) immediatley grabs my nose's attention and Diesel Plus Plus did exactly that from the first spritz many years ago. The heart of this fragrance in my opinion, is the use of Birch Bark, and it is what puts the middle layer of the fragrance into prime gourmande territory. Birch bark is also the main flavour ingredient in a soft drink that many of many American and Canadian readers will will imediatley be able to conjure up memories of - Dr. Pepper.

The middle notes are very long lasting, so one does not usually reach the base in a wearing, unless its the by next morning. Diesel's official pyramid lists the base as a blend of musk, tonka bean, sandalwood, moss, vetiver and nutmeg. The musks used here are are a combination of very clean white musks, the most prominent to my nose are galaxolide and habanolide. The sandalwood note is abstract using synthetic molecules, and a heavy dose of coumarin, isobutivan and vanillin plant this fragrance comfortable among its contemporaries of the late 90's / early 00's. The fragrance is a juxtaposition of cold against hot, like a frozen cocktail on a hot summer day. It is reminscent of hot days on the beach without using the cliched suntain lotion accord. A great fragrance to bring along on vacation, or just wear anytime your stuck in bad weather and feel like lifting your mood. At current prices hovering around 9.99-19.99 its a great buy.

re: death of perfumery and re: an interesting time for perfumers

2009-04-04T12:32:00.000-07:00

I'd like to write not so much a response , but my own opinion on a topic which has come up recently on two of my favourite blogs. Both writers have taken a different approach - Octavian at 1000fragrances and Alex @ Musicien des Odeurs (both blogs linked to the right) have recently discussed the new environment in which perfumers must work, namely the fact that many classical raw materials are now being restricted or banned. Last night while reading through Octavians post about our 2010 oakmoss doomsday, I became very disillusioned about my future in the perfume industry. My style of perfumery definitely leans towards the classical - while I love fragrances such as the never ending series of fun concept perfumes by CDG and CB IHP, the perfumes that have really spoken to me in my lifetime have been classical compositions, and perfumes which hold at their heart natural ingredients as opposed to a synthetic one. Perfumes such as Creed's Royal English Leather, Chanel's Coco / No.19, Desprez's Versailles Homme and Serge Luten's Ambre Sultan have shaped my perfume soul since I started down this journey in scent. I have always been fond of herbs, spices, woods and other natural materials since I read many stories in my childhood in which these had special properties. As I said earlier, while I find perfumes such as "bottled dry cleaning" a great and fun exercise, an unshakable part of me still feels that working with the traditional timeless raw materials is serious perfumery - for me, its where the magic lies.

So what do we do now in the wake of this inevitable paradigm shift in perfumery? Octavian first suggests stocking up on bottles (first thing I did was navigate to ebay after reading his article) while Alex suggests we must not fear the future but celebrate the restrictions, and see what new can come from the tools at our disposal. Personally, I am not as optimistic as Alex, but I think there are always ways we can overcome any situation and make the best of it. First of all, I will not stop working with any of the restricted ingredients, even if I do so only for myself, I will continue to work with them as if nothing ever happened. Fragrance is art, and if the regime demands that I stop writing my poetry I will continue to do it in secret. Second of all, once my career gets started I will make it my personal mission to seek out new naturals and put them to use. If the IFRA writes them off, then I go back in search for more - the world is a big place!

In conclusion, I must admit that I am very saddened, as this type of corporate destruction of the human experience is all around me, not only in the IFRA 43 restrictions. Our water, our air, and our food - especially here in North America - there is no longer any taste in it. It is very hard to feel alive during these times. However, many people in history have gone through worse and so the show must go on.

- Matt

Do any perfumers smoke ?

2009-04-03T13:12:00.000-07:00

I think for the most part, smoking is one of the stupidest things a perfumer can do - but since we're all still human I am wondering if some of them do ? I have been an on-off smoker most of my life since my teenage years (mostly off) and I had been off cigs for two years now but somehow I picked it back up again during my last visit to Toronto (its a great stress combatant!). Since then, I have found that it is horribly to the detriment of my ability to do anything perfume related! My sense of smell is much worse in general and not only that but I am no longer able to evaluate my work on my own hand (everything seems to have a mysterious "burnt tobacco accord" to it that I swear I never put in there :P). Today I am re-sniffing a chypre that I had put away for a few weeks to try and gain some inspiration for, but I find that I am not able to smell it the way I would like. I don't plan on quitting smoking until April 15th which is the deadline for another design competition that is taking its toll on my stress levels right now - so I guess I am going to have to live with it for the time being. I am guessing most modern perfumers don't smoke but did a larger percentage of them smoke in the 50's 60's or even 20's 30's ? I wonder if the nose just acclimates eventually as I know long term smokers don't smell the smell of stale smoke on themselves anymore. It'll be interesting to see if I can find out in another two weeks!

Bond no.9 Brooklyn Bottle Competition

2009-04-01T13:03:00.003-07:00

I got a very nice email from the people @ Bond last month so I figured I'd try my hand at designing a bottle for last months Bond No.9 Brooklyn bottle competition. I'm not from BK so I had to really try and get inside the mindset of a new-yorker for inspiration for themes/images that would really represent the New York borough. I though of a design in which the bottle's background was an architectural schematic of the Brooklyn Bridge, and the BK theme was continued by the famous subway numbers which travel the area. I created a black top to mimic the iconic subway signs and placed on it some numbers of routes which travel throughout the area. These subway route markers also make up the centerpieces of the bottle as well as a Bond No.9 logo in the middle (each design submitted had the requirement of either the round logo or text logo to be prominent on the bottle). I'm certainly no graphics whiz and my background is definitley not the visual arts but heres my best shot! *fingers crossed*

Toronto Fashion Week part 2

2009-03-21T16:03:00.001-07:00

just a quick blog post here to bring anyone interested up to speed on my time here at Toronto LG Fashion week, Ive had an interesting few days and had the chance to meet many new people related to fashion and perfume. This has thus far been my best real world education as I was able to talk to the corporate (fragrance) buyers for a few major retailers. I also took the time to talk to store managers, and SA's to gain insight on all levels of how to execute a successful fragrance. Aside from perfume I was also able to meet with some very interesting and talented people, notably the master tailor from the Tom Ford brand, as he was in town for a promotion at the same time we were here. It's really awesome to talk to someone so passionate and learned about their craft!

Right now I'm preparing some notes because I have a television interview tonight about perfume, I've never done one but I have been practicing talking about perfume to new audiences during the week, I had a lot of fun speaking with the SA's at the Chanel boutique yesterday!

Wish me luck for tonight! ;)

Strictly Perfume Reviews Search Engine

2009-03-15T14:52:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone, I have been toying with some google code to make a search engine stricly for perfume reviews, meaning that it will only return content that are specifically perfume reviews and blog posts from our favourite resources on the internet. Try it out so far it should work, for example you only need to type in the perfume house and the name such as

Example "Serge Lutens Arabie" or "Musc Ravageur Frederic Malle"

I thought this would be a usefull tool incase you are reading a review of mine and I reference a perfume that you might not be familiar with, now its easy to find it within one click. I will move this to the sidebar in about a week so its always easy to find when you are reading a review :)

LG Toronto Fashion Week 2009

2009-03-14T09:53:00.001-07:00

'Tis the season for fashion weeks across many of the fashion centers of the world, and this week I will be visiting LG Fashion Week in Toronto, Canada. I will be going on industry passes with a friend of mine for whom I am doing some consulting work. I am eager to see what it will be like as oddly enough I have never attended a fashion event in here in Canada! I think I may be part of some interviews and I will likely have to say something interesting on the topic of perfume and the industry in Canada. I have been doing my homework all last week and also putting together some outfits to fit in with the fashion crowd ;)

I think its going to be alot of fun and I hope to meet some people also interested in perfume during such an event - Wish me luck :)

Shiseido Inoui

2009-03-10T16:49:00.000-07:00

This took a few wearings to figure it out (not that I will ever FULLY figure it out ;) and then even a few more before I could even attempt to write a blog article about it. The first thing I notice about it is that it is very much of its period. The initial blast of the topnotes oddly has a very animalic touch that recalls Halston, however the miracle is that this facet fades dramatically in the first few minutes and receeds very far into the background. Once one gets past the opening the impression is that the style of Inoui was heavily influenced by the 1971 launch of Chanel's no.19 as they are very similar in the skeleton. Where the differences in these two perfumes lie are truly apparent are in the decoration, and while I love both perfumes I think I may somewhat favour the herbal and piney heart of Inoui over the more feminine floral heart of No.19. The most interesting part of Inoui is despite its assured green and herbal notes, it never steps over the line of crisp; this perfume is never piercingly sharp or sour as many of its family members can be. I believe this restraint was achieved by the counterbalance of fruity notes (Freesia, Aldehyde C14 Peach). One minor fault in my humble opinion, I do truly enjoy the beautiful iris/ionone note in No.19 which to me is the defining feminine smell (I associate with cosmetic products), that is sadly not in full force in Inoui. Inoui is very harmoniously blended, in the old ethic of the "abstract perfume", a very subtle perfumed into its drydown but by no means a skinscent. What I love is how it does not lose its complexity or impact over the course of its development. In fact, its drydown in my opinion is more beautiful than any other part of it, it is so soft and perfect it seems almost angelic.

Unfortunately, this fragrance was reportedly discontinued because a key ingredient was no longer able to be sourced - to me this is baffling! The question is; was this a decision made out of artistic integrity? It is a mystery since if it was a particular natural ingredient that became too expensive, could there not be a synthetic analogue, or if it was a discontinued base could not a similar base be found/made? Maybe this story is just a rumour covering up the real reason for its demise... Perhaps one day I will find the answer but for now it is as much a mystery as the magic of this perfume!

If anyone knows the name of the particular in-house perfumer of Shiseido that made this fragrance could you please leave it as a comment, thx :)

Perfume Chatrume Abbreviations

2009-03-10T10:54:00.000-07:00

Blog Update Feb 2009

2009-02-13T22:45:00.000-08:00

Yes it has been a long time without a post! I have been busy working on many things perfume and non perfume related! As I type this I have spilled some tuberose absolute on my shirt so certainly I have set the mood correctly for finally posting a new blog entry. Since I can't think of a particular topic to talk about in detail right now, I figure I will just fill you in with what I have been doing lately:

First of all, I have been putting in a lot of work on foot, simply going into every boutique, every department store and perfumerie, and smelling absolutely every fragrance I have ever heard mention of. I have also been mentally cataloging my thoughts on all of them. I won't bore you with any of my specific reactions to these parfums, but as a general statement of interest - what I can say is that I am surprised by the variety of styles of fragrance currently in existance; to be more precise I would say that I have been finding often on store shelves almost exact duplicates of fragrances I have made on my own and cast aside as substandard works not fit to sniff! To be sure this has helped up my ego a few notches!

One particular example is Cartier Declaration; I had long heard this to be the masterpiece of Ellena - a platform on which alot of his later work was built. Since I love Ellena's creations for Hermes and Blvgari I was ashamed to admit that Declaration was one of the few I had actually not sniffed! However, a few months ago I had decided to try and build it only from the descriptions provided to me by other blogs, note lists and reviews. I tried for a few days to tune it to what I imagined it may smell like and eventually gave up in frustration. My shock of today was to find that the real Declaration is was 95% the same as mine!!! The lesson that I have learned from this as a perfumer is maybe not try to constantly compare my creations to supreme classics (it will be easier to smile sometimes this way!) but also to follow my own desires for the creation of accords and not only by classical form, as there are many preferences in our diverse world.

Other parfums which I have either sniffed or re-sniffed in the past month and found to be particularly interesting have been Ma Dame from JPG, the new edition of Fracas, Annick Goutal's Heure Exquise, Dior Poison, Shiseido's New Zen and Givenchy Hot Couture (an old favourite of mine). I have been disappointed by Cartier's Roadster and by Blvgari's Jasmin Noir.

With my time I have also lately been putting a lot of effort into my perfume related studies, this is taking up much of my schedule, which unfortunately has prevented me from doing much writing here online. I am however, also very pleased because I can see myself making leaps and bounds both in my ability to understand the chemistry of perfume and in my ability to create the type of feelings I imagine and translate them into a scent with various aroma substances. I am currently testing a recent creation on my left wrist, a spicy concoction revolving around a heliotrope note; it can use a lot of tweaking but I am very pleased with what I have created thus far.

Lastly, I would like to add that this week I will be visiting the boutique of an independent perfumer and hopefully I will be able to do a bit of an interview. I will definitely have a report up about it soon! This will be the first time I meet a professional perfumer face to face and I am very excited. I also have a few posts including one review that I would like to post asap so please forgive me for the absence but hopefully in a short time I will get some content flowing again.

Best regards
- Matt :)

Lacoste Eau de Sport Review : A Blast From the Past!

2009-01-17T18:25:00.001-08:00

Lacoste Eau de Sport is a perfume created in 1968 by Jean Kerleo of the house of Patou under license to compliment the Lacoste line of sportswear. It is a long discontinued but supreme classic, a perfume which manages to tie the fleeting freshness of petitgrain, verbena, bergamot and lemony citrus to a spicy heart of laurel, pepper, cinnamon, cardamom, oldschool woods, slight powder and a touch of rockrose. The opening is reminscent of the natural citrus of Crown Imperiale or Annick Gourtals Eau d'Hadrien, and the heart is a masterpiece example of the classic gentleman's EDT genre. Contrary to its name "Eau de sport" it doesnt have the spirit of a typical citrus "water", instead it feels a bit viscous, but not oily - I would like to use the french word "seve" which means sap; this is a light sap/resin, the scent to me evokes the image of a fresh cut into an imaginary species of "Lacoste" tree. The development is pure Jean Kerleo: no note stands out as they are all perfectly blended into one unified scent. Due to this perfect balance the layers of evaporation are extremely sublte which could almost fool you into thinking that it is more linear than it really is! Most notably, even the perception of citrus is very long lasting in this high quality blend. I have only this carded sample (in photo) which has managed to remain fresh for over 40 years! This is very astonishing for a citrus cologne but the few people with which I have had contact that also own this cologne say the same thing: it appears to be perfectly preserved. My late 60's Eau Sauvage on the other hand smells foul! This is long discontinued and impossible to track down, but I would someday like to own a full bottle of it and wouldn't mind paying even astronomical prices for this forgotten gem. Alas, right now that would be difficult on a student's budget!

My Question to anyone knowledgeable on this subject is what is the difference between the version with the small black cap and clear bottle vs. the frosted glass bottle w/ the taller gold top? Is it just a design change over the years? Ligne Sport Lacoste

A Visit to the Havana Perfume Museum

2009-01-16T16:43:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos and descriptions from my recent trip to the Havana Perfume Museum located in Havana, Cuba. It is a very small museum in Old Havana which includes displays of vintage perfumes and related products, a retail section selling modern Cuban perfumes, as well as two demonstration areas where perfumes are mixed and materials can be tested. The Cuban people are very poor and their institutions' budgets are no exception to the rule - this must be kept in mind when visiting any Cuban museum. Despite these financial hurdles the museum was still very enjoyable. I hope you like the photos and virtual tour; I'm sorry if some of them came out a bit blurry, it was VERY dark inside and I could not use the flash due to the items being behind glass ;)

This is a display of commonly used animal products, from left to right we have ambergris, castoreum and civette.

Here are some old Avon products.

A copper still which is the type used to extract essential oils from plants, woods etc.

This is the section where the demonstrations take place, unfortunatley on the day we visited the lady who usually teaches about materials and the perfume pyramid structure was not there. I took this photo of the organ anyways :)

Here are some dry plant matter of materials which are used in perfumes.

Of all of the french perfume houses, the museum had the most Guerlain bottles.

Guerlain again

Heres one including Vol de Nuit in a very old bottle

Vintage edition of a famous Cuban perfume "Mariposa" which means "butterfly", I tested the modern version (included in the photo below), it is a very clean jasmine scent.

Modern Cuban perfumes in the retail section.

A Molinard display including Habanita (of course!)

Here the perfumer is filling a bottle with perfume for a customer

This is a very old scale used to measure out dry matter for tincturing

Femme - Rochas (Vintage)

In the middle you will find the most important ingredient in men's perfumery, sandalwood, and to either side there is Romarin and Hyssop.

Here is a display of vintage bottles by Cuban perfume producer Suchel. They also produce Mariposa and many other famous Cuban perfumes such as Coral Negro, Alicia and Alonzo. Suchel also produces most of the island's soap and other fragrance related products.

Finally some perfumes housed in giant glass decanters with little spouts to pour into bottles for customers, similar to the set up at Caron :)

Address: Oficios Street between Obispo and Obra Pía, Old Havana.Open Tuesdays through Saturdays 14:30 - 21:45; Sundays 9:00 -13:00.

*The museum is also the headquarters of the Arabian House of Havana

Al Khaleej vs. Al Khaleej : Arabic Perfume Naming and Classification

2009-01-06T23:31:00.000-08:00

Here are two bottles by two different houses (Ajmal and Al Haramain), both are named Al Khaleej but do not smell alike, one is an alcoholic eau de parfum and the other is an oil based attar. How can these two producers produce perfumes with the same name? what is the connection? In order to answer this I will have to give a bit of information regarding Eastern perfumery conventions, specifically Arabic perfume. Since Arabic perfume was traditionally sold by market vendors before the days of mass production and coordinated commerce, standardized names had to be created to give a customer an understanding of what to expect from the scent in terms of ingredients, as well as to communicate quality level and expected price. For example, Mukhallath (which means mix) was used to mean a perfume containing but not limited to Oud, Sandalwood, Rose, Jasmine, Musk and Amber (Indian Amber aka Benzoin + resins and spices). To indicate that a mix used higher quality ingredients, a modifier would be added to the name such as Mukhallath Al Maliki (mix of/for kings/royalty). Another common word used to describe perfumes is Ateeq, which means "old", indicating that the agarwood oil used has been aged to mellow the sesquiterpenes. As is expected, these modifiers indicate price as well as quality. We can liken these perfume names to our concept of fragrance families (Fougere, Oriental, etc) in the way that fragrances named Dehn Al Oud in the Arabic world (meaning oil of wood) will contain a high concentration of agarwood, and fragrances including the word Suifi will be inspired by traditional Sufi formulas. For example a customer seeing a fragrance named Dhen Oud Al Maliki would understand that he or she is purchasing a high quality (for royals) perfume that was mainly based around the agarwood note, regardless of the producer. There are also other names that are not as clear cut such as Jannatul Firdaus or Sultan (sometimes called Sultan Brunei) that come from traditional blends which have become popular. In example, Jannatul Firdaus would be a very floral and sweet musky blend which comes from the name of the higher levels of Paradise in Holy Islamic texts; If I am correct there are rivers in this level of paradise that flow with this perfume, but this may be something I have heard that was taken out of context. Another way to look at these Arabic naming conventions is to see them as interpretations of a theme, such as Guerlain's vs. Creed's Vetivers or Chanel vs. Creed's Cuir de Russie.

Pictured above is a bottle of Jannatul Firdaus that I have collected a few years ago, it is generally as seen here, a very dark green meant to mimic the colour of Kasthuri musk. 99.9% of this type of perfume on the market today uses colouring agents and synthetic musks of course.

So getting back to our Al Khaleejes; the Ajmal is intensly fresh and citrussy with an agressive mossy and musky base, it is ozonic/aquatic and modern in the late 90's sense of the word but with a signifigant oldschool "oomph" to it. The Al Haramain combines its citrus blast with amber, spices and woods instead. The common denominator between these perfumes however is the theme of freshness and the citrus top, a perfect example of how different two interpretations of one theme can be.

Liquid Glass: Patou Pour Homme

2009-01-06T01:01:00.000-08:00

If there is any perfume in which the smell perfectly matches with the bottle it comes in, oddly enough I would have to say it is Patou Pour Homme. You are probably wondering what I could possibly mean since it is such a simple bottle? In this case I am not talking about the graphics, colour or shape of the bottle... but in fact what it is made of. Many people who review Patou PH will talk about the perfectly balanced blending, the noble woods, the sensual burning spices, but while I agree that all these facets of the fragrance are notable indeed, I don't think any of them are what make it the truly special perfume that it is. For me, the "je ne sais quoi" in PPH comes from the accord that is the combination of a very lean jasmine and a touch of a semi sweet and most transparent orris note; I can describe it only as liquid glass. If one takes a look at the spray bottle of PPH it is similar in shape to the top of the older (1924 in the chart below) chanel #5 bottles, and a type of bevelled glass from the front view, like an art-deco mirror.

Yes the accord is subtle and easy to miss at first, but the design of the bottle speaks volumes about its' importance behind the scenes of the more obvious olfactory design elements. The sparkle of this special accord is present in PH from the very first spray until quite deep into the drydown; it is very sharp and its transparancy is complimented by the choice of herbal notes used as well. I believe this accord is also important as a modifier to the resinous basenotes, making them exceptionally liquid and sharpening their resolution like the highest quality ground glass Nikon lense. The liquid glass accord acts almost like the HDTV for this perfume ;)

If anyone has got Patou Pour Homme I invite you to test it again and see if you think I have been accurate, I'd love to know your opinions - please write anytime :)

How to make Japanese incense with agarwood and various traditional ingredients: Part 1

2008-12-31T01:45:00.000-08:00

Hello again everyone, I know it seems that progress has slowed a bit over here at Par:Fum - yes it is the time of the holidays and unfortunatley I can't nerd out in front of the computer as much as I do during the regular season! although technically, you shouldn't be wasting your time on here either, so hopefully both forces will cancel eachother out. Anyways, I didn't want to tide you guys over with some low effort post so I went all out and made a pictorial how-to on making Japanese incense with traditional materials. Lets get started!

Ok, so the first step is to collect our materials, if any of these seem unfamiliar to you at first don't worry I will explain their purposes. I have coded them by letter in the photo above:

A - Cinnamon
B - Makko Powder
C - Sandalwood Powder
D - Agarwood Chips
E - Frankincense direct from Somalia (thanks bro!)
F - Cloves

I have used five traditional ingredients in this blend, and Makko powder which is a binder to stick everything together. Makko is the resin of a native Japanese tree, has virtually no odour and is very sticky so it is what will keep your dried finished product from crumbling back into powder! The agarwood and sandalwood make the heart of the perfume, frankincense adds a nice sparkle and of course the cloves add spice while the incense keeps things sweet and warm. The materials in the photo are not the ratios used, I just wanted it to look pretty for the photo! For a first time experiment, you might want to go easy on the spice!

Step two: We take all of our materials and place them in a mortar and pestle and grind until we have a fine powder.

Note: I have used the mortar and pestle to make this tutorial appear classy and aesthetically pleasing, in reality I would take all this stuff to the magic bullet (a super blender) and you should too unless you want to be grinding for an hour! Remember, getting it to as fine a powder as possible is very important for later steps!

Step 3: we add the water and mix

Mix the ingredients in with the water slowly until you get a thick paste, it should hopefully not stick too much to what your mixing it in with, if it becomes too sticky, you will have to wait a bit for it to get dry again, so add the water very slowly!

Once we have got it to the right level, remove some pieces onto a piece of paper, I used printer paper here but for non-stick purposes its better to use weekly flyers (the kind you get in the mail). This step is for making cones only so if you are wishing to make sticks, skip these two photos.

Step Four: Roll the incense into a cone with your fingers, then let them dry. If you are making cones this is the last step and you are finished. I recommend at least 2-3 days of drying time but the actual drying time according to Japanese tradition is about 9 weeks!

Step Five: Extruding on the cheap - Ok so I am assuming you don't have an extruder at home, I made one out of a caulking gun and empty tubes, but just incase you dont want to put that much work I have invented the plastic bag method as well. Extruding is a way of making coreless incense (ie: not wrapped around a little piece of wood like the cheap stuff is) by squeezing paste through a hole, similar to a pasta maker! For this, take a ziploc type back and stab a toothpick through the corner of it to make a hole.

Fill the corner of the bag with your paste and use a motion similar to how you would decorate a cake, squeeze the paste through the hole and make the bag across your sheet of paper in order to make as straight a line as possible!

In my example I didn't spend enough time powdering and I had some tiny chunks which kept clogging the hole :( As a consequence it was difficult to make the sticks the right length. This is why I recommend that you use a power blender instead such as the magic bullet. Blend it for 5 minutes if you have to, the finer the powder the much easier it will be to extrude after!

Step Six: Light your incense and enjoy :) Remember, even for extruded sticks you should let them dry at least 24 hours! The incense made during this tutorial exhibited a very pleasant and traditional aroma.

Par:Fum Fragrance Awards

2008-12-24T16:05:00.001-08:00

Ok, so I know I am probably the last one to come out with a set of awards this year, but figured I'd like to reflect on (and judge) some of this 2008's perfumes and fragrance products. Some categories are reserved for perfumes launched only in 2008 and some are cumulative.

2008:

Most creative new product mainstream: Magnifique de Lancome

Most creative new product niche: Boudicca Perfume ( Wode paint sprays)

Best bottle (mainstream womens'): Very Pretty - Michael Kors

Best bottle (mainstream men's): Roadster - Cartier

Best bottle (niche womens'): Cosmic - Solange

Best bottle (niche men's): Parfums MDCI

Best Fragrance men: Versace pour Homme

Best Fragrance women: Citizen Queen - Juliette Has a Gun

Best Fragrance Blog 2008: 1000fragances

Cumulative:

Most bang for your buck (women's): Madame Rochas (avg price 12.99-15.99 30ml EDT)

Most bang for your buck (mens): Adidas Moves Deodorant Stick (avg price 6.99-8.99)

Most bang for you buck (niche): Serge Lutens Export Collection

Best Drugstore (mens): Cliven for men

Best Drugstore (womens): Bal a Versailles

Worst of 2008

Worst Name (men): The Beat (men) - Burberry

Worst Name (women): Notorious - Ralph Lauren

Worst Bottle: Love and Luck (men and women) - Ed Hardy

Biggest Fiasco 2008: Fake Ebay Creeds

Most Missed Ancillary Product: Bar Soaps

Ranjatai: King of Agarwood

2008-12-21T00:10:00.000-08:00

The famous piece of Agarwood called Ranjatai was presented by Komyo Emperor for Todaiji Temple in Nara, Japan, in the year 756 A.D. Ranjatai was kept in the Shosoin warehouse of Todaiji Temple. Today, Ranjatai belongs to the Royal family of Japan. Every autumn, many treasures of Shosoin are exhibited in National Museum in Nara, titled Shosoin Ten (Exhibition). Because they change the object of exhibition. Ranjatai can be seen there every 10 or 15 years. The paper on Ranjatai mentions three parts were cut; one by the Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa, one by the Daimyo Oda Nobunaga, and one by the Meiji Emperor. The cut parcels were often given as gifts in important political processes. These cuts however were insignificant in size (less than one square inch at a time) and the piece of wood today has dimensions of approximatley 152 cm in length, with a width of 122cm at one end and 13cm at the other. Ranjatai has been now been identified as coming from Laos or Vietnam by Japan's leading expert on Aloeswood, Dr. Yoneda from Osaka University.

There are many stories about aloeswood being buried under the ground or under river beds for hundreds of years, of which the story of the source of Ranjatai is sometimes reported to be. This legend comes from an old Chinese book on incense, but today most aloeswood comes from infected trees that, although in the process of decaying and dying, are indeed still standing. However, sometimes the roots become infected with the fungus and these can be found underground.

I have been interested in this piece of wood for a very long time, and I hope that next time it is viewable in the museum that I will have the chance to go and see it in person. An interesting excercise that I have done was to try and estimate a street price for Ranjatai. Since we know Ranjatai is sinking-grade kyara, we must say that its density is over 1.0 gram per cubic cm (the density of water), since all aloeswood can have a different densities due to the difference in formation of resin, let us approximate the density of Ranjatai to be equal to Lignum Vitae, another very dense sinking wood - this is 1.4g per cubic cm. Therefore based on the measurements above, and an assumption of the average depth of Ranjatai to be 30cm (based on the image) we can assume Ranjatai to weigh appx 315.9kg. At a cost of 395$ per gram for the highest grade Green Kyara ( http://www.scents-of-earth.com/kyara1.html ), let us assume this to be our street price for the gram-fragmented Ranjatai. Not counting the obvious price premium that would be created in the market due to the fact that the pieces sold would be from one of the most famous pieces of wood in the world, the street price of Ranjatai is about $124,780,500. I suppose this is what people mean when they call something "priceless" ;)

*historical information fragments and photo written by David Oller of Esoterics, LLC and edited by Par-Fum

*dimension information sourced from The Trail of Time: Time Measurement by Silvio A. Badini

Please send me a message if you would like information about this book.

Stagnation: The perfumer's worst enemy

2008-12-18T21:40:00.000-08:00

Getting comfortable, playing it safe, rehashing past succeses; these are the symptoms of an artist who has lost the will to innovate and shock - they may lead to a profitable lifestyle but they are also destructive forces which will impede or even reverse personal growth. However, as much as this phenomena can affect established artists (or perfume houses for that matter) it can also be crippling for the novice perfumer. Take me as an example; I hate fruity florals! Bright Crystal? Yuck! Gucci EDP II? barf! Paris Hilton?? say no more...

So why should I ever bother to try and make one? well logically I thought I never should, until last night. You see, it took me years to realize that I am shooting myself in the foot for not poking my nose out of its spicebomb, amber based comfort zone. I had no idea what a freesia even looked like, let alone how it smelled. Despite having some reconstitution, I hadn't even opened the vial since the 3 years ago that I purchased it. Lately however, I had read an article by a famous perfumer (can't remember who now - was it Jean Carles?) who said that a perfumer, to gain great skill must work outside their comfort zone, for instance if one hates vanilla as a note, they MUST in fact try to use it twice as often as the notes they like, for this type of diversity will bring true knowledge.

So in the photo above you can see the fruits of my two-nights labour, my first try at a fruity floral, here are the notes:

Citrus, Grapefruit, Neroli, Berries, Pineapple, Melon, Aldehydes.

Freesia, Tuberose, Ylang, Jasmine, Rose, Iris/Violet

Vanilla, Nuts, White Musks, Sandalwood, Ambergris

I would describe it as a somewhat elegant fruity floral with the melon notes and citral imparting a guava-like fruityness at the top, it is less fruity than the Escada summer offerings and plays highly on the white florals. The base is very comfortable, a creme brulee type vanilla, with foody nuances of nuts. The musk base is also assertive but very comfortable at the same time (tonalide). This is only attempt one, I will soon try a re-work with the addition of davana (more elegance), cedar (a bit colder woods), heliotropin and maybe a touch of saffraleine.

Video: Une pin-up chez Caron

2008-12-18T00:24:00.000-08:00

Here is a video which will probably be easiest to enjoy by our French-speaking viewers. It basicly follows a young ladies visit to the luxurious boutique of Caron (not the one Ave. Montaigne tho) in Paris. They talk a bit about the history of the company and the various parfums and she does some shopping. Pretty cool eye candy of the Baccarat fountains too - neato :)

Beware fake absolutes and essential oils from India

2008-12-17T23:52:00.000-08:00

Hi again readers,

It has come to my attention over the past few weeks that there are an increasing number of Indian and other Asian sellers on the internet offering absolutes of different flowers, mainly tuberose, rose, gardenia, jasmine, ylang, etc for rediculously cheap prices. These products are generally around 10-15$ per 5ml and are named as absolutes on the websites as to suggest to the buyer that they are of natural origin. These products are often described as 100% pure or "pure", but generally these sellers tend to shy away from obvious lies and they are almost never seen describing them specifically using the word natural. A typical tactic of these sellers is often to assuage the skeptical buyer by citing cheap labour costs in India - but after many emails you can often get to the truth, where the seller will explain a complicated GC process was used to recreate a nature identical absolute and will continue to assure you that it is "pure". Please do not be fooled by any of this, all these products are synthetic reconstitutions of the original absolutes. Now, of course there is nothing wrong with such a product in concept (as I am certainly not a natural perfumery fanboy) but once it is realized that it is in fact a reconstitution, the seemingly low price of 12$ per 5ml suddenly becomes shockingly expensive.

I am not going to name any of the sellers that I have seen commiting this, because it is not my place to police the internet or slander anyone, but I also know many of our friends and readers out here in cyberspace may be interested in perfumery, and be on a budget. These are the prime target victoms. Therefore, I do want to show them warning signs so they are not fooled by such dishonest sellers. Remeber, the internet is a very different place now than it was five years ago! I have even had problems lately with sellers who I have grown to know and trust over a number of years. It seems the potentials of profits that can be made from the uninformed western buyer are too great!

CAVEAT EMPTOR

PS - I hope my readers understand that I am not suggesting these dishonest business practices are solely occuring in this area, as there has been some recent controversy with Bulgarian production as well, however in the west our legal infrastructure seems to keep this to a minimum. Unfortunatley, right now developing countries do not have the legal structure to deal with these types of problems 100% effectively so we will have to keep our eyes open ourselves. This of course goes for all of us worldwide.

Blog is back up again!

2008-12-11T01:28:00.000-08:00

DECEMBER 11th Hi guys, I've got a bit of a sad announcement to make, Im going to have to put the blog on hold for a while, as I haven't been able to contribute much the past week, and university exams are just taking up too much if my time. Sorry to pull an LT so soon after starting the blog, but I should be up and running again after the 17th of December. Thanks for your support so far and I promise to be back ASAP, I just didnt want to be forced to write articles that I wouldn't deem worthy in the meantime, as I really have too much studying right now. Wish me luck on Stats!

:)

DECEMBER 17th: FOLLOW UP: Hi everyone, back from the break and I hope everyone is having a good time gearing up for the holidays. I am done my examinations at university now so I will be able to contribute regularly to the blog again. Thanks for your patience and support and I hope to bring you some great content in the future!

Perfume Raison d'Etre

2008-12-06T23:35:00.000-08:00

A photograph I took today struck me with a thought about the meaning of life of the perfume; to make appear something that is not really there. A perfume is more than the sum of its parts. A perfume can be considered a form of magic, but not the type of magic of witches and devils. Perfume is the magic of a magician, it is a trick meant to create illusions. It creates something that cannot be touched but is made from tangeable materials (aromachems). This photograph is actually just coats draped over my hatrack in a random way, but at the correct angle what we get is in fact the face of a person; something so lifelike we feel that it will almost start to speak to us (tell us to buy Nabob coffee no doubt).

A few modifiers layered over a basic accord can give a rose that is so lifelike you can almost feel the prick of its thorn ;)

Fragrance Proposition: Candied Orange

2008-12-04T22:38:00.000-08:00

I propose a new fragrance pyramid, much in the spirit of Caron's Nuit de Noel I would like to make an outline for a new fragrance to celebrate the spirit of Christmas. For this I have chosen a fruit which was once considered an exotic treat, to be enjoyed over the holidays but is now a common juice served at every continental breakfast; the orange. My vision is for a candied orange perfume, but not a lifelike orange jumping out of the bottle as todays niche houses may create, nor an overly sweet fruity musk that would push the perfume into overly mainstream/commercial territory. I would like the proposed perfume to be a perfume first and an orange second - this is to mean that under the first impression of candied orange there must be a perfume with depth and integrity. My pyramid is as follows:

Mandarine, Lemon Zest, Citrus

Sweet notes, Metallic notes, Honey, Rose, Cinnamon, Spices

Amber, Vanilla, Robust Musks (such as tonalide).

I will set to work developping this pyramid but I do not have a set date for completion, stay tuned and I might post a follow up about it sometime in the future :)

"Des Parfums" : Identifying Game

2008-12-03T22:59:00.001-08:00

I was recently cleaning an old bookshelf and found this antique of a book "Learn French as the French do as if you were in France". Okay, perhaps this authors should learn some better English before making anymore book titles, but thats beside the point ;) After flipping a few pages I found an interesting photo amongst a group of photos which teaches you how to pluralize commonly used words. This photo is titled "des parfums" and I have been able to identfify a few of the bottles so far, for some of them I have put my best guesses. The remaining perfumes: I have no idea. I've placed a letter corresponding to each along the photo. My attempts are added in red text in the image at the bottom of the post. If anyone thinks they've got some good guesses I'd love some help with these! All photos can be clicked on for an enlarged view. I will of course have a fragrant prize for whoever can name them all ;)

A - Dior Eau Fraîche (Carmen Canada)
B -
C - Carven - Ma Griffe (Dimitri)
D - Vintage Caleche (Dimitri)
E -
F - Rochas Femme (Carmen Canada)
G -
H -

Guerlain: Djedi

2008-12-02T19:40:00.001-08:00

In my hand I have got a vial of vintage Djedi; this is a very curious perfume. At first application I don't really know what to make of it. I sense an opening burst of rose/honey-like sweetness paired with camphor, dead vegetation and mould??? Not to worry, it doesnt actually smell as bad as it sounds and this quickly fades (5 minutes) into a half and half mix of sweet vs. Russian leathers -Something akin to a 50/50 mix of Creed's petrol fueled (no pun intended) Cuir de Russie and Royal English leathers' sweet powderyness. Also among these leathers is of most interest to me a mineral note, that immediatley calls to mind the mineraly scent of ambergris tincture that I discussed in a post earlier this month (see that post for the fully story). Since this is in fact the vintage Djedi (I think its a 40's release) I am certain that this note is in fact natural ambergris tincture! This is meaningfull in both ways; 1. I finally have before me evidence and example of the effect and use of natural ambergris in a perfume 2. It smells alot like my ambergris and since this is a Guerlain product, this means mine is of a high quality (hurray me!). I have read somewhere that Luca Turin described this as the driest perfume of all time, this is absolutely untrue; one whiff of Bois du Portugal and you'll be chugging the next available Perrier. I would instead call this perfume physically damp(ambergris), which brings to the moss and vetiver notes a semi-sweet aura of decay (help of indoles as well). The last step in this perfume is a deeply animalic accord, sweet with a touch of cinnamon. I do not seem to end on a vetiver note as many people have described...

Final verdict: Don't get caught up in my strange sounding analysis, this is a perfume of course, it doesnt *actually* smell like decaying vegetables! I often feel like a nerd writing these things and I try to not go over the top with my descriptions. Bottom line - if you are curious about this scent, I'd say do not expect something thats going to knock you off your feet upon first smell (like Ambre Sultan). Djedi is in fact a very beautiful fragrance, but I must acknowledge that it may have somewhat limited appeal, and it needs more than a whiff of the topnotes to fall in love with. I would say start off with a sample vial if you can :)

Vintage Parfums: Advertising Eye Candy

2008-11-30T09:57:00.000-08:00

Here is some eye candy from a time when the perfume experience was more tied in with the visual arts instead of the gimmicks and sex appeal of today...

Bois 1920: Santalo et Thé

2008-11-28T12:46:00.000-08:00

Whilst filling out my P-Port papers today I ventured into a luxury department store to take a look-see if they had anything of interest to my nose. I had never tried the Bois 1920 line (it just seemed so gimmicky) so I figured I might as well give one of them a test and see how it was. Out of the 8 scents on display I chose Santalo et Thé since I have been appreciating sandalwood more and more lately. Here goes the play by play review:

Yuck! This stuff is cheap and awful; the intial blast is overwhelmingly plasticky. The tea note is most prominent in the opening stages (and pretty much the rest of) this fragrance. I don't understand what they were thinking when they created this; if I didn't know what I was smelling I wouldn't have been able to distinguish it from a $5.99 bargain bin "fragrance oil". Not only is the construction of this fragrance poor and very, very common, the green tea accord that they threw together (in a matter of minutes I think) does not even attempt to replicate an aromatic high quality tea as in Creed's Tabarome, but maybe that of a two dollar scented candle. It's that bad. Now that we have got the "thé" part over with, lets move on to "santalo". Santalo must be the code word for vetiverol + cedramber over at the 1920 marketing department, because there isn't really much "sandalwood" here to speak of. I pick up a few whiffs of something that reminds me of those cheap Australian Santalum Spicatum essential oils from the health food store. This stuff was really dirt cheap to put together and it shows. To tie everything together theres an awful foody-spicy note that just makes me feel kinda dizzy and sick if I sniff the back side of my hand too much.

I had low expectations for this brand, and this fragrance somehow managed to fall short of even those. I will not pass judgement on the entire line before trying a few more of them though - lets hope they are better than this !

Synaesthesia

2008-11-27T22:13:00.001-08:00

Today my assignment for perfume school was to take a list of raw materials and give them a Synaesthetic code. The paramaters for each material were; colour, image, temperature, sound, weather. Here is the first five materials I took and my responses. I did five at a time and took a break in order to keep my nose fresh. I know it sounds silly but we're forced to do it, and after I completed the first few I realized how much it actually helps!

eugenol - brown, buffalo hide hut, warm, drum, summer evening
benzaldehyde - creamy custard yellow, hospital, room temperature, glugging sound, overcast
vanillin - brown, velvet, warm, thud, hot summer night
oakmoss - greenish brown, water (lake) mossy wood, warmish, silence, dry and warm air in a wet environment
iso super e - beige/blonde, nubuck, slightly cooler than room temp, sound of running stream or dipping hand in water, sun after rain

PS - I had a way better image planned for this post, but I think its copyrighted - email me if you want to see it and I'll send the link!

Fragrant Discovery: Alfred Sung Homme

2008-11-26T19:10:00.001-08:00

Bottle: Deco inspired 80's

Juice: Electric Deep Purple

Reputation: None

Price Point: Generally discounted

First Glance: What is this relic???

However, I like to root for the underdog, so today I sprayed a tester of this Canadian designers first mens release (1988) and was pleasantly surprised. Its a very warm and spicy "powerhouse" type, with mossy and dry oriental facets, there is also a distinct pine note that remains through initial spray to the final drydown. Very long lasting and excellent sillage - the only detraction is a lingering overly synthetic (dihydromyrcenol) lavender note (it is not too overtaking).

Cousins: Bois du Portugal, Cool Water

Personal Perfumer: The way of the future

2008-11-24T10:09:00.001-08:00

So we've all heard of personal shoppers, personal stylists, personal yoga instructors, personal fitness gurus, personal non-fitness gurus, personal hairdressers, etc. It seems as though the celebrities of our time have a personal everything! So why not a personal perfumer? Well, not yet anyways. You see, I have this crystal sausage that predicts trends and we were just hanging out last night when it got to telling me that it foresees custom personal perfumers to be the wave of the future. Both Hollywood and the uber-rich seem to be constantly looking for new ways to spend their fortunes on completely customizing their experience on this planet. A personal hairstylist for example, assures that their look is always perfect and can be changed to reflect up to the minute fashion trends. If your personal "insert profession here" is actually any good too, you might even start a trend!

So I got to thinking, if the average perfumer can pump out up to three fragrances per year, thats more than enough for any socialite to want to keep him/her by her side - and almost enough to satiate a ravenous young Hollywood celebrity (they may only need two or three perfumers). These perfumers could work absolutely exclusively, or they could operate made to measure services for a few clients at a time. If the type of niche consumption trend we are currently experiencing in the working class (ie: at basenotes we count by the litre per year!) can be cut and pasted to the nouveau-riche and Hollywood, there's cash to be made gentlemen(women)! The only thing standing between reality and this vision of the future is a bit of brainwashing; we just need a celebrity or two to make a bold move, signing on a personal perfumer, then talk about it for a few episodes of their reality shows and we're in the money! Drop your government jobs its off to ISIPCA!

Towering Giant: Aquilaria

2008-11-23T19:40:00.001-08:00

In recent times Aquilaria (the tree that produces agarwood) is not thought to be a terribly large tree. This is because these trees are now mostly cultivated, and therefore felled for resin before they have the time to grow very old or large (about 6-10 years now, some even 3-4 for low quality distillation and agarwood). This tree in the photo is an Aquilaria Malaccensis tree in the Bukit Nenas virgin forest reserve. The girth of the trunk is about 160 cm circumference at 4ft from the ground. The tree is about 80 m (appx 260ft) tall, which is comparable in size to the giant California Redwoods. Trees like this are estimated to be nearly 100 years old. This photo was taken from the agarwoodmalaysiana.blogspot.com blog - you may click it for a larger image.

Mature trees like this must be protected for historical and cultural reasons as well as to provide genetic diversity for the species as it becomes more and more exploited.

Essence of Greece: M by Mimmina

2008-11-23T13:45:00.000-08:00

Here is a rare gem, I have never heard talk of it anywhere on the internet, in fact it barely exists. A relic of the early 90's (Versace Inspired) trend towards Greek motifs/themes in fashion and fragrance that probably wasn't even too well known in its heyday. However, if there is any single fragrance out there that evokes images of marble pillars and mediterranean scenery upon a single spritz - this it it! I can't find any notes posted so I will do my best to try and pick this apart with my nose. It is a very well blended formula with not one note standing out forcefully so its a bit difficult:

Top: Juniper, Citrus

Middle: Mandarine, Rose, Clary Sage, Tarragon

Base: Sandalwood, Cypress, Atlas Cedar, Musk

In my opinion this is a landmark scent for this category, and should be a reference for all others who set forth to make a greek/mediterranean inspired fragrance.

What the heck is Ambergris oil anyways!? (E-bay)

2008-11-21T19:51:00.001-08:00

So we have all been on Ebay, seen the auctions for "ambergris" oil, and those of us who know something on the subject say "ambergris oil?? how can one distill ambergris!". Well, its not possible, and ambergris seems to be quite an enigma. On the left of the photo we have a vial of "ambergris oil" from ebay, to the right, ambergris tincture 3%, aged since sept 18th, and finally in the center we have a piece 0.8g ambergris white/grey. The ambergris was purchased from a merchant who has been selling ambergris to the fragrance industry for two decades.

Stage one of cracking the mystery: first I will try to tell you my observations on the solid ambergris and its tincture:

A hard, grey/white solid substance, which can be broken if "snapped" between the fingers with moderate strength
Not something that can be distilled into an oil
The tincture is actually a light brown/golden colour
Ambergris is not something that provides a sweet note, see: benzoin
Not the same as Indian "amber", a mix of benzoin and other resins
Not "the thing in Creed that makes it smell good"
Not a fragrant marvel by itself, that piece seen in the photo has a somewhat salty, mineral, sour and slightly mossy smell - the same as its tincture. Its not something that is immediatley pleasant on its own at all, and definitely not the holy grail scent of its folklore.

So what is this "ambergris oil" stuff that we keep seeing on ebay ? Is it just a scam for us to waste 60 - 300$ on? To tell you the truth, I'm not 100% sure what it is. Is it made with real ambergris ? All I can tell you is my observations and hypothesis:

Some aspects of the odour profile of the oil are very similar to the ambergris sample, it has a very strong sour, mineral fragrance
The main difference is that the ambergris oil also has a very sweet smell (about 80% of the odour profile), which is totally absent from the natural ambergris in solid and tincture form. The sweetness is a very difficult to decifer accord, but I would say it has aspects of Tonka/Coumarin and Benzoin resin.
I also sense in the oil, some spices, such as the suggestion of cinnamon, though not the note of natural cinnamon bark, more like cinnamic alcohol, and also spices and herbs such as oregano and myrtle.
The oil is of course, a viscous liquid, definitely not the result of the processing of the actual ambergris, which is a hard, dry, solid substance, similar to a weak, crumbly stone.

Thoughts: Though I do have samples of Indian Ambers at home, of many different varieties none of them smell like this oil. This oil is something completely unique and actually most similar to Ambre Sultan of Serge Lutens. The one thing that sticks out, perpetuating the mystery, is the very distinct natural ambergris sourness that is present in the oil.

The Verdict: If I had to guess, these "ambergris oils" are "amber" type attars, in which natural ambergris has either been infused, filtered, or the tincture added. The particular one which I have is a beautiful fragrance, it is intensely sweet and the heavy coumarine note actually seems to amplify the natural ambergris note.

Worth the money?: As a perfume composition I'd say it is, the one I've got is absolutely beautiful. As long as you buy this for the fragrance, you are okay - just don't be fooled into thinking this is the product of ambergris or that it is 100% pure in any way.

Dsquared He Wood

2008-11-21T19:12:00.000-08:00

if it was launched by just anyone, it would be "meh"

since its launched by Dsquared, if F%$(*# sucks.

Everywhere I wear my Dsquared hat people ask me what it is and where I got it, I don't think I'd get a single compliment or curious question wearing He Wood - thats whats missing

Ebay Alert: Bulgarian Rose Otto

2008-11-21T17:27:00.000-08:00

I recently purchased this item off ebay and have seen many items like it being offered. It is always advertised as "Bulgarian Rose Otto", Bulgarian Rose Oil or something similar. It is generally suggested to the buyer either directly or indirectly (by means of an anecdote about production methods etc) that it is the natural product. Of course, upon recieving it I noticed this is not the case.

My ability to read the characters is not so good, but im fairly certain it says "Bulgarska Roozha" on the top, meaning of course Bulgarian rose, and on the side I think it says something like "Aroma from Roses" (it is C PO3OB APOMAT, for those who know these character better than I can you please leave a comment :) )

As you can see by the enlargement of the ingredients, is it clearly not Bulgarian rose otto, but instead a perfume of Bulgarian rose. Here is my rough translation of what I think it says on the ingredients:

alcohol, diethyl phthalate, parfum, matieral no.1

Im guessing the last ingredient "material no.1" is rose otto, while "parfum" ecompasses a synthetic blend of rose molecules meant to stretch the effect of the rose otto.

The box is obviously fully disclosing the nature of the product, however it is the ebay sellers which often take blurry pictures and don't disclose information, so be sure to ask for a rundown of the ingredients list or a translation incase you are not sure! Since the characters are not english they can always claim ignorance!

Northern Agarwood Research Center News

2008-11-21T17:19:00.001-08:00

The Nothern Agarwood Research Center based in Canada, has released today that it has had major advancements in a new technology to produce agarwood oil, that will greatly surpass the quality of agarwood oil currently on the market. This oil will rival the most expensive ouds (over 400$ per 1/4 thola). Early research suggests that this oud may be produced efficiently enough to be available at half or possibly one third the price of current comparing ouds.

Question: with all this research into cultivation and processing, will agarwood be nearly as expensive in 10-20 years as it is now ?

Creed Bois Du Portugal vs. Chanel Pour Monsieur

2008-11-18T20:03:00.000-08:00

Ive worn these two extensively for a few years, until just lately it hadn't clicked. As Chanel Pour Monsieur is a landmark perfume, Bois du Portugal is clearly made in its legacy. I have chosen the bottle of PM Concentree (1989) for my cute little morph-o-vision as I have just sampled it lately. As it was released 2 years after BdP, we can look at it as Chanel's answer back to Creed for "borrowing" something from PM. Both are wonderful fragrances which I own and enjoy :)

The music of perfume: Roman Salzger

2008-11-18T19:37:00.001-08:00

I have always found that the music of Roman Salzger is oddly enough very "perfume-like" (and no I don't have synesthesia). For those of you not familiar with his work, here is a remix he has done (its VERY "Roman Salzger"). For me this piece of music represents the creation of the perfume from the moment the perfumer starts to work on it, all the way through the creative process of blending, to the market, to the point it reaches a buyer, and all the way down through the drydown on the skin.

My first article for perfume school

2008-11-17T22:49:00.001-08:00

Hello readers. I had to write a short article for perfume school today, and although it was kinda rushed an ghetto I'd like to make it available on here too. Its kinda long and will make my blog page like super text infested but if your interested to read it, heres all 755 words:

An observation about perfume trends:

Universal perfume trends since 2005 and beyond can be difficult to pinpoint, especially now that there has been a giant swelling of the market for niche perfumes, often sold under the premise that they are made with higher quality / natural materials, and designed more to fit the growing eclectic tastes of perfumistas and the growing focus on purchasing perfume for ones own personal pleasure rather than for the enjoyment of others. If we take for example the online retailer Luckyscent (luckscent.com) which has over just the past few years grown from carrying twenty-some brands (many of which looked to be almost “home-made”) to now stocking possibly a hundred brands of commercially produced, high priced and very exclusive niche offerings ranging from established companies such as Shiseido's Serge Lutens to Oman's Amouage, we can see the great growth of this niche industry. If one were to take a time lapse of the niche industry over a month one would see that there are not only established companies pumping out new releases at the rate of three or four a year but new companies also opening shop and offering their first collections almost weekly, everyone from hair stylists (Boadi) to the sons cognac makers (Killian Hennesy). How did this industry come about? Possibly the public grew tired of the many less than stellar releases of the 90's and the very bland aquatic era of the early 2000's. In fact all the corporate entrepreneurs currently riding the success of the niche wave can give their thanks to what was just recently a cottage industry of do it yourself'ers. It is amazing to think that “the power of the people” could start such a trend, however this is evidenced by the pioneering successes of perfumes like Yosh Han, Pink Manhatten, Kai, Child, Ebba and Tauer Perfumes.

Getting back to perfume trends, I believe that they are now difficult to pin down as they were in the past (the 80's had power scents, the 90's aquatics), as it seems that the current “trend” for the niche (and even now some of the fashion houses) is to have a version of everything and they need it all at once. Take for example the highly successful house of Serge Lutens, who famous for its orientals, scrambled to release a chypre, woody scents, incense and florals seemingly as fast as they could produce them; all notes are currently in fashion because fashion is currently eclectic. The trend of perfume right now seems to be that there is no trend at all, and that once must have a full offering to let the customer decide what they want to wear to express themselves. Those more keen on the matter will probably agree that this “no-trend” is in fact a trend in disguise; as customers eventually will tire of this freedom and will again want to be told what to do (which perfume to wear). I cannot put a precise date to when this will happen but I believe that those on the cutting edge of style will eventually being to push this concept forward with greater momentum. I have recently read some articles in the that people are growing tired of this free for all and gender bending in the perfume industry; The New York times has recently declared that the power scent is coming back to us, and influential perfume blog Vetivresse has just released a review of the new fragrance Esprit du Tigre by James Heely praising it as a long overdue return to men's fragrance which smells “manly”.

Not to neglect what is still be far the largest perfume market, the so-called “designer” fragrance market, my observation is that it generally catches trends that have already become in their plateau or even decline phase in the niche industry, such as one note perfumes (Prada's Amber and Infusion d'Iris). What will probably occur is that it will continue to feed off spent trends in the niche industry similar to the way that the United States is reported to catch European fashion trends 2 years late. Will this be the new model for fragrance trends? Will the niche market become the new feeder for creative direction in the designer market ? Or will the niche market evaporate in the event that we move towards a more top-down leadership style for trends as its sole purpose was to offer the consumer personal choice and style? Only time will tell

Creed: Tabarome or Teabarome

2008-11-17T14:18:00.000-08:00

I know its been saying Tabarome on the label for years, but I seriously think its a mis-print. This fragrance was clearly intended to be called Teabarome - some careless goof at 38 Av. Pierre had obviously just had a sticky "e" key on his keyboard. To prove my point, I would ask that anyone with a fairly reasonable black tea and ownership of a bottle of Tabarome please stick their head into the jar of tea, smell a scent strip of Tabarome, then proceed to tell me whether I am crazy or not. Clearly 30% of the odour profile of the perfume should be near identical to the fragrant pressed leaves. I have chosen last years Simao recolte for comparison, you may try another tea but try to keep it similar, for example do not use Earl Grey!

I know they were going for the whole heritage thing, but seriously? vintage tabarome vs this stuff ? I mean dont get me wrong, "new" tabarome its def. a tobacco scent, im comparing a 5% dilution of the leaf's absolute to the perfume as I type. But which one would win in an arm wrestle? Is this a tea scent or a tobacco?

I invite all comments!

PS - that ugly grey border that this blog puts around my pictures killed my cool fading in effect :(

RIP: Chanel no.19

2008-11-17T11:25:00.000-08:00

I thought it would never happen to me... BUT! It seems it has. Not one but two of my precious bottles have turned to the dark side! Curse the deadly effects of time! I do store them away from light and heat as suggested... but I suppose nothing is forever. The first fragrance death I've ever witnessed: My two precious no.19 tester bottles. Boo-hoo, what a beautiful fragrance it was, and how quickly it passed. They were still wearing wonderfully in the summer. So fast forward a few months later and I spray one; Ack! Death! disgusting rotten carcasses. Seriously! If you have never experienced a fragrance that has gone bad, especially one with a citrus top - yuck! its horrendous. One time I had the pleasure of dousing myself with vintage 60's Eau Sauvage. MMMM rotten death! This one was pretty much the same, maybe a bit less rotteny and death-like. I don't know what im going to do... keep them probably. Just like I keep all my dead friends. err.. yes.

Morale of the story: Well there really is none because I kept my frags cool and dark and they still died.

Double morale of the story: They just die eventually, its sucky

Re:Creating Nature - The Rose

2008-11-17T11:07:00.001-08:00

Have a bunch of bizzarro chemicals at home ? you too can recreate the natural fragrance of a rose without having go through the pain of the above! In rose otto you will find (among hundreds of other constituent molecules) these four, which when tinkered with can produce all sorts of cute rose scents. If you don't have them laying around the kitchen, get your science student friend to steal some or something :)

PEA

Citronellal

Geraniol

Damascones

Have Fun!

Agarwood: Not only in perfumes anymore

2008-11-16T12:40:00.000-08:00

Well, I suppose that agarwood was found in incense long before it was found in alcoholic perfumes, but nonetheless I believe that alot of people first hearing about oud or agarwood will be hearing about its use in perfumes such as Tom Ford Oud Wood or the Montale series, or even pure oud oil from Oriscent or one of the many sellers on Ebay. However, in Japan, Jinko (agarwood) has been and currently is mostly used for the creation of incense. Japanese incense is often a mixture of aromatic substances (woods, resins, spices) bound together by a resin known as "makko" which comes from a coniferous tree and does not have a pronounced odour of its own. The incense is mixed wet into a paste, extruded so that it is stick-less, and dried until hardening. In the production of the best incense, there is a long curing process as well. In Japan there is a grading system of agarwood which fits each type of agarwood into one of six categories (countries):

Kyara: This is the most expensive and rare of all types of agarwood, generally it is believed that is most found in Cambodia. Kyara has an odor which is gentle, refined and semi-sweet or slightly bitter. This stuff usually goes for 500$ish a gram! holler!
Sasora: This often has a very light and sour/slightly bitter scent, there for the highest quality can sometimes be mistaken for kyara.

Sumotara: Decidedly sour, similar in lightness to Kyara and Sasora but with a definite unrefined tinge to it; "rough around the edges". This is likened to a peasant disguised as a noble. (lets sell it to the nouveau-riches as Kyara, they'll never know the difference!!)

Manaka: This is a very light scent and it encompasses all of the five japanese scent associations (sweet, hot, sour, salty, bitter) in such a way that neither overpowers the other .

Rakoku: sharp and strong smell similar to sandalwood mixed with vetiver. This scent is often likened to a warrior.
Manaban: Mostly sweet it is said the smell is unrefined, and likened to a peasant (sorry peasants!)

The two photos above are incense that I burn sometimes when I feel like it, the first brown tube is not classified in any way by the seller, but I would estimate it to fall somewhere around the Sumotara classification, the second copper tube is suppose to be a mix of Kyara and other agarwoods, it is very light and beautiful. I have once had the opporunity to smell Baieido's offering Ko Shi Boku which is made from Kyara. Yum! its fantastic although I can't afford it.

Heres a plug for my friend (ok ok well we exchanged a few emails, but I hope he's my friend; he's cool!) Dr Blanchette, The team at TRP and Scentedmountain.com - who have all contributed to bringing you cultivated agarwood products. Buying these products is the responsible thing to do to save these amazing trees in the wild, so give them a try, their stuff is great :)

http://www.scentedmountain.com/

l'Anarchiste de Caron

2008-11-16T11:22:00.000-08:00

Here is a cute photo I took of my l'Anarchiste bottle as it started to float around my room. Fans of this fragrance: Enjoy!

PS - I hate l'Anarchiste it smells horrible

Why is Clive Christian Autographing all his bottles?

2008-11-16T11:06:00.000-08:00

Everywhere I turn, whether ebay or "for sale" sections in perfume forums, there are people trying to to rid themselves of Clive Christian autographed bottles. I for one, would also want to rid myself of such a yucky thing, but it appears they are trying to rid themselves of them for the market value ? This puzzles me...

First Clive Chrisitan had those rediculous gold bottles that had actually had the phrase "The Most Expensive Perfume In The World" inscribed right on them (see above, I know the text is small sorry!), now he's autographing his own bottles?? who does he think he is! The more important question of course is are there really that many stupid rich people out there? If so, who are they ? I want to sell them my beard shavings

Im growing agarwood trees

2008-11-16T10:39:00.000-08:00

Yes yes, from my earlier post you may have thought that I have moved on from agarwood, well its not the case; I have just changed the direction of my agarwood appreciation. My Al Haramains and my bottlles of oil do not get nearly as much usage as they once did. In fact I cant even really remember the last time I wore a pure oud. Oh well, growing these little guys is much more exciting anyways! I think of it as my way of giving back to the fallen trees who have provided us with their fragrant proceeds! well no... not really, I'm just weird and I do weird things.

Expect short updates from time to time as these happy green guys get taller and taller. It'll be like a par: fum blog version of meerkat mansion! (one plant already died too bad we didnt see it drawn out on reality blogo-vision)

How did I get these to grow you ask ? well, a drop of agarwood oil in each pot full of soil - Naturally!

2008-11-16T10:15:00.001-08:00

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I'm a selfish animal for animal scents

2008-11-15T23:34:00.000-08:00

Look at this cute little guy, this is a musk deer. Why don't I have a real photo of it you ask ? well because THERES NONE LEFT. Thats right, these populations are seriously shrinking, while everyone out there jumps on ebay buying up musk grains because they've become perfumistas overnight. So whats my deal? If I ever mention that I've smelled natural deer musk before or whatnot you will all criticize me. However let me explain - I am studying to be a perfumer. No, not an "independant" or "hobby" perfumer. A real perfumer, a life long dedication to the art. 1 gram of deer musk may be allotted to me because it will mean alot in the end for my education. For most other people on the other hand, it is merely a novelty, something that makes them think they are more important than they really are. Stop supporting this industry! do not buy musk grains on ebay purely out of curiousity, you know what! they really don't smell that good! not that you'll be able to do anything with them anyways. Theyre just gonna sit on hundreds of your shelves, and hundreds of deer had to give their lives for this. This current niche/perfumista explosion might very well be the final demise for this species. Funny thing is, its not even the perfume companies, its the ebay-handy curiousity seekers. Please people DO NOT buy deer musk, your curiousity is not as important as the life of Mr. Deer-Guy

Perfumes I am currently enjoying: Why not talk about them

2008-11-15T23:02:00.000-08:00

Perfumes I am currently enjoying; Here is what I've got on rotation this month. I usually keep my perfumes just in the hall because I like to decide right before going out the door what I am going to wear that day. if anyone is curious here is what I am liking right now with a comment attached to each:

First Photo (from left to right)

Dior Eau Noire - An instant classic, this is a spice bomb that will he hard to beat

C&S Neroli - with the changing of the weather to cooler Neroli makes a fine scent on those crisp days

Pikenz Arrogance - The original! a strong herbal masterpiece, the olfactory definition of black
Stardust - This long discontinued citrus has come around due to a large selloff by the stockist last year, its interesting but I will admit it doesnt get alot of mileage on me

Second Photo (top first, then bottom)

Mat; Male - Always a staple for me whenever I want to smell "weird". It was like Daim Blond before Daim Blond

Chanel Bois Des Iles - This is a masterpiece, top 5, absolutely gorgeous. This is the old formulation of the EDT, I treasure it.

Chanel Pour Monsieur - A great everyday scent, chypre-y citrus, with a warm amber base

Patou Pour Homme - Another staple, weird glassy jasmine in a semisweet oriental base. Fresh blast of lavender and spice at the top.

Versailles Homme - often reffered to as the sidekick of Patou, but I like it better, best example of Pimento in a refined oriental base

Creed Royal English Leather - I just keep pouring on the classics! this is the sweetest softest most perfect leather scent I have ever smelled!

Creed Erolfa - Probably gonna cycle this one out by next month as it is not as suitable for the colder weather, I love breaking it out when I wear a suit for a school presentation however...

Creed Tabarome - A cold weather fav! yummy melons and green tea + sweet tobacco

Creed Himalaya - Another symptom of the fact that I am still desperatley trying to hang onto summer!

Phat Farm Atman - Do not let the name fool you! this is barbershop lavender at its best!!

Dior Eau Sauvage - Another classic that I do not go without any time of the year, the best citrus fragrance ever made bar none.

Al Haramain Mubarak Ateeq - Leathery Mukhallat, my least favourite of the Al Haramains I have but I still wear it

Al Haramain Special - Special fragrance for special people! or so the perfumes tagline goes, its a very sweet mostly ambery and woody mukhallat. good stuff!

Gendarme - Gosh! so many laggards from the summer...

Serge Lutens Ambre Sultan - Back to the sweet winter scents, this one is excellent in cold weather; a very warm luxurious amber from top to finish

Serge Lutens Arabie - Another great warm scent to make you feel warm even in -20 winter!

Musc Ravageur - Just had to break this one out as the weather got cooler, a beautiful warm vanilla, sandal and guaicwood base with few topnotes to speak of!

Lalique Equus - hamster shavings and spice, how can this be so good ?

Creed SMW - This one is generally worn the day after C&S's Neroli - why? - I don't know

and finally at the bottom:

Al Haramain Khaltat Al Muluk - The monster bottle with an equally impressive scent. A must try for any fan of Eastern Oriental Perfumery. Quite possibly the best ever made!

Since No One Has Done It: Im going to talk about Coco Chanel

2008-11-15T22:21:00.000-08:00

So before I had a blog, I searched the internet far and wide for a review of Coco Chanel, unfortunatley this seems to be the neglected child of the Chanel family, the 'net overflowing with 100's of reviews of Bois des Iles or Cuir de Russie - but absolutely no mention of this masterpiece.

I'll start with the notes:

Top Notes
Angelica, Mimosa, Frangipani, Mandarin Aldehydes

Middle Notes
Cascarilla, Orange Flower, Bulgarian Rose, Jasmine

Base Notes
Labdanum, Ambrette Seed, Opopanax, Benzoin, Tonka, Vanilla, Patchouli

What a great fragrance, I remember this from when my memory essentially starts (in the 80's). It is therefore my compass of what is a perfume. Before becoming a perfume enthusiast I never really thought of the notes in terms of floral, ambery etc, but actually I decoded the perfume as the smell of mixed cosmetics. This is actually an association that has stayed with me, both aldehydes and orris have a strong "make-up" connotation in my mind. Anyways, now that my perfume IQ is more developped I can describe the perfume in terms of its actual notes, which are listed up top. For this review I will concentrate mostly on the rose note, which is the essence of this perfume. That being said, the floral bouquet here is mainly jasmine + rose, with touches of neroli, frangipanni and mimosa. The roses are very heavy on damascones and have almost the scent of fresh apples, but not the sweet apple topnote we are now use to in alot of fragrances, this is the semi sweet fresh scent of the apples' skin cut open. This semi-sweet floral note paired despite the oriental base means that this perfume never falls into sweet oriental territory, instead keeping a much drier profile all the way through to the drydown. This is accomplish by a very light application of vanilla, and more spotlight on the dry ambery facets or the oriental base. The only musk that I detect is an ambrettolide type, which makes this fragrance very light, despite its "baroque" character. Both sillage and longetivity are very long with this fragrance.

Another perfume which I own, in which I find a strong ressemblance to Coco Chanel is 1000 de Patou - what do you think ?

Why cant my bodily products be coveted perfume items?

2008-11-15T20:00:00.000-08:00

Why cant my bodily products be coveted perfume ingredients like Musk and Civet ? are my anal glands not equal in value to those of a tree-prone catlike fur with legs? I suppose I wouldn't REALLY want anyone to come in and scrape them, but then again if the price was right... and the fame! I would sell myself as an excluse note, only one house could have it! They'd be feeding me like a balloon, "increase production!" they scream! But no really, it would be interesting to see a house using human notes (synthetically recreated of course) such as the natural odour of active humans as basenotes to otherwise standard perfumes; citrus, oriental etc

Agarwood: Why it sucks now

2008-11-15T18:35:00.000-08:00

Agarwood, Agarwood, Agarwood... Oh how I remember when you use to be my special little tidbit, my personal piece of knowledge that didnt have 100 simulaneous auctions on ebay. When you weren't being exploited by every niche perfume house. I feel sad that those days have become history. Now that everyone knows about Agarwood, basicly things kinda suck. Its okay though, since I am always way ahead of my time, I know what the new-ness, the new wave of popularity for the future will be. It is also a middle eastern ingredient that will no doubt see its entry into the mainstream. I will not name is because I want to keep "my precious" mine as long as I can... But I will laugh on the day when there are 10 niche offerings with some stupid frenchified name of this beautiful essence on luckyscent.com ...

If you are also as ahead of the times as I am you probably know what I am talking about and will chuckle to yourself

actually nevermind, even if you think you know what I am talking about you are probably completely wrong.

whoever emails me with the correct guess will get a prize! hurray!

edit: I hope no one takes this post the wrong way, while I do wish that everyone has the opportunity to find and experience the wonder that is agarwood oil, I feel that it has become cheapened and like a pre-packaged spirituality product by those who wish to exploit it.

First Article: Castoreum Makes My House Smell

2008-11-15T14:45:00.000-08:00

yep, you better believe it. a couple grams of castoreum in a ziplock bag is quite the scent-bomb. One must be very carefull where it is stored otherwise that enclosure may become infused with the scent of castoreum. Castoreum is a very pretty scent but too concentrated, it can kinda make you want to puke. Maybe I should put it in a jar or its own samsonite or something. No I am too lazy I will leave it where it is.

Until next time!