SmellyBlog

Summer School

2009-07-10T10:44:00.005-07:00

For far away students who can't participate in the monthly sessions and the 2 year program, I've designed a new course structure that is separate from my 2 year course. These one week intensive course are an introduction to the world of perfumery and provide you with basic hands-on experience that I hope will inspire you to learn more on your own.

This week-long intensive course runs from 9:30am-3:30pm and offers theoretical and practical guidance alongside hands-on lab exercises and experiments. The first session, beginning this summer, covers studying the raw materials, perfume structure, how to blend a formula, how to write a formula, building accords and creating simple solid perfumes, as well as cologne and citrus formulation in an alcohol base.

It also includes a feature workshop: The Art of Naturally Scented Candlemaking with Nikki Sherritt. Nikki is the founder of Gabriel's Aunt and is also the savvy candle maker that crafts the beautiful candle line for Ayala Moriel Parfums.

Depending on how well this summer course will be received, I will be offering these week long intensive courses throughout the year. Each session will include a featured class (i.e.: scented bath and body products, sachets, incense, solid perfume making, etc.).

Dates: August 10-14

No. of spaces available: up to 6 students.

Click here to sign up.

Geranium, Red and Bold

2009-07-08T17:47:00.005-07:00

Red Geranium, originally uploaded by kathryn45.

There’s something aggressive about geranium. It immense odour intensity and is very tenacious and can easily overpower anything else in the perfume and just take over. When I was at the training week in Grasse, one of the exercises we were given was to guess the raw materials and the proportion of an accord. It was an accord of lavender and geranium oils, and smelled predominantly of geranium. My first guess was that it was a 60-40 ratio (60% geranium). The truth was the complete reverse: there was 30% geranium, and the remaining 70% were lavender. This would have been the case if rose absolute or even rose otto were used. The lavender would have been stronger. Which only goes to shows you how dominant can geranium be!

So what happens when geranium takes over? Whether if its sweet fruity, rosy, or minty notes come through - they becomes so intense, at times even cloying. Some become intensely musky. And this is partially why I shy away from using very much geranium in my compositions. Egyptian geranium is particularly strange and musky, which can be worked to your advantage.

At other times, the geranium can create very strong association of potpourri. In Diptyque’s L’Eau, this is the whole point. Whether or not potpourri smells are to your liking is of course entirely up to you. But the perfumer sure better be aware of the potpourri potential of a note and how to create the desired effect.

But geranium’s aggressiveness can serve you right in some perfumes. It works wonders in orientals, such as in Dioressence, or the bold ambery Anne Pliska, the legendary dense Old Spice; or Noir Epices, which is simultaneously traditional and modern with its mix of dusky dry spices and dark musk and illuminated with geranium, jasmine and sweet orange. The upfront, bold geranium note is also used to balance the over-the-top white florals in Fracas, headed by tuberose, and also in cutting edge leathers that have become classics – Knize Ten, Impreial Leather, and others. Geranium is also paired with musky vetiver and warm cinnamon and sweet orange in Aveda Personal Blends Key Element #3 Fire Nature (which I love, by the way).

In my Zodiac collection, there is geranium in two perfumes: Taurus, where it takes a second-violin role to support the rose heart, contrasted by patchouli; and Aries, where geranium’s firey-red boldness is set against a backdrop of tobacco and musk overlaid with hot spices – cinnamon, black pepper and cloves and the exotic, diffusive warmth of zantoxylum (Tomar seeds). I just recently revamped Aries and got rid of the lime top notes, I found that they got in the way of the musk and geranium creating a fresh-green distraction from what Aries is all about. Now it’s musky notes are more pronounced with a touch of cascarilla, ambrette, opoponax and bourbon vetiver.

Geranium, Soft and Pink

2009-07-07T10:17:00.006-07:00

Pink Geranium, originally uploaded by fatminky.

Today I want to highlight the more feminine, pretty aspects of geranium. The first time I've encountered rose geranium out of the garden was in a face cream the metapelet in the Kibbutz gave us one evening after we spent too much time in the sun on a field trip. It smelled so amazing - soothing, beautiful and a little cooling - that it turned me into a sucker for rosy facial care forever... While geranium is clearly rosy, it is more often treated as a masculine note. I assume this is because it helps in bouqueting while keeping costs low and still have the more fresh and minty aspects that are so often required to market a scent for men.

But geranium, and bourbon geranium in particular, have an intensely sweet aspect to them that can smell almost confectionary. In Cabaret, a rosy floriental, the rose geranium plays a role greater than just extending the rose notes. I’ve taken advantage of this and paired Rose Geranium with Turkish rose otto and amber, surprisingly creating the illusion of coconut. To exaggerate this impression, I added some massoia bark, which has the fatty sweetness of roasted coconut. The result is strongly reminiscent of Rahat Loukum, immersed in rosewater and dusted with starch and coconut.

In the ylang ylang soliflore Coralle, Geranium Bourbon is merely in the background to round-off a tropical bouquet supported by the jam-like notes of davana (an herb from the Artemisia family that has notes of overripe berries and hints of Chambord liqueur). Geranium Bourbon is usually my least favourite choice because I find its full-bodied wine-like qualities overbearing at times. But in this context it was the right geranium to choose.

And more recently, for Mother’s Day, I’ve created Geranium Ritual Bath Salts that were meant to smell all feminine, pretty and grounding. I wanted it to conjure images of fresh laundry and babies (how motherly!) so I’ve also used hints of lavender for the fresh linen association, and Roman chamomile that creates a baby-powder accord with the other notes. Subtle amounts of myrrh and jasmine and the peru balsam oil as a fixative prevent it from smelling like yet another relaxing aromatherapy blend. Even though the formulation is for bath salts it will work beautifully as a real grown-up perfume.

Rose Geranium Field

2009-07-04T23:38:00.006-07:00

Rose Geranium Field, originally uploaded by Ayala Moriel.

In the past year I’ve been quite obsessed with geranium. This seemingly simple, familiar note is far more interesting than I’ve expected, and if it wasn’t for a few exquisite samples that I have received from Eden Botanicals at the time, I probably would have gone about my ways completely overlooking its potential as a centerpiece in a composition, let alone treat it as an interesting perfume material.

Geranium is a very important and useful note in perfumery, but usually plays only a supporting role: its high contents of geraniol, citronellol (both present at very high ratio in rose oil and absolute) makes it a perfect rose extender. It is nearly considered “a poor man’s rose” as it is far less expensive than any rose oil or absolute.

All geranium oils (including what is commonly referred to as "rose geranium") is extracted from the entire plant, not the flowers. The leaves and flowering tips of fragrant geranium varities are all harvested for distillation. In fact, even the branches are fragrant. And appropriately so, the oil has both floral and leafy elements, which is what makes it such a versatile and important perfumery raw material.

Geranium is marvelous in fruity accords, where it adds body and wine-like sweetness. And its minty aspect (from menthone and isomenthone) is what makes geranium a perfect team player in leafy-green, fougere, herbaceous, citrusy and cologne-type fragrances. Although I have used gerainum extensively throughout my collection) it was never the centrepiece.

One challenge with geranium is that it is ever so potent. A little goes a very long way and it can easily overwhelm a formula. But that can be seen as an advantage too! Also, it is relatively more simple than rose, so it’s easier to use geranium in a formula that requires a rosy element without cluttering it. Rose is far more difficult to work with than rose geranium – it poses a great challenge of walking on a tightrope between having too little to be noticed and too much elements that creates “mud” instead of a clear statement in a perfume.

The reason for this attitude of mine was not because I didn’t like geranium. On the contrary. I love the smell of fresh geranium leaves and whenever I pass a plant I borrow a leaf and crush it between my fingers. However, for some unknown reason, it does not seem to work very well on my skin when it is in high dosage, and I can’t really explain why. So this is perhaps one of my greater biases that stopped me from exploring what else can be done with geranium.

But after testing a few very fine geraniums (which I will discuss shortly), I felt immensely inspired to start working with this raw material more “seriously” so to speak. And my experiments I will explore with you here over the pages of SmellyBlog over the next few weeks. A very suitable topic for summer, since geranium has such an open, summery feel about it.

The species most commonly and widely used in perfumery is Pelargonium graveolens. I’ve received two excellent samples of this species, one grown in the Bourbon islands (aka geranium Bourbon) and the other grown on the Himalayas in India.

Geranium Bourbon
This variety is rosy and candy-sweet. Although it is considered second only to “African Geranium” (this is the common name for the now very scarce Algerian Geranium), I’m afraid to admit that generally it is my least favourite of them all. It can be a little too sweet, bordering on candy. This particular geranium though, although still detectably candy-sweet, was very much to my liking. It is very full-bodied and wine-like, and develops into a woody dryout, with hints of green. For some reason it reminds me of the Mediterranean beach I used to go to growing up in Israel (it’s called “Banana Beach” and is up north between Nahariya and Rosh HaNikrah, if you’re ever in the area you must go – it’s one of the most beautiful beaches in Israel!).

Himalayan Geranium
Opens very rosy, fresh like crushed leaves, lightly floral, but also full-bodied and smooth with sweet herbal, minty, green undertones and a slightly powdery dry out. At certain phases it actually reminded me of Himalayan cedarwood, with the same clean, woody and smooth texture.

Madagascar Geranium
This beautiful organically-grown geranium is from the species Pelargonium roseum. It is more complex, warm, a little spicy even and very rose-like and sweet. It develops into a powdery, ambery and heavy rose, and remains complex and well-balanced. The final dryout is a little more fresh and lemony, while remaining rosy and rich.

Egyptian Geranium
Also organically grown, but from another species Pelargonium x asparum, this oil is completely different from the typical “Rose Geranium”. It begins fuzzy, like freshly picked geranium leaves. Very realistic, in fact. It’s simultaneously rosy, green and powdery but a little sharp with perceiveable musky undertones. Its dryout is lemony as well as grassy and earthy.

If there is one thing I learned from my visit to Grasse was to appreciate even more the simplest, most common natural raw materials. There is always something new to explore about them, discover new ways to unveil this aspect or another.

American Scents

2009-07-04T17:30:00.005-07:00

Stripes, originally uploaded by Eff Bee.

Happy Fourth of July to all my American readers and customers just across the border!

There is no other scent more American to me than wintergreen. It’s in American toothpastes and chewing gums, and also in the ever so popular and oddly flavoured root beer. I don’t think there is anywhere else in the world where wintergreen is perceived so fondly (except for Canada, perhaps, but I suspect we can blame it on proximity). In Europe, wintergreen and sweet birch are used only for cleaning purposes, and Europeans are puzzled by the American fondness for root beer. Just recently, a toilet bowl cleaner made its way to my home and it smelled intensely of root beer. It was a very odd reverse association (I can’t imagine how odd it is for someone used to clean their toilets with wintergreen solutions to actually be offered a drink with that stuff!

But peppermint is also very American. The best peppermint oil actually grows in the USA and it’s sweeter and fuller than some other sources. To me growing up peppermint is the scent of toothpaste (the way it should be…) and has more of a medicinal/therapeutic association. It would be an addition to your tea if your stomach hurts, for instance, or you could just rub pure peppermint oil on your tummy instead. In North America, I think most associate peppermint with the Christmas candy cane and it’s more of a sweet childhood smell… More similar to how I perceive spearmint, perhaps.

And there’s cinnamon – cinnamon buns, and cinnamon in apple pie, both of which I’m very fond of; and caramel to drip on both (I can do without that, but adore the scent of a freshly baked pecan pie). And of course the far less flattering scents of deepfried fast food, from donuts to French fries. Just the other day I passed a well-dressed lady, accessorized with an aldehydic floral AND a cone of French fries. The combination was horrendous. I imagine this is how diners smelled in the 50’s when aldehydic florals were at their prime…

I can’t really think of anything else at the moment. The US is such a wide and versatile country I’m sure it has different regional scents - where as here in Canada it’s all just coniferous and maple syrup from coast to coast, pretty much, perhaps with a touch of castoreum... I would love to hear from you what scents you think are typically American.

Just the other day I posted my list of 10 American perfumes on Helg’s excellent Perfume Shrine blog. I will re-post them here today (most have been reviewed here in the past, so I won’t be commenting much on them). They are not necessarily my favourites, but certainly what I consider to be very representative of what American perfumery is (even though I am not necessarily sure that they were all made and designed by Americans in the US). There’s something really bold about most American perfumes, at times even crude; but than there is also the modern school of thought, which is all about clean, clean, clean. As if there is a need for a proof for America’s sanitary system.

Youth Dew – it’s a classic. What else is there to say?

Private Collection – the epitome of what an American nobility should smell like.

Obsession – Another classic, even if obnoxious to some. Is it possible this is where all the candy scents begun?

Lovely – Balances nicely the clean-skin approach with a modern sensuality. And even though it’s very subtle and - let’s face it – a crowd pleaser, it has a boldness about it, its personality, which makes it stand out. Even though it is similar to Narciso Rodriguez for Her.

Glow – Although I can’t get myself to wear this (it is a scrubber on me) on the right person it does smell like coming out of the shower. And that appeal explains why it is such a success. JLo is one of the very few celebrity perfume brands I have respect for (even though, again, it does not mean I love all her scents – very far from it). I personally only wear her Deseo but didn’t think it’s appropriate for this list.

Old Spice – There has to be a drugstore scent in this list, and if I am to choose only one, this would be it!

Aromatics Elixir – speaking about bold!

And last but not least – we must mention some niche perfumes that create that have the starts and stripes all over them:

Anné Pliska – this one actually reminds me of root beer in an odd way. Although while I can’t drink root beer, I enjoy Anne Pliska perfume very much. It’s both distinct and well made.

Bourbon French's Dark Gift (unfortunately discontinued)

Hove Perfumery's Spanish Moss (it's the only scent I tried from the house, but I am sure there are others worth trying)

What notes smell like America to you? And which American perfumes are the most American of them all?

Lime & Cacao

2009-07-03T09:44:00.003-07:00

Contrasting colours of lime green against deep brown are the centre of this playful fresh gourmand, perfect for summer! Inspired by the Mexican way of treating chocolate, Lime & Cacao is more more piquant than sweet and balances the sweetness of South American balsams with zesty lime and mineral and melancholic Blue. The lemon-drop sweetness of litsea cubeba and crushed geranium leaves give Lime & Cacao a vibrant heart.

Top notes:
Mexican Lime, Fresh Ginger

Heart notes:
Rose Geranium, Litsea Cubeba, Nutmeg Absolute

Base notes:
Cacao, Tolu Balsam, Blue Cypress

This one-of-a-kind perfume can now be adopted as your own custom scent via Etsy.

Happy Canada Day!

2009-07-01T11:05:00.003-07:00

Happy Canada Day!, originally uploaded by Ian Muttoo.

Happy Canada Day!!!

To celebrate the beauty of this vast country of maple, fir and incredible people I would like to offer you, my beloved Canadian customers, free shipping within Canada on all orders made from now (July 1st) till July 5th (your order will be refunded the shipping amount after you checkout - so don't panic when you get charged shipping on the way out :-).

I'm heading off to the beach to enjoy this beautiful day and will hopefully be able to resume posting as usual by Monday when my daughter starts summer camp and I can get some work done for a change ;-)

Backblogged

2009-06-29T22:35:00.002-07:00

This week is consumed by transitioning into summer and all the demands it poses. Unfortunately, I will not be able to dedicate much time for blogging at least until Monday as I try to get my bearings with all the changes the end of school year brings to working parents. I have a tremendous amount of backlog with my blogging - still at least 3 pieces I'm trying to complete from my trip to France and many new topics of interest (geranium for example).

Hope to have more time next week! For now all I can do is try to relax in between packed days with some tea for two (which happens to be my perfume du soir).

Blunda's Natural Botanical Perfume Exhibitions #4 - Artemisia Natural Perfumes

2009-06-27T16:33:00.004-07:00

My dear friend and colleague Lisa Fong of Artemisia Perfumes is today at Blunda for part 4 of the Natural Botanical Perfume Exhibition - Part 4. It's unfortunate I was unable to post this earlier (the event is due to close in 30 minutes), but it is my hope this will at least inspire you to go to Blunda and experience her line, which will be available in its entirety at Blunda following the exhibition today.

Lisa Fong's perfumes are well-composed, her ideas are original and harmonious and they bloom beautifully on the skin. My personal favourite is Saffron, which is no longer available on her website; but Voile, Yuzu Citrus and the rest of the collection are definitely worth smelling and wearing.

Here's Persephenie's personal invitation to the event:
Lisa Fong of Artemisia Perfumes will be gracing the Blunda Aromatics studio this
weekend for The Natural Botanical Perfumery Exhibition #4

I am a HUGE fan of Artemisia Perfumes. They are well defined in character, beautiful, and incredible on the skin.

Come enjoy hand made chocolates (perfumer Ayala Moriel's delicious recipes), refreshing tea, and a beautiful floral perfume sculpture that Lisa crafted specifically for this event.

Moonwalk Scented

2009-06-25T07:40:00.006-07:00

In honour of Michael Jackson, who died prematurely but was able to accomplish a lot in his short life, including scaring the hell out of me with his groundbreaking Thriller video when I was just 7 years old more than just one scent after his name (Mystique de Michael Jackson, Legende de Michael Jackson, Magic Beat Unwind, Magic Beat Heartbeat, Magic Beat Wildfire, Michael Jackson Mystery - although Basenotes.com only lists Mystery (2000).
I've never smelled any of them, so if you have please comment, not that I expect much from a celebrity scent.

What could moonwalk smell like? According to The Gap, Moon Walk would be “a sumptuous tapestry of soft, nuzzly notes like creamy paperwhites, vanilla orchid, nubuck suede, and a touch of clean musk”. I was searching for it at the nearby Gap location and it was nowhere to be found, so I won't be surprised if it's discontinued.

I would imagine a Moonwalk scent to be cold and metallic yet smooth. Not as sharp as other breakdance moves since it is so seemless and fluid. And it should certainly create the illusion of walking forward, while in fact it will be walking backwards (in time, perhaps, to an era when raw material regulations don't pop up on an hourly basis?). Just a thought... Perhaps notes of metal, milk and white flowers will do the trick. What do you think? Are there any scents out there that are particularly appropriate if you want to pull of a Moonwalk stunt?

Package From India Contest Winner

2009-06-23T17:06:00.003-07:00

Nutmeg - Conchorde - GRENADA, originally uploaded by markgreat.

My sincere apologies for taking FOREVER to finally do the draw for the Package from India spice-ID contest.

The spices were green cardamom (that one was pretty obvious) and... Mace!

Those who guessed rose petals - I don't blame you. It really looks more like a flower than anything (my immediate reaction was - WHY did my brother send me dried baby octopuses?!). Mace is the coral pink shells in which nutmegs are enrobed. They have a unique aroma, not unlike nutmeg, but a little different.

And now you must be curious to know who won the contest? Tamya helped me with the draw and the winner (amongst those of you who posted the correct answer) is:

Sharon Mason

Sharon wins a 5ml perfume roll-on from my line that has either cardamom or mace in it. Here is a list of both:
Perfumes with Mace
Perfumes with Cardamom

Congratulations Sharon!
(Please contact me with your choice and

Flowering Teas

2009-06-23T13:44:00.002-07:00

Beaut-Tea, originally uploaded by TangoPango.

Although the term most often refers to hand-tied teas (see picture above), I would like to talk about notes that smell like infusion of dry flowers. Most of you are probably familiar with chamomile tea, with its soothing and anti-inflammatory properties. And there is also chrysanthemum tea, which I was only introduced to recently by my dear friend Tina. The latter has an earthy, herbaceous and both medicinal and floral note to it. It’s full bodied like a tea leaf, and a very interesting tea. And of course one can also infuse dried rose petals, lavender, etc.

Below is a short list of notes that remind me of these qualities of flowering teas (chamomile and chrysanthemum in particular).

Helicrysum Oil
The essential oil of immortelle is rarely used in perfumery because of its extremely high cost. It is more valued in aromatherapy for its healing properties, in treating rheumatic and muscular pain as well as various skin conditions. The scent itself is honeyed, herbaceous, sweet and floral – similar to marigold – and just a little earthy.

Manuka Oil
Manuka (Leptospermum scoparium) is a flowering shrub native to New Zealand and Australia. The essential oil from the leaves and flowering tops has tremendous anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties (you can use it neat on the skin to treat fungal infections). But it also smells fantastic, the closest thing to chrysanthemum tea, herbaceous, earthy, fruity and peculiar.

Roman Chamomile
Roman chamomile has an intensely sweet, fruity and apple-like scent, and at the same time it is also slightly herbaceous. My friend Andrea is a sucker for chamomile tea; personally I find it too medicinal – I have too many association of bathing in it as a child (it is an anti-inflammatory so it helps soothe the skin). But it does make a beautiful, smooth infusion and it’s really nice with a little honey. The essential oil is rarely used in perfumes, perhaps more popular in flavouring. But it can be used creatively with other florals and herbs to create a very rich, honeyed, tea-like fruity floral.

Marigold (Tagetes)
This intensely fruity note is reminiscent of honey, berries and a brings to mind summer garden (it is a natural insect repellent and helps keep bugs away from tomato plants). It is steam distilled from these golden, brown and bright orange flowers and creates special effects in perfumery and flavouring – imitating berries.

Herbal Tea Notes

2009-06-22T22:19:00.004-07:00

Energy Herbal Tea, originally uploaded by Thorsten (TK).

Energy Herbal Tea, originally uploaded by Thorsten (TK).

Although not strictly “tea” herbal teas are part of the tea experience – sipping plant-infused hot water. While the effect on the mind is a little different than with the energizing tea leaves (depending on the type of herbal tea), I have witnessed herbal tea drinkers turn this experience into a sort of a ritual. Therefore too me these notes are also strongly associated with tea.

Spearmint
Spearmint is the minty component in Moroccan mint tea. Fresh sprigs of spearmint are added to gunpowder tea, and generously sweetened with sugar. Perhaps it is by association as well that I chose to include spearmint as a tea note. But it really does register in my mind as “tea”. Comparing to peppermint, spearmint is much more round, sweet, smooth and warm. I never get bored with its fragrance, and find it perfect not only with tea and herbal tea notes, but also with florals. It really brings out the greenness and light heartedness in jasmine.

Lemon Verbena
Lemon verbena (Aloysia triphylla/Lippia citriodora/Verbena citriodora) is one of the most uplifting and beautiful perfumes in the world in my mind, a scent I grew up with and always feel like home when I smell it. It scent had a profound impact on my life. It was through the experience of helping a family in my village in verbena harvest (they owned an organic herbal tea company) that I got my most significant inspiration to find my path in perfumery. Although native to South America, it has found it’s way to Spain and from there to North Africa (similarly to spearmint, lemon verbena is very popular addition to tea leaves in Morocco). Lemon verbena has a lemony characteristics (citral makes about 30-35% of the composition of its essential oil) but also floral and rosy due to the presence of nerol (neroli-like) and geraniol (rosy).

Lemongrass
This tropical lemon scented grass will always remind me of tea because growing up in Clil, we always picked this fresh from the garden to brew our herbal teas (along with lemon verbena – see above).

Clary Sage
The shared characteristics with bergamot (linalyl acetate) may create an association with Earl Gray tea. But also, if used in very low dilutions, clary sage adds a green, tea-like nuance to light fragrances such as citrusy colognes.

Rosemary Absolute
Herbaceous yet warm and sweet, rosemary absolutes is about the closest you can get to fresh sprigs of rosemary brewed in warm water. It is not as camphoreous and sharp as the essential oil.

Rose Geranium
Although very floral, since these are the leaves, I decided to include rose geranium in this category of tea notes. Rosy and green all at once, with minty and even camphoreous nuances, rose geranium can add a full-bodied, fruity yet tea-like aspect in perfume. Of course the context is everything… Some like to brew the fresh leaves with herbal teas or in addition to black tea.

Next: Flowering Teas

Happy Summer Solstice! Happy Father's Day!

2009-06-21T12:24:00.004-07:00

Have a Sunny Day, originally uploaded by ! . © Angela Lobefaro . !OFF ☺☼ OFFING !.

I'm meeting clients all day today but taking just a little break to wish you all a very happy father's day and a happy summer solstice!
May the sun shine on us all today :-)

Not sure I'll have time to make any special post for today (as usual, it's lack of time, no lack of ideas!), so this may just be it for both occasions.

P.s. My apoligies for the extreme delay with the draw and announcements for the Package from India. I will reveal the answers and the winners tomorrow, after Tamya comes back from school and performs her lucky-draw act. She's the only unbiased person around that can be fully trusted for such task ;-)

Floral Tea Notes

2009-06-20T06:59:00.004-07:00

Camellia Japonica, Tsubaki, originally uploaded by ROSS HONG KONG.

Although tea flowers are not used in perfumery for their fragrance (something I cannot comment on since I am yet to smell a true living tea flower), there is a surprising number of flower notes that closely resemble tea or have a dominant tea note in their evolution. Than there are the less conventional flowers that may not be universally perceived like tea, but have a honeyed, hay-like black-tea aspect that can be utilized to create a a dark tea ambiance.

Tea-Like Florals:
Floral tea-like notes include flower notes that closely resemble tea or have a dominant tea note in their evolution (interestingly, a significant portion of these contain ionones):

Osmanthus
This flower, rich with carotenes, has an aroma reminiscent of apricots, leather and green tea. A beautiful scent from the tiny white flowers from a Chinese tree from the olive and lilac family. Osmanthus has a rich and complex scent, combining green tea, leather and apricot notes – sweet, fresh and leathery all at once. The yield of Osmanthus is pretty low – 3,000 kilos of flowers yield one kilo of absolute, and it is therefore one of the more expensive materials in perfumery. Osmanthus is rarely used in mainstream perfumery; you're more likely to find it in niche perfumes and very upscale ones i.e.: the dense 1000 de Patou, the sheer, peppery tea veil of Hermessence Osmanthe Yunnan, and the even lighter Osmanthus by Ormonde Jayne.

Boronia
Rich with ionones, boronia has a scent reminiscent of yellow freesia, green tea and raspberry.
My first creation with boronia, a soliflore I named "Eau de Tinkerbell" (it was very bright green in colour and with a cheerful character, hence the name) relied on tea as the base note. The two definitely enhance each other. If osmanthus is rare, boronia is even rarer. You won't find it in many perfumes at all, and you're more likely to find it among the creations of natural perfumers.

Linden Blossom
Not so much floral as it is green, honeyed, woody and reminiscent of both tea and hay with a hint of fruitiness. Just like tea, it stays cool and quiet. It is not a coincedence that the first theme for my perfumed teas was linden, to accompany the launch of Tirzah. While linden blossom is not so popular as a single note (Tilleul by Roger et Gallet and Lime Blossom by Ormonde Jayne are the only two I can think of that put linden blossom in the limelight), it works really well within tea-like compositions in general (i.e.: in Kinmokusei).

Tea Rose
Originated in China and usually orange in colour, Tea Roses have beta carotenes and ionones which make them smell fresh and dewy and tea-like. I just recently came across the essential oil of such rose (Rosa odorata) and created a scent inspired by that - Tea Rose with ionones derived from osmanthus, and with the added accent of green tea.

Dark Tea Flowery Notes

And the following herbaceous, spicy, honeyed, somewhat earthy florals:

Champaca
The golden-glow of this Indian magnolia is not only in its colour but also in its backdrop of cured black tea leaves. Champaca evokes simultaneously red ripe berries, orange blossom, spices and dark fermented tea leaves. Champaca is an exotic note and quite foreign to Western perfumery in general and French perfumery in particular. Also, Champaca prices are rocketing sky high these days, (well over 5,000 a kilo) and so you can imagine it’s rarely found in mainstream perfumery. But it seems to have been finally “discovered” by niche perfumeries with perfumes such as Ormond Jayne’s Champaca, where it also paired with tea and rice, Tom Ford Champaca Absolute which highlights its berry, wine-likenotes.
In my attempt at a champaca soliflore (which turned out more complex than what one might expect from a soliflore), The Purple Dress (schedule for launch in winter 2010) is decidedly reminiscent of chai spiked with star anise and underlined with black tea notes.

Broom
Broom is a rare note as well. The flowers have to be hand-picked in the wild (when I was in Grasse I learned this is one of those tasks reserved for Grassoise children as a way to earn their pocket money). The bushes grow wild on the mountains and have a heady, intoxicating pollen and scent that fill the air in the springtime. Broom absolute is reminiscent of bees propolis and is vaguely orange-blossom like with undertones of tobacco and leather, and what I can see also as similar to black tea.

Henna Flower & Leaf
Extracted by solvent from the henna (Lawsonia inermi) leaf, henna has a dark, earthy-muddy, tea-like scent, very much like the paste for Mehendi. The flower is also extracted in India, but I can’t comment enough about its scent because I’ve only tried the attar, which is very subdued and not as heady as I expected. I don't know of any Western perfume that uses that note, and it's not surprising - there's nothing "pretty" about it but it adds substance and depth, and a certain powdery-woody-floralcy.

Jonquille & Narcissus
Definitely not identical, but both white florals, which in real life have a very heady note become very animalic and indolic upon extraction. Jonquille is softer and more powdery and also similar to broom; Narcissus absolute is more indolic and also with underlining notes reminiscent of coffee and hay. I think both to be ideal for dark, black-tea composition – if you want to add a floral edge but without breaking down the abstract tea atmosphere.

Tea and Perfume, Part II: Tea Notes

2009-06-18T20:46:00.007-07:00

Black Coffee No Sugar Please Oh And A Little Bit Of Milk, originally uploaded by geeo123.

Unlike the many fragrant plants that are used in perfumery, tea is a subtle note without much diffusiveness. But if you think about it – it makes sense: tea absolute, concrete or extract are made from various kinds of cured tea leaves (Camellia sinensis). And tea leaves have a very subtle fragrance. It is really through the boiling of water that the tea’s complex characteristics of odour, flavour, texture and taste come out. And so it is the perfumer'’s greatest challenge to simulate a tea experience without the essential elements of tea present, and stimulate the wearer’s imagination by fascination with tea.

There are several raw materials that can be used to create the illusion of tea. Some are made of tea itself, some are notes of plants or flowers that are popular in their pairing with tea, and therefore are associated with tea even though they are not necessarily “tea-like”. And there is also a handful of floral absolutes that are reminiscent of tea. Lastly, there are herbs and flowers used to brew tisanes and are popularly described as possessing a tea-like aroma.

Essences from Tea:

Green Tea Absolute
This dark sticky semi-solid mass is not exactly what you’ll think of as impressive tea note. The diffusiveness if very low and even with dilution in alcohol it only opens up very little. It lends an underlining sweet, slightly fruity (apricot) note with a dry woody base. Its very dark in colour and will make the perfume dyed a very dark green.

Green Tea CO2
Of all the tea essences I’ve experienced, green tea CO2 is the most true to nature and accurate. It looks like matcha powder mixed with a little water into a paste and smells pretty close to that to. It is more diffusive, and has a certain herbaceous and nutty element to it, as found in matcha as well. It will dye a perfume only light green but also leaves particles that are non-soluble in alcohol behind.

Black Tea Absolute
More intense than green tea absolute, and a little more mobile (just a little – it still largely resembles dark black molasses). Black Tea absolute has a more diffusive scent but is still quite subtle. I don’t find it as distinctly black as black tea may be. Again, it’s really difficult to have the effect of hot water on the leaf in the absolute form it seems.

Maté Absolute
Just like the tea, this absolute is bitter, intense, and reminiscent of hay. It lends itself beautifully to Fougere compositions (I’ve used this in Gaucho in a high ratio along with the coumarin from Liatrix, and while there was no oakmoss in there, it still smells very Fougere).

Rooibos Absolute
This absolute from this South African bush is sweet and rich like pipe tobacco. The absolute is very rare to find produced commercially, so it is also possible to make a rooibosn tincture, which has a faint woody slightly sweet aroma but is very subtle.

Connected By Association:

Notes that are often used to scent teas have become so strongly associated with perfume that it’s hard for us to separate them:

Bergamote
The key essence in Earl Gray tea. To many people, the association is so strong that they think of Earl Gray whenever they smell Bergamote.

Jasmine Sambac
The jasmine that is used to perfume jasmine green tea. Jasmine sambac is less animalic and more green and fruity (almost gardenia-like) than the Jasmine grandiflorum variety.

Lavender
Also used in Earl Gray tea as well as brewed as a tisane on its own.

Next: More tea-related notes

Tea and Perfume: Time is of Essence

2009-06-16T17:27:00.005-07:00

Mariage Frères, purveyors of Tea, originally uploaded by maralina!.

Although tea and perfume both have a deep connection in the history of mankind through medicine, rituals and the magical species in the plant kingdom, it was not until recently that tea made its way as a note into perfumery.

Both tea and perfume are art forms and ancient rituals that take place in time: the many aspects of tea take place in time. Time is of essence in every aspect of tea: The art of growing, harvesting and processing the tea (i.e.: fermentation, oxidation, roasting, etc.) and than of course the preparation for brewing a cup of tea – waiting for the water to reach the ideal temperature, steeping the tea, and finally, sipping it in perfect harmony with the leaf, oneself and the company involved.

Perfume also requires time for preparing the raw materials (growing, harvesting, and distillation or extraction) and than there maturation – the magic that happens in the beaker when all the molecules connect and mingle and marry. It takes time to make a good perfume, not to mention the planning that goes into it on behalf of the perfumer who designs it (and the same goes for the ancient wisdom that evolved into the sophisticated tea cultures we can see today).

But more than that, perfume also changes over time. From the moment it escapes the bottle and lands on one’s skin, it morphs into at least 3 different stages, most commonly known as head notes, heart notes and base notes. And the pace and exact evolution that occurs on one’s skin makes each perfume a unique, unmatched experience.

Similarly in tea, there are different stages at which the tea can be enjoyed – the dry leaf or blend, before it has been brewed; the aroma of the brewed tea as it rises with steam from the cup, than the way it tastes in one’s mouth, and finally – the aftertaste that is left behind, usually at the back of the palette or the throat. My friend and tea master Dawna Ehman pointed out to me that these stages are very similar to the top, heart and base notes in perfume.

Perfumed tea is a term known mostly to true perfume connoisseurs and it’s a very ancient term in tea culture and is the ancient art of perfuming tea with fresh living flowers or plant matter. For example: rose congou is achieved by layering rose petals among black China tea. The process is very similar to enfleurage, only it is tea leaves that soak the fragrance of the flowers, rather than animal fat. Thousands of petals of Jasmine Sambac are layered between tea leaves and are replaced by new ones until the green tea achieves its distinct aroma. And a similar process creates other more rare floral teas such as magnolia oolong or pomelo blossom green tea (the one used in Charisma).

And while perfume made its way into tea thousands of years ago, it is strange perhaps that it’s only in the past 15 years or so that the one can hear of the notion of tea within a perfume composition. Why?

We said it earlier: tea is subtle. And so is tea absolute (both green and black). It doesn’t give the hit that an essential oil of grapefruit would have, for example. It really is not that impressive raw material. My guess is that tea really needs the chemistry that water gives it to open up. And so it is not really surprising to find that tea as a note did not make it to perfumery until the early 90’s. The 90’s were marked by the craving of fresh, clean, gender-neutral scents. At the same time, as is usually the case with trends, it all starts with a fad of one innovative individual who’s either stubborn to death or very intuitive about what everyone else is secretly craving. In the world of perfume, that person happened to be Jean-Claude Ellena.

The story goes that he had the idea for a “tea” scent for a few years before it finally got accepted as a perfume by the jewelry house of Bvlgari. The inspiration was none other than Mariage Frères shop in Paris – a tea shop that even I can attest to its magic as an olfactoroy experience alone. They seem to have hundreds of different kinds of tea, and the atmosphere there is pensive as if time stops once you’re in. Monsieur Ellena did not try to capture the real-life aroma of tea, nor did he want to brew any specific type of tea. He created the abstract suggestion of un-steeped tea leaves by pairing two molecules: hedione (a component in Jasmine) and ionone (a component in Violet Leaf). And voila – he made tea. The only problem was that no one was interested in it as a commercial product, perhaps it seemed to avant-garde, or simple or strange; until the house of Bvlgari commissioned him to make a perfume to scent their shop, which became a perfume, which became very popular. And from than on, tea has become the craze of the 90’s and early millennium – as part of the trend for fresh, light, inoffensive, unisex, non-perfumey fragrances.

The copycats of Bvlgari’s Eau Parfumee au The Vert (that was the name of the perfume when it was finally released to the public, not just the Bvlgari jewelry boutique customers) are too many to count, but among the most significant and successful of them, we must mention Elizabeth Arden’s Green Tea (1999, by Francis Kurdjian). Later on, other types of tea entered the perfume counters: Lapsang Suchong in Bvlgari Black and l’Artisan Parfumeur Tea for Two (2000, Olivia Giacobetti), the South American Mate (Villorsei’s Yerbamate, 2001), and most lately rooibos tea notes in Eau Parfumee au The Rouge for Bvlgari (and my own Immortelle l’Amour).

Tomorrow: natural raw materials with tea or tea-like notes.

Summer Tea Party

2009-06-15T14:41:00.003-07:00

Moroccan petitfours of dried fruit, marzipan and halva - scented with floral water of course!

Here are some photos from the Summer Afternoon Tea Party yesterday at my studio.
Of course the whole purpose is to make you come to the next one, which I'm hoping to host in mid-July (exact date will be announced soon).

You've already read about the menu - now you can see the treats (my apologies for the poor quality of photos - I was trying to sneak in a camera-click between getting the door and the guest consuming this display):

You can't see it, but this is a 5-tier tea tray, the top two tiers covered in chocolate truffles, the rest with petitfours and pastries.

The teas served were many (I made no less than 8 pots of tea!) - my entire current tea collection of Charisma, Immortelle l'Amour and Roses et Chocolat. After the event there is not much tea left (the guests wiped me nearly clean of my Charisma tea - only one tin left) and just a handful of Roses et Chocolat and Immortelle l'Amour!

I also served Moroccan mint tea, both hot and chilled. It's especially good for dipping those fennel biscuits (see below).

View from the top:
Top tier: Blood truffles (dark chocolate, Turkish rose, saffron and chili) and Rose de Mai truffles (white chocolate with rose de mai, magnolia, bergamote & strawberry extract)

Second tier: Guilt truffles (orange blossom and wild orange) and Charisma truffles (white chocolate with matcha tea powder, sambac jasmine, spearmint and citrus)

Third tier: Dried apricots stuffed with neroli-water flavoured marzipan, dried figs stuffed with kewda water flavoured marzipan; and some more Charisma truffles.

Fourth tier: Crystallized rose wafers, Pistachio-Lime buttons, Apple cupcakes, Almond cupcakes

Fifth tier (nearly hidden): Moroccan Fennel biscuits, and my personal favourite - Basboosa made with Goat's milk yoghurt.

Some guests mingling to create an awesome tea party...

The guests received tea candle and samples before they left and also there was a draw for one person to go on a little olfactory journey with me and participate in the creation of their very own custom scent!
There was also a presentation about tea and perfumes - more about that in the next post...!

Afternoon Tea Party & Private Sale

2009-06-13T08:56:00.004-07:00

Join us for an afternoon tea and a presentation about tea notes in perfumery and a private shopping event.

On the Menu:
5-tiered tray of fragrant sweet and savoury refreshments will be served along with Ayala Moriel’s exceptional perfumed teas created for us especially by Inner Alchemy Tea Co. to match selected scents from Ayala Moriel ready-to-wear perfume collection.

Tier 1:
Wild Hyssop mini pita bread Cumin & Hummus Tea-Rolls Wasabi-Cucumber Tea Sandwiches Tomato-Basil Tea Sandwiches Minted Radishes Tea Sandwiches

Tier 2:
Sweet scones with rose petal jam & devonshire cream
Savoury cumin scones

Tier 3:
Middle Eastern semolina pastries with almonds and honey syrup
Brownies
Cupcakes

Tier 4:
Crystallized rose icebox cookies
Fennel biscuits
Aniseed biscotti
Halva cookies
Pistachio-Lime Buttons

Tier 5:
Hand-rolled Flower-Scented Chocolate Truffles
Assortment of Moroccan dried-fruit and orange flower water petitefours

There will be door prizes and a lucky draw for all guests to win a gift certificate for creating your very own signature perfume (value of $550) and other exciting surprises and gifts with purchase.

At 2pm, Ayala will give a presentation about the role of tea in perfumery, accompanied by a fragrance sampling of tea-scented perfumes (including some of Ayala’s own creations).

When:
Sunday, June 14th, 12:00-4:00pm
Ayala will speak at 2pm

Where:
Ayala Moriel Parfums Studio
#314-1230 Haro Street (corner with Bute)
Buzzer #295
Vancouver, BC

RSVP now (778) 863-0806

Persephenie

2009-06-12T18:16:00.004-07:00

Persephenie Body Care Line & Botanical Conceptual Art Perfumes will launch at Blunda tomorrow as part 3 of the gallery's series of Natural Botanical Perfume Exhibition.

You are invited to celebrate the launch of the Persephenie Body Care line and
botanical perfume conceptual art project Saturday June 13th, from 7 -10PM.
Persephenie will be serving herbal infused cordials and handmade chocolate truffles that are going to be delicious (I taught her how to make them when I was there in April for my Hanami exhibition), and Naja from Naja Tea will be serving her incredibly
delicious handmade artisanal teas.

Come sniff, nosh, and take home a surprise sample from the Persephenie Body Care line.
RSVP by phone (323) 658-7507 or email: rsvp@blundaaromatics.com

Package From India

2009-06-11T22:57:00.008-07:00

Surprise in the mail: a package from India. And the contents were definitely not what I expected.
My brother spent 6 months in the Chabad house in Rishikesh trapping Israeli backpackers into the bosom of Judaism. So you can imagine my surprise when I opened the package and found inside, instead of Hassidic propaganda, the sweetest letter (in English so Tamya can understand!) AND the most thoughtful and sweet little gifts for Tamya and I: spices (one of which really hard to find and I only than recalled that I did ask him to see if he can find it in India), Assam tea in a silk bag, turquoise beaded necklace, handmade paper notebooks wrapped in silk paper and some medicinally fragrant creams, ointments including Neem & Turmeric soap.

And now a little guessing game for you: guess what the spices are (there are only 2 of them and both are shown in the picture!) and you will receive a roll-on perfume of your choice that includes either of those notes from my collection - which is why I can't reveal the prize just as yet...!
Winner will be announced Friday June 19th.

Week of Teaching

2009-06-11T21:46:00.005-07:00

Antique perfumer's organ at the Musée International de la Parfumerie

Perfumery students evaluating the scent of roses in Stanley Park, Vancouver

It's been a week of teaching at my studio has come to an end, which explains why I was unable to blog recently. And now that it's over I can share a few moments captured with my little digital iBall.

This week focused on technique and olfactory memory: sharpening the students' skills of remembering, recognizing, categorizing and identifying notes in different contexts. Understanding the different relationships between notes and which molecules they have in common helps greatly in achieving balance in perfume compositions and preventing clutter (the slippery-slope of natural perfumery since the materials are so complex on their own).

Simplicity was an important theme this week as well, learning restraint and sticking to the basics to achieve clear, concise olfactory statements. The fragrance families of citrus and Eau de Cologne for newer students and the intense challenge of creating all-natural soliflores pose a challenge of creating something that is focused on a simple theme yet not boring and also has enough sillage and longevity.

Perfumery student evaluating the fragrance of the living flower of white magnolia at the Rhododendron Garden in Vancouver

Nature is not only a source of materials, but also a source of inspiration. So I always make a point of taking my students outdoors as much as possible and study fresh living plants and notice the aroma in the air. When near water, or in the forest, or near the ocean or on the mountains - the surrounding plants, earth and air changes and so does the scent. This week we went to Ted and Mary Greig's Rhododendron Garden, to view the last blooming azaleas and find other fragrant surprises - which happen to include one rose that smelled intensely of musk and aldehydes (I found it extremely disturbing actually! It smelled like a perfume, not like a rose at all...), a dark red rhododendron redolent of spicy ylang ylang, and a white magnolia that smelled like fresh peeled tangerines and carob blossoms. We also found a white blooming tree that smelled precisely like styrax (Liquidambar orientalis).

In September, a new group of students is being accepted into this 2-year perfumery program. There are still 2 spots available. For information, inquire here.

Boronia

2009-06-07T06:31:00.006-07:00

Boronia, originally uploaded by Helen Boronia McHugh.

Boronia is one of the rarest and most magical natural raw materials. It grows on the shores of Tasmania, in western Australia, and has a scent that is unusually complex and alluring: it is floral, sweet and peppery, reminiscent of yellow freesias; green and suave like violets (due to the high precentage of beta ionones, some alpha ionones and other carotenoids - which is not surprising given its orange-brown colour); and also reminiscent of raspberry, green tea and the sea shore and has a hint of hay and wood at the dryout phase.

Boronia notes are rarely found in mass-market perfumes because of its prohibitive cost; but also because it is susceptive to much adulteration, and the world production is extremely limited (Arctander mentiones under 1 metric tone per year but that was quite some time ago - I don't know if the production has gone up or down since than).

The only one perfume I could actually detect the boronia in is Diorissimo in parfum extrait (I bought a flacon some 8 years ago and it's pure heaven). Although Folavril lists it (along with mango) I can't say I've noticed it there.

Boronia serves an important role in the flavour industry more than in the fragrance, especially in berry flavours such as raspberry and strawberry and even peach - but most importantly cassis (black current). A little Boronia absolute goes a very long way in creating berry and fruit flavours, so it may be more popular in flavouring than in formulas for fine fragrance.

In my line I've used it in three perfumes - all very unusual as a result of the unique presence of this precious raw material:
Indigo, where it contributes to the mystique of cool vs. warm: violet, anise and orris against the warmth of amber, incense and spice.
l'Ecume des Jours, where it serves as the last catalyst to create a waterlily accord - the one that grew in Chloe's lungs and brought the doom on the entire cast of this surreal tale.
And Grin, where Boronia's eternal sunshine brings a stream of light into a forest clearing blooming with wild roses and smiling jasmines. I have to admit this one was largely inspired by Diorissiomo in the extrait.

Boronia is extremely rare and in fact the world supplies have reached bottom low this year already. So much so, that a supplier won't sell you more than 50gr until 2010, when the new harvest will be processed. The current price is $8,600 per kilo, the highest amount for any raw material I'm aware of other than agarwood essential oil. As a result, I had to increase the price of all of my perfumes containing Boronia - l'Ecume des Jours, Grin and Indigo.

Eau d'Hermes

2009-06-05T17:31:00.003-07:00

Eau d'Hermes, originally uploaded by strange_sickness.

This afternoon is my first time wearing Eau d’Hermes. I stepped into the boutique on Burrard and Alberni after running some errands in the area (spontaneous trips to upscale boutiques takes off the edge of how stuffy the experience could be – especially since I’m always there just for their cheap perfumes and not the Kelly bag). My initial intention was to finally try Pampelune Rose (samples run out at Holt Renfrew and this was the first time in a few days that I wasn’t covered in Femme EDT when I left the house). Surprisingly, the 3 new Eaux didn’t even arrive at the Hermes boutique. So instead I decided to try Eau d’Hermes. I liked it right away sniffed out of the bottle, so I didn’t even bother spraying it on a paper beforehand. I’ve already heard about the cumin note so unfortunately this was not a surprise for me. But since I was a cumin kick anyway, it only made sense that I wear some on.

Eau d’Hermes didn’t quite smell like an eau at all. Instead, it was simultaneously fresh and warm. The cumin note, which must have been ahead of its time probably was what gave Olivier Cresp the idea for the Femme reformulation. But here it smells surprisingly clean and woody, not at all the carnal sweaty steam one gets from Femme. It is decidedly rather masculine and dry and the sensuality underneath reminds me more of oriental leathery compositions for men rather than the sanitary character of a short-lived “eau”. And despite the cumin, it did not smell like curry (or maybe, a French curry… I had Indian food in France and the only spice I tasted in there was cumin!), but rather woody and almost like caraway in that sense. And also a warm woody spice like cinnamon bark. There is a hint of masculinity at the top which proboably comes from lavender, and also an underlying leathery and tonka and perhaps patchouli notes. But what I particularly liked is how the jasmine shines through at the heart, along a rosy note. It's a very spacious floral accord (probably because of hedione, which has become somewhat of a signature of its creator, Edmond Roudnitska) and an unmistakable animalic sensuality of these florals while dariating a very well-behaved, lightweight presence overall.

I stepped out of Hermes feeling very content with my choice, and enjoying every moment of it and how it interacted with the environment. It’s rare to find a scent that does that so seamlessly – being present but mingle with your surroundings. I passed the hot dog stand and the cumin went well with the sautéed onions. Walking by hot pavements and sun-warmed asphalt it became part of that too, and my last stop before heading back home and writing this, I had some peculiar scoops of Marron Glace and Lemon Cream at the air conditioned Mondo Gelatto and it went well (both flavoured were contaminated with something else – the lemon cream had some kind of a chocolate and cloves rice crisps on top for no apparent reason; and the candied chestnut scoop seemed to have some brandied cherries thrown into the mix). But it all went well together – some peculiar warm-spicy and chilly-clean experience.

Simultaneously fresh and warm, Eau d’Hermes is not exactly an “eau” in the usual sense of a light, short living olfactory experience. In any case, expect something more along the lines of Habit Rouge or Le 3me Homme rather than Eau de Coq or Eau d’Orange Vert.

Femme is Two Women (at the least)

2009-06-03T13:17:00.002-07:00

IMG_2416, originally uploaded by Michael Clements.

I first encountered Femme in the fall of 2002. I fell in love immediately and since there was no parfum extrait available (back than I insisted on purchasing fragrances only in parfum extrait), I settled on the Eau de Parfum. What a mistake! The EDP was overbearing with sillage and had a very plasticky ambery base that was a little too sweet and overpowering. I returned it to the store after a few applications, never thinking that I should have just asked for the EDT (which is what I was trying in the store to begin with) - but still that scent always reminds me of that time of my life, when I was very excited about the classic perfumes from the early to mid 20th century and was really drawn to those dark, complex masterpieces.

At the time, I was still innocent than in the sense that I wasn’t aware of reformulations. So unfortunately, the scent I first associated with the name “Femme” wasn’t the original creation of Edmond Roudnitska, but rather - the re-orchestrated version of 1989 (Olivier Cresp). It was not until much later that, thanks to the kindness of a perfume friend, obtained a ½ bottle of none other than vintage Femme in the Parfum Extrait. It comes in a tiny bottle with a screw cap (quite unusual for an extrait, a little red tie of a ribbon with a medal in the middle, and I reserve it for very special occasions only.

What comes out of these two bottles are two completely different Femmes; two different women, with the same dress and the same name. But I wanted you to still read about my first experience with the second woman, just as it was, without this knowledge. And regardless of the fact that it is something else, I think it stands as a unique perfume and I’d rather take the re-orchestrated Femme any day over at least 1000 other perfumes I can think of that were launched in the last 7 years. At least it has personality, and you can pick it out of a crowd. Aside from the reformulation fiasco, I don’t think there are many imitators for Femme.

Femme was for me the embodiment of a Femme Fatale spirit. It made me feel like a powerful, seductive woman and wearing it I knew I would always get my way wherever I go. Redolent of overripe fruit and sun warmed skin, Femme always reminds me of the days in the fall when the sun is still shining but you can wear all black without overheating. Which is exactly what I was doing at a time (I was taking the black a little too seriously and even worn a silvery black lipstick back than…). When in Grasse for my perfumery training, I fell in love with it again when the teacher handed us a scent strip with the (reformulated) version. It did that thing again – take me back in time. And I knew I had to bring it back to my collection, because it is so different from the original parfum and because it is still a beauty.

The fruity top notes are mainly suggestive of dried peaches (aldehyde C-14) and prunes. These are warmed by the somewhat controversy note of cumin (or perhaps it is cuminaldehyde?), which was definitely not present in the original and pumps a raw, sexual energy to the composition. The cumin is nice and subtle when you apply with a light hand; but if you don’t (and especially with the EDP) a woman might get a similar feeling to that which occurs when wearing her dirty lacy panties inside out on top of her clothes (not that I ever done that, but I can imagine how embarrassing that would be). In the EDT it’s a little more subtle, and reminds me the cumin-scented version of Mitsouko EDP (it’s been a while since I found a bottle with that formulation but I did love it!).

The heart notes are a lovely bouquet that is beautifully balanced without really making the perfume smell floral at all – jasmine, rose and ylang ylang softened by powdery and clean orris root notes, and sandalwood notes that are traced down to the base of Femme.

All in all, I found the EDT subtle and a little more woody. More woody and less ambery and sweet than I remembered it. Here is what I wrote about Femme’s dry down in 2002:
“The animalic chypre accord at the base is warm, ambery, musky and extremely seductive. The oakmoss plays only a background role, where as the labdanum (an ambery, earthy and somewhat leather-like resinoid derived from the Mediterranean Rockrose bushes, which is an important component in most chypre perufmes) is the key to the warmth that Femme radiates throughout its beautiful and long skin-life (Femme lasts for over 12 hours on my skin – and this the Eau de Parfum concentration). It is completed with some additional amber notes, a vanilla-patchouli accord and a touch of civet”.
Today I’m smelling vetiver, sandalwood and amber. And reading that there is no oakmoss listed in the allergens ingredient list on the box makes me wonder: was it reformulated again?

What I’m going to say now may not come as a surprise, but it could still be shocking to some of my readers. And I’m pretty sure it’s not going to make many big companies happy either. One of the things I learned in my trip to France was that reformulation has is and has been some kind of a routine among most of the large fragrance houses for quite some time. Every 5 years or so, fragrances are being reformulated. This is done without informing the unsuspecting consumers. More often than never, the packaging and the name of the perfume remain the same. This was done even before the regulations from IFRA got tighter. The motivation behind this is simple: cost reduction and increase of profit margins. People are perhaps “blind” to the changes because the leave no visual traces (except for some cases of re-packaging or big re-introduction of scents after they’ve been pulled off the shelves for some time). But the nose knows. And the layperson’s nose is more sensitive than you might expect. Perfume wearers do notice the change in the jus but since nothing in the packaging or the name has changed, especially after knowing a perfume intimately for years. But since there is no visual evidence that anything has changed, they would blame it on their “body chemistry”. The fragrance industry should be paying dividends to the feminine hormonal cycle that enables women to believe anything if it’s explained by them having a baby or entering menopause.

Nevertheless, and regardless of reformulation and disrespect to a master perfumer’s art and intention, Femme still truly deserves its name as a tribute to femininity.
It is a classic, shamelessly feminine, and beautifully seductive perfume in a mature and natural manner.

The fruity top notes are mainly suggestive of dried peaches and prunes. These are warmed by the somewhat controversy note of cumin seed which pumps some raw, suggestively sexual energy to the composition, and beautifully bridges between the fruity top and the musky, animal-like base notes.

The heart notes are a lovely bouquet that is beautifully balanced without really making the perfume smell floral at all – jasmine, rose and ylang ylang softened by powdery and clean orris root notes, and sandalwood notes that are traced down to the base of Femme.

The animalic chypre accord at the base is warm, ambery, musky and extremely seductive. The oakmoss plays only a background role, where as the labdanum (an ambery, earthy and somewhat leather-like resinoid derived from the Mediterranean Rockrose bushes, which is an important component in most chypre perufmes) is the key to the warmth that Femme radiates throughout its beautiful and long skin-life (Femme lasts for over 12 hours on my skin – and this the Eau de Parfum concentration). It is completed with some additional amber notes, a vanilla-patchouli accord and a touch of civet.

The dry down stage is a soft, ambery-musky chypre-animal accord, and has some soapy-clean sandalwood notes.

In my mind, Femme is a warm, comfortably seductive, sun-warmed perfume that I can wear anywhere anytime. It reminds me of warm summer days. I love wearing it with black on sunny days, or when I want to feel this kind of warmth inside me.

Top: Peach, Plum, Cumin, Lemon, Rosewood
Heat: Rose, Jasmine, Ylang Ylang, Orris
Base: Vetiver, Amber, Vanilla, Sandalwood, Labdanum, Patchouli