Ayala Moriel Hanami

By Tom Ayala is a Canadian natural perfumer, who made an appearance here in Los Angeles to introduce her new scent Hanami. Ayala explained, with her charming accent that she had moved to Vancouver from her home in Israel and longed to recreate the heady scents she remembered from home, which led her into perfumery. Hanami she told us was based upon a poem, but also of the memory of a friend leading her with covered eyes down a city street to uncover them to the sight of a street full of fully-bloomed cherry blossoms, and the desire to capture that scent: the juxtaposition of the hard smells of the city and the creamy whiteness of the trees. Did she succeed? Dunno. There's a sad dearth of Cherry trees in Los Angeles, so I cannot write to the perfection of the simulacrum. I can write that the scent is lovely, a haiku of lotus, tonka, vetiver and woods. People like Ayala make me able to face those EU regulations with less fear.. I smelled several of Ayala's scents at Blunda, but being an idiot, I didn't note them, except that there were two that Wendy wore which she must buy immediately. Check her blog and see if she mentions them. Available at Ayala's website and at these retailers Image of Petals of cherry blossoms on pavement is by Takeshi.yedoensis at flickr