Scents of Place: The Artisan Advantage

By Donna The debate over natural versus synthetic perfumes is ongoing, and both viewpoints have their proponents. It is generally agreed that mixed media compositions are usually the most successful artistically, while purely synthetic scents can lack character and seem faceless or cheap. Naturals often have issues with longevity and the unavoidable limiting factor of fewer source materials to work with. However, there is one thing that fragrances with a high percentage of natural materials can do that synthetics cannot, in my experience; evoke an actual sense of place, and “three dimensional” impressions of the real world. It is true that any aroma, not just of a perfume, can trigger a memory or an emotion. Fragrances can do it by design, and a skilled perfumer can orchestrate smells to bring forth a complex array of sensations. This is where artisan perfumery displays one of its greatest strengths – without accountants, focus groups and brand managers looking over their collective shoulders, they are free to follow their own ideas to conclusion and draw the rest of us into their world. I am highlighting just a few of these ideas from recent introductions by some of our most talented fragrance artists. Shelley Waddington of En Voyage Perfumes created Rainmaker to celebrate her new hometown of Portland, Oregon (which is also where I live) and its unique cultural vibe. Appropriately, it has an ozonic note, but it also has a grounded feel to it. To me it smells like a wet day in the city when it has just been raining and the evaporating moisture fills the air, amplifying the smells of wet pavement, old trees, muddy earth, bark mulch, grass and crushed flowers under a dramatic sky. Anything with a petrichor note will capture my attention, and this one gets it just right. In other words, it smells very much like an idealized version of my own neighborhood, and if I step out into my garden on such a day I will have a very Rainmaker experience. It has a cologne-like transparency, yet it maintains its fresh appeal for a long time into the drydown, a testament to what a well-judged blend of naturals and synthetics can accomplish. Truly unisex, the appeal of this easy to live with scent is very broad. The opposite of the cool wet Northwest is the desert, a place Amber Jobin of Aether Arts Perfumes knows well; Red Dodecahedron is the latest in her Burner series based on her annual pilgrimage to the Burning Man festival in Nevada. The immediate sensation from this fragrance for me is sun-baked dust sifting into everything; I have no idea how this was done but it’s very impressive. It does not stop there, but continues to develop into a sensual fragrance that includes black pepper, chamomile and a base of woods and resins including frankincense and sandalwood. It also has an animalic quality, bringing to mind the earthy denizens of Burning Man. After being in the desert sands, a cool beverage is most welcome, and her new Strawberry Sling perfume oil just hits the spot. This is a scent that emerged from the perfumer’s own experience of sipping a cocktail while smelling flowers blooming nearby, and it’s so delicious that it should have a warning label on it that says “do not drink.” A blend of lemon-scented natural essences results in the exhilarating zest of freshly squeezed Meyer lemons, mixed with a spot-on vodka accord accented with rosemary and a strawberry note paired with rose. I really loved this one, and I am hoarding my sample to wear when summer comes around again and it’s too hot for most other kinds of perfume. This is a textbook example of the kind of fun, offbeat work to emerge from the studios of indie perfumers who have free rein over their own work. Sometimes a perfumer chooses to pay homage to Mother Nature in a more specific way; in The Voices of Trees, Dawn Spencer Hurwitz of DSH Perfumes creates a scent that feels like an evergreen forest, with richly balsamic resin perfuming the air as the trees tower overhead, swaying gently in the wind. As narrow as its focus is, it is more than just a “smell” and works perfectly as a fully realized fragrance. I can’t open the vial without thinking of the woods behind my house when I was a child, a place where I spent endless hours among the pine, spruce and hemlock trees. Another recent DSH creation, the limited edition La Belle Saison evokes the sensation of fresh lilacs in the spring. Unlike virtually all other lilac perfumes, which are reconstructions that contain synthetics, this is an all-natural composition that gives the impression of lilacs without the usual photo-realistic aroma found in most of them, and contains no actual lilac. Instead, the effect is of being in a garden that has lilacs blooming but which also encompasses the other aromas of spring – green leaves, wet grass, drifts of scent from other flowers. It is as fresh and delicate as a rain-drenched panicle of white lilac blossoms, its beauty even further enhanced by its extrait de parfum concentration. It’s not just places that can be conjured up by a fragrance. In the masterful Memento Mori from Aftelier Perfumes, natural perfumer Mandy Aftel has advanced her alchemical art yet again with a stunning creation that is sure to bring to mind not only familiar places, but a human presence. Just inhaling the scent from the vial resulted in a swirl of emotions and half-remembered flickers of the past. I felt as though I had arrived home on a cold winter night and entered a place filled with warmth; standing in the doorway of a comfortable old farmhouse filled with the sweetness of wood smoke and the funky dampness of drying-out wool coats, the lingering aftermath of baking, and most of all the musky, physical embrace of a beloved person. It is remarkable how much this fragrance evokes a living being; if you have ever held a sweater or robe that belonged to someone you loved and missed and breathed deeply of it to bring them closer, you have some idea of what Memento Mori is like. It almost feels too private to wear in public places, being meant for either solitude or closeness; on skin it gradually becomes almost unnervingly intimate, like skin-to-skin contact with a lover, and capable of bringing strong emotions to the surface unbidden. It is powerful and beautiful, but not in the least pretty. It may seem strange to ascribe such power to a perfume, but I think anyone who smells this will fall under the same spell. Image credits: Rainy day wallpaper from crafthubs.com; Vintage strawberry patterned (actual) wallpaper detail from Etsy seller wallpaperyourworld; “Lilac Party” wallpaper from desktopnexus.com; lighted doorway at night wallpaper from desktopimages.com. Disclosure: I received free samples from all the perfumers whose perfumes I reviewed in this post.

A dream of summer: Fiore di Bellagio from En Voyage Perfumes

By Donna                                                                                         The first time I smelled Fiore di Bellagio I was outdoors in a garden on a warm September afternoon, which was very appropriate; this perfume is an homage to a great fragrance, Bellodgia from Caron, composed by Ernest Daltroff in 1927. Even though Bellodgia is best known as perhaps the greatest carnation fragrance of all time, the perfumer saw it not as a soliflore, but as a flower in a garden setting, surrounded and enhanced by other scents. Perfumer Shelley Waddington of En Voyage Perfumes has achieved exactly that feeling with her new floral fragrance inspired by a great classic. The hallmark carnation is certainly present in this perfume but true to its vintage predecessor, it's far from being the whole story. It is a shifting palette of shimmering beauty, with drowsy spicy-sweet and tender blooms warmed by the sun, growing in a garden of dreams. I am first and foremost a lover of flowers and their scents, and this perfume is so evocative of an actual flower garden that if I close my eyes I can see it, the idealized setting beloved of painters and poets, and if one is lucky enough to have it, a real garden full of colorful, fragrant blossoms and overflowing with life. The fragrance opens with the freshness of green leaves and the impossibly soft sweetness of ylang ylang, followed by the romantic floral heart of carnation, Bulgarian rose, jasmine, gardenia and more. On my skin the glorious jasmine and gardenia come to the forefront and compete with the spiciness of the carnation for my attention; if only all battles could be so lovely. The carnation itself is exceptionally true to life, not overly clove-like, hazy and warm and very floral with a touch of vanilla like my favorite old-fashioned garden pinks, which have the most delicious scent of all the carnation family. It truly feels like the finest vintage perfume in the grand style, lush and full-bodied, and though while not abstract, it is a bouquet scent in the best sense, harkening back to classic French perfumery of seamless blending, and if someone told me that this actually was a Caron I had never smelled before it would not surprise me. It has the same style of plush languor so typical of that house's feminine scents, but it's not boneless by any means; the base of sandalwood, resins, orris, musks and civet ensures excellent longevity and serves as the framework for the long-lasting heart notes without intruding on the beauty of the florals; it just makes them softer and richer. This is one of those special perfumes that I will put on and then just sit and slowly inhale as it blooms on my skin, a meditation that takes me into that perfect place, the enchanted garden of my dreams. Image credit: “Reading In The Garden” by American Impressionist artist Richard Emil Miller (1875-1943) via artistsandart.org Disclosure: I received a sample of Fiore di Bellagio from En Voyage Perfumes for testing.

Just Go Ask Shelley: Announcing a New Natural Perfumery Book by Shelley Waddington of En Voyage Perfumes

By Donna The mysteries of perfumery are a little less opaque to the rest of us thanks to an excellent book on working with natural fragrance isolates written by perfumer Shelley Waddington, the owner of En Voyage Perfumes. I was especially eager to read it when I first learned of its impending publication, because Shelley just happens to be the author of one of my favorite fragrance releases of 2011, or any year, the wonderful Vents Ardents. I am not alone in my admiration for it, but it was my first exposure to her work and I really wanted to know how she did it. Well now I have an idea, thanks to her new book entitled Perfuming With Natural Isolates: The Complete Reference Manual. This might seem like a dry topic to anyone who is not a perfumer, but I found the book to be very engaging, and it is written in a clear, concise style that makes it easy for the lay person to follow. I have an enthusiastic amateur’s interest in aroma chemicals, perfumery and applied chemistry, but I am far from conversant in the technical language of these specialty fields. This book walked me through the steps so effortlessly that I feel as though my knowledge of this field has been exponentially increased. Anyone who still thinks that natural perfumery consists of hit-or-miss mixing of oils and hoping for the best will be enlightened to the contrary – it’s just as much science as it is art, and the author of this book has mastered both. The first two chapters are devoted to explaining what natural isolates are and how they are extracted from the source materials. Some are obvious, such as limonene from citrus, while others are less familiar to the average person, such as d-carvone from caraway seed. What I found fascinating was which sources are actually used in commerce – it’s obvious that vanillin would be prohibitively expensive if real vanilla pods were the only available source for extracting it, but fortunately this molecule is widely found in nature and is commercially extracted from cloves, which are also the source for eugenol, the “clove and carnation” aromatic isolate; it is also found in such diverse sources as beet sugar, potato skin, coffee and yerba maté. Who knew? Fun fact: the author included an article about how vanillin has been extracted from cow dung by Japanese researchers who hope to use it commercially in non-food sources. It makes sense if you think about it, since it is rich in lignin, the same woody material that makes old books smell sweet as the paper degrades. In the next section, a variety of natural isolates are discussed in depth. Shelley made it easy for people like me by listing the detailed descriptions for each of the specific materials being examined and explaining what each one is suited for - is it a top note that’s gone in an hour, or is it a base note that lasts 400 hours on a scent strip? Each molecule (and the isolates in question are specific molecules, not blends or compounds – she even shows a picture of the actual molecular structure of each one) is analyzed as to where it is found in nature, what its commercial source is, what chemical family it belongs to, whether or not it is associated with any sensitivities or toxicity, and most importantly for the end result, what qualities each one can impart to a finished fragrance when used correctly. She also gives us examples of how a natural perfume isolate might be used to create the effect of a classic fragrance; for example, the great Diorama, a fruity chypre from 1949, would be a fun subject for experimentation with an isolate called raspberry ketone, a long-lasting base note with a sweet, fruity, jammy aroma, with which a perfumer could build a similar perfume with all natural materials. I think my favorite one in the book is strawberry furanone natural – it’s a base note that smells of strawberry, cotton candy, caramel, pineapple and brown sugar – what perfumer could resist playing around with that? I would be like a mad scientist let loose in the lab! Shelley suggests numerous experiments for perfumers to try with each material and lists compatible notes. If I were a perfumer I would be most eager to try them; she gives clear instructions for preparing and mixing materials, as well as safe and proper storage for each type. Did you know that aldehydes are unstable and should be stored under a layer of inert nitrogen? I didn’t, but that would also explain why perfumes with substantial amounts of aldehydes in them tend to “go off” faster than many other fragrances. Shelley shows step by step instructions for recreating historic “handkerchief” perfumes and suggests starting points for building perfumes of specific styles. It made me want to start my own home perfumery laboratory, so it should be even more enticing for those who already have perfume making skills. I can’t recommend this book highly enough for anyone interested in perfumery; from the collector to the beginning student to the serious professional perfumer, as there is something for everyone. (I know I will be referring to it over and over again, and every time I smell a fragrance I will catch a note and think, is that strawberry furanone or maltol I detect? How much eugenol is in that carnation soliflore?) Chapter four is an extensive Q & A section that addresses subjects such as the difference between top and base notes, Schiff’s bases, and the subtle differences between the same isolate extracted from different plant sources. The questions were selected from actual inquiries Shelley has received from both students and perfume professionals. Again, this was highly enlightening and answered questions I did not even realize I needed to ask. Finally there is a glossary, a list of resources for more information on natural isolates, a reading list and a listing of sources for the perfumery materials. Did I mention that the book is also beautifully illustrated? If you want to know how Shelley backs up the expertise demonstrated in the book in her perfumery work, look no further than the latest fragrance launch from En Voyage, the gorgeous Carmel Bohême. It is a reworking of a previous release called Bohemia, which I have never tried. The new scent is a delightfully exuberant composition that captivated me immediately. It begins with a decidedly green burst of citrus, plum and muguet that gradually gives way to a rich floral heart of gardenia and tuberose, both from natural enfleurage sources, plus French jasmine, and a base rich with honey, amber, patchouli and resins makes it last very well. The muguet note lingers on and gives airiness to this fragrance throughout its time on the skin, and I love the way it meshes with the languid tropical floral notes. Fans of classic white floral fragrances are sure to be enchanted by it. It is heady and rich without being overpowering and smells like summer vacation in a bottle; I picture myself relaxing in the midst of a blooming seaside garden while a fresh breeze blows in from the ocean. I also had the opportunity to revisit Shelley’s popular Go Ask Alice from the 2011 Summer of Patchouli Love project. It was not one of my top choices at the time, but perfumes, like wine, need time to age and smooth out the rough edges, and the vial of Go Ask Alice I have now is marvelous- yes, it is still very much a patchouli fragrance, but it’s as smooth as silk and has a beautiful fruity and floral aspect that I did not get in the fresh, “raw” version I tested before. It has a delicious drydown featuring vanilla, Peru balsam, cocoa, vanilla, Tonka bean, real ambergris, and of course patchouli, of a particularly fine vintage from Sumatra. Now this I would definitely wear! I normally do not favor perfumes with patchouli as a major ingredient unless it is embedded in a chypre structure, and especially in a rose chypre style, which works a peculiar magic with a patchouli note, but this is really wearable even for a patch skeptic like me. If I can wear Go Ask Alice, just about anyone can. Image credits: The beautiful Carmel Bohême Extrait de Parfum bottle from envoyageperfumes.com; Detail of mimosa flowers via Wikimedia.org per Creative Commons Share Alike license. Disclaimer: The book and the perfume samples were sent to me gratis by Shelley Waddington for review and testing.