Carrot Top!

 By Marla

I’ve been on a carrot kick lately, and it started with my introduction to the American Slow Food movement. My family is now organic, and we have found so many new reasons to love food, I could write many articles…but this one is about carrots. Carrot perfumes, to be exact. Being a redhead, I’ve always had a soft spot for the orange root, but I’ve now found not one, but two perfumes to wear that express my affection for all things carroty….

My first discovery was thanks to Grain de Musc, who wrote some beautiful essays on Olivia Giacobetti’s Honore’ des Pres latest trio, featuring tuberose, coconut, and carrot (you are perfumistas, and you know their names). She had some nice things to say about redheads in her article on I Love Les Carottes, and, since redheads get very little love in the real world (my youthful nickname was “Coppertop”, and some of the time, it was meant affectionately, I think…), I had to try the perfume. But I was a good and frugal creature, and I waited for my moment to pounce….

Then Space NK had a sale, and I snagged a bottle for an incredible $24.50!! Squee!!!! I was worried. Had it turned? Would it be cooked on the long, hot trip to Florida? Would it be my carrot Holy Grail? It arrived this week, and I’ve been spritzing it constantly and driving my family nuts looking for the source of all this carrot. It is The Ultimate Carrot. If you want to smell carrots for hours, this is it. Total love. But it’s so much more! I also love iris, and orange, and benzoin, as my readers know. And I really like patch when it’s combined with orange. This one’s got them all. I am sorely tempted to call Space NK and buy out the rest of their stock. It rates 4 out of 5 on Makeup Alley, so I have some competition for those remaining bottles. If only I were an evil hedge fund manager with money to burn.

But wait, seekers of the scent of carrot, there is another…. Bellyflowers Botanical Perfumes, an Indie natural studio, created Wild Chypre. Slow Nose Elise Pearlstine highlights the wild carrot flower, so it’s not the root, but wow, for those who love that pungent, refreshing floral, this perfume is truly addictive, and I believe, unique. I know I’ve never smelled anything like it before, and Elise says that it really took on a life of its own while she was composing it. Here is the composition:

Top Notes: Wild Orange, wild lavender, ylang ylang I, peppermint

Heart Notes: Jasmine sambac , Jasmine grandiflorum, organic silver fir, wild carrot

Base notes: Balsam of peru , Haitian vetiver , oakmoss , myrrh, fossilized amber oil

The notes blend into an unusual whole that evolves from a sharp opening, that evokes a real state of alertness, to a smooth, warm, yet wild heart, and soothing, sunbaked drydown. Fossilized amber oil is new on the market, and it is really made from amber, the gemstone. It is smoky and earthy and very grounding . It’s a gorgeous addition to the natural perfumer’s palette, and Wild Chypre is a perfect canvas for its nuances.

So now I have both a Carrot HG, and a Carrot Flower HG.

My question(s) of the day is (are):

Which savory scents (like veggies) do you love to smell in perfumes, and which savory scent do you want to smell in a perfume? And would you wear it to work, or on a date???