Basmati rice and Jasmine

It's been a while since I posted something on my blog. I was very busy with doing other stuff, which I enjoyed very much so though. Well, I'm back!



I'm working on a new perfume, based on Egyptian Jasmine absolute combined with the scent of Indian Basmati rice. This idea was playing a long time in my head and I finally started with it. I'm recreating the scent of basmati rice myself with different materials. One of the materials I use for the basmati rice is 3-METHYL-2-CYCLOHEXENONE which gives a nutty scent. I also used Hexanal (aldehyde C6) and Hexanol (alcohol c6) among others. I want to see if carrot seed oil will work in this fragrance, I guess it only would need just a little. A key odorant in fragrant rice is 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, I still have to get my hands on this material.

I combine the jasmine and basmati rice with musks and woods. I used a lot of sandalwood which combines so wonderful with Jasmine, it makes the scent of jasmine more warm and intense. It's a very interesting experiment at least.

The M. factor

Andy always talk about the W. factor, so this time I will talk about the M. factor. The perfume for the new perfume swap of our perfume group is ready, it's a men's fragrance this time. I needed the M. factor to test it, and I listened to his suggestions. M. once was a professional soccer player, and he loves the smell of fresh cut grass, it reminds him of the soccerfield, so I put in a lot of this scent. A material which smells like fresh cut grass is 'leaf alcohol', I combined this scent with the scent of violet leaf and other green notes. Some of you know that I love the green scent of galbanum, but I didn't use it in this fragrance, it didn't combine well with the other notes.

In the heart-notes I used carnation and clove. The base-notes contains a lot of sandalwood which I combined with the sandalwood materials; Javanol, Bangalol and Aldron. I used the ambernote of Ambrox DL, which to me smells very masculine and finished it with different sorts of musk.


I'm excited because tonight we have a big party from work, there will be something like 1500 to 2000 people. I will go with my friend, it will be so much fun. My camera is broke, but if I can get some photos of the party from my colleagues I will post some of them.

Have a great weekend!

Beethoven

Finally I had a long weekend, I had 4 days off! I looked forward to it the whole week, but when it finally was there, I got sick...... I had a terrible cold and was so sleepy that I could sleep for hours, I only watched some TV or sat behind my PC a bit. Not very exciting is it? But today I feel a bit better and even worked on a perfume again. I worked on my perfume that I sent in for the first 'Perfume Swap' that we did on my Perfume making group at Yahoo. It is a perfume based on animalic notes, with oudh and other woods, honey, rose and jasmine. I added less cedarwood and a lot more sandalwood. I can't smell a lot right now because of the cold I have, but I will leave it like it is and smell it when I have a 'better' nose.

That makes me think......

What if a perfumer can't smell anymore? Is it possible to create perfumes anyway? I think so, if I recall correctly, there was a perfumer who couldn't smell anymore, but still created perfumes, I don't remember who it was. Well, if you think of the fact that Beethoven was deaf when he composed music, a perfumer could only by remembering the smell and the combination of materials, compose a perfume too. Without actually smelling the result, the composing would be done in his memory, in his mind.

Chypre, indolic flowers, fruit and spices

It's wonderful that I have more time for the creation of my perfumes again. The whole weekend I was busy with experimenting. I took a closer look at my new friends, some materials I didn't study yet. I mixed unexpectedly combinations of materials, some of these mixes turned out stinky combinations, and some of them were surprisingly nice. I smelled my Velvet Blossom again, and I love the result very much. A very satisfying feeling to have accomplish exactly what I had in mind for this fragrance. A tender, fresh, but oh so velvety floral fragrance, based on Magnolia and Lilly of the Valley. I also worked on my fruity/chypre again. A perfume based on a Chypre accord made of oakmoss, labdanum, pathouli, vetiver, cedar and a little bit of castoreum. I combined this accord with fruity notes of bergamot, lemon and lychee.

I added a herbal green note of basil, a material I love very much, it gives a fresh green and a bit minty note to the fragrance. I also used watercress which gives a wonderful green leafy and very fresh note. The perfume so far smelled of course like Chypre, but also fruity green and floral. One of the flowers I think I always will use in my fragrances is jasmine, so also in this fragrance....

I used a jasmine absolute from Egypt, a very high quality absolute which smells wonderful. I also used may rose and gardenia. There is no such thing as a gardenia absolute so I had to reconstruct the scent of this flower. The floral notes are real nice, but I wanted them to smell even more indolic, so I added some more indole, and after testing the fragrance, I added even more of it. I just love indolic perfumes. The perfume smelled very nice, but I wanted to add some spicy notes to give more character to the fragrance.


So I added coriander seed, which works real fine. But I wanted the fragrance to smell even more spicy. I started with adding a tiny bit of cumin, a note that overpowers a fragrance real easy. So I had to be careful. But it was safe, I could use more of it, so I did. I wanted the fragrance to have a more dry spicy note, so I added some black pepper as well. Yes, that was a good idea. The black pepper is really nice in combination with the lychee. I also added some cardamom to give an effect to the citrus notes. It gives a very fresh spicy dry citrusy and even a bit bitter green note to the bergamot and lemon. And finally I added a tiny bit of clove. So the list of spices that I added is rather long: coriander seed, cumin, black pepper, cardamom and clove, but a nice combination of spices, which works really nice with the fruity notes. I have to remember this combination of spices when I want to cook......

What I love to do most

I finally have some more time to work on my perfumes again. Last months I spent a lot of my time working on my Yahoo group, I love doing that and I love to help people, but there was no time left to work on my perfumes anymore. I decided to slow down a bit with the work on the group and spend time on what I love to do most; perfume making.


I worked on my perfume Velvet Blossom, a perfume based on delicate white flowers with Magnolia and Lily of the Valley combined with Mai rose and Sambac Jasmine. A perfume inspired by my sister in law, who loves delicate white flowers. I wanted the perfume to smell delicate white floral, with a bright fresh opening and a velvet smooth end. The result was really close to what I had in mind, but I want to soften the top notes a bit more and accentuate the white petal like floral notes and bring the lily of the valley a bit more towards the top notes. I added some Cyclamen aldehyde to bring out the lilly of the valley a bit more, also a bit more Mayol added to the perfume gave a more petal like result. To smooth the top notes, I added a bit more Ambrettolide, a wonderful warm smelling musk with a touch of fruitiness, which appears in the base notes but also smooth the top notes at the same time. I didn't change much, only adding a bit more or less of the materials that I've used already. The only new thing that I added is a touch of Cyclamen aldehyde, which works real nice in this fragrance. I'm really happy with the result. Now I have to mature it for a while to see if it's really better than the last one. In the mean time I will work some more on my 'fruity/chypre' fragrance, more about that later....

Preference

I'm reading the book: Fragrance The story of perfume from Cleopatra to Chanel written by Edwin T. Morris, for the second time now. It's a very interesting book which discusses the history of fragrance and fragrance materials. An intersesting part is where he talks about the scent of flowers. We are not the only ones who are attracted to the scent of flowers, insects are attracted to their scent as well. Some flowers mimic the insect pheromones, and some of them the scent of their food sources. The moth for example, is attracted to the white night blooming heavy indolic scented flowers such as jasmine and honeysuckle. Among the white flowers we find the greatest number of aromatic blooms. Second place for the odorous flowers are the reds and pinks. These flowers are favored by the day-flying butterflies. The bees however prefer yellow, lavender and blue flowers.

We humans have our preferences as well. Although there is no standard in our preferences. We all have our own unique scent preferences, mostly created by our scent memorie. If we have a nice memorie of the scent of vanilla, we probibly will like the scent. But if we have had a bad experience while smelling vanilla, we could have created a bad vanilla scent memorie and the scent can be associated with this experience.

That's why it's simply impossible to create a perfume that will be liked by everyone. I sent samples of my perfume Velvet Blossom to people from all over the world to get some feedback. Most people who smelled the perfume said they would leave it like it is, and don't mess with it too much, they liked it. Other people liked it too, but gave me some tips on how to improve it. The tips I received were all so different, here are some:
it would be nice if it smelled a bit greener, another told me to make it smell less greener, again another one told me to make it more spicy with cumin notes, another more ambery, yet another asked me to use more indolic jasmine notes, another to use more woody notes etc etc.

It's difficult to make a decision on what kind of advice to follow. I personally want to make the top notes a bit softer, another option to ad to the others. I decided to try some of the tips and created different batches, and will see if it makes a difference.

How I create perfume

Sometimes people ask me, what it is that I do, how I make perfume. If I tell them that perfume is alcohol with aromatic materials, a lot of times I hear the same story. They tell me that when they were little they put roses in water trying to create perfume. They tried to create rose water, something I did when I was little as well. Although the product that is sold by the name 'rose water' is not made by soaking roses in water, but a side product of the distillation of roses. The picture that some people have of what I do is that I work with plants like roses, lavender, clove etc and soak them in oil or alcohol to create perfume. Of course sometimes I did things like that, but this is not the same as creating a perfume, this is making tinctures or macerates. I sometimes used a tincture, but mostly they are not stable enough. When I tell them I use essential oils and absolutes, I see that it's sometimes confused by some people with plants macerated in an oil like almond oil. An essential oil is a concentrated oil which is distilled from the plant, many kilos are necessary to obtain a little bit of this concentrated oil, these oils are volatile, not the same as almond oil, jojoba or coconut oil etc. I've seen many times when I show a bottle of an essential oil that they want to put the oil straight on their skin, as it was a perfume based on an oil like almond oil. While many essential oils can't be worn pure on the skin, they are so concentrated that it can irritate the skin. I also explain that these oils and absolutes have all kinds of different molecules all having different smells. That a rose doesn't contain one molecule that smells like rose, but has a combination of hundreds of different molecules, all having their own specific odor, which all combined create the scent of rose. I explain that I not only work with these combined molecules like an essential oil or absolute, but with single molecules as well. These are from natural sources or man made. Which I for example can use to build my own rose, jasmine or other scents.

Of course there are a lot of people who do know a lot about perfume, especially the perfumistas on the Internet. I'm amazed how much they know about it. For example I love to read the blog Bois de Jasmin by Victoria she writes wonderful interesting posts about perfume materials. She loves perfumes, but she is also interested in how it's made, and wants to know more about the materials that is used in perfume. But a lot more people only buy perfumes and never thought about how it's actually made, it's fun to hear from them how they think perfume is made. Mostly they are surprised when they hear how it's made.


On the left you can see my 'perfume organ'. I created a special room to create my perfumes and to store my materials. On the photo you see cabinets that I hang on the wall containing bottles with droppers which are filled with diluted materials. I keep the bigger bottles of the pure materials in a closet protected from the sun. For me it's always a bit hard to describe in only a few words what it is that I do. It's not the same as blending some oils together and the perfume is ready. I don't line up a rose, jasmine, sandal, lemon oil and mix them, and my perfume is finished. It's more complicated than that. Rose, Jasmine or lemon oil all have their own mix of molecules, basically they are a complete perfume on their own, where molecules are combined in a certain way. Some of the molecules of the rose could be found in the lemon as well and some of the molecules of the lemon can be found in the jasmine as well etc. I work with these oils which are combinations of molecules, but I also work with single molecules which I can use to bring out a certain element of a scent. With these single molecules I can create bridges between some stages of the perfume, I can hide some unwanted harsh or other unpleasant molecules. I can use these single molecules to add a similar smelling molecule that normally only occurs in the base notes to bring out to the top notes as well and of course the other way around. I can create a rose that smells more fresh, dewy or more honey like etc, by adding one or more materials made of one single molecule. Basically I work on the different single pieces of the perfume, the molecules, I put some single molecules apart and work on those to bring them out more, to smooth them, to hide some of them or to modify them. I'm not only working with molecules that are grouped/combined in a certain scent, like rose, jasmine etc but I also divide or break down these groups of molecules into single molecules. That means I have to concentrate on hundreds of single molecules. All having their own character. Below is an example of a perfume, I wrote the notes down in a pyramid. In the top of the pyramid you can see which top notes are used, in the middle the heart notes and at the bottom you can see the base notes.

This perfume above seems only based on some oils, which all are compositions of different molecules, which are combined to create a perfume. This phase of creating is the most fun and easy part, but it's only a rough basic of the perfume, it's not finished yet. I still have to work on the different materials to create a perfume that is well structured. The perfume below is an example on how these notes are combined with single molecules to create a nice structure.

I know it looks a bit messy and I didn't have enough space to add more notes. But this is a rough idea of what I do. I try to blend notes in a way that they all combine well together, I 'glue' some notes together, create more silage, bring out some elements that I like by adding more of these single molecules etc. This phase of creating perfumes is the hardest but the most interesting phase, it's interesting and feels satisfying to finish the perfume and try to make it perfect. I have to find out the evaporation rates of the molecules and combine them with elements that has similar evaporation rates to create a logical way of evaporation. I have to study the perfume to find out if there is not an element that is too dominant, which I maybe have to smooth or hide with other molecules. Or maybe I like to bring out an element and will add more of this molecule etc.

The most fun part is to find out what kind of effect some materials have upon each other. It's amazing how one material can change if I add other materials. It's not so that I'm always sitting behind my desk and blend, mostly I'm studying the materials on scent strips or on my skin, I combine these strips and try to find out how they combine with each other. The ideas of my perfumes are starting in my head, I'm always dreaming about perfumes, I think about it most part of the day, it's something I do automatically and mostly I'm unaware of the fact that I'm analyzing everything that I smell. I imagine how I can translate some feelings or wonderful experiences into a perfume. I'm always paying attention on things that I smell around me, I store all these information in my head and compare these with the materials and combinations that I've studied. It's a dreamy fantasy world, I try to recreate a fantasy and translate it into a perfume.

I have a deep respect for perfumers that really studied their profession, perfumers that work for popular perfume houses studied perfumery for 10 years!!! Now that I've learned so much about perfumery I understand that these perfumers had to study a lot of things before they became a perfumer. Things I didn't think of before, simply because I didn't know or realized what perfumery really meant. I always say, 'the more you know, the more you realize that you basically know nothing at all'. If you don't know enough about something, you can underestimate the whole thing, and compare yourself to someone who really knows everything about it. You put yourself on the same level of someone who studied this, I would call that arrogant and ignorant. I would like the people who put themselves on the same level as professional perfumers to take a real perfumery exam and see if they will pass. I know I will never reach that level, I can't compare myself to these perfumers. I create perfumes for 8 years or so now, I've learned from books, the Internet, by communicating with the members of my Perfume making group at Yahoo and by experimenting and again more experimenting, that's not the same as to study the profession at a high level. There was no teacher that forced me to learn things that I didn't feel like, but had to know to become a perfumer. I'm sure I skipped some parts of perfumery that I still have to learn, but I do my best and try to learn.

Oudh

Mmm the scent of Oudh sometimes called Agarwood or Eaglewood is so incredible wonderful. It has all kinds of shades, it's smokey, deep woody, a bit sweet in an intriguing way. It even has some green notes and some kind of mouldy notes. It's hard to describe the scent. It reminds me of a blend of vetiver, birch tar, sandalwood, guiacwood, vetiveryl acetate, patchouli and some spicy notes like the note of clove. But this all can't create the scent of Oudh, it's way too complex for it.

I used Oudh in my first 'swap' perfume, which I worked on some more. I studied the feedback that I've got from the members of my group and used this information to alter the creation.

Some of the feedback I received about this fragrance is that the top notes are too overwhelming, I agree with this, this is not because I used too much top notes, but because I used strong smelling woody and ambery notes, which pushes themselves towards the top notes. I started to reduce the amount of patchouli, birch tar and cedar, and added a creamy warm sandalwood to round the fragrance out and smooth it a bit. To give the woody notes a fresh woody boost I used a bit more vetiveryl acetate, which smells like the fresh smelling part of vetiver oil. I also added less amber, instead I used more rose and jasmine to create a stronger heart note.

The fragrance has a sweet honey note which is wonderful in combination with Oudh, I want to keep that note, but it was too sweet, so I also reduced the amount of honey and added a bit more bergamot to create a more sparkling top note. After reducing some of the base notes and adding some sandalwood and more vetiveryl acetate, it still needed a warm note, I decided to use Aldron a material from Symrise with an animalic scent, which create a warm aura. I'll let the creation mature and will see if these alterations worked.

Something totally different:

Yesterday I visited the blog of Andy, when I started to read the first line of his post, I got goosebumps and knew what he was about to tell us, the following sentences I had to read trough the tears in my eyes. It's heartbreaking to hear that his mother past away last Friday. My heart goes out to him, his partner W. and his family and friends. It's so hard to loose one of your parents. I hope they all will find strength and consolation among each other. Of course Andy shut off the comments on the post and asked not to send emails. I just have to say something, that's why I will do it this way.

Velvet Blossom

Can you recall the experience of touching the petals of a blossom? Doesn't it feel soft like velvet? I thought of which name I could give to the fragrance I worked on based on the soft fresh scented magnolia combined with other white flowers like lily of the valley, white lily, orange blossom, Mai rose, freesia and jasmine. The fragrance smells tender, romantic, fresh and sweet at the same time. When I smell this fragrance, words like tender, romantic, petals, blossom and velvet comes in mind. Then I thought, why not call it 'Velvet Blossom'? I think it's a nice name, I also thought of 'Velvet Petals'. I'm not sure which name is best yet, but I think it will be 'Velvet Blossom'. Now I'm dreaming of how it will look like in a beautiful bottle and how the fragrance description would sound, maybe something like:

Velvet Blossom

A fragrance for the romantic soul, tender like a fresh blossom.

Top notes: Lemon, Orange, Grapefruit, Rose wood and green leaves

Heart notes: Magnolia, Lily of the Valley, Orange blossom, Freesia, Mai Rose, White Lily and Jasmine Sambac

Base notes: Vetiver, Vanilla, Oak moss and musk

I have to make a confession

I have done it, yes I did! I have to admit. After the concentration of my perfume inspired by the painting 'The Kiss' matured and after I added the alcohol and let it stand for a while, I changed it a bit. I was not satisfied about it. O, by the way, we moved the date to 15 September instead of 15 August. Because more members of the Perfume making group wanted to participate but didn't have something ready yet, they needed some more time. I find this swap really difficult because it's so different than creating a perfume spontaneously, it had to be based or better to say inspired by the painting. I find it difficult to create something on demand. If I create a perfume, it's created it in my head first, and then it slowly develops in my head. When I start with the creation itself, I sometimes change it a bit, but the overall composition and idea remains.

While creating this perfume I changed a couple of my initial ideas. For example I used much more bergamot oil than I initial had in mind. By this I created an 'ambrein' accord.

An 'ambrein' accord is an accord based on bergamot, balsamic notes like labdanum, benzoe, tolu etc, vanilla, civet and coumarin. I combined this accord with woody notes; with the accent on sandalwood, and completed it with notes of Iris and rose. It became a very complex formula, I used over 70 different materials. And still after it was matured and all ........... I added another material; mimosa absolute. I just had to do it, it makes the top notes so nicely smooth but fresh, it combines perfectly with the bergamot, petit grain oil and the orange blossom absolute. I love this tender sweet lively note of mimosa. Well, don't think this is the best perfume I ever created, but it was a nice but tough learning experience. I hope the members of the group can give me some useful advice to make it better. We will exchange the formulas, this way the help can be more specific, and it will be a great way to see how others create their perfume, much different than only smelling the perfume and not knowing the formula. I'm really exited to smell all the perfumes of the other members, I can't wait, but at the same time I'm a bit nervous about my own contribution.

Ending with a beautiful quote from Jacques Guerlain:

"I felt something so intense, I could only express it in a perfume."

Vetiver, Vanilla and Angel

Right now it's raining here in Wolvega, in spite of the rain that is falling down at the moment, we had a lovely sunny weekend. I spent most part of the weekend on sniffing some of my new fragrance materials, and working on my fragrance with magnolia. I tried some different versions and compared them with each other. In one trial I added some more vetiver to the base notes and I like it, it's nice in combination with the cedar that I used. Vetiver is also interesting with the vanilla, it makes the vanilla less sweet. I like vanilla to be a bit smokey and woody.

Because of the nice weather I took some smelling strips that were dipped in the new materials with me outside to evaluate their smell. I took some smelling strips dipped in my older materials with me as well, to see if they would combine with these new materials. Sometimes I take different smelling strips in my hand and waft with it under my nose like a Spanish fan, to analyse the smell of the combination of these different materials.

I read somewhere the basic notes of the perfume Angel by Thierry Mugler and just for fun tried a combination of different smelling strips with these notes: Helional (ozonic, melon, sweet), Cashmeran ( musky, sweet), Maltol ( sugar, caramel), Isobutavan (chocolate, vanilla) and Patchouli oil. I held these smelling strips in one hand and waft it under my nose, and yes, it does smell like a simple version of Angel. It's an accord for sure, the combination of these notes do create a complete new scent. This is a great way to find out which notes do create an accord. Here is a video with perfumer Arthur Burnham where you can see what I mean with using the scent strips as a Spanish fan.

Intuition

Sometimes your first intuition is the best. I'm working for years on the same perfume, it's a perfume that I wanted to smell delicate, floral, smooth, gentle, soft and feminine. This perfume is inspired by the blossom of magnolia and I created it for my sister in law, who loves delicate flowery perfumes. It's not a soliflor perfume but contains a bouquet of many other white flowers, like freesia, rose, jasmine, orange blossom, Lilly of the valley, lilac and the leading part; magnolia. The top notes has citrus notes while the heart is floral and the base is woody sweet powdery. It's a floral fantasy perfume.

I created this perfume years ago for my sister in law and she loved it. But I was not yet satisfied, it needed more staying power, and I wanted the perfume to linger more. Now that I have a choice out of so many more perfume materials, and gained much more knowledge about perfumery, I finally can go on with this perfume and hope to finish it. In the mean time I created many, many variations of this perfume, but when I look back at the original creation, I see that this one was the best idea outof all. At the time that I created this perfume for the first time, I didn't know the things I do now, but when I look at the formula I wrote in that time, I can see based on the knowledge that I have now, that my intuition was right.

For example, I used some wintergreen oil, an oil that contains methyl saliclyate, I didn't know why I used it but thought it would be nice to use just a tiny bit of it in the formula. Now I know that it sweetens the top note of a perfume when you use just a little, so I was correct using wintergreen. In that time I didn't know what kind of aroma chemicals magnolia contains, now that I do know I can see that I used the right aroma chemicals, at least the ones that I had access to at that moment. Now I do have so much more choices of aroma chemicals, this way I could created a magnolia base, a base that I created separately from the perfume. I searched for gas chromatography analysis of magnolia on the web, and created a magnolia base the way I wanted my magnolia to smell like. One of the materials I used is Magnolan which has a typical magnolia, grapefruit scent, it smells a bit similar like Hedione but more fresh and more citrus like.

When I first created this perfume, I had a hard time to keep the perfume smell 'transparent' and give it fixation at the same time, instead of adding enough fixation, I only used a small amount of fixative materials. Now I know what kind of materials I can use to give enough fixation without making the perfume smell too heavy. Creativity and intuition is important in perfume making, but you need knowledge as well.

Waiting patiently

The concentration of my perfume inspired by the painting 'The Kiss' is patiently waiting to mature. The fragrant materials need to 'pare' with each other to become a new whole, I put it in a dark and cool place to mature. I made the concentration last Monday so it's already maturing for a couple of days. I didn't added the alcohol yet, I will add it next weekend. First the concentration need to mature for a while without the alcohol.

I like the color of the concentration, it's nice brown red. I didn't change the notes that I used last time, only added some small amounts of different notes to compliment the other notes, like just a tiny bit of cumin and a little bit of orange blossom absolute. Orange blossom absolute is something I like to use in almost every creation it seems, it's nice with the tolu balsam in this case and it combines wonderful with the bergamot and lead the citrus notes into the heart notes, giving it a more flowery note.

Now I have to wait patiently and will work on my perfume based on magnolia a bit more. The other perfume I sent in for the first 'Perfume Swap' needs to wait for tweaking, because I need to wait for the materials that I ordered for this perfume. So that comes later, while waiting for the materials I will work on my perfume based on magnolia, a perfume that I already worked on a couple of years ago, but that is still not finished, although it's coming close now.

Crazy diamond

Smell is a powerful thing to trigger an emotion. It's amazing how a scent can bring back memories, how it can change the state of your mind. Some perfumes just smell nice, but some of them are so powerful and intriguing, you want to smell these perfumes over and over again. You can't stop smelling your wrist, to bring back this emotion or memory, or to find out what it is that gives you this thrill. But somehow I never found a perfume that gave me the same emotions as music can give to me. Music can take me trough all kinds of emotions with only one song. It takes me up and down, from left to right. I'm not sure that it's more powerful than scent but it has more levels of emotions. I can loose myself when hearing a good song and even can start to cry because of it, without knowing why, I never had this with a perfume.

When you smell something it's direct, music on the other hand takes you slowly on a journey, it's not as direct as scent. Slowly the emotions are coming forward and getting stronger while the part is playing on. It can pass away a bit and can come back even stronger. There is a song by Pink Floyd called 'Shine on you crazy diamond', which gives me very strong emotions. Sometimes I don't want to listen to it because it is too powerful. It's a song with many different levels of emotions inside of it, but all very strong. I want to create a perfume that gives me the same emotions, with all these different levels of emotions. I discussed this on my 'Perfume making' group and one member said to me that I could try it, and that is what I'm going to do. It will not be a 'happy' perfume but a very powerful emotional perfume. It would be a difficult project, but I love to try it.

Some more hope for 'The Kiss'

It's one week ago that I started to panic about my Swap perfume inspired by 'The Kiss'. In the mean time I tried many different versions of this perfume. I added more bergamot the last time and I like it, but I used a bit less this time and added some lemon as well. I decided that I wanted to use more Labdanum absolute and no Iso E Super because I find the Iso E Super too linear for this fragrance, I also used some ciste oil. There was some dark sweetness missing in this fragrance, I already used benzoin and tolu, which gives the fragrance wonderful balsamic warm notes.

But I wanted to deepen these notes, so I added some cinnamon, that was just what it needed. I used cinnamon cassia which gives not only a spicy but also a warm note. I also added coumarin to give it more warm sweetness. I wanted to give this fragrance a warm glow of amber, because of the golden colors of this painting. The sandalwood represents the embracing and the iris represents the pale skin of the woman on the painting. The combination of iris and sandalwood is lovely, I decided to use a bit more iris. I used some different musks and civet to give it a warm animalic note. To give the whole fragrance a mysterious glow I added a dash of aldehyde. I'm glad I'm going in the right direction again with this perfume. The last time my husband didn't like it, and he is always very honest, but this time he loved it, so that gives me hope again. I'm only a bit sad that I'm a bit late with my fragrance, it's not finished yet and it also has to mature for a couple of weeks. I have to send it in before 15 August.

Panic!!!

I'm still working on the 'swap perfume' that I will send in for the swap that we're doing on my Yahoo group: 'Perfume making', I posted about my other attempts before. We are going to create a perfume based on the painting The Kiss. I want to create a perfume based on ambery notes like Labdanum absolute, and Iso E Super, woody notes like Sandalwood, a powdery Iris note, Rose and spicy Carnation notes and sweet musky notes. I wanted to ad a fresh top note to my creation. So I added a huge amount of Bergamot, what works real fine with the ambery woody notes of this perfume. But it's still not right, it's just not it. I added other notes as well but ruined the whole composition. I'm a bit frustrated right now, because I have to hurry to have the perfume done on time, but somehow it doesn't work. It's nice to create a perfume, but you have to have a strong confidence in yourself to not let you down by creations like this. I'm happy I don't work for a large perfume company and have to deal with deadlines all the time. It's time to start all over again........sigh.

Peony

The flowers around me are so inspiring these days. I can't get enough of smelling all these lovely fragrances. A lot of flowers are blooming in my garden and I can't resist to smell them every time I pass by them. When I smell them I wonder in my head what it is that makes these flowers smell so great. Last week my mother gave me beautiful flowers of Peony out of her garden they are white with little purple red spots on them. The funny thing is that the petals, that are soft like velvet, have a heart shape. The smell of these flowers are incredible it's soft, clean and fresh at the same time. It doesn't smell like roses, although it has some similarities, the smell of a rose is deeper. I took the vase with the flowers with me outside and went to my garden sitting at the table. I took also some of my aroma chemicals with me outside, and smelled the material that I thought would be in it and compared the smell of it with the flowers, to be sure if it is really in it or not.

I can smell Citronellol a component that also occurs in rose, Citronellol has a rosy but also a bit of a citrus kind of odor. I also detect a Linalool note, Linalool occurs naturally in Lavender, Rose wood and many other plants and flowers. Linalool has a soft floral and a bit of a woody odor. Peony also has a little bit of a green note, what I think can be coming from Aldehyde Lauric C12, which has a clean fresh green smell. There is no doubt that it also contains some Geraniol which also occurs in rose and so many other flowers and even fruits. The smell of this flower also does remind me a bit of Honeysuckle somehow, so I guess that it also contains some Geranyl Acetate. I created my own Peony base based on this experiment and the similarity with the the smell of the real Peony flowers is striking. As far as I know there is no essential oil or absolute made from the flowers of Peony. I create a lot of my own bases this way, like I did with the flowers of Snowball Viburnum for example. These bases are not perfumes, but I use them as building blocks in my creations. I can't wait for the other flowers to bloom.

My Swap Perfume revealed

On my Yahoo group Perfume Making we did our first 'Perfume Swap' in January this year. We sent each other our own created perfumes to get feedback about our perfumes. We did the Swap anonymously so we didn't knew who made which perfume so we could give honest feedback. 19 members participated in this Swap, so we all received 19 sample vials with perfumes created by our members. It was real fun to smell all these lovely fragrances. I promised in this post that I would reveal my Swap perfume to you all, so here I will post all the feedback that I received for my perfume. We had to answer a lot of questions, but the answers were real helpful for all of us. Some members could not answer all the questions but that is okay. I used here only the first letter of their names and sometimes I put behind it if it is a man (M) or a woman (W). On the botttom of this post I will tell my conclusion of the feedback.

The perfume that I sent in is desribed in this post. I changed a few things but the basic idea of this fragrance remained the same. It is an Oriental/Leathery fragrance with flowery notes, I wanted to create a perfume that was meant for a woman that is/or want to be confidant about herself, a classy, elegant woman. It was meant to be a sexy but not a girly- girly kind of sexy perfume, it was meant for a mature woman that knows what she wants and is not afraid of her sensuality. Here are some notes of this fragrance:

Top notes: Bergamot, Mandarin, Ylang Ylang, Honey

Heart notes: Jasmin Sambac, Mai Rose, Orange blossom, Cinnamon, Cedar

Base notes: Agarwood, Patchouli, Vetiver, Amber, Vanilla, Castoreum


Here is the feedback to my perfume:


Impression:


1 What is your first impression of this fragrance?

L(W): Very sexy! Bud smells it the same way. Stuart Little, the cat, also liked it.
J(W): Narcotic Florleather
A(W): Smoky, oriental, deep floral-floriental
S(M): heady, floral, sweet, creamy
N(W): a burst of a bunch of tiny light purple flowers
M(W): It took me a bit of going over the first impression, but I feel it's
hyacinth with a leather note.
M(W): sweet bomb, strong, ambra-muskey, narcotic flowers, woodsy tones and
leathernuance
J(M): Vanilla classic
C(W): shadowy, mysterious, woody, warm, dusty but not unpleasantly so
B(M): flower, sweet, elegant, clove
M(M): Floral, woody, spicy, elegant, classy, well constructed.
C(W): Beautiful bright spicy fruity opening. Cashmeran? After the first
minute or two, it briefly smells a bit metallic on my skin, but not on
the strip. Linear after that, mostly a base accord on my skin, though
sweet orange blossom on my sleeve where it rubbed off - the fabric is
holding onto top notes better than my skin is.
D(M): Gorgeous, floral, rich. Balanced by herbal / spice blend
P(W): Floral, powerful, pulled me in the first whiff I took.
A(W): Sweet at first, then quickly changes to something tarry, smoky, creosote -
almost like car exhaust. A little bit of spiciness - paper, leather.
S(W): Loud floral
R(W): My first impression of this fragrance was this is a floral blend
F(M): Floral, ethereal, soft, sweet, a bit *narcotic *(phenylacetic
acid- on the strip)? A very subtle hint of something sweeter, like
fruity almost

2 If the smell of this fragrance could have a color, which color
would it be? (for example: Light, Dark, Intensive, Sharp, Pastel,
Purple, yellow, Green or more colors at the same time)

L: Intense
J: Steel
A: Crème to gold
S: periwinkle
N: lilac
M:....
M: pink , gold, dark red
J: Yellowish brown
C: camel-hair tan, umber brown
B: orange
M: Purples reds orange
C: bronze and umber, orange
D: a mauve brown - rich and warm, but not dark
P: Burgundy, gray, blue
A: Smokey grey, mauve & pink, morphing to mimeograph ink blue, and then violet
S: Bright yellow, copper, pink
R: yellow
F: purple, magenta, blue, silver-ish

3 If this fragrance would have a shape or form, what kind of shape or
form would it have? (for example: Big, Small, Massive, Angular,
Pointed, Round, Slender etc)

L: Phallic
J: sharp but smooth and detailed
A: round
S: very large sphere
N: like a big bouquet
M: .....
M: pink heart
J: .....
C: large, pillowy
B: Big, round
M: A body-sized velvety ball
C: large, mighty, a little angular, with deeply etched curved flourishes
D: curvilinear - like flower spikes bent by a breeze
P: Large, puffy, all-enveloping - maybe like a cloud.
A: Clouds of smoke and pink cherry blossoms.
S: Something like a giant sea anemone
R: round
F: Round, med-large (varying sizes), plump

4 If you could touch this fragrance, how would it feels like? (For
example: Soft, Hard, Warm, Cool, Rough, Smooth, Like a diamond, Like
silk, Like fur etc)

L: Warm and smooth
J: Strong but flexable
A soft, silky
S: soft petals
N: fluffy, silky
M: .....
M: like heavy oriental silk
J: .....
C: very warm, enfolding- medium length, dense brownish fur
B: warm
M: Velvety plush
C: warm and bright
D: soft, warm grassy slope
P: Soft, but strong
A: Non-tangible.
S: ...
R: soft
F: soft, smooth, a bit sharp/heavy at the top (scratchy?)

5 Can you imagine a certain place, scene or a photo with this
perfume? (For example: a sunset, a tropical garden, a gala evening, a
sports activity, the ocean etc)

L: Gala evening
J: Fast business, stock exchange, high power, lots of money, fund
raiser event
A: Fine restaurant or elegant setting
S: I think a tropical garden does fit for this one
N: grand garden
M: .......
M: chinese theater, oriental shops
J: 1920's party
C: A photo of a Middle Eastern Bazaar- interior of a shop tent,
a rather hot, dusty day, so that there are light halos, muted
colors and soft shadows throughout the picture. Numerous
fascinating things, sacks of spices, rolls of richly detailed textiles,
native carvings, ethnic jewelry, tempt your eyes to linger everywhere.
The image is very artistically composed and printed, like something
you'd see in The National Geographic.
B: perfume store
M: At the opera, nice restaurant
C: can't say
D: above - strong but pleasant sunlight - laying in new growing grass
in spring with the brave spring flowers pushing up.
P: Evening.
A: Busy city street - morning rush hour.
S: .....
R: I imagine a fun scene such as a party or dining with friends
F: tropical garden??

6 Do you find this perfume masculine, feminine, or unisex?

L(W): Unisex
J(W): Definite feminine
A(W): I would wear it in a second, but it has a masculine hint to it.
S(M): Feminine for sure
N(W): feminine
M(W): Good question. At first, I would have said feminine, but now, I think I
would say unisex.
M(W): feminine
J(M): Definite feminine
C(W): Unisex
B(M): feminine
M(M): feminine, definitely.
C(W): unisex
D(M): I would almost go for unisex, but the floral type insists feminine
P(W): Absolutely feminine.
A(W): Unisex
S(W): feminine
R(W): unisex
F(M): Feminine

7 What kind of woman or man can you imagine wearing this perfume?
(For example: Young, Romantic, Sportive, Middle age,
Aristocratic, Playful, Firm, Chique etc)

L: Both romantic and aristocratic
J: Professional woman, stylish, self confident, high income earner,
A: A romantic woman, probably a middle aged woman or anyone older than
early twenties - this is a little too much, I think, for a young
sweet something.
S: 25 to 45 yr old woman, vivacious, outgoing and playful
N: Sophisticated
M: .....
M: middle age lovers of heavy sweet scents
J: Very diverse, both my 29 yo sister as my 90 yo grandmother like it
C: An adventurous and sensual 30+ man, confidant, creative...wearing for
intimate evening, or special occasion scent. A strong, independent woman, also
30+... wearing as a her personal "power perfume", like a women of the
1930s-1950s
would wear Caron's Tabac Blond.
B: Romantic lady
M: Romantic lady, age 35 and up
C: bold, sensual (man or woman)
D: style-conscious, but daring - a younger, hipper Martha Stewart
(don't take this the wrong way - I worship Martha)
P: Romantic, sensual, mature.
A: Middle-aged, sophisticated, experimental, not afraid of what life has to
offer, looking for new experiences/adventures - mid-life crisis??
S: Someone outgoing
R: A wide age group could wear this perfume
F: younger, but not youth, more mature

8 Would you like to wear this perfume yourself?

L(W): Yes!
J(W): Yes, if only I had a place to wear it, doesn't fit too well in
my garage. LOL
A(W): Yes
S(M): Whish I could
N(W): probably not
M(W): Yes, I have worn it. I wore it to a birthday party. I really like this
perfume and would like more. I only have a tiny sample. If anyone isn't
keeping samples, I'll take this one off your hands. (grin)
M(W): Yes, for special events
J(M): No, too feminine
C(W): probably not-
sadly, something in it turns sour on my skin in the drydown
B(M): No
M(M): Not as a man. But I would enjoy this on a woman.
C(W): Yes
D(M): If I was a hip chick, you bet
P(W): Yes
A(W): Not particularly - maybe only if I really wanted to cause a stir
S(W): no
R(W): When I wore it, I thought it was quite nice
F(M): No, too feminine

9 If so with what kind of event would you wear this perfume? (For
example: A bar, Christmas, A fancy diner, Friends, Work,
The beach, A summer party etc)

L: To bed, for a very special encounter.
J: Special evening out, date night, meeting for dollars.
A: Well, I'd be apt to wear it to work, but I would also wear it for a
nice dinner, a play, ballroom dancing.
S: A family gathering or a day out on the weekend
N: perhaps formal occasion , business
M: It's kind of heavy for summer or work. I
would wear it out to dinner, a party, a bar.
M: evening wear, theater, balls, artevents
J: ....
C: I might ask my guy to wear it if he liked it, since it doesn't work on me.
This would be for evening wear both going out and for staying home and cuddling.
B: In theatre, romantic open fire
M: A fancy ball, dressy evening
C: casual, outdoorsy, home, social events
D: Highly flexible, but not for work. There is an edge that insists on
fun.
P: Evening event. To me this one is sultry, romantic - definitely an evening
fragrance.
Annie: .....
S: Christmas party
R: I would wear this fragrance when I am going out for the evening.
F: Romantic dinner out, Spring or Fall, type of scent, being a
heavier type of floral

10 How would you describe this perfume? (For example: a flowery
perfume, a Chypre perfume, an oriental perfume, a strong perfume,
a gentle perfume, a soliflor or maybe you think it's not a perfume
but an accord or a base)

L: A strong perfume, with an oriental flair
J: Floraleather
A: I think it is a floriental.
S: floral
N: floral
M: This perfume is very strong. But I like it that way.
M: very sweet oriental, heavy but nicely buquet on my skin
J: Oriental vanilla
C: A smooth woody amber perfume with salty, caraway seed, cumin notes.
Primarily aroma chems to my nose, maybe a few of those costly sandalwood
replacements,
yes?
I don't know if it's my recovering 'kleenex nose', but unlike a lot of others,
I perceive very little in the way of florals in this scent, but that may
just be my own limited definition of what constitutes 'floral'.
B: flowery spicy
M: a spicy woody floral
C: warm & bright ambery oriental
D: a new chypre
P: Floral, spicy, powdery
A: Fantasy fragrance.
S: Strong floral
R: This perfume is floral
F: Floral, .fantasy blend, edible, mouth-watering, modern
(chemical). It opens up as a floral then evolves down to more of a
fruity (fantasy-type) middle

11 Does this perfume remind you of an existing perfume?

L: Black Watch by Prince Matchabelli
J: Don't have enough samples to compare it too
A: Yes, a little bit but I'm having trouble remembering it.
S: Oscar de la Renta
N: no but I really do not know commercial perfumes
M: No, it's very different... unique
M: but it reminds me a lot to a very typical smell in some expensive places and
shops in Asia
J: A bit like No5, Mitsouko and other classics with lots of vanilla
C: no
B: No
M: No, but I don't know a lot of them on the market
C: no
D: some elements do, but the overall impact is new
P: No
A: Not at all.
S: No
R: This perfume does not remind me of any other
F: No, maybe Joop???? (not that familiar with many, can't recall)

12 What kind of package and name would fit this perfume?

L: Black faille box. The name - All I can think of is Phallus, but there must be
something more original.
J: Black with steel, sleek, modern. Perhaps a name like "Saber" or
Wall street
A: .....
S: Yellow and white box with gold print, but not pretentious
N:.......
M: If Disney didn't have a copyright on it, I'd say "Fantasia". or maybe
"Fascination".
M: exotic disire , colours red, dak red, pink maybe orange, gold
J: .....
C: A tall, cylindrical bottle with a lightly textured cap of burnt reddish
'flamed' gold-leaf.
The box would be soft deep umber brown, matte finish, with design
accents, perhaps the name, in this same metal-leaf.
B: Milky glass with gold
M: burgandy and gold with a bulb atomizer.
C: ?
D: ......
P: Gray box with burgundy accents. Maybe a spiky bottle.
A: "Rush" - I'd use a vaguely car shaped bottle in sleek shiny black glass -
sleek shiny black box with silver/chrome trim and print.
S:....
R: NA
F: Lavender with pastels, multi-colored (purples, blues,
magentas) spheres (bubbles) maybe. Name: "Juicy"



Improvement

1 How well does this perfume last on you? Is it long enough?

L: It lasts a very long time
J: It has a nice long staying power and maintains consistency
A: It lasts a lot better than most. The dry down lasted for several
hours.
S: It was long lasting and had a very nice drydown
N: It lasted mostly a couple hours
M: Well, I'd hate to have anyone think I have poor bathing habits, (LOL),
but I could still smell it two days after I applied it. It was in my
hair. It lasted a very long time.
M: It lasts long and remain
J: It lasts a very long time
C: Good grief, we've got an Energizer Bunny here. Goes on and on and on...
both on skin and scent-strips. It lasted for 8+
hours on my skin. The scent strip from 36 hrs ago still carries a faint odor.
B: Longlasting
M: It lasts very well, moves nicely. Well contructed.
C: Very good lasting power
D: Yes - lasts nicely
P: Lasts a very long time.
A: It's been almost 8 hours since I put it on, and I can still smell it pretty
well, so I'm going to guess that this is one of those fragrances that might last
at least 24 hours on my skin... I'd say that's long enough.
S: yes
R: It is long lasting
F: yes

2 What do you think of the strength is it too weak, too strong or
just fine?

L: Perfect
J: Strength is fine
A: Definitely strong at first, but pretty good after that.
S: It was strong initially, but softened nicely over time
N: just fine
M: It's strong, but I like it that way.
M: it couldn´t be much stronger without disturbing noses, yes its fine.
J: Good
C: Quite strong, but IMO, that's a plus for this sort of fragrance
B: It's okay
M: Just right.
C: It's quite strong but I like that
D: perfect - I could go a little stronger, but that's why there are
levels of perfume.
P: I think it is strong, but it is not too strong.
A: It's a little overpowering at first, but dries down to a nice level.
S: a bit too strong
R: it's good
F: a bit of a (too strong) narcotic nuance (top) [strip], but
strength is fine

3 Do you find this perfume complete?

L: Yes
J: Yes
A: I like the base and I think the citrus is not a bad idea for the top
note, but I think I would like it to have more of a middle note.
S: yes, very nicely complete
N: yes I think so
M: Yes
M: Yes
J: It is mostly vanilla, I miss a real top and heart that could
precede the vanilla base
C: Yes
B: Too many separation from top to basenote
M: Yes, but I have an idea for it. See below.
C: Yes, it's wonderful.
D: Quite - there is an elegant balance already
P: Yes. This one grabbed me from the first day I opened the package. It cannot
be ignored!
A: No. I'd like to smell more things in the dry down. the heart and base notes
could stay linear, but they need to have more interest.
S: yes
R: Yes
F: Yes


4 Do you miss something in this perfume and can you tell what it is?

L: Nothing is missing.
J: No
A: No, I don't think anything is missing
S: There is an element of something like mimosa in there that I wish I could
take out. This isn't that important and many might find they love that. I
wouldn't say anything is really missing.
N: not that I can say
M: nope
M: Not at all, maybe calm down a little the sweet impact
J: It is mostly vanilla, I miss a real top and heart that could
precede the vanilla base
C: nothing missing
B: ......
M: The opening is a bit flattened off, not bad at all, but I personally would like
it to have a
spike top note that is a bit more "pointed" just for the opening. This could be
a quickly
evaporating smaller ester to give it a short sharp, crisp blast... I tried it
with a trace of the
radishy/crysanthemum Diola (IFF) and it my nose it makes this fragrance really
"sing" at
the opening and gives a great finish to it and stronger signature.
C: No
D: .....
P: No
A: Perhaps some citrus in the heart, and some kind of woody note (sandalwood?),
maybe something amber or oriental in the base.
S:......
R: No
F: No

5 Do you find this perfume complex or simple?

L: complex
J: Complex
A: Complex
S: It is complex in a very pleasing way. Like when you view a painting that has
a lot to look at and understand, so it is with this fragrance. While it is
overtly floral, I also loved the creamy elements too.
N: sort of complex
M: very complex. My compliments to the artist. I love this scent
M: very complex
J: Simple
C: complex
B: Very complex
M: Very complex
C: a bit complex
D: complex
P: Complex.
A: Starts out complex, but dries to a more simple impression
S: complex
R: Complex
F: complex (modern)

6 Does this perfume has harmony?

L: yes
J: Yes
A: Yes
S: I felt it was harmonious. The elements blended well together and there were
appropriate links between the top, heart, and base as well as between
ingredients.
N: Yes
M: Absolutely
M: Yes
J: .....
C: Yes
B: Yes
M: Yes
C: Yes
D: yes - a beautiful balancing act between floral, herbal and spice
over indistinct but totally yummy base notes of wood and vanilla
P: Yes
A: Lots of dissonance at first but just a little dissonance as the tops notes
fade. Nicer harmony toward the end.
S: I'm not sure, I'm having a hard time with this one
R: Yes
F: yes, but a bit too scratchy? (powerful) at the top, the
initial blast at the top is a bit overwhelming at first, but it
evolves beautifully and harmoniously

7 Does this perfume touch you emotionally?

L: Yes - it really raises my libido
J: Yes, it is strong, provocative and enticing and has an edge of
power.
A: Yes, but I love orientals.
S: Yes, but it's hard to verbalize. The composition made me feel comforted, at
ease, but playful too.
N: Yes
M: Yes, I can't stop smelling it.
M: Yes, it is strong, powerful and reminds me to some places
J: Yes, it gives a feeling of warmth and joy
C: Well... it DID make me consider inviting my gentleman friend over in order to
try some on him since it didn't play nice with my skin chemistry, but smelled so good on the
strip. Hmmm, maybe it would work better on my sweetie's skin... Yeah, that's my story
and I'm sticking with it! ~;<}-or as our own dear Frank would say..."Hubba-hubba!"
B: Yes
M: Yes, it's pleasant, refined, but not at all radical.
C: the opening accord does very much - bright and jubilant, uplifting. It's a very rich throughout, and satisfying.
D: I have a feeling of connection with it
P: Yes, absolutely. It is rich, sultry, romantic - just a beautiful perfume.
A: Yes - makes me nervous/anxious.
S: no
R: Yes
F: for some reason, yes, yet can't pinpoint it, maybe it's the fruity part that does it, or the base accord or combination

8 Does this perfume has diffusivity?

L: yes
J: Oh yes, one spritz and it has lingered
A: Very much so
S: I did find it diffusive, it created a lovely trail.
N: yes somewhat at least at first
M: Yes - my boyfriend could smell it and he doesn't have a good "smeller"
M: definitly
J: Absolute, the best so far.
C: Yes
B: A litte
M: Medium, not huge. A touch more coumarin would make it huge
C: Very good diffusion.
D: somewhat - not 'in your face' but a pleasant flow
P: Yes
A: Yes, but only the sweetest notes... but maybe that's a good thing.
S: very much so
R: Yes
F: Yes

9 How does the dry down of this perfume smell?

L: very long intensely sweet drydown
J: I like the dry down very much, still maintains consistent
fragrance after several days in the bag
A: Mossy, balsamic and very slightly indolic
S: some of the warmth comes through and those creamy, comforting elements
N: interesting sort of changing in a fleeting sort of way, yet not changing, sort
of odd yet pleasant
M: There is a unique scent to this perfume that is fascinating to me. I've
discussed it with another member of the group and the consensus is that
the scent is a true accord and we're not just smelling a strong
ingredient. It is a combination of ingredients that has made a wonderful
new scent. This new scent is in the top, heart and the drydown.
M: nicely warm very pleasant and long lasting
J: Warm vanilla
C: Nicely consistent with the opening and heart of the fragrance.
I get a slightly salty, dusty 'precious wood' blend enhanced with savory spices
blending seamlessly into pretty 'butch' animalic notes.
B: Spicy chemical, sweet
M: Spicy isoeugenol, an orcinyl-3-type thing (some gutsy amberish wood note with
some
smoke.. perhaps Ambrol, Firmenich)
C: Ambery and warm, very good.
D: Maintained balance
P: Drydown is softer, but still a prominent fragrance on its own. A little more
powdery.
A: Starts out sweet w/ a blast of car exhaust - @ 1 hour, more of the sweet is
left on the skin - kind of like the smell of mimeograph ink - @ 4 hours, less
intense, more like cherry lipstick, or candy colored with Red No. 1 (it
especially smells this way on a strip) - also a bit of benzoin maybe some
sandalwood coming through - honey-like smells, @ 7-1/2 hours sweet
cucumber/melon musk.
S: .......
R: This perfume is quite pleasant and I cannot say one thing stands
out…it is a perfect blend of the ingredients
F: Ambery *(Ambergris-like, Ambrox, ambroxan), woody, powdery,
sweet (E.vanillin?)

10 Does this perfume has a strong accord?

L: yes
J: Yes
A: Yes
S: the floral accord is quite nice
N: I think so
M: Absolutely.. new and refreshing
M: .....
J: Yes
C: Yes
B: Yes
M: yes, definitely
C: ambery woods
D: no
P: Yes
A: After the top notes fade, I think.
S: yes
R: Yes
F: Yes

11 Does this perfume has enough character?

L: yes
J: Yes, loaded with character
A: Yes
S: yes, it has a real personality. It has vision and prominence.
N: I think so
M: Oh yeah!
M: Yes, enough.
J: Yes
C: Yes
B: Yes
M: yes, but with a more piercing opening it would even have more character
C: yes
D: yes
P: Yes
A: Too much maybe??
S: yes
R: Yes
F: Yes

12 Do you consider this as a perfume or is it suitable for other
things like soap, candles etc?

L: I would love to also have soap and candles in this scent
J: Perfume only, would not want to waste it on anything else
A: Oh I'd love it as a perfume, but I think it would be good for other
products as well.
S: I saw it as a perfume for sure
N: perfume, possibly room spray, maybe candle
M: No, it's a perfume
M: could be a nice try
J: It can absolutely used in other cosmetics and so on, but is the
best in some stay on formula like perfume
C: perfume
B: For Perfume
M: Could be used for perfume, matching soap.. and a candle.. why not?
C: It's a perfume
D: perfume
P: Oh, nothing but a perfume. It seems perfect for that.
A: Just perfume
S: just perfume
R: I consider this as a perfume with lotion, soap etc
F: perfume, talc, soap, bath products

13 Do you like the fragrance just the way it is and wouldn't change
anything? (Please be as honest as you can and don't try to give an
idea to change when it doesn't need anything)

L: It's perfect just the way it is
J: I love the fragrance, it has obviously been well thought
through. There are lots of materials and some I believe are very
expensive. I would be at a loss to suggest any changes to this
fragrance.
A: I happen to like it just the way it is.
S: Aside from removing a mimosa type element, I really wouldn't change anything.
Even then, I'm not sure I'd mess with it too much.
N:......
M: No changes
M: yes, I like it and would use it this way.
J: It is too subtle I think. It is mostly vanilla. The spicy accents
are very faint
C: Fine as it is, except for whatever eventually goes rancid/sour on my skin,
but that's my problem, not the perfume's.
B: Yes, but the spice-accord is too strong
M: Diola. And, ok.. this is really difficult to explain: There is a certain "almost
cigarette" quality that clary sage oil, nerone, isoeugenol and narcisse all have in common.
I get a touch of this odor in #3 and wish it had a touch more of it. It's a slight
roughness. A trace of nerone would do it or narcisse base.
C: I wouldn't change this one. It's quite good.
D: A beautiful composition as is.
P: I wouldn't even try to change anything in this one. It is powerful as is. Such
a well-formulated perfume. Whoever you are - you know what you are doing. This
one could be marketed now IMHO.
A: I'd definitely make the initial impact less "offensive".
S:......
R: I think its fine the way it
F: soften (round) the top accord, might remove a bit of urine-
like (narcotic?) nuance. On the skin it is not that noticeable, more
noticeable on a strip, but something is overpowering the opening.


Feedback:

Here you can add all your thoughts, ideas and further feedback. Like what you think could be improved, what you would like to be changed. Maybe less vanilla, more rose, a stronger dry down, more topnotes, giving advice to use some other notes to improve, etc:

J: The only problem I could see with this perfume would be the cost
of reproducing this for resale. I would think that the ingredients in
this formula are considerably expensive and making this for anything
other than special people or high dollar consignment would make it
difficult to replicate.
S: wouldn't add anything. I thought this fragrance was well crafted, well
thought out, and something that would have broad appeal for people that enjoy a
big, floral scent.
N: I can't think of any thing to change.
M: maybe soften a little the bombeffect putting some sandeltones
J: The perfume is now mostly a vanilla base. It needs a real top and
heart. That can be filled in in many ways, but probably the best
with some spices and jasmin (preferably sambac) or other spicy and
exotic flowers.
B: It's difficult to add another fragrant materials, because it's changes the
character of this perfume
A: Add some ambery/woody/slightly pungent base notes, Take Away: some of the creosote/exhaust smell at the beginning, plus a little of the sweetness in the heart.
S: It gets a metallic note on my skin for a while, that disappears
again later. Also it went kind of mouldy (like when you leave a wet
towel in a plastic bag for too long) on my skin the second time I
wore it, but that faded after a little while too.
M: This is a very professional lady-like perfume, IMHO. My compliments to the mystery perfumer!
D: I can see the heart/base elements as a highly flexible accord on
their own. I find it very difficult to identify a focus essence. It
is both all and none of its constituents, forming a new whole.
Tweeking the florals and sweetness level could easily result in a
male version. The overall effect is 'gorgeous' - a throaty blend
that I want to take deep breaths of.
F:Add: (Top)- maybe a bit of citrus, or fantasy-type fruit, or softer
floral to round it a bit, something to soften the top accord.
Take Away: something at the top is a bit too strong (domineering)
Top: adjust something (^above^)
Heart: nothing, fine as is
Base: nothing, fine as is
Dry-down: nothing, fine as it is
D: Opens with a strong floral spice, very perfumey. Sophisticated.
Middle notes are a bit too dry-spicy lily, almost a gunpowder note.
Great longevity and diffusivity. The spicy lily gunpowder middle note
would be better a little farther in the background.
A woman's perfume for formal occasions.

My conclusion about the feedback:

I find the feedback really interesting, it confirmed some things I already thought about this perfume. I think that the perfume itself is not too strong but that the topnotes are, I will work on that some more. I also want to deepen the heart notes. I find it really important that a perfume does not only has a nice smell but that it tells you something as well, that it touch people, I'm happy to see that the members find that my perfume touch them emotionally. It was also good to see that they find it longlasting, I also find that really important for a fragrance. It was funny to see the difference in the answers for the same question sometimes, like one member said it was too spicy while the other said it needed more spicy notes. Well back to work on it again, I will keep you informed about my experiments with it....

My third attempt to create The Kiss

I worked some more on my perfume based on the painting The kiss, that some of the members on my perfume making group at Yahoo are working on too. We swap it with each other and give feedback and it gives us a chance to learn from each other.

I already know the basic notes it will need, like amber, sandal, orris, rose and musk, of course there will be other notes as well but these are the main notes, the basic structure of the fragrance. Today I approached the creation differently, I combined some of the notes separately, like the amber notes. I combined all the amber notes in a bottle to see how they work together and what the best rate for them will be. For the amber notes I used notes like labdanum absolute, Cedramber, Kephalis and iso E Super. I did the same thing with the other notes, like the rose notes, I added some aldehyde's and Damascenone to the rose.

I let all the bottles I made stand for a while so it can mature and I will evaluate them later again, to see in what kind of rate I will use all these notes in the fragrance.

My second attempt to create The Kiss

I'm still working on my perfume inspired by the painting: The Kiss. First I work on the skeleton of this perfume, the notes that are the basics of this perfume. I used too much sandalwood the first time and toned it down a bit because I don't want the sandal notes go trough the top notes, I keep the rose I used the first time, but want to combine it with some jasmine, I'm not sure yet what kind of jasmine would be the best one to use. I think Indian jasmine is the nicest one in this case. I added some Geranyl acetate to the rose and that is working real nice, it gives some freshness and sweetness to the rose. I also added some carnation notes to compliment the rose notes. I like the iris in this perfume it's so nice soft warm and gentle, so that will stay as well.

For the base I used the sandal combined with guiacwood, I'm still thinking what else it would need, I'm thinking of cedar or vetiver or maybe some aroma chemicals to enhance the sandalwood, like Javanol a product of Givaudan. To give it some sensuality I added amber notes like labdanum absolute and different kinds of musks, I learned that it's better to use different kinds because some musks can work as boosters for the other musks. For the top note I used some fresh but soft citrus notes combined with a bit of spicy notes from nutmeg what combines real wonderful with the carnation which has also some spicy notes. So the basic notes of this perfume like it seems right now are: rose, iris, sandalwood and musks. The smell of this perfume is rosy, soft, creamy, warm woody, ambery and musky. I like it already but there is a lot to work on still.