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.

Follow my nose

Yesterday me, my husband and a friend of us, went to an orchid farm. It's an orchid farm but also a tropical garden that you can visit it has waterfalls, little houses, bridges etc, and of course lots of orchids. I was curious to find fragrant orchids. So the first thing I did when we came into the tropical garden, was sticking my nose into an orchid. A bit of a disappointment because I couldn't smell a thing. I wanted to smell all the flowers, so I followed my nose. I saw people looking in a funny way at me, but they started all to smell the flowers as well. The first orchid I found that had a scent had a faint odor. A bit sweet, soft not real spectacular. The photo I made of this orchid failed. It had a lot of real tiny yellow/orange flowers on the same branch, hanging down from a tree.

But the most fragrant I could find was an orchid that had the appearance of a big violet, and that was the common name of it as well, it's called 'Violet orchid'. The official name is Miltonia named after Lord Milton. I smelled the white version of this orchid first, because they were the first I found. The smell was fresh floral a bit lemony and a bit spicy, not at all like the smell of violet. When we walked a bit further I found more Miltonia's the white version but also Miltonia's in other colors. This time the white version didn't smell so strong as the flowers that I found before. I think it depends on where they stand.

Next to these white flowers there were also Miltonia's with a deep dark purple color, these had a faint scent like chocolate. Maybe if they were standing in another spot or when I smelled them at another time of the day they would smell stronger, I don't know. I know that many orchids are fragrant in the night. It was great to see and smell so many different orchids, there are so many of them, also many hybrids. When you like to see how a 'new born' orchid would look like if two different species would 'mate' click here

A palette of scents

A mistake I made when I first wanted to create perfume, that was in 1998 or 1999 I think, was that I used too many materials, all in small and about the same amount. So too much of everything basically. None of the materials were standing out, it was more like 1 to 3 drops of all the materials and than maybe 10 materials at once. When you think about how many compounds essential oils or absolutes have; for example a rose absolute, has at least about 350 aromatic molecules, you will understand that when you use all kinds of essential oils or absolutes you will end up with something like 1000 or more aromatic molecules in your creation. Of course some of them will share some of the same aromatic molecules, but all together it's too much of all these smelly molecules at once, it doesn't make sense to your nose anymore. I compare it with painting, when you use too many colors on one little spot you get a brown dull color. Let me visualise it:

I used a small frame and painted with a big brush a big spot of red paint that almost fill the whole frame. Not bad.


Than I added a yellow spot on top of the red spot I painted before. Hmm still not bad.



Now I used the color blue on top of the red and yellow spot. And the color changed into something purple. Not bad either. But this is not what I had in mind, where is the red and yellow color?

But I don't stop here and add a green color on top of all the other colors. The color turns brown and dull. Imagine what kind of color it will turn out to be when I use more colors, all at the same amount and all at the same spot. You don't see any of the other colors anymore.

In perfumery you have to avoid to add too many things in the same amounts. You have to create the basic scent, the skeleton so to say, you could also say the background maybe, the scent that will go trough the whole fragrance. You will smell different notes as well but still will recognize the basic smell. It's something that will guide you trough the whole fragrance experiment of the perfume.

So this time I will use a bigger frame to start with:

Than I add the basic colors, the basic scents I want to use for my creation, something like a background that always can be seen (smelled) through the whole fragrance picture of my creation. Like I did here with the basics green for the grass, blue for the sky and a little less, but still present yellow for the sun:

So far the basic of the painting, uhm I mean fragrance. Now I'm adding some smaller amounts of other colors, I mean notes:

You can still see the basic or the background of the painting, like you still will smell the basic notes in your creation. Finally I add some other colors, not big spots but enough to be noticed.

So some colors, notes, will act as the basic and some colors, notes will act as little spots to give the painting, perfume, more contrast or accents. Sorry, but I can't paint, I wish! I hope that this visual made it more clear on how to 'paint' a perfume.

Rêverie au jardin by Andy Tauer

Andy Tauer wanted to capture the scent of lavender in all its facets and complexity and created a fragrance based on this smell. He created "Rêverie au jardin" what means "Daydream in the garden". Now when you aspect to smell an ordinary lavender cologne, you are wrong. This lavender fragrance is more than just a fragrance that smells like lavender, it starts fresh green like you imagine yourself in a green meadow, slowly the lavender notes comes through. I know how difficult it is to create a perfume with a lot of lavender, it easy becomes smelling like an air freshener and smells cheap. But here in this fragrance the lavender has all kinds of aspects, it starts sparkling fresh green, something that surprised me to smell, later the lavender comes forward, a herbal fresh lavender softened by Bulgarian rose absolute. The base notes are sweet tonka vanilla with woody notes of cedar and sandalwood.

The notes:

The head notes are very green and fresh- lavender(high altitude mountain lavender from France, galbanum and fir balm with bergamot and rose absolute from Bulgaria softening the herbaceous lavender.

They lead over to a musky, fresh heart note (frankincense from India and ambrette seeds) with a woody and flowery orris line.

The body note is the most complex part of the scent, being a soft, and airy wood accord (vetiver, tonka beans, oakmoss). Hints of vanilla and ambergris, sandalwood and cedar wood play into a balsamic tone that seems to last for ever.
World wide:http://www.tauerperfumes.com/US: http://www.luckyscent.com/Germany: http://www.ausliebezumduft.de/Switzerland: http://www.lemaroc.ch/UK: http://www.eieflud.co.uk/

Mint, apple and lemon

Here in the Netherlands we had some rainy days lately, but gladly it's dry in between as well. Last night we had a birthday party of my girlfriend and the whole night it was dry so we could sit outside in the garden. We sat outside until half past 4 in the night, no need to tell it was a great party! This morning I walked in my garden and was not only smelling the flowers that are blooming but smelled the leaves of some plants as well, I crush them between my fingers so the essential oils will be released. We have peppermint plants in the garden, the Latin name of this peppermint is Mentha suaveolens, we use the leaves in our tea. The smell is soft minty with a green apple note. It's amazing how many different species of mint plants there are, there are mints that smells like grapefruit, chocolate, pineapple and many more variates. Here you can read about some species and their smells. On real warm days I like to make a refreshing lemon drink. I use water. sugar, Lemon or Lime and peppermint leaves, which I leave in the drink for decoration and taste, with a lot of ice, this drink is wonderful on hot days. I have essential oils of the peppermint as well, one oil is from the normal peppermint and the other is an essential oil from the Nana peppermint, Mentha Spicata, a mint that Arabic people use in their tea.

Another plant in my garden with aromatic leaves is Melissa officinalis (Lemon Balm) when you crush the leaves of this plant between your fingers it smells like Lime, I've heard once that when you drink a tea of this plant everyday, you will have a long healthy life. There are many more plants with aromatic leaves in my garden, like the Agastache Foeniculum (Anise Hyssop) these leaves smells like licorice with a hint of mint as well. The leaves of the geranium smells heavenly green rosy. I like to sniff everything I even dig up the violet flowers to smell their roots which smell a bit like Orris root.

Well have to go, it's Father's Day and I made a fragrance for my father to give to him as a present, I hope he likes it.

Have a nice Father's Day!

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.

Reorganizing my perfumery room

I finally cleaned up my perfumery room and arranged all my materials again. I placed another cabinet on the wall because I didn't have enough space for all the materials anymore. I also cleaned up the closet where I keep all my materials. I made some photos of it:

Here you can see my perfume organ where I work at, I keep my diluted materials in bottles with droppers.


Below are all my materials, as you can see I use droppers for each material, sometimes I screw them on top of the bottle and when that doesn't work I keep the dropper in a plastic back around the neck of the bottle, so I can't make a mistake by using the same dropper for different materials:

Some magazines about perfumes.

My books about perfumery and essential oils.

It's nice to create perfumes in a cleaned up, and organized perfumery room. But I have to remind myself to keep it this way. When I create I can make a mess all over again. To keep things neat is the last thing that's on my mind when I create perfumes.

Easter Perfume Bottles?

It's almost Easter and this inspired me to find some beautiful perfume bottles in an egg shape. At your right you see a 'lady's companion' - a perfume-bottle holder - made by German master silversmith Henry Steiner (1835-1914), who came to Adelaide in 1858. The design is an emu egg that encloses two perfume bottles. The egg has been cut in two and is hinged to allow access to the perfume bottles inside.
Below some other perfume bottles with an egg shape:

Sashka
Beyond Paradise Blue

Lovely Obsession

Mischief

Black Cashmere

Agent Provocateur

Another beauty from Agent Provocateur Maîtresse

Happy Easter!

Un Air de Molinard

Some perfumes smell nice, but some do trigger an emotion and suck you into another world. Well, Un Air de Molinard is such a perfume. When I get the first waft of this perfume it's incredible fresh but not sparkling fresh, it's fresh soft. It's tender but not timid, recognizable but also mysterious. When wearing this fragrance, an inner peace comes over me.

It opens with mandarin and pampelmousse what gives the fresh top notes, these notes are combined with cassis, to deepen the citrus notes. The iris in the heart soften the citrus notes and gives this perfume a soft dry powdery feeling. The heart possesses rose, jasmine and osmanthus. The heart is not heavy flowery but delicate, sweet and soft. Iris and osmanthus are the dominant notes in the heart. Osmanthus has a sweet flowery smell that combines wonderful with the citrus notes of the top. Slowly the base notes are revealing the soft woody warm scent of vanilla and vetiver. I like the combination of vanilla and vetiver because vetiver gives vanilla a more sensual feeling the vanilla will not smell only sweet but also woody and a bit smokey. Musk is also present what gives this perfume a vibrant warmth and a little amber to give it a warm dark sweetness.

When you wear this perfume you will not constantly smell this fragrance but now and then get a waft of it, to let you know you are wearing this wonderful fragrance. Un Air de Molinard is a perfume from an exquisite Molinard 1849 Collection, a vintage revival of seven classic fragrances by Molinard of the 1920's and 1930's, limited in it's distribution, currently available at Aedes and Barneys, I couldn't find it on the site of Molinard. The beautiful bottle is designed by Rene Lalique. Thanks to Chaya I could experience this incredible beautiful fragrance, an experience I will never forget, thank you Chaya!

Chemophobia

Do the chemicals: 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-ol or
1,3(E),5(Z)-undecatriene or 1-p-menthene-8-thiol sounds like dangerous chemcials to you, or would you hear any alarm bells when you know that these chemicals were ingredients of the perfume you are wearing right now?

Probably because you don't know what these names stands for they can sound like intimidating names. Unknown names or things we don't understand can scare us sometimes. In fact these chemicals are just aromatic chemicals that are found in nature. 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-ol is a component of natural Yuzu oil, you can read about this chemical here.1,3(E),5(Z)-undecatriene is a component of natural Galbanum oil, you can read about this chemical here.1-p-menthene-8-thiol is a component of natural Grapefruit oil, you can read about this chemical here.

Every living thing, including you and me, is made of millions of complex chemicals. Natural essential oils are blends of many chemicals. The word "chemicals" has become an emotionally-loaded word and has a negative sound to some people because virtually the only time the media reports about it, it's a negative report. The word "synthetic" is looked upon with suspicion, at best. Conversely, "natural" is often thought of as inherently harmless. Natural does not equal safe and synthetic does not equal unsafe.

Tony Burfield from Cropwatch wrote an article about chemophobia he said that the finger of suspicion is also pointing at fragrance volatiles - one is tempted to say, raising it to a level of near-paranoia. He writes about an article that Pat Thomas once wrote where he suggests that there is no difference between conventional perfumes and pollution, saying 'fragrance chemicals...include...many other known toxins capable of causing cancer, birth defects, central nervous system disorders and allergic and asthmatic reactions. Pat Thomas discussing fragrance chemicals found in the perfume Eternity Eau de Parfum (Calvin Klein). Here are some examples of fragrance chemicals that he described as being harmful:

Benzyl acetate – said to be irritant and also said to be linked to pancreatic cancer.

Benzyl acetate occurs in jasmin, narcissus & hyacinth head space odours and in gardenia oil, ylang ylang oil & cananga oils.

Eugenol – said to be an irritant, a cause of contact dermatitis, pesticide & insecticide ingredient.

Eugenol occurs in the head space of hyacinth flowers & carnation flowers; and in the oils of clove, cinnamon leaf, pimenta berry, W.I. bay oil, & basil oil CT linalol.

Benzaldehydehyde, 4-hydroxy-3-methoxy (aka vanillin) – irritant to mouth throat eyes etc... kidney damage, CNS disruption

Benzaldehydehyde, 4-hydroxy-3-methoxy occurs in vanilla beans, peru balsam, & benzoin resinoid.

Tony Burfield also says:

"Of course in the real world, toxic effects of chemicals are directly related to the dose, and splashing 0.03 ml of alcoholic perfume containing minor concentrations of these components behind the ears is unlikely to promote the effects listed above, even in a small minority of extremely susceptible individuals. Further, many of these components identified are identical to those components naturally occurring in the scents emitted from flowers, meadows & pine forests, or are responsible for the odour & taste of spices and natural flavourings etc. – so what are we to do? Mow down all the flowers and trees, since they give off these dangerous

volatiles? "

End quote.

Yes there are dangerous and toxic chemicals and yes there are dangerous and toxic naturals, but that doesn't mean you can group them all together and say that all chemicals and all naturals are bad and toxic.

Toxic ingredients have to be banned out of our perfumes, that's for sure. That's why Ifra made a guideline to tell us which ingredients should not be used or tell us the amount of ingredients we can safely use in our perfumes.

Here are more links about chemophobia:

http://members.tm.net/lapointe/ChemTox.htm
http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=919
http://www.crscientific.com/chemophobia.html

Have a fragrant safe day!

Stinky

How can bad, stinky smells turn into something wonderful smelling? In perfumery we not only use delicate wonderful smelling components, we sometimes use very stinky components too. For example Jasmine is a wonderful smelling flower, it's one of my favorite scents, but when you smell the single components of Jasmine on their own, like Indole, it doesn't smell so wonderful anymore. Pure Indole smells fecal but when it's diluted at 1% or less it becomes flowery like Jasmine or Orange flower.

A friend asked me for Cat Ketone (4-mercapto-4-methyl-2-pentanone), so I ordered it for him and received a bottle with a 1% dilution of Cat Ketone. Cat ketone occurs naturally in Black currant and Sauvignon grapes. When I opened the bottle to sniff, my head went backwards in a shock and the only words I could say were: "holy shit", it was unbelievable overwhelming and stinky, it smelled like cat urine!!!!

I left it in the bottle and quickly screwed the lid back on. But too late, my whole house stank like cat urine, it was unbearable. I opened all the windows and burned incense but the smell stayed. The day after I was drinking some juice of tropical fruits like Mango and guava, I smelled the juice and instantly recognized the smell of Cat Ketone, but strongly diluted. My plan was to take a little bit of the Cat Ketone for my self and give it to my friend, but I changed my mind and gave him the whole bottle.

Work in progress

I used another design for this blog and I'm still working on some things. Like the categories that you can see on your right. I like the posts to be grouped by category but I had to label every post I made in the past and I forgot how many posts I posted on this blog. Well still 50 posts to label and than it's done, I also will add the quotes that I have about perfume and add some nice photos with it. It takes a bit of time and I'm sorry for that.

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.

My first attempt to create The kiss

I already started with my perfume inspired by the painting The kiss (see post below). I started to create the main accord of this perfume, I used amber because I think amber translates the golden colors of this painting, one of the amber notes is labdanum absolute, sandalwood is for the comforting emotion of an embrace. To translate the white soft skin of the woman on this painting I used Iris what gives a warm soft creamy scent to this perfume, it combines perfect with the sandal. To give this perfume a romantic character I used rose. These notes all combine lovely with each other. I accentuate these notes with tolu, guaiacwood (champaca wood) which gives a great fixation to rose, patchouli and carrot seed oil which has an iris like note. I have to think what kind of top notes it will need.
The photo of the painting is from: http://www.yessy.com/

The kiss

On my Yahoo group: Perfumemaking we are doing 'perfume swaps'. In January we did our first swap, we sent each other our own created perfumes to get feedback from each other, this is real fun because we are very curious about the creations of each other and because we like to hear the thoughts and feedback for our own creations. Some perfumes that were sent in are real remarkable. I would love to talk about the perfume I sent in, but because we did an anonymously swap I can't tell you(yet), we are still giving feedback on all the perfumes but later I will reveal which perfume I sent.

We already are talking about the next swap, this will be a complete different swap. It will be an 'open' swap were we will share our formulas and discuss them to learn from each other. This swap is an experimental swap and we choose it to be a swap where we create a perfume based on a painting. The painting most of our members will use is The kiss by the Austrian painter, Gustav Klimt who lived from 1862-1918. The Art Nouveau (New Art also called Jugendstil) movement in Austria was called the Secession. Gustav Klimt was its founder and president from 1897 to 1905. His painting The Kiss is a symbol of Vienna Secession. Klimt's works of art were a scandal at his time because of the display of nudity and the subtle sexuality and eroticism. His best known painting The Kiss, was first exhibited in 1908. As everything coming out of Klimt's hands, it was highly controversial and admired at the same time.

The Kiss is a fascinating icon of the loss of self that lovers experience. Placed against a deep and vibrant golden background, a couple is locked in an embrace, only the faces and hands of this couple are visible; all the rest is great swirl of gold, studded with colored rectangles as if to express visually the emotional and physical explosion of erotic love under their feet a carpet of flowers. This painting gives me a protective, vournable and sensual emotion.

It's interesting to translate visual into smell. I'm thinking how I will create this perfume, what notes it needs. When I look at this painting I want of course a sensual perfume but it also has to evoke a protective emotion, like an embrace. When I look at the golden colors of this painting I'm thinking of using a note that can translate this color, for me amber would translate the golden colors. To translate the sensual parts of this painting I will use sensual notes like musks. Other sensual notes could be civet or castoreum although I think the castoreum is not the one I'm looking for. Rose is a romantic flower and would definitely be a note in this perfume. When I'm thinking of a kiss I think about sweet notes as well, like honey notes or chocolate notes even cherry notes, hmm have to think about it....