Féminité du Bois

I love this fragrance from Shiseido. This fragrance is based on woods, especially cedar wood. Other notes are not used to round off the accord, like it's done in many classical fragrances, but they are used to deepen the main accord. I can't find it in the descriptions of this fragrance, but when I apply it to my skin, I can smell a very dominant cumin note, besides the notes of cedar wood. The cedar wood can be smelled from the top trough bottom, what makes me wonder what materials are used in this fragrance. Somehow if you create fragrances yourself, you smell and judge fragrances differently, you 'feel' the emotion of the fragrance like any other, but you also want to recognize some materials that are used, it's more analytical smelling. Because I know the smell of many materials, and how combinations of these materials do smell like, it's easier to recognize them, otherwise I can only guess what's used. I think there is some Vertenex used, which smells like wood but appears in the top notes as well. Another note that I recognize is Iso E Super, this material smells woody, but warm and amber like at the same time. It makes this woody accord more warm. I can smell a honey note as well, which I think is wonderful in combination with cedar. I think besides the cedar notes a sandal note is used as well.

So in my opinion the following woody notes are used; Vertenex, to create a woody top note, Cedar with Cedryl acetate and Cedrol, maybe some Cedramber as well, Iso E Super to create a warm woody note, Sandal wood to add warmth, and some Ionones for violet and woody notes, which creates a bridge between the heart and the base notes. Besides the Cumin there are other spices used as well, like clove and cinnamon. There is some sort of animalic scent in the base notes that could be Civet or Castoreum, together with soft Vanilla, but not too much though. Some fruity notes of plum and some floral notes are used as well, but in a modest way, not disturbing the all over woody aura of this fragrance.

Féminité du Bois is created by Pierre Bourdon (photo on your right) and Christopher Sheldrake and launched in 1992 by Shiseido. The bottle was designed by Serge Lutens and he was the one that looked over the shoulder of the perfumers. It's a very mysterious fragrance, I think it can be worn by both men and women. It definitely makes a statement, it's emotional and very unique. Although.... I read a review by Luca Turin where he tells that the perfumer Pierre Bourdon used the idea of Féminité du Bois in another context for the perfume Dolce Vita by Dior. Of course I got curious about it and put Féminité du Bois on one wrist and Dolce Vita on the other. It's true, you can recognize Féminité du Bois in Dolce Vita, I would never come up with this myself. The bottles and the presentation of both fragrances looks so different that I never would have found the link between the two. Dolce Vita is not build up with notes to deepen the cedar wood notes like in Féminité du Bois, but is more dimensional. It has more citrus top notes and instead of plum it has peach as the fruity note. The floral heart is more deepened with 'lighter' floral notes like lilly of the valley. Dolce Vita is more crisp juicy and floral than Féminité du Bois, but the cedar wood and again the cumin note are recognized real easy.

Monclin

I heard about the Monclin before, it sounded fascinating, but wasn't doing much with the information. The first time that I read about it was on Luca Turin's blog. You can see two Monclin's on the photo above, they look like two wine glasses putting upside down with a little hole in it, where a scent strip is pushed through. It was invented by the perfume house Jean Patou.


A couple of days ago, I was studying some of my materials that I put on scent strips, I was searching for a nice combination of these materials to find a new accord. I grabbed a Bordeaux wine glass and put a couple of these scent strips in it, and smelled...... Wow, this was an unbelievable experience. This experience is so totally different than smelling just straight from the scent strips. The smell is much more concentrated, more lively and full, it's like you smell in 3D. I play with my own 'Monclin' all the time now. I start with one scent strip dipped in a material and than add another one to it, and smell the combination of these two. I can add as many scent strips as I like. I like to do the whole procedure backwards as well, by taking away a scent strip and smell how much difference this makes, I can smell the difference in an instant now, I keep smelling while I take the strip away.

Here you can read how you can create your own Monclin.

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

Interview with Michael Storer

I'm very glad that I got to know Michael Storer almost two years ago. We never met in person yet, but we talk a lot by email. Michael is also a very active member of my group 'Perfume making'. Always willing to share his knowledge of perfume making with the members of the group, he likes to help other perfumers to grow as well, something that is admirable. Michael is a very kind man, who is very modest about his own success. He launched six fragrances, three men's fragrances; Monk, Djin and Il Giardino and three fragrances for women; Stephanie, Yvette and Genviève. I did an interview with Michael Storer before, we talked about his men's fragrances and he told us how his passion for the creation of fragrances started. In that time he already started to talk about his idea to create fragrances for women as well. Now that he finally launched his three women's fragrances it's time the world should hear about these wonderful fragrances. In this interview we talk about his three 'sister' fragrances for women:

Can you share with us what the inspiration was behind all three perfumes?

Well, the whole idea for three sisters started out with one fragrance I wanted to do. Genviève, named after my mother. I wanted to design a perfume... not a cologne... that was very "upper class" and quintessentially soft and feminine and that had a floral base with just a bit of fruitiness for modernity. I wanted something that was refined and tasteful, not gaudy or loud. Something that reeked of good breeding and understated old money. I guess I wanted to do this because I had been working so long on masculine or actually unisex scents, my Monk, Il Giardino and Djin. Rose as a theme was a natural for this and I wanted to use some aldehydic notes to give it a Chanel No. 5 sort of luxury feel. I wanted the wearer or anyone who smelled it to think of diamonds and platinum. Anyway, I was browsing the Internet and hit upon some vintage Vogue magazine covers. I found the January, 1950 issue and thought... 'Oh, there's my girl in this classic gown and there's my ideal image for this perfume.' It featured a classy young woman in a chiffon opera gown. Strapless but in impeccable taste. The only thing that could date the picture is the long black gloves she wears. But I maintain that even now this look can be very with-it. Her look and her gown are totally timeless and refined femininity to my thinking. I even came up with an ad idea for the picture. It would feature my crystal perfume bottle and read: Timeless. Like you.

Well, after really quite a bit of real goal-oriented experimenting over several months, which of course is the joy of doing perfumery, I hit upon just the right thing and I knew I had what I wanted as soon as I whiffed it. It was just suddenly done. Just like that. It's an odd feeling when you finish an art project in whatever medium. Once it's done, it becomes this construction, this 'thing' that exists but that feels like it's no longer yours. You simply gave birth to something that exists on its own now. That's how it's been with all the fragrances I no longer have floating around in limbo in bottles still left with ideas to try this or that on. These as yet unborn ones are still yours. The finishing cuts the umbilical cord so to speak.

Soon after, I found a source for these beautiful heavy crystal bottles that were just perfect for the image I wanted for Genviève. Suddenly it became clear that I had enjoyed designing Genviève so thoroughly and the bottles were so nice, I wanted to give her 'sisters'. Three is a nice number, so I thought, 'Good. I get to design two more very womanly and equally classic perfumes.'

Next came Stephanie, my full-out gardenia perfume. I had been doing some experiments with single flower perfumes and I felt I had made quite a bit of headway on a gardenia. It just seemed a natural to me to have a heavier floral scent as many women's personalities are attracted to that rather than a lighter scent. I worked for a couple of months on that one. I smelled all the gardenia fragrances I could find and even asked women on the beauty and perfume boards to send me samples of ones I couldn't locate. These ladies really came through for me! In the end, there was something about each of them that just didn't capture the real flower for me. I have two gardenia plants growing in my back garden and was lucky that they were prolifically in bloom at the time. I said to myself, 'I can do better than any of these.' Well, tell me I have a big ego, but in the end I think that I surpassed all of them and a lot of users think so, too.

I had an epiphany of sorts making Stephanie. I got to the point where I thought it was finished so I set the little brown bottle aside for a few days to do its own magic. When I revisited it and put a dash on my arm, I thought that something was disappointing about it... Although it was quite good, it seemed to lack a certain crisp green pungency at the top. It just didn't have a certain sparkle I wanted. I had a sudden flash of what to try adding. It was a certain almost radishy-green chrysanthemum note.. very potent. I put just a drop of that into the mix and like a miracle the whole fragrance sprang to life. It's just funny to me that it was so after-the-fact. Almost serendipity. At that point, Stephanie flew the coop just as Genviève had and belonged no longer to me.

Yvette came to me with a lot of effort. I first tried a carnation fragrance, which I still really like, but after submitting it for our "group swap," Jenny, I came to the conclusion that it just wasn't exciting enough. People in our group liked it ok, but there were no big raves. So I thought, 'Why bottle this?' Next I experimented with another single flower note I'd been working on, a violet. I developed a very nice violet perfume, but I don't know... somehow I grew tired of smelling it and thought I'd rather create a fantasy perfume as the third sister.. something a bit more risky, not a solo flower and perhaps a bit gourmand. Something that wasn't so easy to categorize.

The final product was born out of curiosity about a few basic notes, one of them being genet, also called broom absolute. I built an accord around this and slowly Yvette began to take form. The somewhat buttery and bakery notes came later and the tarragon was a sudden bold stoke that just happened to work right. It's the fragrance that I fretted the most over. With a pure fantasy fragrance one has no real flower or any other kind of map to follow. Creating this kind of scent is the most exciting of all, but you really feel alone doing it because you're completely in uncharted waters with nothing to tell you if you're hot or if you're cold. It's all about trusting yourself. That's exhilarating but scary for anyone. I admit I had a lot of trepidation sending a sample vial to you, Jenny. I honestly had no idea what kind of reaction you'd have and I regard your nose very highly. My jaw practically dropped open when you told me it was your personal favorite 'sister' because I knew that the other two were very good.

I like all three of your fragrances, but Yvette is my personal favorite, I like fragrances that are complex, and Yvette is a very nice complex fragrance. I have to say that Stephanie comes close behind Yvette, it depends on what mood I'm in. If you would compare your three sister fragrances with music, which music would you compare to which fragrance?

Ummm.... That takes some thought. I'd say Genviève might be the ensemble of silver flutes that play Tsjaikovski ballet Danse des Merlitons in the Nutcracker Suite. That's silvery, light, classic and very feminine. Yeah, that could be a match.
Ummm... Stephanie.... Oh, this is hard! I get a very cool and sexy tenor saxophone. Yeah, and trombones, trumpets... It's the blues. That's what fits for me. What would Yvette be musically?? I think again jazz. But not so bluesy. More upbeat. Or in a totally different and romantic direction... "Stardust Memories" by Hogie Carmichael even though it's pretty old now, it's still one of the most beautiful melodies ever written. I think I'm telling you more about myself here than about my perfumes. [laughs].

Ohh I love the music of Tsjaikovski, when I was a little girl I always danced to it in my tutu. Can we expect a new women's fragrance soon? Are you working on one and will there be a fourth sister?

Will there be a fourth sister? I don't have anything planned. I want to work on a dark perfume next. Something for men and women. But I'd like it to be a perfume. Woody, musky.... I'm working on a few ideas, but I don't know yet how to package it. Should it be packaged like the three sisters? I don't know at all yet.

So a unisex fragrance? I think you need bottles that are 'unisex' as well then.

Yes, that is exactly the problem. Bottles. I will perhaps unify all of my bottles in the future, using just one bottle for everything I make. It would solve a myriad of problems. I'm not sure about that yet. But it may be coming.

Are you ever planning to start your own boutique?

Well, I guess one should never say 'never', but I can't see myself doing that in the near future. I'm currently more interested in wholesaling to boutiques, etc. I don't know how I'd like standing in a shop all day waiting for someone to walk in. I'm much more comfortable at my perfumery bench surrounded by raw materials.

I guess you right, but I think it's a nice experience for you and the buyers of your fragrances to be able to talk to each other. Is there a material you have only started exploring in your work recently?

Yes, I'm intrigued completely by Karanal. You know it Jenny, but I don't know if you've worked with it or not. It's fascinating, but at the same time I find it challenging to dose correctly.

Yes, I know how it smells, it smells a bit like amber, but have not worked with it yet, I think it's a difficult material to work with. What is the most unusual perfume you have ever created?

Oh my god! I've made a lot.. I mean a lot... of stink bombs. Way too many of them to count. They were certainly the most unusual. I've made things that ended up smelling like gasoline, farts, dirty feet, you name it. All in the name of discovery... [laughs] ... You should ask my partner. He'll tell you!

I know what you mean, I have the same discoveries.LOL What profession would you have gone into had you taken an alternate route in life?

Well, I was an actor in television for many years and I traveled the world as a photo model. I started with perfumery when I was in high school, but laid it aside for many years. For a long time I was a visual artist and I did some music composing. I can't imagine having taken a different path. It seems I was cut out for just what I'm doing. I'm fascinated with astronomy and also paleoanthropology, but I really can't image what kind of life I'd have had without art. I know I was destined to be an artist.

I would love to see a photo of you at work as a model, do you have a photo that I can add to this interview?

Here is one:

What do you think women are wanting from fragrance in today’s world?

I don't think much changes in this respect. They want romance above all. They want some perfumes to make them feel like they're being taken seriously and they want others to make them feel playful and sexually attractive. They want novelty. Women and of course men, too, tire of the same fragrances. It's just like shoes, actually. Styles will just go back and forth like a pendulum. And we'll be lucky when science brings us new aroma materials to work with and sad when others are made off limits to perfumers.

What do you hope women will take from your three 'sister' fragrances?

I frequently get e-mails from women ...as well as men... who have bought my fragrances. One woman recently wrote that Stephanie is the is most beautiful scent she has ever smelled and that it almost brings tears to her eyes when she wears it because it's such a beautiful work of art. Wow! Now that's potent and really touches me deeply. To think that I can make someone that happy... even just one stranger... It truly is sublime.

A final question, uhm... are you ever planning to create a perfume called Jenny? Just kidding. Thank you so much for this interview, I enjoyed it very much.

The main problem with that would be getting people who speak English to say the name Jenny correctly. Everyone would pronounce it Genny and not Yenny... Then it would sound like a nick name for Genviève.
Jenny, I don't think it will be long at all before your name is all tied up with your own fragrances! I enjoyed this interview too, it was fun, thank you so much!

Michael Storer's three 'sisters' and his men's fragrances and samples are available at the website of MICHAEL STORER Fine Fragrances: http://www.michaelstorer.com/as well as at Lucky Scent online and at their trendy Scent Bar in Los Angeles: http://www.luckyscent.com/

Genviève by Michael Storer

The last but not least star of the three 'sister' fragrances by Michael Storer is Genviève. A classic fragrance with a modern twist, build around the scent of roses from Damascus and Bulgaria, with their ultra feminine scent. Combined with the fresh but tender scent of Mimosa absolute, the intense tropical scent of Ylang ylang and the sensual notes of Jasmine absolute. Cool green notes of Violet leaf absolute calms the rose notes. The muguet makes it sparkling fresh. All these lovely flowers are bedded in a dream of a gentle peach note, which gives this fragrance a golden glow. The green tea gives this classic fragrance a modern twist. Sensual notes of civet, ambergris and musk preventing Genviève to become innocent.

Genviève is a fruity floral fragrance, intense feminine, timeless and rich. If I had to equate this fragrance with a Hollywood star it would be Grace Kelly. An actress seen as a standard of beauty, grace, and style, as timeless and feminine as the fragrance Genviève.

Genviève and her two 'sisters' are available as eau de parfum strength.
Michael Storer's three 'sisters' and his men's fragrances and samples are available at the website of MICHAEL STORER Fine Fragrances: http://www.michaelstorer.com/
as well as at Lucky Scent online and at their trendy Scent Bar in Los Angeles: http://www.luckyscent.com/


Tomorrow an interview with Michael Storer!

Yvette by Michael Storer

If the fragrance Stephanie can be equated to the Hollywood star Ava Gardner, the fragrance Yvette could be equated to another movie star, the full-brass redhead Rita Hayworth. This strikingly beautiful femme fatale was as much of a powerhouse as she was a demurely sensitive feline. That's exactly what the fragrance of Yvette brings to mind. It stands very strong on its own two legs but at the same time it is purringly gentle, sensitive and oh so persuasive. When I smell Yvette it's like suddenly donning a pair of 3-D glasses, for I detect multiple layers ...but at the same time I can smell through the total sum of them all, almost like peering into a wondrous hologram. One gets the feeling there is no end to its depth. You simply want more... An extraordinary experience.

The overlying note of Yvette is a rich plumminess through which a white floral accord sparkles. This floral accord is dominated by an exquisitely delicate lily of a warm, soft and creamy fragrance supported by warm spices, rose, ylang ylang, carnation and jasmine. Through it all weaves a trace of tarragon to lend it a subtle green twist. One of the first things I noticed when smelling Yvette was that it has such a wonderful sweet note going on in the background, not an overpowering sweetness, but a remarkably rich yet gentle and tender, almost dessert-like creaminess. It's the broom absolute which adds a creamy, honey floral character with slight fruitiness to this wonderful composition. I just love that note.

The overall effect is quite complex in the best possible of ways. A perfume you really have to experience to understand. With this fragrance you wont go unnoticed!

Yvette and her two 'sisters' are available as eau de parfum strength. Bottled by Mr. Storer himself.

Michael Storer's three 'sisters' and his men's fragrances are available at the website of MICHAEL STORER Fine Fragrances: http://www.michaelstorer.com/

as well as at Lucky Scent online and at their trendy Scent Bar in Los Angeles: http://www.luckyscent.com/

Stephanie by Michael Storer

Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce to you one of Michael Storer's three "sisters"...... Stephanie. This is no shy lady, she pulsates like a shining star, and a star is exactly what she is. This fragrance is highly addictive, so consider yourself well warned. It's a fragrance inspired by the headspace of the luscious white blooming Gardenia, sultry, voluptuous and so unbelievably sensual. Have you ever put on a perfume and found that you couldn't stop smelling your wrist? Well, this is such a perfume. Once you apply it, you keep sneaking a whiff because you just can't get enough of it; you want to inhale deep breaths of this seductive elixir.

One day I let my older brother smell Stephanie. Now he loves to talk, and I've noticed numerous times when I ask him to try a perfume, he whiffs it cursively and promptly goes right on with what he had been jabbering about, meanwhile keeping me waiting for his thoughts on the scent he had just put on. With Stephanie it was different. I put it on his wrist, and he actually stopped talking! He smelled, he looked up like he was searching for something in his mind, smelled again, and finally started to speak, exclaiming to me that he really loved this fragrance. I had to laugh to myself, because I caught him smelling his wrist the rest of the evening.

I have exactly the same experience with Stephanie, there is something definitely beguiling about this fragrance. The notes are truly sublime. There is a fresh green crispy top that makes this gardenia come alive and bloom. it's as if you were wafting this incredible white flower "au natural" together with the green leaves that surround it. I have smelled a lot of different gardenia fragrances, but they are nothing at all compared to this bejeweled star. For example the perfume Kai; it's so different. Kai smells nice but a bit "chemical," a bit too sharp and edgy, and it's more in the direction of Jasmine. Stephanie is the real deal. A classic Hollywood star.

Besides the scent of gardenia this perfume contains the notes of:

Pink pepper, black pepper, galbanum resin, angelica root oil, sambac jasmine absolute, tuberose, and a slight touch of chrysanthemum for crispness. Gentle sandalwood notes and vetiver anchor the bottom of this perfume, but as if by magic, they don't push their way into the flower scent but simply offer subtle support and longevity. A real tribute to Mr. Storer's ingenuity as a perfumer.

Arhianrad (Juvy Santos) wrote in her blog winterstorming, a beautiful review about Stephanie, one of the things she said was:

"A White Floral to End All White Florals. Gardenia's answer to Tuberose's Fracas. This belongs to the vamps and the starlets of yesteryear, the curvaceous and the bold. It is unrelentingly sexy--a fragrance with decolletage, and garters, red lips and lacquered nails. Ava Gardner, sultry eyes and everything."

I couldn't have said it better!

Stephanie is available at the website of MICHAEL STORER Fine Fragrances: http://www.michaelstorer.com/
as well as at Lucky Scent online and at their trendy Scent Bar in Los Angeles: http://www.luckyscent.com/

Michael Storer and his three sisters

This week is dedicated to the three 'sister' perfumes created by Michael Storer. The following days I will review all three sisters; Yvette, Genviève and Stephanie, three wonderful fragrances created by my dear friend Michael Storer. At the end of the week I will have an interview with this remarkable perfumer. I had a wonderful interview with the perfumer Michael Storer before about his men's fragrances, he already talked in this interview about launching women's fragrances as well in the future. Well, he finally did and made many ladies very happy. Tomorrow my first review about the fragrance Stephanie. The fragrances created by Michael Storer can be found at his own website:
http://www.michaelstorer.com/
and
http://www.luckyscent.com/

For reading more reviews about the perfumes made by Michael Storer please visit:
Sniffapalooza
Noteworthyfragrances
Arhianrad

Sperm attracted to the scent of Lily of the Valley???

Can human sperm cells smell? Well that is what I just read, never knew this before. There is found that human sperm cells have an odorant receptor which triggers a series of physiological events that may result in the directed movement of human sperm. The sperm-attracting odorant is named 'Bourgeonal' this is an aroma chemical used in perfumes and soap for it's Lily of the Valley scent. So where is this Bourgeonal/Lily of the Valley scent come from, does the egg of the woman produce this scent or is it produced somewhere else? They don't have an answer to that question yet. Another interesting thing is that the aroma chemical 'Undecanal' (Aldehyde C-11 undecylenic, waxy/fatty/rose/citrus odor) appears to block the effect of Bourgeonal and inhibits the chemo sensory response in sperm cells. Maybe in the future Undecanal will be used to prevent undesired pregnancies, instead of hormones, and Bourgeonal to help people to get pregnant. Who knows, and who knows they maybe will find more odorant receptors.

If you like to read more about this subject, here are some links:
NY Times
Health 24
And in German language:
3Sat

Vanille Exquise by Annick Goutal

I love the sweet scent of vanilla, the scent makes me calm and it's comforting, I love the taste of vanilla as well, I like vanilla desserts and candy's with vanilla. But to wear a vanilla perfume is a complete
different story. Most vanilla scents are too sweet and girly girly for me and since I'm not a teenager anymore, I feel that it doesn't suit me. The different perfumes by Annick Goutal are very lovely, so I was curious about the Vanilla Exquise as well.

This perfume was created in 2004 by perfumer Isabelle Doyen. She and Camille Goutal (the daughter of Annick Goutal) dreamt of a unique vanilla which could take us away to far away islands and Cleopatra's ancient milk baths of vanilla scented almond.

The notes are described as:

Vanilla from the Marquises Islands, angelica, almond, benzoin, white musk, sandalwood and Gaïac wood.

It's some sort of a woody vanilla, it's creamy but also a bit dry woody. It doesn't smell like a very complex perfume, it smells rather simple and recognizable, that doesn't mean that it's not a very well done composition though. The scent stays close to my skin, like most perfumes of Annick Goutal do, it's a calm and quiet perfume. It's a bit too quiet for my taste, it doesn't excite me.

At the opening I smell the soft floral woody note of Linalool, I guess there is used quite a bit of this material. There is a bit of a smokey note, I guess that is because of the Gaïac wood, I would have liked a bit more of this smokey note. I smell a sweet note that reminds me of sugared almonds, this could be benzaldehyde (which smells like almond) and maltol(which smells like sugar, caramel), but the angelica sure helps to add some wonderful green sweetness as well. I think besides the natural vanilla, there is also used some Veratraldehyde, which has a more woody vanilla scent and some ethyl vanillin, which is more creamier than normal vanillin. Not a bad composition, but too simple and too sweet and flat for my taste.

Available at http://www.annickgoutal.com/ a beautiful but slow site.

Apple formula

We went to Germany today, which is really close to where we life. It was real fun there, we went shopping and had a lovely walk in the local park and of course we ate 'pflaumenkuchen' a cake made with plums, I love that cake.

Yesterday I was experimenting with an apple formula, just for fun, and I like to share with you what I came up with so far, here it is:

Ethyl heptanoate 30
iso Amyl acetate 30
Ethyl butyrate 11
Ethyl-2-methyl butyrate 3
Orange oil 3
Linalyl acetate 2
Geraniol 1
Hexyl acetate 1
Geranyl acetate 1
Cyclohexyl butyrate 10% 6
Neroli 10% 3
Vertelione 3% 2
Benzaldehyde 1% 2

Your partner's choice

We all have our own favorite perfumes, but which one does your partner likes you to wear?

I just asked my DH (Mo) which perfume he likes me to wear, he answered Chanel no.5, I have to say that I like Chanel no.19 better, which was a present from him as well, I'm happy that he likes that one too. We also have a perfume we share, I talked about this before, it's Must de Cartier, it smells good on both of us. It's fun to wear the same perfume at the same time, it blends wonderful together..........

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.

Greetings from the Netherlands

Today was a beautiful sunny day. My husband and I like cycling, especially if the weather is sunny as it was today. We decided to pay a visit to my mom. She, my stepfather and my little (but tall) brother are living 11 kilometers (about 7 miles) away from us. They life in a romantic little white house, which you can see on top of this post. Before we lived in another village, but we moved to this house when I was eight. I love that romantic little house with such a beautiful garden. My mother and my stepfather loves gardening and they have beautiful flowers in their garden, but also all kinds of vegetables. I like it when my mother makes vegetable soup and goes into her garden to get all the ingredients for her soup, every ingredient for her soup is freshly picked from the garden.

My husband and I life in an area with beautiful nature, we can jump on our bikes and in 10 minutes we are surrounded by breathtaking beautiful nature, we have forests but a lot of water as well. We took the route where you can bike trough an area with wild nature where you see no cars, with the river called 'Linde' alongside you. I took some photos to share this beautiful day with you.

Above a photo of my mother and me, below are some photos of the

route that we took today

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.