Mitsouko

Mitsouko (mystery in Japanese) from Guerlain is a perfume that you simply have to smell to understand. The perfume evokes an emotion to me I can't describe in words, it's especially hard to describe when English isn't your own language, but even in Dutch it would be difficult to describe. It's kind of a sad emotion in a way and at the same time it gives me an elegant and rich feeling. It's not a perfume that I would wear when going to work, it's more for special occasions, I can't imagine wearing this fragrance with a jeans but that's just my opinion. Mitsouko is a perfume of the Chypre family, it has oakmoss and I smell a lot of Labdanum absolute(Ciste or Rock rose) and a warm balsamic opopanax note. The topnotes are made of fresh citrus notes and the heart has rose, jasmine and lilac. I can smell something like thyme as well and some smokey notes that could be coming from birch tar. Guerlain started a new trend by adding a peach note coming from Aldehyde C14, many perfumers followed that trend. The peach note isn't overwhelming but ads a smooth fruityness to the other somewhat spicy harsh smokey notes. This perfume is so wonderful made that you have to smell it ones in your live.

Galbanum and apricot

Because I liked the result of the experiment with galbanum I decided to continue with this experiment. To accentuate the green note of galbanum I used cis-3-Hexenyl Methyl Carbonate that gives a nice green violet leaf scent. A nice and often used combination with galbanum is hyacinth so I added that as well and some light rosy and lily notes. To give the perfume fixation I added some green woody base notes like a little oakmoss absolute unfortunately it's only allowed by IFRA (International Fragrance Association) to use a little so I used some substitutes as well and vetiver which has a incredible nice green woody asparagus kind of scent in combination with vertofix coeur that has a vetiver scent in combination with a leather note and finally some cedar and cedryl acetate to enhance the woody notes. Okay the perfume was nice in this stadium but just nice, I call that a safe smelling perfume, nice but simple with no surprises.

I smelled the perfume on a smelling strip and on my skin to study the result and thinking about what was missing. The process is all in my head, I think about notes that I can use and imagine how this note would smell in combination with this perfume. I liked the green fresh note but liked it to be more full bodied and warm, and there it was.... it needed a warm fruity note I chose the note of apricot a warm fruity full bodied note and added quite a bit together with some cinnamon and a touch of vanilla. To give the perfume some warm softness I added a wonderful orchid note and some narcissus because beside the flowery notes it has some fruity aspects as well. The result is a green fruity warm perfume with a soft feeling, I keep you informed about the experiments with this perfume.

Just played around

Working on a perfume and perfectionice it takes a lot of work and time, and sometimes it's better to take a break and start working on it with new energy. So sometimes I like to just play around with my materials without any goal just play with them and see if I can find nice combinations. It's real fun to work like that and give the opportunity to find interesting accords. Today I just played with my materials as well and started with one of my favorite materials: Galbanum a wonderful green material. I added some other green and leafy notes and some fresh notes. An interesting material with a galbanum note is Pharaone, the first time I smelled this material it wasn't nice at all, well I still don't find the smell nice but because of that I was getting interested in the material, it's described as having a galbanum/pineapple/angelica note. I diluted the material way down but it still was bad, so I tried the Pharaone in the Galbanum to see how it would smell in a blend. And the result is real nice.... it lifted the fragrance and gave it a fruity note. That's the strange thing about perfumery, you can't judge a fragrance material without working with it, and see how it reacts with other materials.

Perfume house Guerlain

Pierre-Francois-Pascal Guerlain was born in Abbevile France. His dream was to become a chemist and went to London in 1820 to study. He worked in a shop that sold aromatic vinegar and soap to earn some money. He became the assistant of the masterperfumer and in 1828 he returned to France to open his own shop. He was a specialist in making personal perfumes for his costumers. But he also made toothpaste, soap and creams.

Soap label from 1890

Pierre became very famous and delivered perfume to the Belgian kings and the prince of Wales. He created Eau de Cologne Imperiale for the emperor Eugenie and became the official deliverer of the emperor Napoleon the third. His son Aime followed his father and wanted to make heavier perfumes instead of the fresh eau de colognes that where popular in that time. The result was Jicky. This perfume came in 1889 on the market and was nothing like an imitation of the nature or a creation of flowery smells: it was a combination of sensual notes; Civet, Coumarine, Vanilline and Linalool all synthetic products and Lavender and Bergamot. Jicky was "new", it was so new that people in that time need to get used to the perfume and only 20 years later it became a success.


In that time there where created a lot of perfumes and some of them are still around. One of them is L'Heure Bleue form 1912. The clear part of it is created by Bulgarian rose, Iris and Heliotroop, and the magical dark heart is created by Vanilla, Jasmine and Muskus. Until now perfumers use the basenotes from this perfume to variate with it to created a new perfume inspired by L'Heure Bleue.




The company Guerlain is still alive and there where always followers in the family. The last perfumer until now is Jean Paul Guerlain.
The company Guerlain created a lot of perfumes here are some of them:

Mitsouko

1919.

Type: Chypre.

Notes: Bergamot-Rose-Jasmin-Peach-Spices-Oakmoss.

Guerlinade

1922

Type: Flowery Oriental

Notes: Bergamot-Tonka bean-Vanilla

Shalimar

1925

Type: Oriental

Notes: Bergamot-Iris-Vanilla-Ambar

Vetiver

1959

Type: Woody

Notes: Vetiver-Nutmeg-Pepper

Jardins de Bagatelle

1983

Type: Flowery

Notes: Jasmin-Magnolia-Gardenia-Tuberose

Samsara

1989

Type:Oriental

Notes: Jasmin-Sandalwood-Rose-Narcis-Vanilla

L'Instant

Type: Flowery Oriental

Notes: Lemonhoney-Magnolia-Ambar

Opium + Shalimar =........

I made a perfume for the birthday of my sister in law. She and also her husband my brother love the perfume Opium from Yves Saint Laurent. So I thought it would be a nice idea to make a perfume in the style of Opium. Although it' s not my favorite perfume because somehow it doesn't work on me like I have with other nice perfumes like Angel, I like the smell of it. I actually combined two styles of fragrances; Opium and Shalimar by Guerlain.

Shalimar is a sweet sensual animalic perfume that is based on Coumarin(a substance of Tonka bean), vanilla; Guerlain used the synthetic Ethyl vanillin, Linalool(a substance from Rosewood), Civet and Bergamot. I just love this perfume and I know my sister in law loves it also. I combined these notes with some spicy notes just like Opium has, like Clove bud oil and Coriander and a Lilly of the Valley note and of course Patchouli. To soften the Patchouli I used a little Cashmeran and I used a peachy note coming from Aldehyde C14. I added wonderful woody notes like Cedar, Sandal and Guiacwood, and warm amber notes like Labdanum absolute and Ambrettolide, and sensual musky notes coming from Exaltolide and Galaxolide. I added a little Jasmine and Rose to give it some flowery notes.

The result is lovely it's warm, sweet, ambery and spicy, I made it as a perfume extract, now I have to wait and see if she likes it. Tomorrow I will give it to her.....

Grrrrrrrr......

While my Chypre/fruity perfume is maturing I worked on another perfume of mine the Oriental/leathery perfume. This perfume is based on oriental and animal notes. I wanted it to make a sexy fragrance based on amber and other warm animal notes like civet and castoreum but also leather and myrrh. I added some flowery notes of rose, jasmine, tuberose, orange flower and lily. This all is sweetened by a warm sweet honey note. To give it a fresh top I added some bergamot and mandarin.
It's a fragrance that touch my emotions, it's warm, sensual and pure sexy and has great staying power. I like the fragrance a lot but it's also a bit heavy and I'm not sure it's wearable at daytime. I want to make the fragrance a bit lighter than it is right now, maybe by adding some Hedione or more lily notes. I'm close but it needs some changes to make it lighter.

Photos are from http://images.easyart.com/ and http://www.inmagine.com/

Hobby perfumers

After receiving an email from a lovely woman telling me that she's a hobby perfumer as well and would love to exchange experiments I thought it would be time to tell you about my group at Yahoo: Perfumemaking. It's a friendly group with all kinds of perfumers; hobby perfumers, natural perfumers and perfumers that want to make perfume on a professional basis using naturals and chemicals. We all learn from each other and help each other where we can, it's like a big family.
Perfume making is a lonely hobby in a way, and not everyone understands what you are talking about when you talk about the making of perfumes. This group is a wonderful way to talk to others about what you do and exchange experiments.
Here is the url:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/perfumemaking/

Filling up the gap

Still working on my Chypre/fruit fragrance. I tried adding some notes but some of them didn't work, the character of the fragrance changed too much. I must be really careful not to change the fragrance too much. When I'm making a fragrance I also look at the way the fragrance change after applying it on the skin or on a smelling strip. I study the way the top notes flow over in the heart notes and how the heart notes finally melt in to the base notes.

Top notes are the first notes you detect when smelling a fragrance, the top notes are the more volatile notes, they have light molecules and evaporate real fast. Examples of top notes are lemon, bergamot, orange, peppermint and grapefruit.
After that you smell the heart notes that have notes that evaporate slower like rose, jasmine, tuberose and violet.
And finally the base notes that have the heaviest molecules like musk, benzoin, vanilla, civet and oak moss.

But there is more....
Some notes are between the top and heart or between the heart and base notes and act like a bridge between those notes. Using only top, heart and base notes can leave a gap between the two stages. Examples of notes that are between the top and the heart notes are petit grain and neroli they both are neither a top or a heart note they are a bridge between the top and heart notes.

That's why I have to know the time each note stay on a smelling strip, I write the time of each note down. This way I know how to use the note. If I detect a gap in the fragrance I know which note I can use to fill up that gap, so the fragrance will smoothly change over time.

Perfume without a name

Yesterday I worked on my Chypre/fruit fragrance. I don't want to change too much because I really like the fragrance as it is I only work on it to enhance some notes or to round things of and deepen some of the notes. Perfectionicing a perfume takes the most work of the whole creation process and needs a lot of patience and time. Every time I need to study the effect of what I have done and be honest about it to myself. Sometimes I found out that I have to keep some notes out of the fragrance, even when I thought in the beginning the fragrance really needed these notes.

A fragrance need complexity but too much complexity makes a perfume without character, it's important to find the balance between complexity and character. The Chypre/fruit fragrance has fruity top notes of Mandarin, Lychee, Pineapple, Neroli and Bergamot decorated with a Brandy note. The heart notes possesses notes of Egyptian Jasmine absolute, Tuberose absolute, Watercress, Rosa Damascena and Violet. The base have notes of Cedar, Iris, Vetiver, Leather, Oak moss and Patchouli.

The fragrance starts fruity with an interesting Brandy note, the heart is fruity flowery in the beginning but soon gets darker because of the Damascena rose, right now I'm working on the rose note to deepen it a bit more, I added the wonderful materials Damascenone and Damascone Delta and I love the effect of it. The base isn't a soft sweet base but a complex woody mossy base that's not hiding in the background but making a real statement through the whole fragrance. I like perfumes that makes a statement, I don't want to make a perfume that just have a pleasant smell I want to create a perfume that triggers a reaction and emotion and I think the Chypre/fruit is doing just that. It's not a girly fruity flowery fragrance but more an adult complex fragrance.

The funny thing is that I never give a name to a fragrance I''m creating, so I will think about a suitable name for it instead of calling it Chypre/fruity.

Blind smelling

I envy the way Luca Turin can translate into words what he smells. Sometimes when I smell something I can tell exactly what it smells like but sometimes I need days until I found out what it does remind me of. I think it's possible to train yourself in it, I like to smell my materials "blind" and try to find out what kind of material I'm smelling. I pick up a bottle without looking at the label or do it with someone else and ask to give me a bottle without telling me the name. It's funny to smell the material with an open mind and without being prejudged, sometimes I smell nuances of the material I never smelled before. Radio New Zealand did an interview with Luca Turin about smell, the interview is 30 minutes long and very interesting, you can listen to it here:
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/national/ntn/feature_guest_-_luca_turin

Have a nice Sunday!

Ylang Ylang

The essential oil of Ylang Ylang was one of the first essential oils I buyed. The smell of Ylang Ylang oil is intense sweet, flowery, exotic and somewhat fruity. Ylang Ylang came originally from the Philippines but also growing now in Java, the Comores and other places. The Ylang Ylang "extra" is the first distilled oil and the best oil for fragrances. To obtain 1 kilo essential oil there is needed 50 kilo's of Ylang Ylang blossoms.



Ylang Ylang is used in a lot of perfumes in Chanel no5 it is an important note. It has volatile notes that easily can be detected in the top notes of a perfume but it also give powdery sweet, flowery notes in the base.



The essential oil of Ylang Ylang has a positive influence on high blood pressure and helps when you breath to fast. It helps you to calm down. A few drops in your shampoo gives you shiny hair and your hair will smell delicious. Ylang Ylang oil is also perfect to relax the muscles of your face. Blend some drops in your face cream and massage your face with it. Your face will look more relaxed and fresh. Ylang Ylang has a sensual smell and is perfect to use in an aroma burner to create a romantic enviroment. Some find the scent of the oil a bit to sweet and heavy, you can mix it with some lemon oil to make the oil smell lighter.

I like to use Ylang Ylang oil in combination with Bergamot and linaloewood or Howood(instead of Rosewood oil to safe the forrest of the Amazone), this is a classic top note combination of many fragrances. Ylang Ylang is also an important note for creating Carnation and Lilly of the Valley. I like the combination of Ylang Ylang with Sandalwood, Jasmine, Mimosa, Tuberose, Orange blossom as well and so many more, it's an easy oil to combine with other notes.

Traditional Eau de Cologne formula

I would like to give you a traditional formula of Eau de Cologne one of the oldest perfumes that still exist. I always have a bottle beside my bed and use it when I have a headache. It's refreshing and uplifting.

Fantasy colognes are usually modifications of standard Eau de Cologne with floral or other notes to impart special character to the fragrance, small dosages of essential oils such as geranium, rose, ylang ylang, patchouli and vetivert may be used for this purpose. Also interesting is omitting some oils like lavender or rosemary and introducing an aroma chemical such as Lilial, Anisaldehyde, iso amyl salicylate etc. To compare you can make a completely synthetic Eau de Cologne.


Here is the formula:


Bergamot oil 27
Lemon oil Sicilian 20
Sweet orange oil 16
Neroli oil 12
Lavender oil French 6
Rosemary oil Spanish 4
Thyme oil white 1
Clove bud oil 1
Petitgrain oil 3
Clary sage oil 2
Benzoin resinoid, siam 1

Update on the surgery of my husband

Well my husband had the surgery on his back last Tuesday, and it all went well. 6 hours after the surgery he was able to walk and one day later so on Wednesday he already went home!!! Can you believe it? Now he still has some pain and doesn't walk so well but that takes time. We hope it all turn out well.

Remember my question in the post about what scents could be used for perfumes and which don't? See here.
I never thought there would be a perfume made with the smell of cheese, but there is... there is a perfume called Eau de Stilton and it's based on the smell of Stilton cheese. The perfume re-creates the earthy and fruity aroma of Blue Stilton cheese. Using grape seed as a carrier oil, the Stilton scent features a symphony of natural base notes including Yarrow, Angelica seed, Clary Sage and Valerian. I'm curious about the smell of it but I can't imagine I would like it though. You can find information about this perfume on the site:
http://www.stiltoncheese.com/

To wear or not to wear

A fragrance can have a nice scent but when do you want to wear it? I like some scents but don't like to wear them as a fragrance. For example I like the smell of an ice cream, melon, coconut or a candy but I don't want to smell like it, I would like to smell it on my wrist maybe just for my self. I could like the scents incorporated in a fragrance though.

When I'm making a perfume I always ask my self "I like the smell of it but would I like to wear it?". A nice fragrance is not enough, a perfume is an extension of your personality it tells something about yourself.

A perfume becomes a part of you, so it's important to find something from yourself in the perfume you're wearing. On the other hand I would like to have a scent bottle with a scent just for my self to put it on my wrist or on a handkerchief just to smell it when ever I like, because I like that smell or because it brings back a childhood memory.

I can smell again

It's a grey day in The Netherlands. Our summer started so well but the last couple of weeks the weather is rainy. Today there is no sun it's raining a little spit spat but it's not cold. On my bike I enjoyed the weather even. I think it is because I've spend a couple of days at home because I was ill. It felt good to sit on my bike and feel the little tiny drops of rain on my face and smell the fresh clean air mixed with the smell of wet soil and fresh grass.

I'm so happy that I can smell again. I put on my fruity/chypre fragrance and try to find out if it's missing something. Maybe it could use some more bergamot I will try that, I enjoy the smell of bergamot oil it's a delightful smell that brings the sun in your live, something that I could use right now. I tried substitutes for the bergamot oil but nothing smell like the real thing. I like the smell of green mandarin oil as well and will see of that can enhance the fruity note of this fragrance. I don't want to change too much though because the fragrance does smell great how it is right now, I just want to see if I tried everything to make it perfect.

On Tuesday we got the news that my husband will be operated on his hernia next week Tuesday, so on 5 September. I'm happy that it will be done but I'm also very nervous about it. But we both know that he need an operation, he has had a lot of pain and can't do the things he was used to do. I will keep you informed about it next week.

Musk

Musk impart sensuality to perfume it bring volume and diffusitvity and impart warmth and liveliness. I think it's safe to say that there's no perfume without musk. Musk tincture smells animalic, sweet and ammoniacal. But the more one studies its character, the more contrasting, vibrant and oscillating it becomes: repulsive-attractive, chemical-warm, sweaty-balmy, acrid-waxy, earthy-powdery, fatty-chocolate like, pungent-leathery, resinous-spicy, fig-like, dry, nutty, and woody.

Originally the musk was obtained from the male musk deer. The internal pouches found between the hind legs had an intesely smelling secretion. To harvest the secretion the animal was hunted. To obtain 1 kilo of musk grains between 30 and 50 animals had to be sacrificed. Musk tinctures were still used in perfumery till about 1979, when musk deers were protected form extinction by the Conention on International Trade in Endagnered species of wild fauna and flora(CITES)

Musky smell refers especially from the smell of the dry-down of the natural musk tincture after the more volatile parts are evaporated and when the more warm, sensual, sweet-powdery tonality comes forward. In 1888 Albert Bauer discovered the nitro musk Musk Bauer. Soon replaced by three other nitro musks that he also discovered: Musk Xylene, Musk Ketone and Musk Ambrette. These musks became really important for the fragrances for the next 50 years.

In 1981 the nitro musks were restricted mainly because of a certain toxicity(neurotoxicity) and their phototoxicity, but besides they also caused ecological concerns due to their poor biodegradability. Ernest Beaux the perfumer that created Chanel no5 used over 10% nitro musks in his formulation mainly Musk Ketone. Musk Ambrette was used by the perfumer Francis Fabron for L'air du Temps. These nitro musks had to be replaced by other musk smelling chemicals and that's not an easy thing to do without changing the smell of these perfumes.

The first nitro free aromatic musk chemical Phantolide was introduced in 1951 by Kurt Fuchs. This was the start of other Polycyclic musks like Celestolide, Fixolide, Tonalide, Galaxolide and many more. Galaxolide was first synthesized in 1965, and already in the late 1960s used in dosages up to 40% in fabric softeners such as Comfort and Soflan and in detergents like Coral at 27%. But high doses were also incorporated in fine fragrances, for instance Tresor by Sophia Grosjsman with its 21,4% of Galaxolide. Galaxolide possesses a clean sweet musky flowery woody odour.

There is another group of chemicals with a musk odour: Macrocyclic musks. Examples of macrocyclic musks are Exaltolide, Habanolide, Velvione and others. Habanolide has a metallic character which is used in Emporio Armani white for her by Alberto Morillas as a component of a white musk accord together with Helvetolide. In Glow by J Lo it's used in an intense white flower accord.

Nirvanolide a chemical produced by Givaudan has a clean and sweet, powdery and persistent, and slightly animalic odour and is quite close to the restricted Musk Ketone. It's used at 6,7% in the perfume Forever Elizabeth created by David Apel. Another chemical with an odour close to Musk Ketone is Muscenone it possesses a very elegant and diffusive musk odour.

Musk odours could also be obtained in the plant kingdom like Angelica root oil that possesses the musk odour Exaltolide(macrocyclic) but also 12-methyl-13-tridecanolide. The discovery of 12-methyl-13-tridecanolide in Angelica root oil was really important because it showed the importance of the effect of methyl substituents on the character of macrocyclic musks. Ambrette seed oil possesses Ambretollide. When thinking about musky smells you don't think about Galbanum because it has a green note with balsamic nuances and isn't musky at all, but the isolated methyl macrolides: 14-pentadecanolide and the 15-hexadecanolide do have a musky odour.

This information I found in the books Chemistry and Technology of flavors and fragrances by David J. Rowe and Perfumery practice and principles by Robert R. Calkin and J. Stephen Jellinek. The picture of the musk pods is from http://www.kogado.co.jp/ the picture of the chemical structures is from http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/webprojects2003/teo/realmusks.htm the picture of Tresor is from http://www.beautymarkcorp.com/ and the one of Forever Elizabeth is from http://www.fragrancenow.com/

Don't feel so well

The last couple of days I don't feel so well. All my muscles hurt, I'm o so tired and I have a terrible cold. So no perfume making for me these days, I spent my days sleeping and reading. The book I'm reading is Chemistry and technology of flavors and fragrances by David J.Rowe.
It's a difficult book for me to read because it discusses the technical parts of some aroma chemicals, but there is also interesting information to be found. Like the chapter about musks, I found in that chapter that L'air du Temps not only possesses musk ketone but also musk ambrette, both are restricted now. Today these musks could be replaced by muscenone and nirvanolide. I will write a post about musk the next time, when I feel a bit better.

Study of the classics part 1 +

Yesterday I posted my formula for L'air du Temps and thought it would be nice to give some alternatives for the given components for someone that doesn't have all these components, and want to use essential oils and absolutes. So here is the formula where I wrote down some alternatives behind the original components, they don't smell exactly the same but have some similarity:

Benzyl salicylate 6,7 (ylang ylang)
Eugenol 1,5 (clove)
Methyl Diantilis 0,5 (carnation)
Ylang Ylang 1
Methyl Ionone 4,4 (orris root)
Vertofix 2 (vetiver)
Sandalwood 1
Styrallyl acetate 0,2 (gardenia, jasmine)
Phenylethylalcohol 2 (rose)
Hydroxycitronellal 4,4 (smells like lilly of the Valley there is no essential oil of this flower)
Benzyl acetate 0,4 (jasmine, ylang)
Bergamot 2,4
Linalool 1 (rosewood)
Linalyl acetate 3 (bergamot, neroli, lavender)
Aldehyde C11 undecylenic 0,1 (orange or bergamot)
Vanillin 0,05 (vanilla)
Heliotropin 0,2 (smells like vanilla and almond,maybe a benzoin oil would work here)
Iris substitute Firmenich 0,05 (iris)
Exaltolide 0,15 (a musky fragrance with some similarity to angelica root oil)
Muscenone Delta 0,15 (a musky fragrance that could be replaced by Ambrette Seed Oil)
Jasmin etoile(givaudan) 0,2 (jasmine)

Study of the classics part 1

Last weekend I spent my days on studying the classic perfumes. I once read in a book that you can learn from the classic perfumes. I think that makes sense, it gives me a change to try to understand what the perfumer thought while creating the perfume why he or she used certain notes. So this weekend I started with two classicals. L'air du Temps and Shalimar. Here is the Simple formula I made for a perfume with a L'air du Temps kind of fragrance:


Benzyl salicylate 6,7
Eugenol* 1,5
Methyl Diantilis** 0,5
Ylang Ylang 1
Methyl Ionone 4,4
Vertofix 2
Sandalwood 1
Styrallyl acetate 0,2
Phenylethyl
alcohol 2
Hydroxycitronellal 4,4
Benzyl acetate 0,4
Bergamot 2,4
Linalool 1
Linalyl acetate 3
Aldehyde C11
undecylenic 0,1
Vanillin 0,05
Heliotropin 0,2
Iris substitute Firmenich 0,05
Exaltolide*** 0,15
Muscenone Delta*** 0,15
Jasmin etoile(givaudan) 0,2

*could be replaced by clove oil
** I used this instead of Iso eugenol because it smell similar but it's not restricted by IFRA
***Both musk notes, the original has Musk ketone but since it's restricted I don't like to use it

The perfume has some similarity to L'air du Temps but is lighter and more flowery, the original has more dark sweet notes maybe from benzoin or patchouli.

Now I will experiment with this accord. For example replace the Benzyl salicylate by Amyl salicylate or cis 3 hexenyl salicylate and study the difference. I could change the Hydroxycitronellal for Lyral or the Methyl Ionone by Beta ionone or Alpha ionone. I could even try to add a new note, maybe a green note like Galbanum or a peach note like Aldehyde C14 or Nectaryl. Or leaving a note out like the rose notes like Phenylethyl alcohol. Most perfumes are inspired by the classics, by using another interpretation of the classics there could be created a whole new perfume. Mitsouko by Guerlain was based on the Chypre accord but by adding a peach note from the Aldehyde C14 it became a complete different perfume.

To twirl all girly by Pilar and Lucy

When I saw the lovely bottles of Pilar and Lucy for the first time it made me curious. The bottles are so feminine and the names so funny, I had to know how the liquid inside this beautiful bottle smelled. To twirl all girly is described as a perfume inspired by gardenia, but to me it's a perfume with a sweet vanilla scent with a little bit of a flower note from gardenia and jasmine. I expected to get a fresh sensual smell of the gardenia from this bottle but instead it's a sweet fragrance that I wouldn't describe gardenia like. Yes there is a note of gardenia but that's a minor note.

It's definitely a gourmand fragrance, the first impression is vanilla coconut. After searching a while I detect the gardenia note, covered up with a sweet warm caramel note. There is a note of frankincense shimmering through the whole fragrance that intrigues me, that note is really important for this fragrance because without it it would be to flat. Set my disappointment a side that it isn't a gardenia fragrance I must admit it's a really nice fragrance, and girly it is, I get images of balletdancers in pink dresses, girly, soft, sweet, romantic, dreamy....that's the words to describe this perfume. I can imagine wearing this as a comforting perfume on a rainy day, rolling my self in a blanket on the couch, drinking hot chocolate and reading my favorite book. My only complaint about this perfume is that it's linear and doesn't change much on my skin.

The picture of the bottle is from: http://www.fragrancesandmore.biz
the balletdancers are form: http://www.canvaz.com/ and the picture of the caramel is from: http://gredom.free.fr/cathou/