Faux Natural Perfumes. Masked Marauders Be Gone

You know what really grinds my gears?  Perfume lines that tout themselves as natural when they are not.  Big companies trying to capitalize on the green movement.  I've been investigating the proliferation of these "faux natural" perfumes as I like to call them, and I'm agog by how misleading the advertising copy is for many of these lines.  It makes me angry.  Angry enough to reference the t.v. show Family Guy (note episode when Peter becomes a cantankerous opinion news segment host a la Andy Rooney and starts every segment with, "Ya know what really grinds my gears?")  And yes I do live in Rhode Island.

You might wonder why I care so much.  I guess it's the injustice of the situation.  Unfair for the customer and unfair for the natural perfumer.  The customer believes they are buying a natural product.  I myself am a natural perfumer.  Someone who adores perfume, who has worked in the beauty industry for years.  I live, eat, breath, sleep, talk perfume (!) and even I was confused by some fragrances "natural" ad copy.  One needs a doctorate in reading between the lines to figure out if some of the fragrance lines are natural.  Consumers are led to believe through marketing and advertising that these perfumes may be one or all of the following: organic, natural, chemical free, environmentally friendly, etc.  These same consumers may be seeking a fragrance that won't aggravate their asthma, or wish to cut down on the amounts of chemicals and phthalates they apply to their skin.  Maybe they just prefer the idea of buying a natural perfume.  Regardless of their reason, they are being purposely misled.  That's what makes me angry--the capitalizing on the vagaries of labeling.  The purposeful intent to mislead the consumer.

After doing some extensive research on the crop of new "faux natural" perfume lines I've identified some tips for spotting the synthetics lurking among all the advertising copy and pretty flowered boxes.  The following four tips may help you identify a masked marauder.

1. The perfume is clear, non-colored as in crystal clear.

Most real botanical perfumes are colored.  The beautiful liquid inside the bottle will most likely have a hue.  Plants and flowers rarely release their essences as neat, crystalline liquids.  Botanical essences are often sticky, resinous and darkly colored.  A perfectly clear colored perfume is most likely not a true natural botanical perfume.  Companies recognize that consumers connote clear colored liquids as clean, pure and natural, and hence a clear colored synthetic perfume is created and labelled "natural."


     2. The perfume is inexpensive, as in cheap.

If you can purchase a three ounce spray bottle of the perfume for $32.00 then guess what?  It's probably not made completely from natural ingredients.

    3. The perfume box touts it's soy-based inks, 80% recycled paper content, recycled bottles, cruelty-free status, and pledge to offset all company travel by purchasing carbon credits.

 This barrage of eco-friendly bragging is akin to waving something sparkly in one hand so the consumer doesn't notice what's in your other hand: synthetic fragrance chemicals.  I see it as a sort of, "Quick!  Look over here!" type distraction for the potential buyer.  Who wouldn't assume the perfume is all-natural?  

Other misleading marketing tactics I noticed popping up on ingredient lists included: boastful claims of 100% natural corn-based alcohol (ugh, yeah--that's called EVERCLEAR folks), and listing essential and natural oils as ingredients.  This puzzles me.  Wouldn't essential and natural oils be one and the same?  Natural oils is code for SYNTHETICS.  How misleading! 

I mentioned earlier that these fragrance companies that unjustly portray themselves as natural hurt the natural perfumer as well.  Granted, I'm a small niche perfumer who will never compete with a company such as Pacifica for example.  However, I am somewhat directly affected by their claims.  I was recently at a fancy hotel where a  a trunk show was being hosted by a local fashion designer who is a very good friend of mine.  My friend just so happened to have appeared on a reality show recently and I was excited when he asked me to participate in the show by selling my perfume along with a few other clothing and jewelry designers.  I realized quickly that the clientele attending weren't my ideal customers as the crowd seemed evenly split between young gay men intently vying to get their picture taken with my designer friend and fashionistas tottering by on impossibly high heels scouring the clothing racks for the best deals.  

My table was eventually approached by a young woman who asked lots of questions regarding my ingredients and prices.  She eventually told me she thought my prices were too high.  I explained to her that the price of the botanicals I use are very costly and rare, and in comparison to traditional synthetic perfumes my profit margin was quite small.  I really should have remained silent.  She then told me disdainfully that she bought only organic perfume, and that her current scent Ruby Red Guava only cost $20.00.  I recognized the scent and carefully explained to her that the perfume she was wearing was not only NOT organic, it wasn't natural at all.  I told her that the guava scent was actually synthetic.  She frowned at me, and said in the manner of correcting a small child, "Nooo.  That's impossible.  It's sold at WHOLE FOODS."

sigh

The Best & Worst Oils/Absolutes I've Ever Purchased. An Insider's Guide to buying Botanicals Without Wasting Money

Let's face it, essential oils and absolutes are expensive.  Whether you are buying a pound of lemongrass E.O. for scenting soap or an ounce of lemon petitgrain for perfumery you want to make sure you are getting what you pay for.  Adulteration of oils runs rampant.  Quality varies wildly.  While I'm not a professional nose per se, nor do I have access to a spectometer gizmo which measures the components of essential oils and can detect adulterants, I'm pretty sure I've been ripped off by a few companies.  I've received oils that smell like . . . nothing.  That's right--NOTHING.  I've received oils that smell glorious, only to find out at a later date they're not real (more on this later.)  Because I'm a cost conscious perfumer (a misnomer if I've ever heard one), I decided to compile this list of the best and worst botanicals I've purchased recently.  I want to help you avoid the pitfalls I've succumbed to and help you discover the hidden gems available while saving you money.  Please note I have no affiliation with any of these suppliers.  I'm just writing my own opinions on what I found good and what I spent way too much money on.

The Good Guys

Let's begin with the positives.  Moving from left to right in the photo.  The following seven botanicals rank high on my list for quality, aroma and price.

• Eden Botanicals Organic Vetiver-Sri Lanka: A fantastic high quality vetiver, resinous, smooth, green and grassy with a hint of smoke.  Great tenacity and blends well with most botanicals.  The organic costs a little more bit it's worth it.  This is my favorite vetiver Eden Botanicals offers.

• Eden Botanicals Jasmine Sambac Absolute-India: My favorite Jasmine Sambac. This is saying a lot as I'm a "jasminaholic" and have tried every Jasmine I can get my hands on.  This one's plump, fruity, musky, green and indolic.  LOVE!

• Essential Oil University Rosewood-Brazil: (EOU claims this is the lowest priced Rosewood available on the internet AND it's good!) Before getting this rosewood, I believed rosewood smelled like pledge furniture polish.  The rosewood's I had used previously smelled astringent, lemony with a hint of oily wood in the background.  I marveled when people described rosewood as "floral" and "rosy."  Now I understand.  EOU's Rosewood is a clean, sweet rose-lemon.  You can really smell the rose!  I love this rosewood and am happy I finally got to smell a good quality oil, especially as my guilt at rosewood's over harvesting may prevent me from ordering more.  FYI--EOU claims the rosewood is from a "renewable source" but call me a wee bit skeptical . . . 

• Liberty Natural Products Carnation Absolute-Egypt: One of the smoothest carnations I've tried.  It's much less spicy and clove-like than most carnations and very floral and sweet, reminiscent of champaca.  I've noticed as it ages the spicy notes seem to be  decreasing, and floral tones increasing.  This could be a plus or a minus depending on how you like your carnation.  I like it very much and it's priced much lower than other carnations on the market.

• Liberty Natural Products Lavender Absolute-Bulgaria: Sweet blueberry vanilla lavender with creamy notes of green tea.  Beautiful emerald green, delicious aroma, and blends with a wider variety of botanicals than most lavenders do. Very economical, one ounce costs less than $14.00!

• Liberty Natural Products Bitter Orange Absolute-Egypt: I'm a little nervous to write about this one.  It's always been my little secret.  Every perfume I make with this absolute garners rave reviews.  It seems to have mass customer appeal.  I LOVE it madly, and worry once I write this I'll discover my readers (all 13 of you-smile) have gone and bought all the remaining stock available from Liberty, which you should do immediately because it's that good!  I refer to this paranoia as "coffee flower syndrome."  Ahh, my beloved coffee flower absolute.  I discovered you on a whim when placing an order from Liberty.  Proceeded to make the most amazing, special, beautiful perfume with you and then, alas you were gone.  Never to return back into stock.  R.I.P. my darling coffee flower absolute.  Wherever you may be . . . Getting back to the Bitter Orange Absolute.  It doesn't smell much like traditional Orange Blossom Absolute.  It's less sharp and citrusy.  No indolic notes or sharp neroli aromas.  It's a very smooth, almost lactic orange blossom with tea notes and a vanillic undertone.  It's sensational.  It blooms in alcohol, expanding and radiating it's smooth white blossoms.  It's my favorite hidden gem.  p.s. If you decide to buy some make sure you order Bitter Orange Absolute-Egypt as Liberty has strangely named it.  The other Orange Blossom's offered are not similar.

• Eden Botanicals Vanilla Bourbon Total CO2:  My favorite vanilla.  It boasts 26% vanillin and it's very strong.  I like that I can use less and still get lots of vanilla aroma.  It blends seamlessly in alcohol and is easy to use after warming in a hot water bath.  I find vanilla absolute hard to work with, vanilla bean tincture is wonderful but significantly colors perfumes, vanilla Co2 is perfect, and Eden's is the best I've found.  

p.s. Additionally I really like Liberty's Tuberose absolute (buttery, waxy, rich white floral) and Jasmine Grandiflorum-Egypt (sweet, creamy and powerful) as good as many higher priced jasmine grands.  Also their Osmanthus Absolute smells just as good as many higher priced options.

The Bad Guys

Now let's talk about the duds.  I would avoid these botanicals at all costs literally.

• Liberty Natural Products Palmarosa-India:  This is definitely a case of you get what you pay for, and I umm paid very little.  This palmarosa is terrible!  It starts off sharp and acrid and only gets worse.  There's a persistent strong back note of burnt rubber and chemicals.  I get faint whiffs of peppery lemon.  Spend a little more and get something better than this, I'm sure almost any Palmarosa you can find will smell better.

• Liberty Natural Products Kaffir Lime Leaf-Thailand: I love Kaffir Lime (Combava Petitgrain) and have ordered samples from at least four different companies.  This is the worst.  There's no sparkling bright limey green notes.  It's faded and sweet.  Why is it sweet?  It has no spunk or clarity and is a muddled sweet mess.  Stay away. Try White Lotus or Anatolian Treasures instead.

• New Directions Frankincense-Eithiopia:  This was the first frankincense I bought when I started making perfume.  I didn't understand what all the fuss was about with Frankincense.  Mandy Aftel was raving about it.  People were blogging about "magical frankincense" and I just didn't get it.  Turns out I had the worst frankincense ever bottled.  This smells like eucalyptus mixed with turpentine.  As it ages it grows more camphorous and terrible.  I've since smelled better versions and realize I was ignoring frankincense as my initial impression was a bad one.  If anyone has recommendations for a great frank. send it my way!

• EOU Yuzu-Japan: I am a huge yuzu fan.  I adore it's fresh zippy scent.  I've sampled a few and have always been happy, until now.  This yuzu is not good.  I actually do not believe it's real yuzu.  It smells like white grapefruit mixed with something.  Maybe another citrus oil.  I'm pretty sure it's bunk.  A big letdown as I now have one whole ounce of bad yuzu.  I thought about contacting EOU and asking them about the yuzu, but I haven't had good experiences with their customer service.  I assume I will have to chalk this up to a bad choice, money lost and move on.  Don't buy yuzu from here.

• Eden Botanicals Tuberose Absolute:  I'm not a fan of the tuberose here.  It's floral and fussy and reminds me of old lady cologne or Fracas before I even begin blending.  I prefer my tuberose big, creamy and buttery.  I find this tuberose thin.  It's not waxy.  It's just lackluster, and it's expensive.

• Eden Botanicals Carnation Absolute:  Again I find this absolute lackluster.  The fragrance is faint, with a weird undertone of decomposition.  I do not like it.

So, in summary there are hits and misses with most suppliers.  It's hard to write off a supplier for one bad botanical when they offer others that are good.  There's lots of opinions regarding which suppliers are the best, which have the best or worst quality.  I think it's all a roll of the dice.  A company may offer a great rose otto, but their citrus oils are awful.  Some offer beautiful but pricey absolutes but the selection is limited.  That's what's so tough about finding good ingredients.  Unfortunately, we often find out through trial and error and it can be easy to make pricey mistakes.

I usually order my botanicals from Eden Botanicals, Liberty Naturals, White Lotus, and Aftelier.  I have experience with products from many other suppliers.  I have listed my personal impressions below.

LIBERTY NATURALS: Great citrus oils.  Some great absolutes.  Website is not user friendly or informative.  Shipping takes a very long time.  The best prices.  I have had bad luck with some lower priced essential oils like palmarosa, juniper berry, nutmeg.  Avoid their Sco2's.  They don't blend in alcohol and their scent profile is faint.

WHITE LOTUS:  Amazing high quality oils, great customer service, and informative newsletter.  Website is awkward to navigate and you must email your orders.  Prices are very high.  I wish I could shop here more often.

EDEN BOTANICALS: One of my favorites.  Great website, and generous free samples.  Try before you buy.  Middle of the road prices.

AFTELIER: Rare botanicals in small sizes.  Very nice website.  You can often find botanicals here that you can't find anywhere else.  Remember the botanicals are rare and you may not be able to get them again.

NEW DIRECTIONS:  I have had bad experiences with this company ranging from them double charging my credit card, to receiving adulterated rose absolute.  Prices are low, but trust me.  It's not worth it.

ESSENTIAL OIL UNIVERSITY:  All oils are available in 1 ounce size and up.  NO samples.  I was not impressed with the absolutes I have ordered, however some oils such as patchouli and rosewood were good and very reasonably priced.  After the yuzu I received I don't think I will place another order with them.  However, for soapers or those who need larger quantities of essential oils (not absolutes) they are a good option and very economical.  Also, great prices on bulk disposable droppers here.

I'm hoping this will spur those who read this to leave comments regarding their own hits and misses.  I love trading tips and sources and maybe next time you can save me from wasting money on bad yuzu.

  

Halitosis or Heavenly? What To Do When Critics Pan Your Perfume & Why Gin & Tonic is Not The Answer

As the Mystery of Musk project draws to a close, I find myself reflecting on things I've learned from my participation.  I never expected the experience to be so educational.  One of the biggest lessons I've learned is on accepting criticism.

Let me be clear, I've heard my share of negative comments.  Of late, I've been hearing quite a bit.  I've been out in the field, meeting and greeting.  Talking up boutique owners, attending fashion events, networking, selling my perfumes.  People have told me they don't care for a particular scent, or that my fragrances are too expensive.  While I accept this, I do try my best to educate these people.  I try and explain the differences between synthetic and natural perfumes, the difference in cost of materials, the art of creating natural perfumes, my philosophy as a natural perfumer.  But when it comes down to it, my perfumes may not be what he or she is looking for.  My mantra has become: You can't please all of the people all of the time.  Sometimes I become entrenched in my natural perfumery world; speaking exclusively with people who make perfumes, write about perfume, or have an interest in botanicals.  It's when I step outside this world, and interact with people who have no idea what I do or why I do it that I discover I have an uphill battle ahead of me.

I'm learning to toughen up.  Rejection is tough.  Being the sensitive type, my feelings can be easily hurt when people don't respond the way I want them to.  (Which is gushing enthusiastically by the way.)  My perfumes are an extension of myself, and when people don't like them it's hard not to take it to heart.  Working in sales for years, it was a bummer to hear customers criticizing a product.  When this happened it meant I most likely wouldn't be hitting my sales target, or receiving a bonus.  Now when a customer criticizes a product, it's all mine!  A baby I slaved over for months, trying to perfect!  I realize one cannot run a successful business with this level of attachment, and I'm working on distancing myself.

Speaking of distancing myself . . . all hail the powers of a stiff gin and tonic!  The first critique posted of my new perfume Musk Nouveau described it as (having the scent of) "halitosis."  The review ended with, "After a number of hours, that note-from-hell dissipates, but the damage is already done." WHAT?  After reading this, I promptly poured myself a drink and called my Mom.  And yes, I am 35 years old.  Needless to say, my Mom was less than thrilled by my garbled (tipsy) complaints and gave me a tough love response I was not seeking, which was: "Charna--get over it.  Are you drinking gin . . . again?  It makes you maudlin, and really the review could have been worse." Really???  Worse than your perfume being described as smelling like bad breath in a blog that's read by thousands of perfumistas?  Thankfully future reviews were much more positive, and I glowed from head to toe when reading comparisons between my Musk Nouveau, and Tom Ford and even Caron perfumes.

Lesson learned.

Musk Mania

How lucky am I?  I am the recipient of 10 musk samples from fellow perfumers as a participant perfumer in the Mystery of Musk project.  The project involves eleven natural perfumers from all over the world.  Each of us blending our version of a musk perfume in a short time period, then submitting the perfume to critics, bloggers and fellow participating perfumers.  I have been sampling perfumes from some of the finest, most original perfumers out there.  I spray and sniff and muse.  The variations on the theme of musk are amazing. 

Some of the perfume samples I've received are pretty innocent florals with a light musky dry down.  Some are "hit you over the head" dark blends that scream musky, earthy, dangerous.  Some are unlike anything I've ever smelled (Dionysus I'm talking to you.)

I've always been a fan of sampling other perfumers creations.  I'm often surprised when speaking with perfumers who admit to not sampling other natural perfumes.  By sampling I learn many things.  I learn something about the perfumer, their partialities, their strengths.  Are they drawn to woody earthy blends?  Do they excel at sparkling florals?  What is their best selling scent?  I marvel at how some samples last forever.  I pour over the list of perfume notes trying to discern how the perfumer created such longevity.  I discover new botanicals I've never worked with.  Sampling perfumes is a great barometer for any perfumer.  Are my blends stronger, weaker, sweeter, louder, softer?  Compare and contrast, sniff and muse.  Admire and contemplate.

That being said, I'd like to post my thoughts on my fellow perfumers Musk creations.  Each is highly original and no two are remotely similar.  I'd like to highlight this fact as some folks inexperienced with natural perfumes tend to lump all natural perfumes in together stating they all smell the same.  Au contraire!  Considering each perfumer was given the same task, time frame and suggested botanicals I find it amazing to note the differences with each creation.  This is a stark contrast to the mainstream perfume industry which of late seems to be releasing the same syrupy fruity floral scent over and over again.

Tallulah B.2 by A Wing & A Prayer Perfumes: I really love this scent.  It's pretty, feminine, floral, with a soft vanilla-musk baby powderish drydown.  I believe this fragrance would be a good introduction to natural perfumes for a wearer accustomed to traditional synthetic fragrances.  It's very clean and free of any dark, musty earthy notes that can scare off some natural perfume newbies.  Tallulah B. also has good staying power and seems to be a what I can only describe as a "skin scent" that lasts for hours.

The color of Tallulah B.2 is crystal clear (!) and causes me the dreaded perfumer's envy as my blends are darker in color.  Hmph.  Is it a crime to like oakmoss (dark brown), pink lotus (orange) and violet leaf (green)?  On a side note, the crystalline color of the beautiful scent has prompted me to try and create a clear perfume.  I sat down at my blending table and after much examination pulled approximately seven bottles of oils and absolutes from my extensive collection . . . gulp.  Dear Jane, how did you do this?  Kudos.

Craving :  I was eagerly waiting to receive this delectable scent from down under once Ambrosia let it slip that it was a gourmand creation.  Craving was worth the wait!  Craving impressed me as I found it:

1. gourmand but not overly sweet; a sophisticated edible

2. unisex (hard to do with ingredients like cocoa and hazelnut)

3. lasted for hours

To me Craving smells like coffee, cocoa, toasted hazelnuts, honey, maple syrup and smokey vetiver.  I enjoyed wearing this scent, and kept sniffing every few seconds noting the subtle changes.  I appreciate the linear notes of Craving.  This is not a scent that changes drastically as one wears it and I appreciate this, as I know the difficulty involved with creating a natural perfume that is seamless throughout the stages of drydown.  Craving screams autumn to me.  I want to wear it on a cool fall evening, while taking a walk, listening to the leaves crunch underfoot, and smelling the first faint whiffs of chimney smoke.  Definitely appropriate for both men and women.

Kewdra by Anya's Garden:  Disclaimer: I am biased against kewda, a.k.a. pandanus flower, a.k.a. psychotically strong sharp floral that overpowers everything I blend with it even when heavily diluted, a.k.a umm, I think you get the idea.  To be fair, I've only sampled one kewda absolute from Liberty Naturals.  Maybe there's a kewda out there I'd like better?  I'm not sure how Anya tamed the kewda beast, but she did.  This scent grows on me more and more each time I try it.  Anya seems to have enhanced the elusive velvety almost chocolate note that kewda has, something I try to do each time I work with this botanical and never succeed.  Not that Kewdra is a gourmand scent, but there's something lurking underneath there that's elusive, soft and yummy.  Normally I don't care for ambergris either, but I do in Kewdra.  I think I can smell it, and I LIKE it.  I found Kewdra risky, completely original and full of moxie.  The drydown of Kewdra is my favorite part.  It's delectable and very long lasting. Kewdra makes me want to don a low-cut bohemian dress with lots of gold bangles and eyeliner on a sexy date for Indian food and flirt with the waiter when my husband goes to the restroom.

Dionysus by Lords Jester:  This is one crazy scent.  There's an intriguing yeasty top note that I can't get enough of.  It's odd and I like it.  It smells like malt or brewers yeast.  I can then smell honey and a vegetable aroma, then comes an animal musky note.  Like goats or sheep.  Growing up on a farm with hippies in the middle of nowhere (Oh alright, it was a commune) my father was partial to pouring warm freshly squeezed goats milk on our morning cheerios.  Needless to say, my little brother and I were no longer hungry or amused by this turn of events and dreaded the warm musky invasion into our morning cereal.  Consequently, I'm not wild about the smell of goats as it brings grisly flashbacks of morning cereal gone wrong.  That being said, I think some perfumers such as Adam and Anya successfully use this animalistic note in their perfumes.  For me Dionysus is a roller coaster of smells and memories in the coolest way possible.  Definitely unisex and unique.  I'm off to to my happy place now where the milk is cold, from cows and my cheerios smell of oats.

Drifting Sparks by Artemisia Natural Perfumes: There's something oceanic about Lisa's Drifting Sparks perfume that I love.  It's a clean floral woody scent, with a salty musk that weaves in and out of the fragrance.  I smell notes of lightly smoked woods and salt water and sunscreen.  Drifting Sparks reminds me of the New England sea coast, with it's untamed rocky beaches, cold water and crashing waves.  The fragrance lasted quite awhile on my skin, and each time I sample this fragrance I become more and more impressed.  Lisa mentioned she used the blossoms of the nyctanthesus aboritistus in Drifting Sparks and I'm unfamiliar and now curious about this botanical. 

Sensual Embrace by JoAnne Bassett:  Very refined, sophisticated and french.  I smell the clementine, rose and tobacco and it blends beautifully.  I find it very clever that Sensual Embrace contains tobacco as it lends itself perfectly to the 1920's theme of the Mystery of Musk project.  I inhale Sensual Embrace and I'm instantly transported to the leathered backseat of a car, where an elegant flapper lounges sullenly puffing a cigarette in a long black holder.  Her earrings flash in the dusky light as she pouts waiting to arrive at the dimly lit jazz club where she can imbibe her first gin fizz of the evening.

Grains de Paradis by Sharini Parfums Naturels: I'm in LOVE!  Grains de Paradis is amazing.  I can't stop smelling myself.  Nicolas made this creation in two strengths.  It's with deep sadness I write that I only received the first, lighter version.  When the second envelope from France arrived, I gleefully pulled it from the mailbox only to find it had ripped and the precious, intense version of Grains de Paradis was gone, lost forever.  I believe there is a postal carrier here in Rhode Island who smells divine!

Out of all the musk samples I received, this one smelled most like the traditional musks I am familiar with.  It has a Jovan white musk type aroma and I mean this is the best possible way.  It's a compliment.  I was surprised that such an aroma I associate with synthetic musk perfumes could be created with naturals.  Strangely, the first time I tried the perfume I found it a beautiful crystalline musk.  The second time I tried the perfume, it smelled less musky and more floral and the cherry notes seemed more predominate.  Either way, it's lovely.  My green eyed monster reared it's ugly head as I realized it would be nearly impossible for me to create something similar myself.  The more I read about the labor intensive process involved with creating this scent the more discouraged I became.  I realized I must complete the following checklist in order to even come mildly close to recreating this amazing perfume: 

1. Promptly move to France

2. Pick bushels of wild cherries in the Herault valley for tincture

3. Use no absolutes (what? How the heck . . . ?)

4. Create enfleurage pomades from scratch during a month long harvest of genet blossoms.  Blossoms will be hand picked by myself and partner, followed by an 18 step enfleurage process. 

See?  No problem at all.

Grains de Paradis has above average sillage and a feminine musky, slightly floral/fruity aroma.  I adore this perfume.

Musk Eau Natural by Parfums des Beaux Arts:  This potent beauty packs a musk wallop at a 30% concentration and I appreciate it!  I smell ambrette, beeswax and angelica (?) and the scent transports me back in time.  For some reason Musk eau Natural makes me think of Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter.  Maybe it's the beeswax, or the sexy musky aroma that can only be smelled at very close range.  There's something taboo or forbidden about Musk eau Natural that I can't put my finger on.

Verdigris by Bellyflowers: I smiled when I inhaled the complex aroma of Verdigris.  I have been working on a similar blend, with similar components for the last year.  However, in the case of Verdigris, Elise has created a masterpiece whereas my various blends languish in sample bottles with notes reading "too sharp" or "too much sage, add more orris." I love the ambergris here and the smooth, suppleness it adds to the bright clary sage and lavender.  I detect a light sweet musk in the base.  I find Verdigris a unisex green fragrance, which I enjoy wearing.

Temple of Musk by Strange Invisible Perfumes:  This sample starts out with a blast of black currant bud, followed by a slightly medicinal note of myrtle, slowly the aroma of a soapy ambrette arises, followed by a slight sweetening.  This is the cleanest musk I've ever smelled.  I know a "soapy ambrette note" makes no sense, but I swear it's there.  I found this perfume interesting as I've not smelled such a combination before.  I always think of "dirty" when I think musk and it was refreshing to smell something so totally unexpected.  

Whew.  Done for now.  Look for my next post coming soon titled "Halitosis or Heavenly? What To Do When Critics Pan Your Perfume & Why Gin & Tonic is Not The Answer"  :)

Musk Nouveau has launched

As a participant in the Natural Perfumers Guild Mystery of Musk Project, I have been busy creating natural musk perfumes.  As most natural perfumes get better as they age, I set about creating different versions of perfumes as soon as I was chosen to participate so I would have as much time as possible to modify my final scent before submission to critics, bloggers and fellow perfumers.  Out of a number of different musky perfumes I created, I settled on three different musk perfumes that I felt were innovative and pleasantly musky.  I had a difficult time deciding which of these three perfumes to submit for review.

The first blend I called Celadon Musk and was based on sage absolute which I've always felt had a musky earthy note.  I created many different versions of this musky grassy sage perfume, the best of which highlighted sage and lime.  It is zesty, green and musky.  After much deliberation, I decided against submitting this version.  I found the sage overpowering.  After wearing this Celadon Musk for a time all I could smell was sage.  On a positive note, the perfume lasted forever thanks to the fixitive powers of sage. I tried decreasing the sage absolute, pumping up the base notes, but the perfume then fell flat.  After countless modifications and the deadline looming, I decided to scrap Celadon Musk and focus on other options.

The second possible musk perfume I created for the contest was a very pretty floral blend with a light musky base.  It was a complicated blend utilizing 19 different botanicals.  Normally I don't create perfumes with quite this many notes.  In fact, my best blends---and by best I mean those that sell well and garner the most positive feedback---are perfumes created with fewer ingredients.  The botanicals used in this blend were, in no particular order: black currant bud, vanilla abs, angelica, oud, costus, oakmoss, ambrette, patchouli, vetiver, copaiba balsam, jatamansi, coffee abs, fir balsam, rose otto, jasmine sambac, champaca, bitter orange abs, black pepper, bergamot.  It thrills me, readers to print this as perfumers NEVER reveal all the components of perfumes.  Trade secrets and all.  Believe it or not, this was my first blend I created when starting the Mystery of Musk project.  I will call it Musk #1 for lack of a better name.

In my extensive focus group testing, Musk #1 was far and away the winner.  FYI, in this case my "extensive focus group" consisted of my gay male friends (my best being a fashion designer and graphic designer and the best friends/noses a gal could have) my husband, my son's preschool teacher, a beauty pageant contestant who was trying on a gown my fashion designer friend had created for her, and a neighbor.  Nearly all of them chose this particular musk blend as their favorite.

I decided not to submit Musk #1.  I struggled with the decision.  After all, I am being judged by some heavy hitters in the perfume world.  Why not choose the blend that everyone loved?  Well, I decided it was too common, perhaps unoriginal and most important . . . not very musky.  The whole point of this perfume project was to create a MUSK perfume, and frankly while Musk #1 was pretty and perhaps universally appealing I didn't find it musky enough.  Ironically, one of the musk perfumes I received from another perfumer participating in the project is very similar to Musk #1.  I believe this perfume is receiving favorable reviews which makes me think perhaps I should have played it safe, and submitted Musk #1 after all.  Oh well, hindsight is 20/20 and it's my nature to go with my gut instinct and my gut told me to go with my creation Musk Nouveau.

Musk Nouveau was the third option in the musk perfume contest.  I liked it, as it was decidedly musky with a boozy top note that lent itself well to the roaring 20's concept the Mystery of Musk project was based on.  The inclusion of a natural isolate Phenyl Ethyl Acetate, in the top note lifted the perfume out of it's musky dark base and made it sing with bursts of lemon and sherry.  I included black pepper to spice it up.  The heart blended champaca, jasmine and aged beeswax with a musky sweet drydown of oud, angelica, coffee and amber.  I found this blend interesting.  It was certainly not boring, yet not so original as to only appeal to a select few.  Once my decision was made, it was full steam ahead.  I needed to order labels for my sample vials, figure out packaging, prepare shipments for 30 + perfumers, bloggers and critics all over the world.

The samples shipped in a flurry of labels and tape, and now the waiting game begins.  What will the critics say?  My fellow perfumers have been kind.  It is my personal philosophy that the point of this Mystery of Musk project is to learn, experience and promote Natural Perfumery.  I won't be publicly criticizing my fellow perfumers.  I know each and every one of us worked tirelessly trying to create our best.  What good does it do Natural Perfumery to bash another's creation?  I want the world to embrace natural perfume.  If there's one thing I've learned from my "extensive focus groups" is this: scent preference is subjective.  I am amazed by the comments, both positive and negative I hear when my perfume is sampled.  After a few glasses of wine, tongues are loosened, everyone is spraying perfume and talking loudly.  This is one of my favorite parts of being a perfumer.  Listening to what people feel when smelling perfume.  My group is critical but honest.  Some love a sweet gourmand scent that I can only describe as a toothache in a bottle. Others wrinkle their noses at a beautiful sophisticated orris blend that I've been working on for weeks.  Truly perfume is subjective.

Making Musk Perfume . . . the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

I am participating in a musk perfume project with my fellow natural perfumers.  Myself and eleven other professional perfumers from the Natural Perfumers Guild are participating.  Our fragrances will be reviewed by perfume critics worldwide.  I am nervous.  I am excited.  I am musk.  Literally my hands smell of musk from constantly blending and tweaking musky perfume samples in the quest to create the perfect musk scent.  One thing is certain, musk is tenacious.  Despite my careful nature while blending perfumes --droppers, scales, caps twisted tightly-- a halo of musk clings to me.  On certain days when I hug my children they wrinkle their noses and tell me I smell funny.  I am so immersed in my project I no longer notice the faint ghostly notes of musky botanicals clinging to my body.

Over the past few weeks I have created numerous musk based perfumes.  Some good, some bad and hard to classify as they seem to be changing.  The confounding thing about natural perfume is the aging process.  Natural perfumes are similar to fine wines in that they need to age someplace dark and dry to mature.  Sometimes I will blend a fantastic perfume, only to pull it carefully from it's dark closet months later only to find it now smells  . . . less than fantastic.  Luckily the opposite alchemy can occur and a perfume I recorded as "so-so" in my notes, is now spectacular.  The burning question is:  Which version should I submit for review to perfume critics, bloggers and my fellow perfumers?  The pressure is on!  

I am a wee bit terrified that my "musk" perfume may receive a very public unfavorable review, or perhaps worse, no review at all.  What if my musk is too pedestrian?  Wholly unoriginal?  I can't think of anything worse.

The Mystery of Musk project has me beyond excited to sample my fellow perfumers fragrances.  And so the blending goes, a drop more oud, a drop less black currant bud.  More to come on Musk.  Tune in next week.

A Review of Exotic Aromatics from Aftelier (Otherwise titled: Burgeoning Credit Card Debt)

I recently placed an order from Aftelier, one of my favorite sources for rare and exotic natural perfumery ingredients.  Aftelier is owned by Mandy Aftel a premier natural perfumer.  She literally wrote the book when it comes to Natural Perfumery and her fragrances are amazing.  I, like Mandy am drawn to the rarest botanicals.  When I read about a new essential oil or absolute that I've never smelled before, my heart rate quickens with excitement and I feel an adrenaline surge.  My thoughts are something along these lines:  Honeysuckle Absolute . . .  Oh my!  I've never heard of such a thing.  I never knew such an exquisite thing was AVAILABLE!  What must it smell like?  Imagine the gorgeous, amazing, original perfumes I can create with this . . . Must order immediately.  I then have to step away from the computer, red-eyed and sweating before I do something crazy like max out my credit card buying copious amounts of Honeysuckle Absolute.

I have ordered from Aftelier in the past--and while I knew it was risky--I used their rooibos absolute as a main ingredient in my Osmanthus Oolong natural perfume.  I say risky as Aftelier specializes in hard to find ingredients in very limited quantities, so creating a professional size retail scent utilizing an ingredient that you may not be able to acquire again is perhaps not the smartest idea.  Murphy's Law being what it is, Osmanthus Oolong has become one of my more popular fragrances and I began getting concerned about creating a new batch in the near future.  I found my beloved fruity rooibos absolute was no longer available from Aftelier (gulp) and indeed an extensive google search for other suppliers was unsuccessful.

I sheepishly emailed Aftelier inquiring if there was any rooibos absolute available.  I was surprised to receive an email back from Mandy Aftel herself.  She explained she had a very limited quantity remaining that was her own personal "stash" and she had been unable to procure anymore despite her best attempts.  However, she was willing to sell me a small quantity so that I could re-create my beloved perfume.  She recommended I call in my special order.  I was relieved and happy that I would be able to recreate my original perfume.

I called and was startled to reach Mandy herself.  She explained her assistant was away.  The conversation went something like this:

ME:  "Hi, umm Mandy?  This is Charna calling.  I emailed you about the rooibos . . . ?
MANDY:  "Hello?  WHO is THIS?"
ME: (nervous) "Charnafromrhodeislandcallingaboutrooibos."
MANDY: "I have no idea what you're talking about."
ME: (stammering) "ROO-BOOZE.  I wanted to place an order.  I need more Roo-booze absolute please!"
MANDY: (long pause)  "Do you mean ROY-BUS?  I've never heard of ROO-BOOZE."
ME: (gulping, face burning.) "Umm, I guess I was mispronouncing it?

I have always had extreme nervousness in conversing with people I admire.  I have met many a pop star or celebrity and barely batted an eyelash, but put me in a room with the finest writers, painters, or in this case, perfumers and I can barely make eye contact.  My husband likes to call this awkward social dilemma my English Major Groupie-ism.  He coined this term many years ago when we first started dating.  We were talking about books over dinner, and he told me one of my favorites was written by his uncle.  I was stupefied.  Mouth open (a particularly unattractive look when on a dinner date) I yelled, "You're related to JAMES BALDWIN?"  I peppered him incessantly with questions regarding his uncle, his life, his writing etc. for the rest of the date.  My husband jokes he knew I was hooked on him from that moment on.

I admire Mandy Aftel very much, and consequently I was a stark raving idiot on the phone.  I desperately wanted to ask what it was like creating a perfume for Madonna, but luckily was able to control myself.  I did find out some interesting things about how she works; such as she does not tincture botanicals for use in perfumery.  This surprised me a bit, and made me appreciate the influence of Anya McCoy, the head of the Natural Perfumers Guild all the more.  Anya is another well known perfumer who encourages other perfumers to tincture away.  I realized I must have assumed that this was how all natural perfumers worked.  I was slowly understanding that not all successful natural perfumers worked the same.

Moving on to my order of botanicals placed with Aftelier.  Along with the Rooibos Absolute I also purchased:

• Aged Beeswax abs.
• Rum CO2
• Agarwood Essential Oil
• Fresh Mint Abs.
• Honeysuckle Abs.
• Phenyl Ethyl Acetate (natural isolate)

My impressions of the botanicals are as follows:

Aged Beeswax Abs.  (dark brown viscous) Love this!  This aged beeswax is very different from other beeswax absolutes I've sampled.  It is dark brown in color and less sweet than other beeswax samples, with a hint of smokiness and increased depth.  Smelling this stirs me creatively and a multitude of different perfume ideas scroll through my head.  The honeyed smoke scent reminds me of autumn.  I want to use it in every blend.

Rum CO2  (clear) This is insanely expensive and I hoped I wouldn't have buyers remorse.  As soon as my shipment arrived, this was the first bottle I gleefully twisted open to inhale.  It is very powerful and requires a very light hand when using.  At first whiff, it smells like incredibly strong rum extract one might use for cooking.  On further reflection, there are honeyed whiskey notes with hints of creamy vanilla and spice.  It's absolutely delicious! As I mentioned before, it's super concentrated.  One tiny drop nearly overpowered a one ounce blend I was creating.  However, it's magical.  The way it transforms a creation is incredible.  I made a delightful masculine scent that may be one of my favorites using the rum co2.  I only hope as it ages the rum does not overpower the blend.

Agarwood  (light golden oil) I was surprised to note the light color of this oil as most agarwoods/oud I have sampled have been dark colored.  This agarwood smells very different from others I have experienced.  There is no musty, moldy note I have encountered with other agarwoods.  I wonder if this oil is distilled from the wood before it is infected?  I did notice the scent tenacity was much lighter than I expected.  The aroma is light, woody and masculine.  I found it somewhat similar to Australian sandalwood, however a little less "creamy" or "powdery."  I like this botanical very much and look forward to getting to know it better.

Fresh Mint Abs.  (dark brown/green) I like this and I'm surprised that it blends with many other aromas.  Mint can be very tricky to use in perfumery, and this absolute seems to play nice with others.  I believe Aftelier describes this essence as "surprisingly versatile" and indeed it is.  When smelling the fresh mint from the bottle it's fresh and minty, a bit like high quality scope mouthwash!  I became intrigued by mint absolute after trying some of Alec Lawlesses' Essentially Me fragrances where mint absolute was used as part of the top note.  With a light hand, the mint freshens up florals and tames indolic notes.  It seems to work particularly well with orris, violet leaf, mimosa, sage and rose.  I have more experimenting with this ingredient to do to understand it better.

Honeysuckle Abs. (dark brown) Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous.  I was giddily anticipating the arrival of this honeysuckle.  It smells exactly like the honeysuckle flower.  No part of the actual flower essence seems to be lost in the creation of the absolute.  It is sweet, plump and succulent.  It smells like hot summer days.  If you close your eyes and inhale you can feel the sun on your face and hear the faint drone of buzzing bees.  Amazing!  I find the aroma reminiscent of some jasmine grandiflorums.  I want to be careful when blending with this exquisite rare ingredient not to overpower it, I must let it sing!

Phenyl Ethyl Acetate (clear) I will admit immediately that I know nothing about natural isolates.  This is my first experience with such an ingredient, and I did not know what to expect.  My first impression upon inhalation was frankly YUCK.  A sickeningly sweet acidic floral liquor mixed with nail polish remover (I think that's the acetate talking.)  I'm not exactly sure what to make of this.  In it's concentrated form it does not smell "natural" to me.  If the bottle is held far away from the nose, one can get a faint pretty fermenting floral aroma.  When diluting this in alcohol, I feel like the scent flip-flops back and forth between pretty and horrible.  It's very hard to describe.  Phenyl Ethyl Acetate is definitely potent.  I have tried it in one blend (2 drops in one ounce alcohol) and it is a very dominant top note with amazing longevity.  I have never had a top note last so long.  So far, it seems to work well with fruity floral type blends.  This isolate seems to need time to meld with the other ingredients and ages well.  This is double-talk for: The perfume with Phenyl Ethyl Acetate smelled terrible at first, but now that it has aged a few weeks it's much better.  I believe Mandy Aftel mentioned that she used Phenyl Ethyl Acetate in her Lumiere perfume, so I have high hopes for utilizing this natural isolate.

I know, I am a major dork