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A Rose By Any Other Name – Perfume Lovers London, 21st July 2016

This is a very informative post about a recent meeting of Perfume Lovers London, where they explored rose scents and the aromachemicals that make a rose, by any name, smell sweet. Enjoy!

Tara's avatarA Bottled Rose

This was the first “business as usual” PLL event hosted by Lizzie (Odette Toilette), Laurin and Callum at the October Gallery in London since taking over the group.

20160721_194551 The wonderful Nick Gilbert

Leading us through this rose themed evening was fragrance expert, Nick Gilbert. If you haven’t already checked out his YouTube channel Love to Smell with Pia of Volatile Fiction, you really should. Nick runs his own consultancy business and couldn’t be better placed to present us with the aromachemicals used to create rose scents along with examples of how each has been used in a particular perfume.

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Below is a rough reconstruction of some of the perfumed proceedings after an introduction by Lizzie.

20160721_190923.jpg Lizzie, radiant in orange.

Nick: The reason I chose rose for this evening is because although there are are 300 molecules in rose absolute, there’s only 4 that humans can smell…

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May Muguet Marathon: Decou-Vert
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May Muguet Marathon: Decou-Vert

I doubt I’ll be able to post every day in May, but let’s get this off to a good start by posting on May 1, the day when French people traditionally give each other bouquets of muguet, or lily-of-the valley. According to http://www.timeanddate.com, this began when “King Charles IX of France was presented with lily of the valley flowers on May 1, 1561. He liked the gift and decided to present lily of the valley flowers to the ladies of his court each year on May 1. Around 1900, men started to present a bouquet of lily of the valley flowers to women to express their affection. The flowers are a more general token of appreciation between close friends and family members these days.”

Perfume Shrine has an amazing post on the role that muguet has played in perfumes for a long time, with some of the folklore about the flowers and a list of dozens of muguet-based fragrances. It doesn’t include Decou-Vert, though, which was launched in 2012, some time after that post.

Bottle of Laboratotio Olfattivoa eau de parfum Decou-Vert

Decou-Vert

Decou-Vert, by Laboratorio Olfattivo, is presented as a unisex fragrance and in fact, it would be quite appealing on a man while also lovely on a woman. Continue reading →

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Anubis (Papillon Perfumery)****

Luca Turin is back! He has just started a new blog about perfumes he loves. I couldn’t be more delighted, as his legendary guide book to perfumes was one of the books that started my interest in perfume and fragrance. Like many others, I discovered Mr. Turin’s book by reading Chandler Burr’s “The Emperor of Scent.” I am especially happy to read here that he loves a fragrance by Papillon Perfumery, whose scents I discovered last summer in London. The more I learn, the more I appreciate Liz Moores’ approach and philosophy. It is inspiring to see her work so well received.

lucaturin's avatarperfumesilove

p61_3_0.jpgAs an audiophile of long standing and limited means, I am struck by similarities between loudspeakers and perfumes, especially in the manner of their choosing. Most people who don’t much care about sound (including many professional musicians who tend to listen to the playing, not the recording) buy little desktop or bookshelf speakers that adequately carry the spectrum but turn muddled and shouty when pushed hard. If they ever actually pick them by sound, they tend to go for the most impressive, i.e. the one with lots of treble and unmusical boomy bass, neglecting the midrange where most music and voice actually lies. That’s most of mainstream perfumery, all topnotes and bare but powerful drydown.

Then you have horn speakers, for those who love a huge midrange sound, colored by the resonant cabinetry, but capable of playing very loud, and with a wonderful old-fashioned chesty voicing. That would be the Roja Dove tendency of larger-than-life retro fragrances…

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Old Rose, Tea, Fruit, Musk, Myrrh – fragrance & unlocking the secrets of the rose

A wonderful article and blog post about roses and their fragrances, by Robert Calkin: “after leaving Cambridge, Robert Calkin embarked on a long and successful career as a ‘nose’ for parfumiers. Since retirement, he has used his expertise to help David Austin in connection with the scent of roses, and, in particular, to assist with the correct description of their individual fragrances.”

The Teddington Gardener's avatarThe Teddington Gardener

Princess Alexandra of Kent Princess Alexandra of Kent

This article is by Robert Calkin, originally published in The Royal National Rose Society Historic Rose Journal Autumn 2013. If you are not a member of the Historic Rose Group, articles such as these are just one reason to join! All the photography is mine.

The weather this afternoon is so foul, I’ve enjoyed the excuse and opportunity to transcribe the article and choose a few photographs from my ‘back catalogue’ to brighten my day.

The description of fragrance is fraught with difficulty. To begin with there is no definitive vocabulary of smell in common use, as there is for example for colour; we can only describe a fragrance by association. But this in itself raises a problem in that people have both different perceptions of small and different associations based on past experience. In trying to describe the fragrance of a rose the problem is…

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Fragrance Friday: Amouage’s Memoir Woman
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Fragrance Friday: Amouage’s Memoir Woman

Wow!! This is not my usual type of fragrance, as I normally gravitate toward green florals, but I was excited to try it from a lovely gift coffret of six mini Amouage perfumes. Memoir is amazing. Many reviewers have said it reminds them of the original Poison. I used to wear Poison in the 1980s and this is much, much better. I do understand that impression, though, but to me Poison was very plummy and I smell no fruit in Memoir other than the spicy orange in the opening.

As soon as I dabbed Memoir on my wrist, Continue reading →

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Friday Favorites — W.S. Merwin

One of my favorite poets.

calensariel's avatarImpromptu Promptlings

Oh my gosh!!! I bet I’ve looked at 50 New Year’s poems that left me feeling like… well… like January 1st — as cold inside as out! But I finally settled on one that at least left me feeling a LITTLE hopeful! (eyes roll off my Tablemate and onto the carpet — now I have to clean up THAT mess as well as potato chips, veggies, cheese, summer sausage, wine bottles… Yes. We made a mess watching Godzilla last night. One of my favorite movies. It was a toss up between that and Pacific Rim… 😮 😀 )

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W.S. Merwin

WSMerwin_NewBioImage http://www.poets.org

(born September 30, 1927) is an American poet, credited with over fifty books of poetry, translation andprose. During the 1960s anti-war movement, Merwin’s unique craft was thematically characterized by indirect, unpunctuated narration. In the 1980s and 1990s, Merwin’s writing influence derived from his interest…

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Crystallised primroses
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Crystallised primroses

I think trying this will make me very happy …

lucieandaimee's avatarTwins in Two Cities

These pretty and natural decorations are perfect for decorating cakes and desserts. We use them a lot at Easter as that’s when the flowers are in season. The technique may look daunting but its not too complicated. It is best to prepare these at least a day before you need to use them as the drying process can take a while!

Ingredients:

  • 12 edible flowers (freshly picked)
  • 1 egg white
  • 4 tablespoons white caster (superfine) sugar

Tools:

  • a shallow cardboard box or tray
  • baking or greaseproof paper
  • 2 elastic bands
  • small paint brush
  • teaspoon

The flowers are best when they are just picked so do the preparation steps (1-4) before picking the flowers.

Step 1: Prepare a shallow box or tray by covering it with baking parchment or greaseproof paper. Secure it in place with two elastic bands.

Step 2: Cut twelve holes spaced about 3cm apart (or as large…

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(Black) Fragrance Friday update
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(Black) Fragrance Friday update

When last heard from, Gentle Reader, I was about to be dragged by three offspring into the wilds of “Black Friday.” Negotiations resulted in the acceptable compromise of avoiding all malls but going to an outdoors shopping district that is much less crowded but has many of the same stores. I clung to the hope that in the midst of gift and clothes shopping, I might encounter some fragrance deals.

Success! Continue reading →

Fragrance Friday: A Moment of Silence
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Fragrance Friday: A Moment of Silence

I had a wonderful fragrance experience to share last Friday, then I heard the awful news about the terror attacks in Paris. I love Paris and have spent some summers there. My husband and I got engaged in Paris and later spent part of our honeymoon there. It is the City of Light and one of the world’s cities most associated with fragrance and perfume, as well as so many other things of beauty and creative spirits. So this week’s Fragrance Friday is a moment of silence for Paris, but also a statement of my conviction that its true light will not be extinguished. Vive la France!

Photo: eiffeltowerfacts.org.

Angelique Perfumes and the Perfume Bombing of Los Angeles

A fantastic story from bgirlrhapsody! I grew up near Wilton and had never heard this particular local history. I do remember, vividly, how most of the fathers and husbands in those towns commuted by train back and forth from Manhattan; many must have longed to escape that commute the way these two did. People think of those towns in that era (the 1950s) as being very stuffy and conformist, and in some ways they were, but they were also populated by large numbers of “advertising men” and other creative people in fields like theater and television. It sounds as if Angelique & Co. was one of the more intriguing examples of local creativity!

bgirlrhapsody's avatarbgirl rhapsody

Black Satin from Angelique

Angelique and Company, Inc. very well may have been America’s first independent microperfumery. The below article entitled “How to Sell a Smell” from Life magazine’s 4th December 1950 issue written by Percy Knauth tells the story of how N. Lee Swartout and Charles Granville began their business on Skunk Lane in Wilton, Connecticut. Affectionately deeming it “The Skunk Works.”

The article also details the ups and downs of the brand’s early years and the various publicity stunts they attempted in order to shift their fragrances. They took perfume marketing to the next level. Swartout and Granville tried to make perfumed snow in the middle of winter and hired a team of starlets to bomb Los Angeles with perfume. Kinda love these guys.

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