Monday, October 28, 2013

Sol de la Foret

Sol de la Foret, my newest fragrance, is a true labor of love.  After falling head over heals with the fragrance family, fougere, I set out to make my own.  To be a true fougere a perfume must contain a coumarin note, oakmoss and lavender.  Coumarin was the first synthetic chemical created in a laboratory in 1886 and was the principal ingredient in Houbigant's Fougere Royale, since considered the industry standard.  Coumarins are found in abundance in materials like tonka bean, sweet clover, flouve and deertongue.  It is also found, rather surprisingly, in lavender.

For this creation I've used a generous amount of rich caramelic tonka bean.  To give it a greener, mossier and more coumaranic note I also added sweet clover, a new favorite of mine.  I used a bit of fossilized amber, a tree resin that is millions of years old from  high in the Himalayan Mountains, in the bottom to add a dry smokey quality to the earth element of the blend.  It dries down very soft and sweetens adding a slight powdery note at the bottom - along with great fixation.  Tobacco and Vanilla CO2 add some warmth to the whole bottom.  Following the rules of the true genre there is also the addition of oakmoss, adding a wet roots and leaves note to the forrest floor.  Those sensitive to oakmoss be warned.

At the heart of the perfume is a lovely synergy of carnation and lavender absoutes with a touch of clary sage and orange blossom concretes.  Tunisian neroli was a perfect match for high linalool ho wood at the top, with just a drop of blood orange.

Top:  ho wood, neroli, blood orange
Heart:  carnation and lavender absolutes, clary sage and orange blossom concretes
Base:  tonka bean, sweet clover, oak moss, fossilized amber and tobacco absolutes with vanilla CO2

This perfume comes beautifully packaged in a brown velvet envelope in a gold box with a vintage velvet millinery leaf nestled inside.  No markings of any kind have been made to the box or velvet envelope so that they bay be reused (or regifted as the case may be).  The leaf is your keepsake, that and the lingering fragrance.

Introducing Sol de la Foret, the forest floor.

See the listing on my website or Etsy store.

To learn more about fougere's, and a chance to make some yourself, sign up for my Fougere Workshop, Saturday, November 16th.

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Mystery Found Fragrance

While hunting for bottles on the beach last month I came across this tightly capped mysterious bottle filled with liquid.  I opened it right then and there and smelled a faint floral fragrance amidst the brackish seawater.  I tucked it in my bag and proceeded to scavenge and only opened it later when I was home and sorting through my finds.  In the comfort of my home it smells more like dirty seawater than heavenly floral but still a faint trace of its original contents remains.  The sediment on the bottom could be fragrant matter that separated from the alcohol once water was introduced.  Or it could simply be debris from the ocean floor.  The bottle has no markings and is such an industry standard design that it could be almost anything.  Mystery indeed.