Home Studio Classes

It's official.  I've begun teaching small groups in my cozy and intimate home studio.  I've been wanting to teach here for many years and the surprise closing of 3rd Ward last month deemed it time to begin.  I taught a beginner's class a few weeks ago but this past Saturday I taught my Fougere Workshop, the one I've been talking about for months now.

It's no secret that I've been fascinated by fougere's and the delightful and enticing molecule, coumarin, for some time now.  I'm a natural born researcher so when I set out to make my first creation (which turned out to be Sol de la Foret) I had to do my homework first and read up on it.  I began to send for samples of some of the original fougere's, notably Fougere Royale by Houbigant and Jicky by Guerlain, and also from some of the natural perfume world's best perfumers who've made a perfume in this classification.  As I compiled information, both factually and sensorily, I realized that I had the makings of a great workshop devoted specifically to this genre.

After taking in the samples and getting an idea of the generalities of a fougere and the wide breadth of different varieties we explored the materials in a little more depth.  Tonka bean, hay absolute, sweet clover absolute, oak moss, cedar moss, ho wood and cassia as well as a selection of lavender essential oils, absolutes and concretes were introduced.  At this point the students set out to make their own quintessential fougere.  After a little gentle critiquing of their creations we went further and discussed the different classifications more in depth (amber, floral, fresh, leather, oriental and precious wood fougere's).  A few new materials were introduced such as davana, buddahwood, ambrette, choya nak, aglaia and magnolia and then the students set out to create their second perfume.

Tester strips of some of the perfumes we sampled

The class was such a success and the students so enthusiastic that I broached the subject of a salon series meeting semi-regularly to break down the fragrance classifications.  The group was so enamored of the choya nak (a destructive distillation of roasted seashells) that the conversation kept turning to leather notes.   They were excited about the notion of an exploration in leather perfumes so I can see I have my work cut out for me with my next research project.  My head is already spinning with images of 16th Century Parisian glove makers using gorgeous florals to cover up the smell of animal skin.  Smokey cade, birch, myrtle, styrax...  Expect a leather perfume to follow!


If you're interested in being part of the Salon please email me at info@herbalalchemy.net. Space is limited.

Lovely Review in Fragrantica

I taught my first workshop in my home studio last weekend and among my students were very special guests Olga Ivanova and Zoran Cerar of Fragrantica.  Their eagerness to participate and infectious enthusiasm were a delight.   I was so honored to have them and thrilled by the beautiful review they gave the class.

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.

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.

Fougere Workshop

The fragrance family known as the fougere is a fantasy concept meant to capture the scent of the natural habitat of ferns - the forest floor.  The principal notes are oakmoss, tonka bean and lavender. In this workshop we’ll be sampling Fougere Royale and Jicky, the instigators of this fragrance family, as well as a careful selection of the botanical world’s best perfumers.  Each student will create two perfumes using a collection of oils I’ve assembled for the the occasion including tonka bean, sweet clover, hay and a selection of lavender essential oils, absolutes and concretes.  This will also be an opportunity to work with a few rare and precious oils such as orris root, ambrette, choya nak, ho wood, buddahwood and wild sweet orange.

Fougere Workshop

Saturday, November 16th

1:00 to 4:00

$150 includes all materials

Park Slope, Brooklyn

Call (718)788-6480 or send an email to info@herbalalchemy.net for more information or register here.

Beach Bottles

I had some good luck collecting bottles on the beach this year.  Most of them get scrubbed clean, sterilized and bottle up my cologne experiments.  Some of them end up as spice jars, medicine jars, liquor bottles and some are just for the love of collecting bottles.  These are some of the treasures I found this summer.

New Colognes

Colognes bottled up and ready

This season's colognes are finally brewed, filtered, bottled and labeled.  I'm pleased with the way they turned out this year.  The new influx of materials was a joy to work with.

I started the project by individually tincturing the dry materials to see/smell what they do on their own.  Then I was able to blend with more confidence.  After doing research on old cologne formulary and coming up with some ideas of my own I set about working my ideas out on paper.  I knew I wanted to do a fougere and I've always wanted to make something called Swamp Water.  The new fragrances are:

Foret de Fougere:  Lately I've fallen in love with the fragrance family fougere. French for fern, fougeres are meant to replicate the scent of the forest floor (ferns don't actually have a scent of their own). To be a true fougere there must be three notes - lavender, oakmoss and some kind of coumarin (the molecule responsible for the sweet caramel note in tonka beans, hay and sweet woodruff). Oakmoss is a little tough to come by in its natural state but the coumarin note was accomplished by sweet woodruff and tonka beans and accented with vanilla beans and patchouli. Jasmine forms the heart of this fragrance with lavender and cassia in the top. I'm really happy with the way this one came out, it may be my favorite of all the cologne experiments.

L'eau du Who:  L'eau du Who is inspired by the classic cologne, 4711. After a little research I came up with an approximate formula for the cologne and broke it down into something akin. Patchouli leaves, vetiver roots and sandalwood powder form the base while jasmine, rose buds and peach tea create the heart, finished with meyer lemon, minneola tangerine and orange peel combined with basil and lemon verbena. I named it after my guitar hero, Pete Townshend of the Who, who reportedly wore it before his shows.

Swamp Water:  Swamp Water is an idea I came up with long ago when fantasizing about the bayou. I saw grasses swaying in the breeze, the night air thick with heavy florals, a refreshing glass of tea with herbs. Vetiver, the roots of a grass, and sweetgrass combine with sandalwood to form the base while jasmine, meadowsweet and lavender bring in the heart. Swirling on top are jasmine tea, orange peel and lemon verbena.

Meadowsweet:  This cologne could easily be called Honey Water as it is as sweet as nectar. Meadowsweet and linden blossoms sit atop crushed tonka beans and sandalwood with lemon verbena gracing the top.

Terroir:  Terroir is the term used to describe the special set of characteristics that the geography, geology and climate of a certain place, interacting with the plant's genetics, express in agricultural products. Most of the herbs and flowers used in this potion are locally grown and harvested myself. Sweet woodruff, which grows in my herb garden, is supplanted with orris root and sweetgrass to form the bottom chord. Freshly harvested linden blossoms and pink and white roses form the heart, with home grown lemon verbena, tarragon and sweet annie on top. It has a sweet earthy lushness, Brooklyn grown.