I got seven samples in total so I suspect there'll be seven short reviews in the upcoming days. The main reason is rather plain, I just don't feel like writing one long ranty rant, the stuff needs undivided attention and I don't want to spent a week labouring over the longest blog post in recorded history.
Time for another tidbit, then.
Sample marked #3 rose-violet from Pat of Olfactarama.
Pat wrote that she used perfumer sets to compose her mixtures and since her letter rests in the splendid company of Mark's letter (Mark kindly sent the descriptions again so there'll be minor corrections to yesterday's post), I'm afraid that until Pat wanders here, I'm not able to provide any detailed information regarding the materials used, bad, bad me.
Anyway, Rose-violet No. 3 has extreme evocative power for me. It's like eating violet bon-bons on a sofa upholstered in pink satin. It is indeed rose and violet with a strong note of red fruits. Not the generic blah, there are fresh wild cranberries with white bellies which are bitter, sour and sweet at the same time. There are two things that I could live without, a metallic edge and... wet chalk. And, somewhere deep underneath, a sweetish velvety base. After a while, something pretty soapy emerges - either more rose or a nearly lethal dose of aldehydes. Also, I expected some base accord to appear but it is as if there was no base, no drydown, just an abyss of violets, roses (well....), cranberries and whatever else, something that never ends. It gives an expectation of something resiny.
This is one of the really interesting things I have sniffed lately. There is something harsh about it, I think it's the metallic (nitriles?) bits and the wet chalk. Also, it's not fresh as the fruity-floral might imply. Neither is it superficial. Exactly the opposite, it is a difficult fragrance with several facets.
It is not a thing I could wear these days, either it's the building depression or just a bad time of the year or just not my style in general but I can imagine many people who would quite enjoy it.
Coming next: Have you ever come across mushroom fragrance?
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Hi Liisa -- Thanks...it was so long ago I made this that I have no idea what I put in it. I do have detailed lab notes though. I'll look for them. I probably used synthetic musks like galaxolide for the base, though I'm not sure. I thought of adding some high quality vanilla extract but wasn't sure how that would react (I haven't used it in perfumery before) so decided against it.
ReplyDeleteHope you're feeling better soon.
Hi Pat, there will be some more coming as soon as I'm closer to a normal state of mind.
ReplyDeleteI think that a touch of vanilla would indeed help this one, vanilla could smoothen it.