The Perfumista Challenge - results. Part III.

The third specimen is again from Mark, with the provisory name of Myrrh Cologne.
Which it is, there are citruses, there's myrrh... and now let me digress.

The other day, I met one of my perfumista friends downtown and for some reason, we went through the courtyard of the National Library. We went past the library annex and at a certain point, the smell of forest materialized. We both inhaled and started sniffing in an attemt to locate the wearer of that perfume... to find out that the teeny tiny garden was alive with gardeners who were raking the mulch there, mulch made of pine bark chippings. I pondered whether there is a perfume that smells like a forest, wet soil, mushrooms and such, and neither me nor Jerry were able to come up with anything that smells of mushroom. Maybe Demeter Fragrance Library or someone out there has one such, I don't know.

Back to Myrrh Cologne. It has a definite mushroom undertone. Heap of freshly cut wild mushrooms (think of Boletus sp.) with lemon. It contains ginger, though. Ginger seems to be a bit of chameleon to me, sometimes it smells like chocolate, sometimes like whoknowswhat... and there is indeed something mushroomy about it, which came to stand out in this fragrance. Or it's the contrast between musky base and aldehydes? I don't know.
Funnily enough, although myrrh can be smelled for a while after application, this is not a fragrance that would evolve around myrrh. Nor would I say that it's a typical cologne, the musky base renders it a bit heavy for something that could be used in large amounts in summer..
I'm of two minds here. If it were me, I'd rework it in two directions: get rid of that mushroomy undertone, cut the musks and leave citruses, aldehydes and myrrh, adding more myrrh. And, to the contrary, add musks, a touch of some warmer spices or woods, get rid of lemons and aldehydes to create a deeper forest fragrance. At this point, Myrrh Cologne is rather bizarre, it's not as if two distinct perfumes were layered as in Mark's previously reviewed All the Things (You Wanted), in this case, the two perfumes I sense in the blend would better be separated.
But I might be wrong - for me, early spring is not the right time for citrusy fragrances, I'd need a bit more sun.

The Perfumista Challenge - results. Part II.

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?

The Perfumista Challenge - results. Part I.

I got a handful of samples, see:


The vials are from Pat of Olfactarama fame and the little bottles are from Mark known as Margin Perfumer (no website I'd know of. I asked Mark and he said he had none. I could try and search but first, he said he had none and I don't see a reason why not to trust him and second, I'm lazy).

I'll take the liberty to start with Mark's All the things (you are). I got a nice explanatory letter from Mark which lay on my table for two weeks, I re-read it many times and then I put it aside so that it wouldn't get stained by my endless cups of coffee and now I'm unable to find it. So, Mark said three noteworthy things: that the compositions are not necessarily to be considered finished, that large orders are welcome and that this one contains damascenones and galaxolide (and a handful of other things, I vaguely recall) methyl anthranilate and cinnamic aldehyde which react to something called Schiff's base, creating a strong and pervasive scent (1). Should be orange blossoms and thinking of it, it may be right, there's something that I call unripe strawberries for myself and what is orange blossoms to the rest of the world
So, it's musks and something green and rosy, with roses sans soap. I love roses as long as they are neither candy sweet nor soapy. I suppose I can say I love damascenones but I've never had the chance to meet one in pure form. Let's assume so.
The perfume is... well, I don't want to sound mean. It's like two perfumes put side to side. There's that musky base which reminds me of Annick Goutal's.... which one was that? searches frantically the samples at hand due to lack of willpower to stand up and go and look at the bottle which is three metres away yup, Encens Flamboyant which is glowing embers to me. All the things has this element, it's less of glowing embers and more of all-embracing warmth. Musks, those little buggers. And then there's another layer, separate and distinct, of not-exactly-roses. It might be roses but I'd have to go to the botanic garden to check which one exactly, it's not a generic rose. My synaesthetic brain bits now try to kick me in the shin by pusing an image of pink camelia in front of my eyes but... not that one either. A rose, that which just surrounds you on a dry cold morning. Not that sweet-smelling as the one at our porch. (2)
I'm somewhat inclined to say that this perfume needs to be worked on so that the two distinct qualities blend. Or communicate better, that's a more suitable description. But, before that, could I have a bottle, pretty please? Mark? Please? Because, I love it exactly as it is.

I'm afraid that I'm developing a depression. I might be more self-depreciating and, well, everything-depreciating than usual. Most likely, in the next few weeks before I resolve it somehow, I'll be writing about how crappy I feel and how the whole world sucks and that it's all my fault. I'll do my best to be civil. Have patience. No need to send booze and chocolate, I've lost my appetite too.

You were warned.


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(1) I don't know what is this all about. I'm paraphrasing Mark who kindly sent me a copy of the accompanying letter, allowing me to correct my imprecise description.
(2) Dorinia by Firmenich. See above. Damn chemistry, it has totally different poetics than the everyday associations.

The Perfumista Challenge - one more update

Should anyone not know what's going on, the information is here and here.
I was occupied elsewhere so the deadline is shifted to Jan 6, midday (1200 CET. Six hours more in New York, eight hours less in Japan or something like that. Find your own timezone, please.) Should some latecomer want to join, do it NOW.

Also, Melissa, please, mail me with your postal address so that I can effectively add you to the swap.

I already have something ready so I'll be eagerly waiting for another homemade perfume.

Update of the update: I've sent out the addresses to the participants so now we have to wait and see.

The perfumista challenge - update

Yes, you can still join the Perfumista Challenge.

I got several participants, apart from yours truly, there are:
Marla who writes for Perfume-Smellin' Things
Pat of the OlfactaRama blog
Tar from Virginia
Mark from Southern Australia
Melissa who didn't give me her adddress yet
Mark from England
Mary from California
... and that's all. Damn, people, don't be shy and join the project, it will be fun. Invite your friends, too. The more, the better.

There were a few questions, too.

So, yes, you can advertise yourself and your products. I'll be glad to link to your website if you provide me with the URL. I however do have two requests: this should be a perfumista challenge, not an advertising arena so be reasonable. Also, for the swap, create something new, please, and start selling it after we are done with this.

Should you want to throw in more samples, I'm not against it. One sample is compulsory, the rest is your good will or advertising campaign or decluttering. Since not everybody will be willing to sent out samples by handfuls, you are not guaranteed to get the same amount back.

Should someone want to ship locally for budget reasons, let me know, I'll try my best to take it into consideration. However, since the participants are from all over the world, it might not work.

A reminder: the list of participants closes on December 31 to give you time to blend your potions and to avoid the pre-Christmas postal hell. The exchange is a simple daisy chain, you get an address to send your sample to and someone else will send you theirs. I would be glad if you reviewed the fragrance and posted it somewhere online and sent me the link so that I can make a summary. Those who don't have any website on their own can post as guest bloggers here.

Have fun.

Celebrity perfumes and a perfumista strikeback

It appears that every other arsehole (1) that appeared on TV need to have a fragrance with their name on the bottle. I have this mostly secondhand, I don't watch TV and I happily ignore most of the popculture until it comes and hits me on the head (2).

Not that I'd be totally against celebrity perfumes, why shouldn't Jane Famous have a perfume and after all, I'm a fan of Covet. I've not seen a single epizode of Sex in the City, for your information, and I got to know Covet two years on Arlanda airport, waiting for my flight to Helsinki and then Rovaniemi, with nothing to do, so I perused the possibilities offered by the duty-free store and I decided that I needed this one.
I also hear that the rare eponymous fragrance of Catherine Deneuve is a damn good one, and that Alain Delon or Omar Sharif didn't put their names on expensive and badly functioning toilet fresheners. But... well, the likelihood that every Jane Famous of this world is able to produce a halfway decent fragrance is small. And the world goes with the statistics.
Alas, I'm not really able to give examples of crappy celebrity perfumes with explanations why I think so - the reason is that they are not unforgettably crappy but so interesting that they fall into oblivion five minutes after being hurled into one's nose.

We collectively whined about it and being who I am, a master of terrible jokes, I proposed that every totally unknown and incelebre perfumista should blend something. For the equilibrium; and since perfumistas have an idea about scents, even if their resources are limited, the likelihood that every and each one of them comes with something more interesting than Eau de Betty Well-Known is high.

I discussed the idea of some sort of swap with Helg of Perfume Shrine and she was pretty enthused and the final decision is thus: there'll be a simple swap round. Every participant will submit their address and they'll get another one where they'll send their creation. I wouldn't oblige the recipients to write a review or comment but it would be more fun if they did (4).

To join the bunch of swappers, mail me at rosa (dot) pendulina (at) yahoo (dot) se. Helg says that I'm sane and I think you may trust her that I won't steal your private data, reprogram your radio and teach your cat Finnish so that she won't obey you.

The deadline for joining is [frantic thinking about some random date...] December 31. On New Year's day, you'll get an address where to send something - in order to give you time to actually prepare something if you don't have it at hand, and to avoid the pre-Christmas postal madness.

Have fun.


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(1) I don't intend to imply that everybody who appears on the TV is an arsehole. Just some of them
(2) very unpleasant, I'm telling you.
(3) as far as I can judge (5)
(4) adding Christmas cards or chocolate to the perfume samples is absolutely permitted. I don't go with the trend of high cocoa content, those are too bitter, if I may please
(5) no I don't know what this relates to