Kaufman

Drawing for the Kaufman Perfume book is tomorrow, January 31st. You still have time to enter, so scroll down to the Kaufman giveaway post and enter your name.

Scent Giveaway at The Scented Djinn Blog

Enter to win two new scents from The Scented Djinn ~ Azhar Eau de Parfum & Jameel Eau de Toilette ~ here.

Tricks of the Trade

If you don't have a test tube rack in which to hold your test tubes of perfume formulation experiments, use a short container, an empty 1 lb cocoa butter container from Mountain Rose Herbs works great, fill it with fine crafter's sand and poke the test tube into the sand to hold it upright. You can fit three or four test tubes into a 1 lb cocoa butter container.

If you don't have a fancy schmancy scent strip holder, try gluing those little crafter's clothespins (the crocodile ones with springs) onto popsicle sticks and stick them in the sand too. Then just clip on the scent strip.

Fact: lab filter paper is optimal for filtering finished perfume and eau compositions (you can get them on ebay and they're used for filtering wine), but don't expect the composition to flow through like it does when you use thinner coffee filter paper -- what takes moments through a coffee filter paper will take an hour or more through a lab filter paper.

Natural Perfume Academy Online Course

The Natural Perfume Academy, aka Nature's Nexus Academy of Perfuming Arts, is now accepting applications for the next year-long course round which starts May 2010.

Your tuition includes a 55+ essence evaluation kit and a completely updated workbook, and an essence blending kit of the most popular raw materials used in perfume making, as well as mentoring and tutor guidance, and course units which cover the topics of history, safety, glossary of terminology, perfumer's studio equipment, perfumer's palette of raw materials, notes, accords and chords, fragrance family classifications, evaluation methods, master code sheets for included evaluation kit, creation and composition of perfumes, trial studies, dilution facts, advanced perfumer's tools, information on tinctures, evulsions, infusions, et al, perfume strength, and much more.

For more information, contact Ruth here.

Vetyver!

Holy crow! . . . cow! . . . pumpkin butts! Just got my order of vetyvers from White Lotus Aromatics and -- well, you can guess my reaction. The vetyver/mitti is. To. Die. For. Or live for, whichever is your preference. It smells like rain on parched earth -- and vetyver. Absolutely gorgeous. And the vetyver/rose Edward -- heavens! The rose isn't in your face, but it's there, transforming the vetyver to heavy sweetness. Verrah nice, verrah nice! Oh, and rhododendron leaf eo! Cripes! I love WLA -- they always find the most amazing raw materials.

Soap!

Normally at this time of year, I am sooooo done with making soap, but for some reason, I'm making some! Cured up this really great smelling clary sage, salt and clay soap that I loaded up with organic cocoa butter and coconut milk, and now I want to make something really juicy ~ something with patchouli in it, and spices, and . . and . . and something . . something really juicy!

Diluting, filtering and decanting perfumes today ~ oh, joy! ~ how I've missed that.

Only Change is Stable

This past year has been a roller coaster ride in all aspects of my life. I think a part of me, the adventurer, the seeker, doesn't mind the ride at all, but the other part of me, the mother, the provider, the fearful one, minds the ride very much. In that respect, there is balance. When I reach the point of saturation, the situation changes. I might point out at this time something I used to say to my older kids when they were teenagers dealing with relationship issues ~ "Everything changes. Today may seem like the worst day in your life, but I guarantee tomorrow will bring something different." I never said that tomorrow might be worse, even though it sometimes was. Eventually, the better tomorrow came.

That's the mantra I've been saying to myself since October 2008. It'll get better because worse is unthinkable, unimaginable, though often worse would come and the bar for what was unthinkable would be set higher -- 'how much more crap can you handle?', the Universe would ask.

What could be so bad, right? The condensed, cleaned-up PG version goes like this ~ it began with the death of a patriarch, then merged into a runaway child, two attempted suicides, a calm period of five months when everyone was on tenterhooks waiting for the next moment of mania, and it came in the form of more passings -- a brother whose death came as a huge shock, and two physically distant cousins, both plagued by years of depression and drug addiction who passed because of their lifestyle choices; another runaway, a trip to the looney bin (I apologize for my lack of tact in that description, but that's what it was), and a job loss. A karmic attack. But that's not apt, none of these things happened directly to me, as it were, I was just an unwilling witness, plus I haven't done anything to earn all this bad karma. And I know this is going to sound trite, but what's kept me hanging on by my fingernails was this, creating things, expressing sorrow and anger and love through perfume. Though I haven't sat down and really dug my hands into perfumery in a long time (since about October 2008), I've never, not even for a moment, stopped thinking about it, writing about it, longing for it. During those long dark months, I filled notebooks with experiments, evaluations, ideas, stories, inspiration to keep me going, words I could look back on after the storm passed and maybe bring some of the writing to fruition. That's where I am now. But, I don't for a second believe the crap storm is over. Because it's never over. Not for any of us.

I am an optimist. Really, I am. Even after all of the stuff that's happened to our family, we're all still here, some of us, nurturing one another, helping one another. I see this happening, too, with Haiti. The strength of spirit Haitians possess is inspiring. And it makes the fire of personal tragedy dim somewhat. There are always going to be people in situations far worse than our own. And my heart goes out to them.

One thing I am truly grateful for is my choice to extract myself from the politics of this business. This business being perfumery. My friend Ana likes to say that soap making is a dirty business, and I agree, but an even dirtier business is that of the Natural Botanical Perfume community. So I've shifted my attention from the negative aspects of NBP and placed them on the more positive aspects ~ like the perfumers who throw open the doors of their homes and allow in virtual strangers to stay with them a while, the perfume friends who share their pizza and persimmons and cheese and perfumed sweets and wine and great conversation, and, yes, a bit of snarking; the icons of aromatherapy and perfumery inviting me (me!) in to experience a first-hand accounting of NBP history. There is great beauty and love in all of this.

And that is what Natural Botanical Perfumery is truly about, and my hope for the future is that change is stable. That walking on perfume politics' eggshells changes to open communication and acceptance of responsibility. I told you I was an optimist.

Creticus Returns

Formulating When and Where

I'm assuming everyone else is assuming that all the recent perfume posting over at my store is the result of a few recent weeks of pounding my head against the blending desk, late nights sipping stale coffee, and flasks and beakers and test tubes of strange smelling fluids being poured together, but it's not. All but one of the "new" perfumes is really an old perfume. Not old like past its prime, expiration date from 2002, but old to me. I worked on it for weeks, maybe a month or so, then put it aside to mature, then forgot about it as I had moved on to the next project. Starting the online course really put me off my game. But starting the online course also honed my skills as a perfumer. I've learned almost as much by teaching other people how to do this as I did taking a year off to study on my own. So of the nine or ten new perfumes put up in the store, there are literally 40 or 50 more that didn't quite make the grade. Putrid beyond belief, flat, boring, not surprising at all, ordinary, or "been there, done that" for the dozenth time. And all this diluting, filtering and decanting has set another fire blazing under me bum. I'm ready to start formulating again.

Got a call from the place where I teach my perfumery workshops and they want to add a soap making class to the roster, sooooo . . . . yeah, guess I'll be updating the workbook for the soap making course as well.

Just as with writing or research, once you start formulating perfumes, your inspiration and spark just arrives, one observation after another, one rabbit hole after another until you find yourself popping out on another continent; there's no waiting around to be struck with divine understanding, you discover inspiration through the work. And through diligence. Maybe that is the divinity of inspiration after all.

More Transition ~ And a Little Transmutation?

This is the perfumery hutch as it appears today. If you look back a few posts, you'll see how it started out a couple of weeks ago. You see what a few days of digging through boxes and cabinets of perfumery wares gets you? Something else overflowing with precious items. My studio is beginning to resemble an antique store. And this other photo ~ the one with all the little 5ml dropper bottles? That's what a blending bench looks like after a 35lb garage door is ripped from its hinges and crashes down on it ~ I actually cleaned up the broken glass from an antique apothecary bottle (boo hoo) ~ but the rest, the dust, the scattered mess, the tweaked organ -- all that is original post garage door mishap. You don't even want to know what forces caused the door to do what it did. All. On. Its. Own. (Can you hear the music from The Twillight Zone playing?)

It's not the easiest thing to do, cleaning a space like this, when there's perfume to bottle, sites to update, pictures to take (yes!), and studying to do. Spagyrics are on the roster, and I have to admit, some of it is a bit over my head. But I'm the determined sort, so I imagine with a little more focused concentration and a more peaceful atmosphere (five people live in this house and are in and out all day long with their various and sundry daily dramas playing out), I'll work it all out. It's fascinating stuff. My point is, the studio is still in a transitional, yet usable, stage.

I've discovered, to my dismay, that the cats enjoy sipping water from the ultrasonic, even when they have a perfectly clean and full water bowl available; they love climbing over the oldest of books in my collection and batting at the book marks sticking out of them, and generally squeezing themselves into the tiniest of nooks between hutch and cabinet and boxes and scratching and clawing at stuff until the sound is unbearable. At any given time, you can hear me shouting, "Get out!" and see three not even remotely bothered cats sauntering out of the studio. I get them back, though. I take my time chopping up their chicken while they meow and hop and chirp and beg on the floor, and all the while I'm laughing in their fuzzy, pathetic little faces. Cats are an impatient lot.

As many wonderful things as I've rediscovered, some formulations that were done yet forgotten, a few antique bottles, some mini perfume bottles tucked away in a box, I've yet to find the apple blossom concrete I've hoarded all these months ~ I think I used it in a demo box for a perfume workshop a few months back, but I'm not certain. Regardless, I've searched in all the usual places and have yet to find it. It's one of my library pieces and I'm very upset that it's missing. Perhaps I'll find it yet as the studio still holds a few secrets.

Enter to win the Kaufman book a few posts down ~ it's one of the prettiest of coffee table books that actually has usable perfumery information in it. Just drop a comment in the comments section of that post and you're in the drawing. Drawing deadline: January 31, 2010 ~ good luck!

Nadira Extrait

Parfums, Eau de Parfums, Eau de Toilettes ~

Coffrett

Kaufman Giveaway ~ Drawing on the 31st of January

Scroll down the posts until you get to the Kaufman giveaway post -- enter to win there. Just send me a comment and if your name is drawn, I'll contact you for your address. It's easy. And free.

When Life is Good

You celebrate, right? Last night we went to see the band my son is in, Dislodic, as you can see from the previous post. They were amazing, as usual. And getting better every time I hear them. Not your average garage band. Not a garage band at all. A group of real musicians who are dedicated to their craft, and perfectionists, every one. I see good things on the horizon for them.

So, aside from that plug, things are going well verging on extremely crazy busy -- just the way I like it! There are some interesting new things to sniff out there ~ White Lotus Aromatics has vetyver co-distillations that sound fabulous -- vetyver and mitti, vetyver and rose, vetyver and ginger lily, vetyver with kewda, vetyver with jasmine, vetyver with tuberose ~ it's a smorgasbord of vetyver!

The perfume sales are going very well. Surprisingly well, in fact. I've noticed that a lot of Natural Botanical Perfumers are offering their wares in smaller packages with significantly smaller price tags attached, which, while they may not be too happy about that, you who have hesitated purchasing Natural Botanical Perfumes, because of that higher price tag, can now rejoice. Here's your opportunity to get your hands on some of the finest perfumes ever made. And I'm not just saying that because I also make Natural Botanical Perfumes. I really mean it. While I have been known to enjoy a shot of synthetically styled perfumed, I still find much more enjoyment from a well-crafted Natural Botanical Perfume. They know when to sit down and shut up without threatening them with a shower and a scrub.

Gearing up to make more soap ~ I'm getting more and more requests for them, and it amazes me that I almost gave it up. The most lauded soaps to date are the Poppymint (poppy seeds, peppermint and spearmint with lots of cocoa butter in the base), and the salt and clay soap. The salt and clay soap was a surprise. It lasts forever, and my best customers for this soap are people with terrible skin conditions -- acne, excessively oily skin, rosacea. Soap. Still one of my favorite things. Also still not going into mass production. Sucks all the enjoyment out of making a beautifully crafted, luxurious natural soap. My life is a series of limited editions . . .

Friday Night

Studio in Transition

Mmmm, Yummy?

Sooooo not having anything to do with perfumery, natural or otherwise, but a commentary on English as a second language.

This is how my son's Princess Chicken from the Chinese food restaurant up the street looked when it arrived. Without thinking, as is his usual MO, my husband pulls it from the bag and asked, "Who's eating the carton of prick?"

Don't forget to enter the drawing for the Kaufman Perfume book . . .

Land of the Lost

These are the promised photos of the al-embic and display at the Intermountain Nursery Harvest Arts and Peace Festival from last October ~ enjoy!

Little Ditty

Doody doody doe doody, banana fanna foe foody, me my moe moody, creticus.

Don't forget to enter for the Kaufman book, dood. Ee.

Kaufman Strikes Again ~ A Giveaway

While cleaning the studio, I ran across the William I. Kaufman books I'd been hoarding for giveaways and such. I found four. I only need one, maybe two, one to use, one for display. So I'm going to take this opportunity to give one away. Just one this time, maybe the other later in the year, or next year, or the year after. Whenever.

Enter for the drawing the win the coffee table book "Perfume" by William I. Kaufman, with perfume making instruction by Jean Carles, loads of fantastic photos, and great information about perfume in general. This copy is a bit beaten up, has no cover, as shown in this picture, but is perfectly readable.

To enter, just add a comment here, then on, oh, say, January 31st, I'll randomly draw the winner's name and announce it here, send the winner an email to get your address and your Kaufman will be mailed to you. How hard is that?

I'm sorry, but the giveaway is limited to those living within the US only as shipping outside of the US and freakishly expensive.

Creativity

It seems ages since I sat down and really put my back into formulating. Yes, I've made "stuff" in the past year or so, but I haven't truly formulated. I think Khamsa Eau Fraiche was the last real perfume project I worked on with any kind of heat in my soul -- well, maybe the scented masks, as those were truly inspired. Just as a writer gets writer's block, a perfumer can get perfumer's block. Getting blocked is not a good feeling, especially when perfumery is your bread and butter. Something has to fall away, like stress and insecurities, or some spark needs re-igniting. For me the spark has come in several forms ~ discovering all those lovely perfume formulations I'd put away when I didn't feel like working anymore, watching the hyacinth's gathering steam in their pots, readying themselves for a warm spring day in which to burst out of the soil. The hyacinth's are amazing -- the tips of their green leaves have breached the soil and haven't seemed to move in weeks, but slowly the purple flower head is growing in size, though the color of the buds is less purple and more gray/black. Another inspiration to getting back to the bench are some great raw materials ~ vetyver codistilled with champa, vetyver codistilled with jasmine sambac. Watching the studio coming together has helped inspire me. The shelving units are up, the books are in place, the miniature perfume bottle collection in place, the antiques are in position -- it looks fabulous, and it makes me want to hurry and get the rest done. At this pace, the studio will be ready for guests by May. Perhaps earlier if I get a bug in my bum. Lighting is an issue. The studio is very dark. Which is good for the work being done here, but not so good for getting work done here. Ah, well. It's getting there.

Closer . . . closer . . . closer-- almost there!

Finally have the shelving brackets to hang those lovely 'merchandise quality', liquidation sale, store closing, heavy-duty shelves I bought for next to nothing last summer. Thank you, Gottschalks. That means all these tumbling books will have a home and there will be even more space cleared to make way for -- dancing? No, teaching! I've decided once the studio is up to snuff, I'm going to bring in students to teach NBP. That's been the goal all along, a nicely appointed teaching space, where everything is within reach and no more saying to students, "Oh, I have a really lovely fill in the blank, but it's back home in my studio."

Gems

I take it back; I have found a few gems amongst the dust while cleaning the studio ~ a lovely extrait formulation from 2008 that I'd tucked away for maturation, then forgot, made with this gorgeous aloeswood resin tincture I found a few years back, and roses. It's flush with Turkish rose otto and agarwood resin, and shored with pink lotus absolute, frangipani, ambriene, immortelle, orris butter and lavender seville. Very deep and dark and floral. I put a drop on the back of my hand last night and woke to its scent this morning. Tenacious little bugger. I think I'm going to offer it up at the Etsy store . . . we'll have to see. I also found a lovely green perfume extrait that's matured quite nicely -- it was fashioned after Vent Vert, but instead of an in-your-face galbanum shove with screeching green meanies in the air, this green formulation is instead quietly green, more floral, though a few green meanies do raise their spiky cactus heads. This one's made with vetyver, a violet accord, boronia, galbanum, jasmine grandiflorum, a beautiful emerald green tea tincture, clary, patchouli, rose otto, basil and sandalwood. Also quite tenacious. Also in the back of the cabinet of curiosities, way, way in the back, languished a full bottle of full-strength something! She just has a number with a corresponding index card that reads, "xx grams Australian sandalwood, xx grams Himalayan cedar, xx grams ambrette CO2, xx grams ambrette tincture, xx grams Siam benzoin, xx grams jasmine grandiflorum, xx grams champa, xx grams honey absolute, xx grams fresh ginger, xx grams frankincense, xx grams 'green note', xx grams butter CO2" ~ the results are incredibly beautiful, opening with the ginger and very quickly going musky and floral, with the ginger weaving in and out, and staying that way for quite a long time. I think I clocked it at five hours. There were others, but I haven't had a chance to really test them. There was also a beautiful peach evulsion that has lovely fresh, fruity peach notes, but they don't last very long. Still.

I Love Lucy

Sometimes.

The newest edition to the family is Lucy Clementine, an adorable little ginger kitty with orange eyes and a fat, round head. My daughter kept her a secret in her bedroom for two days before she was discovered, thinking we'd want to get rid of her if we knew she was there (we already have three cats), but the minute we saw Lucy, we fell in love. She's a compact little dynamo who hasn't yet learned the house rules and is always getting run out of the studio for one thing or another ~ unplugging the computer, batting packaging popcorn across the floor (after digging it out of the dispenser bag), squeezing her fat butt cheeks between two boxes and thinking she's hiding, even though said fat butt cheeks are sticking out with attached twitching tail slithering back and forth, dragging packaging ribbon around chair legs, chewing tape, knocking books onto the floor. I think all the activity in the studio has her curious and I just keep uncovering more and more interesting things for her to play with. She's also taken to stealing my chair. As soon as I get up to do something, Lucy hops up in my computer chair and sprawls like she knows I'm coming back and she's making sure there isn't a square inch of seat for me to use. I'm sure once she figures out there really isn't much going on in here, she'll find something else to do, like irritate the other cats, which she's very good at. Yesterday I caught her sitting in the food dish hissing at Olive, one of the other kitties, when Olive approached for a nibble. Olive just looked at Lucy like, 'WTF?!' and ambled off.

Cats are funny people.

Inventory Overload

Just passing this along ~ Nature's Gift has a big discount offer on a bunch of their essential oils.

"After Inventory Sale:
We have flat out toooooo much of some products. (What was I thinking?) To lower overstocks we are putting the following essential oils on sale: Cold pressed Organic Bergamot, Cold pressed Organic Clementine Rind, Elemi, Eucalyptus Smithii, Fir Balsam, Guiacwood, Himalayan Lavender, Distilled Lime, Green Mandarine, Ravensara Aromatica, and Tagetes. All are offered in 15 ml (retail) and 4 ounce bulk sizes, at the steepest discounts we have ever offered. Because they are so highly discounted, no other Nature's Gift discount may apply. How long will each remain on sale? I don't know. When the supply on hand reaches some yet to be determined amount. We haven't decided yet."

I'd recommend the organic clementine, green mandarin, tagetes, fir balsam, guiac ~ heck, buy one of each!

Wait, the carpet's brown?!

A fair bit of the studio is cleaned out and straightened, the rest is still a shambles. There's so much I don't even bother with putting things away when I run across them, I just have sorting boxes with brain labels such as 'notes/research', 'labware', 'raw materials' and whatnot lying on the -- the brown carpet? I thought the carpet was blue . . .

No matter. The job is progressing at a fairly decent clip and though I haven't discovered any rare gems I'd forgotten or lost, I am having fun reacquainting myself with space. I may have enough of that left over when this project's done that I can slip a little futon couch in here so I can curl up and nap during a particularly exhausting session at the bench.

I did find a brand new calligraphy book that I don't remember getting. Those kinds of things always scare me. What was I thinking when I picked that one up? And why don't I remember wanting to do calligraphy so badly I bought a book? I also found a bible written in farsi. How do I know it's a bible if it's written in farsi? Why, the pictures, of course!

I had another go at the shortbread. This time I substituted the petitgrain sur fleur neroli with a really lovely organically grown lavender oil. Again, I got the ooh, it tastes like soap responses, but I did notice that the batch went very quickly and there was a lot of dunking going on. They must like how soap tastes.

I created a formulation for Valentine's inspired by Czeche and Speake's Neroli eau de toilette (I had a bottle which I gave away as a gift to someone who can well tolerate smelling like that all day), with a few twists ~ I added an aged oudh tincture and a little bit of a gardenia infusion oil, and a few drops of honeyed osmanthus absolute. Been using the ultrasonic to speed maturation and thus far it is quite pretty.

So, been busy on many fronts. As it should be. Better this than staring bleary-eyed at MTV Cribs all day.

Nicole and Jason

The crisis is not yet averted, but at least there's a bit of a gold lining surrounding the dark clouds ~ thanks to the donations, letters, phone calls, emails and personal visits, things just might begin turning around for Nicole. Nicole's been struggling with this illness for 13 years, with Jason holding her hand the entire way. I have to tell you, they're the most inspiring couple I've ever had the pleasure to know.

For more information on their story and struggle, visit their website/blog, and if the urge hits you, donate.

The need is still there, and the gratitude is abundant.

Distillation

Time to warm up the al-embic, but I can't decide which new goodie to distill first -- the frankincense boswellia carterii resin (a kilo!), the pinion pine resin, or the sandalwood chips. Think I'll start with the easiest, the sandalwood, as it doesn't leave residue that has to be hacked out of the al-embic to get it clean. Was going to distill lemons again as the last batch turned out beautifully -- I still get compliments on that lemon oil that smelled just like fresh squeezed lemonade. But we ended up eating and giving away all the organic lemons. Want to do a petitgrain sur fleur type with lemon and orange blossoms this time, in February when the trees go to bloom again. The hydrosol from that will be devastatingly gorgeous-- well, unless it smells like boiled veg. Which it won't, right? Optimism is the only reason I tried my hand at distillation to begin with. Some people have asked how I learned to distill, and the truth is, I don't know that I have. I've done a fair amount of study on the subject and have made a list of 'must dos' and 'must not dos'. Like, must not be in a rush or the heat could cause the resins in the pot to boil up and into the gooseneck, clogging it solid and causing the pot to accumulate pressure to the point that it explodes and ejects its viscera all over the ceiling . . . and floor . . . and walls . . . and cabinets . . . and the KitchenAid, the granite candy table, the hutch, and the cat. Must do-- be sure there's a circulating water system in place; must do-- keep the boiling water temp at 100 Celsius. There are more, like must do when the clumsy oafs are not at home as said clumsy oafs don't watch where they're walking and knock over the stand on which the receiver sits-- twice in a row. Bye bye eo.

Got a good portion of the studio "done up". Freed up a lot space and am in the process of filling it up again with running projects. I'm getting there. When I'm in too far, I just ring a bell so they can find me.

Evaluations

This weekend is comprised of evaluations, both primary scent/single essence evals and finished perfume composition evals. There are similarities in the way one evaluates both, but they are entirely different in many other ways. For example, a primary scent doesn't have to be "balanced", but a finished perfume composition should. A primary scent must follow the current standards of its basic scent profile, for instance, many Natural Botanical Perfumers use Arctander to set the standard, so the scent profile for say vetyver, though it varies from region to region, and the best in my opinion are the Haitian and Bourbon/Reunion Island varities, is sweet, woody, wet soil, sometimes with bitter top notes. The vagaries of vetyvers do exist; Sri Lankan, organically grown, tends toward a floral and creamy profile, while Bourbon/Reunion Island is more woody and smoky. Haitian samples are more powdery and sweet, while the Indonesian can be bitter and tobacco-like. At this point, it's a matter of preference which is chosen for a perfume, though the bitterer vetyvers are less desireable. After 24 hours of drydown most vetyvers tend to smell the same. In Natural Botanical Perfume composition, one looks for balance, complexity, harmonization, and a surprise. In other words, it has to "work". While soliflores are almost never really single scent, the primary goal is to establish an interpretation within the mind of the evaluator/customer/client of a single note, while in reality the perfume may be comprised of dozens of aromatics. Crafty, crafty perfumers. Tenacity is another point in the pros side of the list, at least a few hours makes for a tenacious Natural Botanical Perfume. One of the biggest issues that detract from a Natural Botanical Perfume is its tenacity, or, rather, its lack of tenacity. So it has to be balanced, complex, harmonized, issue a surprise, and last a little longer than a sneeze.

Talent

I'm am repeatedly amazed by the talent that exists within the Natural Botanical Perfume community. And it almost seems as if some of the smallest, quietest voices in the community are the ones who carry the biggest, most spiked with wonders scent strips. So my New Year's request/wish or what-have-you is this ~ no matter what your vocation, whether you (that's YOU the reader of this obscure blog) are an artisan Natural Botanical Perfumer, or you're simply a lover of scent, or someone who got lost and fell down a rabbit hole and ended up here a la YOU ARE HERE status, and X marks the spot, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera, search out, find and sample the wares of every Natural Botanical Perfumer who appeals to you, even in the tinest way. Because you never know what you'll find or learn or covet until you do.

Happy New Year.