Wonderful World of Will
Eden Botanicals is one of my very favorite places to find rare and beautiful smelly things. Over the past few years, Will Lapaz of EB has been diligently seeking out those ingredients which natural and botanical perfumers love to possess. He consistently obtains some of the most exquisite scenting elements the world has to offer.
Here is a short list of some recent goodies I received.
Orange Blossom Water Absolute - in a word -- luscious! I do so love orange blossom over neroli. Orange blossom is full and robust and brings to the forefront of my mind hidden childhood memories of cool, breezy evenings and the scent of blooming orange floating on the air.
Linden Blossom Absolute - linden is a choice find for any perfumer. Most linden, I've heard, are fakes posing as the real deal. This bewitching contribution to natural and botanical perfumers is well worth that gamble. It is real. Dark and oozy and resinous, like thick, blackish honey, so unexpected in its appearance and texture. The scent is indescribably lovely - very honied and wine-y with osmanthus-like attributes, those sweet, boozy tones overlaid with fruitiness. I equate this particular fruit essence to prunes - not a very appealing idea, I agree, but there's much more to this multi-faceted essence than that. So much more.
Cardamom CO2 Select - I'm not a huge fan of the CO2 extractions. They oftentimes seem to enjoy an unreasonable added expense for so little return. Not the case with this cardamom CO2. A sweet, fruity and spicy essence hastens from the bottle, a little bulldozer of scent intent on making you love it. And you probably will. Swirling around the sweet fruitiness is a shade of camphor - not much, and certainly not enough to relegate this gem to the eucalyptus-peppermint-tea tree shelf of topical self-medications. Used sparingly in a perfume blend, I can see this delightful little CO2 adding just the right amount of fruit 'n spice.
Clementine CO2 Select - Oh, my darling Clementine! Another CO2 extract that makes itself worthy of its price. Clementine is just the sweetest, most darling little thing! I'm a big fan of red mandarin essential oil, all snugly in its candy-like blanket of essence, but this - this beautiful clementine is a true Tootsie-Pop wonder! I want to eat it. I want to pour it in cake batter and frosting and tea. I want clementine kisses and clementine tears. I have big plans for this deliciously heady little citrus. No, I'm not really going to eat it - ah!
Nagarmotha Cyperus - this is the very first nagarmotha I've ever sniffed. At first I thought it smelled like my father's old boot polishing kit with all its funky balms and blackened flannel strips. Then it took on a cedar-like character, not the warm, creamy scent of Himalayan cedar, but the bitter astringency of Virginian cedar. It's warmer than VC, though, and not so similar that one would mistakenly think it cedarwood. But still, that leathery, boot-polish tone could be quite useful. I like it, odd as it is.
Lavender Seville (absolute) - Wow! This is different. If someone where to hold the bottle under my nose without telling me what it was, I would never guess lavender. This stuff is sweet and jelly-like (in scent, not texture), fruity, berry-ish. It reminds me very much of fruit leather! This nectareous little essence can, and probably will, be used to create a faux berry parfum that may turn out to be nothing less than irresistable.
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