For the times they are a-changin'
Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin' ~ Bob Dylan
A few things became apparent to me over this past year about natural and botanical perfumery ~ about the marketing, artistry, accumulation of friends and foes (sometimes they're the same person), the utter horsesh*t being bandied about 'out there', and, most importantly (to me), who had earned the right to call themselves a perfumer. Certainly, I discovered, not I. And the term 'nose', for some as yet fully defined reason, pisses me off. Boils down a bit to credibility, I suppose. Call me a nose and I might punch you in yours. That's all I'm saying. Unreasonable, I agree. I feel the same way when someone calls my respiratory therapist husband 'doctor'. Uh, what? Chaps my arse more when he doesn't correct them.
So, here's what I've done: Shut down 'The Scented Djinn' temporarily (9 or 10 or 11 months) and begun a stringent, self-motivated perfume education with the help of two equally scent possessed persons of future perfumer status. Then maybe, somewhere toward August/September of 2008, I might feel comfortable with the moniker natural, botanical perfumer.
As I wrote earlier, it's a matter of credibility.
So, yeah, times are changing.
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin' ~ Bob Dylan
A few things became apparent to me over this past year about natural and botanical perfumery ~ about the marketing, artistry, accumulation of friends and foes (sometimes they're the same person), the utter horsesh*t being bandied about 'out there', and, most importantly (to me), who had earned the right to call themselves a perfumer. Certainly, I discovered, not I. And the term 'nose', for some as yet fully defined reason, pisses me off. Boils down a bit to credibility, I suppose. Call me a nose and I might punch you in yours. That's all I'm saying. Unreasonable, I agree. I feel the same way when someone calls my respiratory therapist husband 'doctor'. Uh, what? Chaps my arse more when he doesn't correct them.
So, here's what I've done: Shut down 'The Scented Djinn' temporarily (9 or 10 or 11 months) and begun a stringent, self-motivated perfume education with the help of two equally scent possessed persons of future perfumer status. Then maybe, somewhere toward August/September of 2008, I might feel comfortable with the moniker natural, botanical perfumer.
As I wrote earlier, it's a matter of credibility.
So, yeah, times are changing.
WHAT?!
ReplyDeleteThe Scented Djinn is one of my favorite 'perfume porn' sites!
I've had my version of your standing at the crossroads a few times, and every time resolve to stay the hell away from the mailing lists because they tend to be insular and limiting in their own peculiar way. So are the soap boards, which are, interestingly enough, peopled with more newly minted 'fumers than I can shake a stick at. The vast majority are self-taught, too. No one's going to take credit for having taught the lot of them, that's for sure.
Dr. Seuss comes to mind. Buttering one's bread on the right side or the wrong side. All I know is when I drop the bread it always falls buttered side down, dangit...
The plan is to reopen with a more pleasing and, perhaps, a more perfume porn worthy aesthetic :D
ReplyDeleteThe boards, the mailing lists, all that CAN be helpful, but more likely waste time that could be used more efficiently actually STUDYING perfumery rather than chattering on about it ~ especially with newbies who don't really want to put in the years it takes to learn it properly, but instead want to pick the brains of those who've been at it a while.
I'm putting together another post that will address this more thoroughly. I'll try to keep the rant out :D
"...especially with newbies who don't really want to put in the years it takes to learn it properly, but instead want to pick the brains of those who've been at it a while..."
ReplyDeleteActually, a few folks who've been at it awhile engage in this as well. It drives me batshit. But I digress.
I agree, definitely, when it comes to the chattering which is wasted time. More product, less patter. Everything else is just bluster with little backing it.
:)
I look forward to reading Oh True Apothecary!
ReplyDelete