Vintage, Antiques and Limitations

Sometimes I think I've perfumed myself into a corner. I've hundreds of perfume materials to work with, though I covet and adore the rarest -- the 65-year-old Mysore sandalwood, the hyacinth evulsion, the orris root evulsion *slash*antique orris resin co-blend, and even, dare I say it, the 2 ounces or so of four-year-old 25% ambergris tincture. I find myself too willing to work with them, but I don't want to use them up! I simply cannot help myself. I'm looking at the downside (the half empty, not the half full) bottles of aromatics I will never possess again once they're gone. I'm known for creating limited editions, whether it be parfum, body butter or soap. And I do this because I tend to get bored making the same thing day in and day out. Even if I were to make, say, a lavender soap, and a customer reordered the same lavender soap, they're very likely, positively likely, to get something a little different than what they got the first time around. I like to kick things up a notch, add a little sizzle and flav'a' to the mix. And I also do this because I relish working with rare raw materials of limited accessibility. I dream of a day when I can formulate a parfum or eau exactly the same way as its original, but because I use things I cannot easily replace, I perfume myself into a corner. I envy you perfumers who can make vats of scent which seem to last forever. I really do.