Lonely Work

Being a perfumer is lonely, lonely work. I've spent the better part of the morning and early afternoon working on spreadsheets for formulations. What. A. Pain. In. The. Bottom. I've also been kneading and folding that kyphi, which, if I have to be honest, is really starting to smell up the place. It smells like a temple in here, or a head shop, or the local metaphysical store, or even a hookah bar. This permanent scent in the house makes it difficult to evaluate the perfume I've been working on. I have to step outside to sniff the perfume-in-the-works otherwise I assume it's gorgeous because of the ambient scent inside. So far this perfume is giving me shivering fits! That cumin, that single drop in dozens of mls of other stuff and etoh is driving me bonkers. I'm beginning to think that clementine and cumin do not a happy couple make. Or perhaps I need a dash of calendula to sand down the sharp edges. I haven't decided yet, but I will be conducting some trials later today to figure it all out. Right now I'm exhausted -- mentally exhausted -- from wrangling down that cumin. I like it, it seems to work with the whole picture of the perfume, except perhaps for that clementine, but it's just too intense. There's a point in the evolution, right at the beginning, where it rises sharply out of the citrusy/floral top notes and just slams up the nose. It's brief but brutal. Now I understand why I waste so much time poking around on Facebook and looking up recipes for fried swai -- anything to keep myself from the frustration of a temporary low well of inspiration. I do, however, think that calendula is a good idea . . .

The other messy bench