Solid Perfumes & The End of the World

I just have to tell you about this acquaintance/in-law of mine who lives to bring doom. When she found out one of my children moved to the SF Bay Area, she started in on the predicted 'big one', and then, just to get her point across even more, a piece of news (if you could call it that) came out during her 'you're all gonna die' tirade that was about the coming California 'Megastorm'. She sent proof in the form of a link to the article, and you know what? We're all gonna die . . . some more. I distinctly remember her telling me at a Fourth of July celebration last year that she had to keep a low profile because since Biden was now president, they (?) were sending cattle trains to collect all of the people who voted for Trump and were going to send them to camps where, you guessed it, they were all gonna die. I once played Trivial Pursuit with her and couldn't believe how much she didn't know about basic high school-level information, and she's only a few years younger than I am. I'm not saying she's stupid, but clearly, fun, happy, and hopeful subjects aren't where her interests lie unless somehow in an odd twist the end result is that we're all gonna die. 

Some years ago, my dear friend Nicole (Littleflowers) made this fantastically beautiful solid perfume based on cocoa absolute and basil. I made my own version and recently revisited it in the scent library and after all of these years, at least 7 or 8, it still smells amazing. I'm going to add another version of this solid to the winter solids lineup. There is also a little cilantro, lime, and rose solid that has aged beautifully as well, though I don't know if it will fit into the fall/winter catalog well. It will be an outlier if anything. And Campagna, inspired by Eleneetha's cocoa-orange solid, may be revisited too. I'm really feeling the solids these days. I still have an absolutely stunning, gorgeous solid from the former natural perfumer, Ylva Rubenssen of Sweden, called Amulette. I've had it since 2005 or so and it is still just as fragrant and beautiful as the day I received it. I've been thinking a LOT about solids since I've dedicated myself to creating them all through the cooler months. At first, I was feeling very unmotivated and the creative juices were just not flowing, but now, after visiting all of these solids in the scent library, I'm inspired by the endless possibilities.