Welcome to a perfumer's blog on perfumery

One of the scenes that I liked most was Mr Baldini on his perfume organ, with his white kerchiefs, fiddling around and trying to decipher Amor and Psyche. A wonderful perfume organ, clean and everything so well aranged. Dustin Hoffmann was great in this scene, probably his best scene in the movie.

I wished, I had such a nice place…..

Instead, my creative feaver leads to a working bench that looks like a disastreous place… be it: I am curious to see what kind of pictures my interviewer will make. I will prepare some bottles and stuff in the living room, to provide an alternative to the creative stormy place.
Have a fragrant Friday!

In light of a very, very busy day: A short post only!
After a couple of mails, a semi-final tuning on the Maghreb leporello, more mails and a successful search for potential supplier of satin ribbons, some old lavender trials got a sniff, after maturation. Baehhh.
This translates into: Most of them did not really improve with maturation, except for one that I want to have a closer look at because I tried something I did not dare so far. And it contains based on my excel booklet an aweful lot of myrrh. Well, maybe too much, but there is something in it…
We will see. Hopefully we will also see the flakons for the Orris coming in soon…

So I was in the movies yesterday, and guess what: I watched the perfume movie and enjoyed it. I was amazed how well the movie managed to transport scents with pictures, something SĂĽsskind managed so well with his book, of course using words….The ambiance and atmosphere was close to what I expected, also in light of another book I read about a year ago (le miasme et les jonquilles, about the deodorization of room and space, exemplified on Paris, the most stinky town back then in the 17th and 18th century. Hmmm…if I remember properly, SĂĽsskind was relying very much on this book, too. I have to check.)
And then, I almost forgot how brutal the whole story is, respectively: Contrary to the book, I identified less with Mr. Grenouille which might have to do with the power of images or it is one of the changed lines compared to the book. I remember quite well how I -reading the book-sympathized with Grenouille and his endeavour.

And then, finally, I found some lines in the movie that I remembered quite well from reading the book, diluted though, but still there. In a sense, the story is full with enlightenment, playing in the Age of Enlightenment, what you would kind of expect. We, children of the 21st century, tend to forget about who fought why against whom to get rid of the mental chains imposed by us on ourselves and others, like for instance some church representatives. (by the way…this is one reason, why I am do not appreciate this “bringing churches back into politics thing” that you see lately. I think we need to bring enlightenment to politics. and the world, and back into our living rooms, too) Bottomline: It was a pleasure to see some of these lines in the movie, like the father argueing with crystal clear mind, analyzing the murderer’s mind and not relying on the ex-communication….

Ultimately, here is my driving force to watch the movie yesterday: On Friday, I will have a journalist at home, having a chat with a perfumer about perfumery, for the local free newspaper. The journalist was looking for a real perfumer doing perfumery, to juxtaposition real world with the movie. An idea that I find excellent. ThusI figured out, I need to get prepared….

Every half a year or so I get a marketing package, an envelope filled with Mercedes-Benz stuff, like this mornings’s “PrĂŞt-Ă -conduire…the winter collection is here” (we are talking cars ….). The reason for this expensive, glossy 300 gr/meter square paper flood: I was once looking for a new car, right before getting a new job that forced me to drive some 150 km per day. Thus, I figured out a Mercedes Benz might be just the right car to get for this venture. Unfortunately, I was completely underdressed this Saturday 10 years ago, wearing blue jeans and the unfriendly sales stuff in Zurich’s largest Mercedes garage wouldn’t show me what I wanted. Lesson one: Wear a tie! I ended up giving them my address and not buying a car. On my way home in my cheap Volkswagen (Lesson 2: Get a rental Mercedes if you want to buy a Benz) I passed by a Saab garage, rather small, with a nice shiny black Saab, that I ended up buying this very day (Lesson 3: Never give up! ) I still own it, for sentimental reasons somehow, I love this car.

Why this little story? Because it highlights how important the first contact with clients might turn out. And how expensive and vain all marketing efforts are once this first contact failed. And it came to my mind this morning when reading a post on Shift’s blog without understanding a lot, except for Orris and Tauer and that Irisdofter probably means something like orris scents.
But I realized that quite a few perfume lovers visit my webpage after Shift’s post. I figured out they might be looking for Orris and I do not tell them. I will change right now.

Quite a lot happens these days, with a perfumer watching stories unfolding quite happily. Friday saw me spraying the last few drops of the Orris and -after weeks of zero Orris - this fragrance came as a surprise. It is interesting to see how a fragrance changes in ones memories or -eventually- how a fragrance smells differently from one day to the other. I am convinced that complexitiy has to do with it. The more lines there are in a scent to follow with one’s nose, the more the sensation will change from one day to the other. Another scent where I realized this effect was Old English Fern lately. I was amazed how dominant the coumarin seemed to be, compared to other days.  Hmmm.. I am glad I do not have to analyze this ;-) …much too complicated!

Talking Orris: The packaging concept stands, most of what is needed is on its way, except for the flacons where we still wait for the final delivery date, and I look forward to present it on this blog once things are ready.

And the lavender thing is moving on, too.  Getting greener and greener, like a May forrest. More about this later …. let’s engage and takle this grey Monday morning

“I would wear it”, said my one and only every day available perfume tester “W.” yesterday evening, somewhen between the atomic bomb exploding behind the Ural and NY city saved in “Peacemaker” on TV.
“What do you mean”, I asked because I consider wearability a rather soft statement. Not entirely sufficient to make a perfumer smile. I want statements like “heavenly”, or “wow” or “Interesting”, with the last statement telling me I am onto to something with character. Like Jenny mentioned today on her perfumemaking blog “I want to make perfumes that trigger a reaction….”. I think the same (in brackets…I want to make perfumes that trigger a positive reaction).
“I think I wouldn’t change a lot anymore”, W. said while Mr. Peacemaker was beating the hell out of a bad Eastern European guy. “I think it is something nice and new”, he continued and Mr. Peacemaker called Ms. Peacemaker (you know, the classical scheme: Ms Super-intelligent and Mr. brave and handsome) to tell her that one bomb is still missing.
I have changed a lot in my Lavender trials in the last few days, still relying on the basic scheme, but adjusting things that don’t work. Without realising, the journey brought me to a somewhat special lavender theme. I trimmed things down. Reduced the complexity and what was a dark Caravaggio has turned into something…..expressionist?
Now, what to do? I don’t think it is finished. Not at all. I will for sure continue working on it. But at least we have something wearable, at least by W. standards. I have to ask again, once the final bomb is found, not exploded and all bad guys have left planet earth. “What do you mean …it is nice and new”, I asked and Ms. Peacemaker was falling in love to a happy, handsome, dirty soldier, who just rescued the world.

Le Parfumeur débutant devant sa palette (1980, Une vie au service de parfum, E. Roudnitska)
Les conditions dans lesquelles un dĂ©butant va aborder sa première collection de produits odorants  sont très important pour la bonne assimilation de ce matĂ©riel, et auront une grande influence sur la façon dont il se comportera Ă  l’Ă©gard de ses matĂ©riaux tout au long de sa carrière. (…)
The perfumer apprentice and his palette
The conditions under which a beginner will tackle his first collection of fragrant products is very important for the internalization of these compounds. These conditions will be of great influence on the way the perfumer will develop and act with respect to these compounds all along her/his career. (…)
Roudnitska then presents a grouping of 15 scent categories (citrus, rose, orange, jasmine, violette-iris, anis, aromatic, vegetable (green), spices, wood, tobacco, fruity, balsamic animalic, leather). And he lays out how to train the nose and how to learn your scents and how they behave.

I think there is great truth in something he did not mention explicitely in his first sentence: Part of the condition is what kind of materials you start with. I find it of outmost importance for my perfumery work that I started with naturals only, got to know them and then moved on to synthetics.

-> In a sense, it is a simplification as natural scents tend to me much more complex and multifacetted.
-> Looking at the “getting to know the materials” as a creative process where inspirations are built and collected: Some of these inspirations maybe good for the rest of your life, and I personally find working with naturals a better source for inspiration.

Building a fragrance on this inspiration, however, might well involve building blocks from the lab, man made, versatile and powerful.

Introducing remark:
Any similarity to… pure chance!
He could be she, she could be he, and all combinations are thinkable.

He: I want to buy a new perfume!
She: But you’ve got plenty of them. Why don’t you use up that Vetiver thing?
He: Because…., I want a new one.
She: But come on: seriously. You haven’t even used up half of it. It’s a waste.
He: Well, I guess I am sick of smelling like a rotten tropical root.
She: Well, listen there….what is wrong with Vetiver? I remember quite well: You liked it!
He: Yeah, sure, but it is every day the same. I want something more exciting. I want to buy a new perfume.
She: Ah. Something exciting. Honey…the price of this Vetiver thing of yours was more than exciting.
He: Live is too short to buy cheap perfumes.
She: Ah. So we are down to it. You do not really care about how we gonna finance our future, how we gonna pay the bills when I finally, grace to God and a few rate cuts of the FED, can retire.
He: Easy…. I am not selling our house here. I just want to buy a new perfume.
She: I can tell you something: Life is too long to fool around with our money!
He: I am not fooling around. And, where’s the fun in life when at the end of the row there’s not enough left for my new perfume now?
She: I tell you something, Mr. New Perfume, there have been generations without any perfume. They lived happily.
He: Until they died miserable because they never sniffed any decent perfume.
She: I can feel a negative vibe here. Why are you so aggressive?
He: I want to buy a new perfume!
She: So do I!
He: Why don’t you?
She: I don’t waste my money. I wait until there is good reason to do so. Like emptying a bottle.
He: I can empty my bottles later.
She: You won’t.
He: Of course not. Vetiver day in day out is so boring.
She: How about not wearing perfumes for a while. After a few weeks you might like your Vetiver again!
He: Well, I don’t feel like discussing when to wear my perfumes.
She: I am just trying to be constructive, my dear, no reason to block this conversation.
He: I do not block anything. I just want to buy…
She: Ok , ok , I know by now!
He: I have heard about this new one, you can’t buy it here, yet. Must be gorgeous!
She: Ok , this melody I know by now, too. First it is hip and hop and everywhere and then it sits there in our bathroom, untouched.
He: Now, who is blocking?
She:  I am trying to help you, my dear. You are about to engage in luxury.
He: Please, don’t start talking Latin with me.
She: Talking about the Romans: There were times in good old Rome when there were laws in Europe prohibiting expensive perfumes, you know?
He: Yeah. And there were dinosaurs. They didn’t buy perfume either.
She: Honey, you are changing subject. We are NOT talking about dinosaurs. We are talking about your spending money that we wanted to put aside.
He: You wanted to put it aside. Don’t touch for 30 years!  But for what?
She: To buy perfumes, maybe?

Well, a short break in this blog’s routine: Visit scentzilla, give your F. Perfume input and be (eventually) a lucky winner of a little Orris sample, (not from my stock, this one is empty, but from Katie’s stock)…..

(pix:from stock exchange, www.sxc.hu, uploaded by Kipcurry, http://www.sxc.hu/profile/kipcurry)

Every morning I pass by some concrete walls, freshly built up in Zurich’s ever growing main train station. Looking closely at the surface, one can detect the negative pattern of tree structures, that sometimes make the concrete wall look like a grey patchwork of petrified wood pieces. These traces are the negative image of the wood boards used to hold things together when building it all up. Fascinating.  A little bit like a palimpsest. We see the negative traces of wood on concrete conserved for half an eternity (like 50 years or so…and then the concrete starts to fall apart),  and what was used earlier as key structural element has become a preliminary tool to hold things together for a day or two.
In a sense, this is true for perfumery, too. Modern perfumery has seen a lot of change; change in the way perfumes are built. And many of the key structural building elements have become negligible. Is this change a pity? No, not really. Some natural resources are just too scarce to use them by the tons. With new molecules we have new opportunities and as always, the question is what we do with them. This change  has given us the choice between building skyscrapers, highways or country houses with swimming pools….

Modern technology has also allowed us to get new wonderful oils for instance by CO2 extraction, a rather gentle process, offering new natural starting materials to build perfumes upon.
At the very end, all these opportunities given to us by clever engineers and chemists should allow us to build wonderful perfumes. In a sense, modern perfumers are almost spoilt. We have such a lot of opportunities.
Pix: Fir bark, seen in southern France