Anatomy
Still breathing peacefully, petals vigorously and juicy bending out, gleaming pinkish with a few beauty spots, premature bloom, at 22 degree Celsius…hyacinth on top of a microwave. I have always loved its scent, but so far never looked into it in so much detail. The goal, to underline, is not to come up with a copy of a scent in the end. There is no need to create a hyacinth scent that is like the natural original. People from Givaudan can do this much better, too! The ultimate goal, mentioned quite a few time around here: Bring it into a different context, imagine what happens if you stick it into the hand of Mr. Nice and Brave and add a touch lily of the valley and motor oil
Back to natural hyacinth, emanating waves of a disturbing fragrance. Quite a few are allergic to its scent, start coughing, get head aches, for some it is just too much. Looking at the scent, I do not think it is because it is too sweet. There is a sweet line, but never alone. One aspect that sets hyacinth apart: There is a disturbing, almost leathery quality hiding behind a spicy sweetness and green notes that are almost powdery. This spiciness adds a tonality to hyacinth that is -again!- rather disturbing. In my nose it is a cinnamon reddish warmth, with the silvery sharpness of cardamom. The sweetness is very salicylic in a sense, powdery, with a hint indolic dirts, that fit with the leathery undertone. Now, if I say leathery here, then I am pointing at a flowery, soft, slightly woody leather undertone.
In my nose, these are the lines that I want to bring further. So far this translated into Phenylacetaldehyd, phenylpropanol for the hyacinth spicyness, salicylates, rose, jasmin, and some more for indolic-powdery flowers, cyclamenaldehyd, lilial, bergamot, lemongrass and more for the green lines, styrax and cistus for the leathery line.
This is the hyacinth mirror. Then there is a lily of the valley story going on in the top and heart notes and the mechanic is waving from the back with vetiver and tobacco woods ….We are talking mod version 10. By the time it has finished maturing to ultimately judge it, Ms hyacinth on the microwave will be exhausted.
February 20th, 2007 at 9:14 am
Sounds like a really really strange fragrance to me - but all the better like that - can’t wait for you to launch it (and great ambitions for this year as it seems :-) Hugs, K.
February 20th, 2007 at 2:18 pm
I feel as if you’ve underscored some of the reasons for love /hate regarding hyacinth…
It is such a potent smell, with that indolic edge [especiaaly at the end of its bloom] and the intense spiciness, with wood lurking underneath its petticoats [what a strange word !].
I hope, after all this exploration, you’ll still want to smell them, lol !
Also, I’ve always loved the myth and the adjective-’hyacinthine’, referring to curly hair.
[ I’m probably one of the few Bozos who still use that word, along with ‘Junoesque’]
Soldier on, beloved.
Love to hear the workings of your mind, and heart.
February 20th, 2007 at 2:50 pm
Dear Konstantin, it is strange and not finished.. maybe one has to do with the other ;-)
The ambitions these days…. hmm. Short term goal: Relax and start doing so by Friday! Greetings
Dear Chayaruchama
I had a neighbour once who could not stand its smell. Being originally from Brasil she could never get used to it. And I felt always somewhat guilty because I planted some 20 bulbs in my little green space. On warm spring afternoons I was bathing in hyacinth fragrance and she drowned…..Hugs to you my dear.
February 20th, 2007 at 4:51 pm
I wish a sweaty machanic would bring me hyacinths! Andy, this might be as close as I get to that fantasy…I can’t wait!!!!
February 20th, 2007 at 6:21 pm
I agree with Kelley. The sweaty machanic thing is a great fantasy. Can the smell of sweat be part of a fragrance?
February 20th, 2007 at 10:17 pm
I know what you mean with this hyacinth smell. I could never understand it myself. What you call mechanic, I may call rubbery, more in a sense of transmission belt base, crosslinked though rubber, hints of dithiotreitol and isopropanol oiliness? Hmm, maybe I am too far away from reality…
February 21st, 2007 at 8:03 am
dear Kelly, you brought a smile on my face! I have to talk to my SAAB garage, then. I haven’t visited them for a while anyway (did not use my car anymore) but my old SAAB might get some spring care anyway…
Dear Sharon, I am convinced that such a line can be part of a fragrance, but sublime! in a way to not let you smell it as note, but it can be there, I am convinced.
Dear Jivko, with the rubbery I can follow you, but the dithiotreitol…there I have distinct memories dating back some 20 years now, gels, sds and this ugly dirty smell of dtt. Isopropanol, yes more like that, because i-prop has this flowery aspect, too.
Greetings to you’ll.