strawberry
This post is about first: A winner of last weeks drawing and second: about contrasts.
First the winner. Tatata ! And the winner of the Golden Ribbon prototype sample discovery set including samples is: Sabina , bandalan….
Second: Contrasts. Basically I just want to tell you, somewhat proud, that the orange blossom trial got better. (You remember…lots of citrus such as clementine and mandarine, clean, slightly musky orange flowers, ambergris and a hint woods) . What I changed after sniffing with Vero: Added a contrast line, a clear, green line that could be regarded as a hyacinth line, and I included a little bit of styrax resin. And now I go like “Wow”.
After maturation for two weeks: I love it! The flowers lasts longer, the citrus is fresher, the woods are crispier, and I wonder what else I want. In sense, this fragrance -by the way- is somewhat related to the eau d’épices. Thus, it is all about contrasts, setting the scenery. Next: Give the W.-factor a chance to comment on it. And Ms Smith. But this is another story….
Picture: Uploaded by Andy, strawberry on a old textile background with wood, an old suitcase…
Strawberry on red plate, uploaded by Andy
June 23rd, 2008 at 10:19 am
Mmmmmm….I grow more and more intrigued by this orange blossom scent. Sounds like exactly what I’m in the mood to wear today. Can’t wait until we can get our noses on it. Hope your weekend was great!
June 23rd, 2008 at 11:49 am
How alluring all this is! You get my imagination jumping and flying. Powerful, fresh, crisp, a bit spiced sounds so wonderful. If I only knew the smell of plain styrax. Maybe time will tell me. Time to wait, time to appreciate. Oh, by the way, Andy, do you like your strawberries plain, with red wine, or with a hint of black pepper ?
June 23rd, 2008 at 1:15 pm
As it is a pity, the Fate has turned away from me.
My congratulations to Sabina.
Dear Andy - I have a question: how at you it turns out to keep a smell of yours perfumes a constant from a party to a party? The formula and a synthetic component perfumes remains constant, but you use numerous natural components which can change a little from a party to a party (this year’s harves, changes of a climate and so on..) and the sum of these changes can cause little change of a smell. What do you use as the standard?
I am very interested your new orange blossom trial and I inflate nostrils.
Awaiting your good news…
June 23rd, 2008 at 2:03 pm
Andy,
The new orange blossom trial sounds divine! Perfect, actually.
Can’t wait until it hits our shores!
Best wishes to you.
June 23rd, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Dear Matt S. The weekend was very, very, very busy, but wonderful. I enjoyed happy boxing of L’air, etc. and I managed to get away for a couple of hours with my bike, training for the upcoming two weeks of summer holidays.
Dear Stephan, I wonder, I wonder whether you would likt the styrax by itself. There is (the resionoid) something leathery and oriental about it. The styrax oil on the other hand is dark, dirty leather with lots of machine oil on top of it. All sitting on a pile of sawdust.
And, I like my strawberries with a touch of pepper and a huge pile of double crème, which is basically 30% fat and some milk proteins…. ahhhhhhhh better that anything else….
Dear Vladimir
Fate has not turned away from you. Trust me. It just took a nap, and will soon wake up again. Give it some time ;-)
Indeed, from harvest to harvest, from batch to batch , there are changes. sometimes minor and sometimes drastic. But there is another side: My formulas are very complex, and the more complex a formula is the robuster it is, too. Thus they are buffered in a sense. Of course, this is not true for the ingredients that are dominating, like the incense oil in Incense extrême . I guess, there I have to live with the changes….
Dear GalileosDaughter
Thank you, and I can’t wait either. Sending fragrant waves to you….
June 23rd, 2008 at 6:10 pm
Dear Andy, thanks for the detailed answer. I too have thought, that in perfumes with domination of one natural component changes are possible.
You use a bicycle of what firm? My younger son is the fan of a bicycle - in summertime, it leaves a saddle only for reception food:-) Now at it new MERIDA 100 and yesterday in city it went 35 km/hours
June 23rd, 2008 at 6:11 pm
Love both strawberries, can’t decide which one I like better. The first one has a nostalgic look to it. The red on red one makes me think of a Helmut Newton picture. Don’t know why, can’t explain it, it just does.
If you’re happy with the new trial I trust it is astonishing!
June 23rd, 2008 at 6:16 pm
Andy, yesterday was a very hot dry day in Prague with temperaures between 30 - 34 C.
I went to have dinner with my husband on a terrace shadowed by very old chestnut trees and I was wearing L’air du desert Maroca0in. It was all perfect together!
Today was just a monday supposedly but again the weather was unusally hot and I spritzed myzelf with Incense Rose.
With Incense Rose this monday became a special day. These perfumes bring me back to a place in time that feels so good and familiar… It is like being elsewhere while being here..
June 23rd, 2008 at 9:44 pm
That strawberry on the red plate looks mouthwatering!
June 24th, 2008 at 3:10 am
Dear Andy, if it’s a distant cousin of l’eau d’epices, I’m sure it will be intriguing. The memory of that experiment that evoked such melancholy in the wearer still haunts me.
June 24th, 2008 at 3:18 am
Congratulations to the winner of last week’s contest. I’m kicking myself for not checking the website often enough to see fun games like this!
Andy, I’m so happy you’re liking the orange blossom trial. It means that we’ll see it soon! As for the Vetiver, how do you feel about relinquishing the duty of making it personally? I’m sure it well be great, too. Can’t wait!
June 24th, 2008 at 3:23 am
P.S. Love both pics but definitely favor the strawberry on the suitcase. It’s got that old world glamor that I love in today’s world! Love the old suitcase with the fresh new fruit. Texture and age contrast that makes the pic so appealing!
June 24th, 2008 at 6:48 am
Dear Vladimir
I can not even tell you the brand. It is an medium old (15 years?) bike, I think it is Villiger, a Swiss brand, owned by the family of a former politician (member of the federal council)… my bike is slow, though.. ;-)
Dear Sabine
I think , for me, the contrast in the first one brings out the color of the strawberry and its natural shininess much better. Red on red looks dull… at least to me…But maybe it looks (see Marianne’s comment) indeed more mouthwatering… associations going from strawberry-strawberry on plate-strawberry in mouth!
June 24th, 2008 at 6:54 am
Dear Vladimir
Cousin is great, distant cousin. That’s exactly what it seems to me. But see today’s post on patterns… maybe my search for patterns and raster is totally wrong. Maybe for you, it is more like xyz?
Dear Pamela
Yes, please, check in from time to time…In a sense, it is a relief (handing the making of Vetiver over). But , to be honest, I still!!!! wait for my supplier’s final ultimate written confirmation. on the phone things are fine, but on paper …. so there is this uncertainty that makes me wonder…..
Ah yeah… we agree on the suitcase!
And finally, dear Marianne: Isn’t air du désert marocain made for hot , dry weather?
June 24th, 2008 at 7:40 am
Yes Andy indeed, L’air du desert marocain is amazing in hot dry weather, for not many fragrances come out so well in the heat.
June 24th, 2008 at 11:16 am
Glorious !
Couleurs toniques et enivrantes !
Orange blossom’s sounding yummy.
June 24th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
Dear Andy, thanks a lot for your enlightening description of the smell of styrax. You’ll certainly be in my mind should I have a chance to sniff this substance. And in the meantime my imagination can feed on that description. There is a parallel in the preparation of food, especially here in Asia, where a weirdly tasting ingredient can give a preparation such a lift to make it taste so wonderful. How many people put black pepper on their strawberries. Enjoy the double cream.
June 24th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
How many people put freshly ground black pepper on their strawberries? I don’t know but I do, along with a splash of high-quality balsamic vinegar. It may sound odd, but this combination is wonderful with a little vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
It’s getting hot around here, and I’ve been wearing Guerlain Vetiver this week and a sample of Miller Harris Terre d’Iris, both great in the heat in my opinion. I may put on some L’air du Desert tomorrow … Matt S. at Perfume Posse has been recommending Incense Extreme for the hot weather so I may have to try that this summer, too. Now I’ll have to try Incense Rose, too …
June 25th, 2008 at 6:42 am
Dear Vasily
No vinegar for me! Have you ever tried “double cream”. A must! Forget whipped cream…double is thick, fat and sooooooo good
I read about Matt S’s comment on the Incense extrême for summer. Maybe it is the incense that starts to light in the warmth of a gentle June sun? Maybe it is my dream of endless summers that makes me do fragrances that behave well in the heat? Anyhow: Thank you for trying Incense rosé…
Dear Stefan
I did enjoy the cream, thank you!
June 25th, 2008 at 8:16 am
Well, first of all - congratulations, Sabina. I hope you will enjoy the prototype of the discovery set.
Very curious to your orange blossom. Surrounded by “sweet” citrus and styrax+ambegris+musc? Sounds delicious. I shall remember the contrast thing between hyacinth - orange blossom when I work with those accords… pity that you can perfectly illustrate your idea with beautiful images, but there is no way to put a fragrant sample here in the blog ;-)
What eau d’epices do you mean?
Very nice strawberries. An old textile with wood as a part of an old suitcase is not exactly the background you expect to see the strawberry on, but it is exactly what makes it so interesting, that triggers the curiosity. The colour contrast is obvious, indeed. Anyway - your strawberries had an interesting life and as I understand from your comments - also a delicious end ;-)
June 25th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
Dear AromaX
if you read this: Eau d\’épices is \”before your time\” . It was a fragrance that I developed a while ago and made samples available again a while ago (about 13 months. )
A spicy , very gingerbread like orange flower thing that some loved and some didn\’t. ;-)
I was looking for it lately, but only found a few drops. :-(