For a variety of reasons, desperately falling in love with neroli lately being one of them, I work on an eau de cologne. Or a “cologne”. So far, my cologne trial was very, very classical, and a typical eau de cologne. An explosion of citrus right in front of you. Eau de colognes in the real, classical, sense are not made to last. They are made to enjoy for a moment or two. Nada silage bomb. Call it a citrus bomb without much collateral damage 5 minutes after application.

I have a composition, a classical eau de cologne, that is quite lovely by now, all natural /botanical by the way. Featuring lemon and bergamot, white grapefruit (tons of the three of them), clementine, red mandarine, neroli, a touch orange blossom absolute, some rose and geranium, hints of lavender,  clary sage, a few other bits and: Rosemary. And it is the rosemary that makes all the difference. I am using a rosemary from Tunesia, rich in cineol and campher.

Like in all perfumery, it is about contrast; this is true for a cologne, too. A cologne lives by the contrast between rough, campherous, wild rosemary (and/or thyme and other campherous scents) and the freshness and juicy brightness of the citrus notes.

Right now, I am moving forward from there: create a cologne that lasts a bit longer and set a more unique accent, like building a fine layer of woods. The goal is not to touch the explosion of citrus, with close to zero silage, leaving only the finest layer of rockrose and cedarwood on the skin. The wearer will not realize it after a while, people passing by will not notice, but it will be there if you get a touch closer. I am staying all natural/botanical here: only steam distilled essences or solvent extracted flowers.

Today’s picture shows you a rosemary, somewhat pale, seen in the wild in southern France 2010.