Archive category from earlier years; perfumery topics, awards, reviews, regulations, events.
Marian Bendeth’s in-depth interview with Thierry Wasser of Guerlain is now up at Basenotes. He discusses sourcing ingredients, including sustainable sources for sandalwood in Sri Lanka where three trees are planted for every one that is cut. He also talks about the challenges of IFRA, about trying to maintain the old classic formulas while also…
I noticed a few IFRA-related things in the news recently that I thought might be of interest. Hermes is releasing a perfume by Jean-Claude Ellena called Santal Massoia. The notes sound delicious, a milky blend of sandalwood and massoia, which is a lactonic coconut scented oil produced from the bark of the massoia tree. The…
The new perfume boxes just arrived and are beautiful! Yay! It’s good to have this long project completed. These are the black and gold boxes that will now ship with all 17 ml and 34 ml bottles. I’ll add a photo to the site soon, but I gave a preview on the blog about a…
I’ve been talking about the topic of scent perception for several years on this blog, and here’s another interesting, though limited, study showing that we each smell things a little differently. Thanks to Robin at Now Smell This for the link. This investigation found that almost everyone was anosmic to some ingredient in the study,…
Now Smell This just posted a link to a video presentation by Andy Tauer about his pentachords project. He always comes across as such a nice, genuine person. The video is fun to watch and quite informative. I could relate to many things he said. I had wondered about Andy’s motivation for the pentachord project…
The Fifi awards have a Consumer’s Choice Fragrance of the Year Award this year so that consumers can vote for their favorite men’s and women’s scents out of all the nominees in all the categories. You can follow this link to cast your vote anytime before midnight May 12th. Because Mandy Aftel has three scents…
I’ve been really busy but plan to do the drawing tomorrow afternoon or evening. On the positive side, my delay has given more people a chance to join in. I want to mention a couple of interesting links from recent posts elsewhere. First, research and trials are underway for developing a new extract of lilac…
Robin posted today on NST about the crazy number of new fragrance releases coming out each year. This situation is something I think about a lot, of course. When I first started SSS in 2004 the field was already overcrowded, but if I had known what was coming I would have been even more hesitant….
Now Smell This linked to an interesting article today on Yahoo News titled Super Sense of Smell Not Innate (by Marlowe Hood on Wed March 9). The article discusses how perfumers gain much of their ability to detect and identify scents through years of training and experience rather than being born with these skills. The…
Here’s a link to a blog post by essential oils expert Robert Tisserand that offers more perspective on ingredient restrictions. He links to Personal Care Truth, which is a great source for information about ingredients in cosmetics. I’ve linked to Robert’s blog before, but it’s worth mentioning these resources again.
The Reves take off contains an interesting ingredient that I’ve not used before in a scent on my list: oakwood absolute. The absolute is made from French wine barrels and has a different kind of woody smell with some gourmand vanillic and fruity elements to it. I like it very much and thought it was…
Incense Pure was reviewed yesterday on the Bois de Jasmin blog. Thanks Victoria! I agree that one of the enjoyable aspects of trying an indie line is the window it offers into the creator’s world. I enjoy both sides of the experience: it’s fun to share a little bit of myself through my scents, and…
Thanks to Nathan Branch for mentioning this link to an article about how we perceive the same scents very differently. We’ve talked about that phenomenon on this blog before and I always find it an interesting topic. Another recent interesting read can be found in this post by Victoria on the Bois de Jasmin blog…
Thanks to Nathan Branch for mentioning this link to an article about how we perceive the same scents very differently. We’ve talked about that phenomenon on this blog before and I always find it an interesting topic. Another recent interesting read can be found in this post by Victoria on the Bois de Jasmin blog…
There’s an evocative description of Tabac Aurea on the Beauty on The Outside blog. Thanks Dee! And I love the photo of her horse on the July 13 post. That photo takes me back to my childhood riding days too. I can relate to the love of hay notes in scents. I just tried Mandy…
I’ve been thinking about my list of favorite new scents that I’ve tried in 2010. I’m going to hold off on finishing the list because I have several samples en route that I want to try first. I did try one new release recently that I know will make my list and it took me…
A number of Sonoma Scent Studio fragrances are reviewed today on Perfume Posse. Thanks so much for the reviews March! I’m partial to Winter Woods too, and it wears like a woodsy musk for me too. And, yes, the jasmine in Jour Ensoleillé is indolic enough to scare some people, while others enjoy that dirty…
Fragrance blogs are reporting today that New York’s Museum of Arts and Design is creating a Center of Olfactory Art dedicated to the art of fragrance. Author and New York Times columnist Chandler Burr will curate the exhibitions and programs. You can read more at Now Smell This, Perfume Shrine, 1000 Fragrances, and Cafleurebon. Exciting…
Sonoma Scent Studio got a brief mention in the LA Times Magazine on Sunday in a very well-written article about fragrance for men. Previous installments of the column have been popular so it will be a monthly regular (on fragrance in general, not just for men).
Winter Woods is included today in Nathan Branch’s 2010 holiday gift guide, along with some other great gift ideas. Mandy Aftel’s body oils sound scrumptious, and sometime I’ll have to check out the Mast Brothers chocolate with my Mom in mind. Winter Woods was tweaked when I switched from the old oakmoss to the new…