An archive of the posts I made while running Sonoma Scent Studio from 2004 until 2018.
SSS is closed for now. I am at my brother’s house south of SF. We had to evacuate the Sonoma fires, but we are safe. We are worried about our houses because the fire is very close and winds can spread it quickly. Firefighters are there though, doing great work. Hoping for the best and…
I’m nearly done with the new floral scent and am scaling up the formula. I’ll post more about it here on the blog, along with a link to the webpage for the scent. Some of the main notes are mimosa, orange blossom, jasmine, lilac, and beeswax/honey. I’m also hoping to finish the chocolate gourmand in…
I’m happy to learn that Pacific Forest received the Top Judges Selection Award and placed top in four of the five judging categories in this year’s TasteTV Artisan Fragrance Awards. Tabac Aurea and Nostalgie also placed well. Each brand can enter three perfumes per year in the contest; Pacific Forest is over 99% natural and is the…
I’ve been enjoying our warm summer weather, harvesting lots of tomatoes (sweet 100 and early girl) and strawberries, and also working on the floral scent that’s been in development for quite a while. The tomatoes are providing too much harvest to eat, so I’m freezing the extra. The new scent features a beautiful mimosa oil…
It’s been quite a while since I’ve checked in on the blog. I’m still working on the two new scents and will post about them when they are ready for sampling. I thought I’d share a few pictures from this spring. I’ve been working to improve the garden drip system because our mineral-rich well water…
I’m working on mods for two scents that are both close to being done; one is the chocolate gourmand that I’ve mentioned before, and one is the floral that I worked on last summer with orange blossom, mimosa, and jasmine. I’m very close to posting a link to the webpage for the gourmand. Sadly, I gave…
I wanted to explain a change that I have made to the bottle size options. I have removed the 3 ml and 5 ml and replaced them, at least for now, with 4 ml travel sprays. The new 4 ml are midway in price between the 3 ml and 5 ml. Offering one small spray…
Wishing everyone a wonderful 2017! I’m very grateful to be part of the fragrance community and hope 2017 treats us well! I took the photo above from my deck a few days before Christmas. The oak trees are bare now and look sculptural against the blue sky and puffy clouds. I’m looking forward to…
I just put Lieu de Reves back on the Mixed Media Collection page where it can be purchased, and I moved Rose Musc into the Archive for now. I do still have some Rose Musc left that can be purchased from the Archive page, and I can make more when I run out (but I probably won’t…
Happy holidays! Hope you have a wonderful holiday weekend with friends and family. My brother and his family will be up to visit with us next weekend for New Year’s. This last week my assistant and I batched Winter Woods and Fireside Intense while listening to Christmas music, which seemed appropriate. 🙂 Now that holiday…
I made a batch of Lieu de Reves and plan to add it to the site for New Year’s Day. I just made a small batch this time, but it came out well and I can make more if needed. I will probably move it from the Archive back out to the Mixed Media page (for…
Equestrian was included in Fragrantica’s Best of 2016 post, which was a wonderful surprise for me on Thursday morning. The post includes picks from many Fragrantica editors and also features photos of the editors in fun holiday-themed poses. The end-of-year posts always inspire me to buy samples of the scents I have missed during the year….
Lieu de Reves and Cameo are currently out of stock in the archive, and I’ve received a number of email requests to make a batch of one or both. I’m trying to gauge how much interest there would be so that I can decide how much to make. If you’d like to express interest, you could…
Wishing everyone a very happy Thanksgiving and a wonderful day spent with friends and family. Samples and 5 ml sizes have been back on the site for a few weeks, and I just made the larger bottle sizes available as of last night, so we’re up and running again. I still have two new scents…
I’m working on several new scents and hope to release one of them before the end of the year. I’m going to keep the cart down for a few more weeks, but I will put samples back up for sale by early November and bottles by mid November. I’ll use the remaining few weeks of…
I’ve been taking a fall break to catch up on some things and to work on a new floral formula that I began quite a few months ago. The notes include bergamot, mimosa, jasmine, orange blossom, lily of the valley, beeswax, greens, amber, cedar, patchouli, and moss. My back has been bothering me the last…
Many thanks to Ida for her beautifully written review of the new SSS Equestrian on Fragrantica! I loved reading her memories of barns and horses, as well as her experience with the scent.
For several years, Taste TV has sponsored an annual awards program for artisan perfumers. I have not entered before, but I submitted three entries for 2016 (you are allowed to enter 1 to 3 entries each year, and they can be any scent that you have not entered before). Entries were due before the new…
Equestrian 1 ml, 3 ml, and 5 ml sizes have been available on the SSS website for about two weeks. Today, Cafleurebon posted a beautiful review and drawing for a 17 ml bottle, so you can head over if you’d like to join the drawing. Hope your summer is going well!