Gardenia Musk and other updates

I worked on the new gardenia musk Sunday.  The floral accord is a pretty gardenia/jasmine that’s had good feedback, but I’d like the scent to have just a bit more oomph. I added a touch of very light cedar and some soft salicylate to give a little more volume and it seems to help quite a bit. I tried sandal too but thought the cedar seemed fresher and more appropriate with the light floral theme.  Sometimes soft floral notes can seem stronger when set off by some contrasting backdrop notes, as long as the florals aren’t overwhelmed.   I added a couple other things too, and eliminated the soft honey note to see if that would cut sweetness.  I want this to be a soft, summery floral musk (I had a gardenia musk in the past but wanted to do a new one with some pretty new jasmine items I’ve sourced since I first did the scent). I’m doing this later in the summer than is ideal, but I’ve had it planned for a while and can’t believe it’s already late July. Anyway, making good progress! I wore this today and enjoyed it.

There’s a very nice review of the new Champagne de Bois this evening on the blog I Smell Therefore I am:

http://ismellthereforeiam.blogspot.com/2008/07/two-reviews-sonoma-scent-studios.html

I’m really happy that quite a few people have been enjoying Champagne.  It seems to be one that works for a lot of people.

I think I may be done with Ambre Noir (#11). I’m wearing it a few more times to be sure, but this may be it. I think it’s smoother than the original version, quite dark, and with some nice incense notes. It still is quite labdanum-rich and lasts a very long time (though maybe not quite as long as the original, which was a real Energizer bunny).

I had a nice visit with family this weekend and saw a video of my older niece riding the horse she’s been leasing. She was doing cross country jumps in a lesson and it brought back memories. She’s doing very well, especially for her age (fourth grade next year).  The video was really fun to see, and her horse looks like a cutie. 

DHL did not show up today with my Dell parts so my main computer is still out of commission. Thank goodness for this old back-up computer that is still plugging away; it isn’t good enough to run PhotoShop but it can handle all my day-to-day stuff until the main one is back online. The parts have been sitting in the local DHL office since 7:30 am this morning but were never delivered even though Dell sent them “overnight” service last Friday morning. Maybe tomorrow…