Roxana Villa of Roxana Illuminated Perfume: Interview #2

April 29, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 17 Comments

Hey APJ,

Yesterday Azar started her amazing in-depth look into the life and work on one of APJs favourite Independent Perfumers, Roxana Villa. Today we continue the fascinating story. I hope you are enjoying this insight as much as I am.
Portia xx

Roxana Villa of Roxana Illuminated Perfume: Interview #2

You use vital, natural materials to create your perfumes. How many of these materials do you distill, tincture and create yourself from what you gather in your own garden?

I prefer using the word botanical rather than natural since the terminology more accurately and authentically represents what I do. The word natural doesn’t mean anything and can be ascribed to all sorts of materials which are far from nature and what I personally would ever term as natural.

I currently do not distill any of my materials, I do work with small distillers and am extremely mindful where my essences come from. I am not interested in working with materials that have anything to do with the petroleum industry, which is where synthetics and most isolates come from. I’m also making more of an effort to use ingredients from companies that do not do animal testing or offer historical animal ingredients such as civet and castoreum.

I do extract scent and vital components from plants in my garden using processes that stem out of herbalism and ancient perfumery such as infusing, tincturing and enfleurage . A few weeks ago my jasmine sambac plants started their flowering cycle. Everyday I check for blossoms that will go into 190 proof alcohol, jojoba oil and a wax+oil preparation. The end result of the process will go into different products I offer and ones that are just for myself.

I find your artwork both profound and light hearted. The pieces entitled “Botanicus” and “Pollinate” are two of my favorites. Could you describe the process that brings your perfume and visual art into being?

Thanks so much for your sweet comment about my illustrations. Conceptual thinking is a skill set I learned while studying illustration at Otis Art Institute in the mid 80’s. The talent for taking an idea and transcribing into a visual image easily translates into a fragrance. For example, the fragrance Q in my line came out of the intention to save seven California native oaks on a lot next to our home. As a visual artist I would do a drawing and or painting to bring attention to the challenge, in this case I decided to take action by gathering leaves from the trees on the high holiday of Beltane, putting them into 190 proof alcohol to extract their essence and scent and creating a fragrance. At the time I did not have a line of perfumes, I was making my living as an illustrator, teaching aromatherapy on the side and creating custom fragrances. The oak is called Duir by the Druids, stemming from the Sanskrit Dwr meaning door. Q was the perfume which motivated me to launch my line so that I could bring awareness to the plight of this glorious native tree. My intention as an artist, whether working in the visual or aromatic realm is to illuminate, bring light, to the connection between humans and the realm of plants so that we may live in harmony.

I am curious about your work with feral bees. Are these bees the same genus-species (Apis mellifera) as our domesticated honeybees? Do you manage them in commercial style hives or just hope they will return to wild hives on your property?

The feral honey bee we have here in the US is indeed Apis mellifera. The difference between her and the genetically modified version used by industrial bee keepers is that she hasn’t been tinkered with in a lab to make her larger with the intention of producing more honey. The feral bee is smaller and contains a diversity of genetics making her resistant to the perils of her larger, frankensteined sisters. She is surviving quite well in urban areas where there is a diverse diet of plants and flowers versus the chemically treated crops of commercial agriculture. A great film to watch that addresses this topic really well is More Than Honey: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NT05qEJxUk

There is a lack on consciousness when corporations get involved with nature, greed takes over and methodologies are practiced with no long term thinking. The current situation with GMOs is a great example. The major sources of media are all owned by giant conglomerates which choose what the masses need to hear. They edit information without fact checking and present views that further their causes.

The two hives on my property are feral bees saved from three different locations around Los Angeles. The methods I use are those of holistic beekeepers, or my new favorite term bee guardians. My mentor, Kirk Anderson, teaches us that the bees know exactly what they are doing, its humans who are messing things up. I allow the bees to build their own comb and I use absolutely no pesticides, fungicides, sugar water, etc. The honey bee is very fastidious and keeps the hive very tidy, at 98 degrees and knows what to do if things go out of balance. The more we stay out of the way the healthier they are and the more they can concentrate on the task given to them.

If you could chose only three people who have had the most influence on your life as an artist and perfumer who would they be?

While attending Otis Art Institute in downtown LA I had an illustration teacher named Laurence Carroll that was really different because he was passionate, full of energy and visionary. He encouraged me to follow the personal style he was seeing in the drawings in my sketchbook instead of doing standard representational type of illustration that was acceptable. Since then I’ve been using my own authenticity as my guiding light.

Here’s a quote by Steve Jobs that sums up what I learned from Laurence:
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.”

Second on the list is Dr, Streicher who I heard speak at the very first World of Aromatherapy Conference in San Francisco. At the time I was still a newbie to aromatics. During his presentation he made a comment that really resonated with me about how some individuals entering into the field of aromatherapy have been called upon by the plants. That simple phrase resonated very deeply and made me feel like I was on the correct course.

The third person is the support of the collective from my family, which includes my mother, daughter, husbands, uncle, grandmother and ancestors.

I understand you will be launching an exciting new project soon. Can you describe it now or will you let us know when and where we can learn more about it?

I have multiple projects going on all the time, most of them are kept secret until they have manifested, they seem to have their own schedule. I’ve learned to stay in the act of flow. The one that is about to be birthed is still in secrecy mode. I can’t wait to shout about it from the roof tops. I may have more details once this interview is published.

Last question – I’ll keep it short: Do you have a favorite flower?

As a visual artist I would get asked “Do you have a favorite color” which as a perfumer is similar to having a favorite flower. I like different flowers for different reasons. In terms of my palette I seem to be most drawn to all the jasmines, particularly jasmine sambac, although auriculatum and grandiflorium are also favorites. The earthy, sexiness of labdanum and the soft, powdery cucumber notes of orris are others I am constantly attracted to.

Thank you so much, Roxana, for answering these questions and for taking the time to join us at APJ. I’m looking forward to reviewing the new version of your Impromptu and perhaps the 2014 edition of Gracing the Dawn as well. Best wishes for every success. I hope to make it to the NAHA conference this year to hear you speak in person.

It’s been a pleasure to chat with you Azar, I appreciate your intellect with the research and mindfulness you’ve displayed in preparing these questions.

All Photos Stolen Roxana Illuminated Perfume

If you would like to try Roxana’s Illuminated Perfume <<<JUMP

Stay tuned Friday for a review and MAYBE a GIVEAWAY…….

Roxana & Greg at home May 2013 taken by Portia

Roxana Villa of Roxana Illuminated Perfume: Interview #1

April 28, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 14 Comments

Hello APJ,

Today it is my privilege to speak with Roxana Villa of Roxana Illuminated Perfume about her life and work as artist and perfumer.

Roxana Villa of Roxana Illuminated Perfume: Interview #1

Welcome to APJ, Roxana! You are a multi-talented artist with abiding interests in various fields including aromatherapy. Has your professional training in aromatherapy contributed to your skills as a perfumer?

The skill sets I learned in professional aromatherapy training have absolutely influenced my work as a perfumer! I use what I learned in aromatherapy training and working as a practitioner everyday. I came to aromatherapy via a little bottle of Juniperus viriginiana at a sweat lodge. That little amber bottle had me witness firsthand the power of essential oils as agents that facilitate mind body wellness in a very holistic framework. Later on, as my knowledge and experience deepened on the healing power of plants, I yearned to combine my two skill sets. At an artists’ workshop in Austria titled “Old Masters, New Visions,” I witnessed the divine interconnection between the visual arts, alchemy and perfume. I then decided to weave all my talents into a perfume business highlighted with the word “illuminated,” referencing the 15th century, when the arts were united by the use of raw plant matter.

Do you consider your perfumes to be therapeutic as well as beautiful and if so could you give us an example of what you consider to be a “therapeutic” perfume and explain how (why) it works?

All my fragrances have a therapeutic imprint because of the intention I hold when creating them and due to the vitality of the materials in my palette. Just today one of my customers sent me this note: “A simple note to say a tremendous thank you for doing what you do. I have not found another perfumer quite as outstanding as you. Your perfumes make me feel instantly uplifted when I am enveloped in their mystical fragrances.” On a more scientific level, looking at the ingredients contained in my fragrances, you will see that my palette is composed of elements that contain life force, vital energy from the plant world. My fragrances go beyond being a “chemical soup”, I use materials that are as close to nature as possible, no hybrids, no isolates, no historical animal ingredients, etc.

Therapeutic can be defined differently by individual human experience. I am looking at therapeutics on a very holistic level from how and where a plant is grown, the manner the essence is obtained and distilled to the integrity of the company that sells the aromatic. For example I choose to buy and support companies that are having a positive affect on the planet because that energetic is all part of end product.

At one of the many aromatherapy conferences I attended in the nineties Jan Kusmirek of Fragrant Earth showed us the difference between a lavender essential oil obtained from plants that were harvested by hand using a sickle versus one where a machine was used. These kind of subtleties contribute to quality and what might be considered a therapeutic perfume.

This year you will be one of the main presenters at the National Association of Holistic Aromatherapy (NAHA) “Beyond Aromatics” conference at the Bastyr University campus near Seattle. Your topic “The Tree of Life: A Mystical Approach to the Art of Botanical Perfumery” is fascinating to me. Can you give the APJ a brief overview of your presentation? I am especially interested in your take on “essential oils and the elementals”.

The presentation I am giving at the Beyond Aromatics conference is based on ideas of intuition and creativity from William Blake combined with a book proposal I created in 1998. There are many ways to approach creating a fragrance, a mystical approach requires freedom from rational constraints and strict rules. To be in creative flow requires the ability to break free of guidelines and courageously jump into the watery realm of the circle and intuitive mind. In the end both the left and the right brain are important but its crucial for those seeking to ascend the art of perfumery and their consciousness. I will delve into the multiple meanings of The Tree of Life and how it is the perfect metaphor for creating botanical perfume.

I discovered essential oils at a time when I was working as an initiate with a shaman, learning Celtic and magical wisdom alongside with aromatherapy studies. As I did so, I began to see parallels and thus created content for a book and card deck. Publishers back then felt the content was too niche and progressive. Over the years I’ve refined the ideas which are part of the presentation for the conference. Here’s a link to a post on my blog that gets into some of the elemental aspects I will be referring to.

Since I was a child I have been convinced of a type of sentience unique to plants and to the earth itself. I believe that there is much more to a creating a real fragrance than using an analysis derived from headspace technology to chemically copy the scent of a flower. Is it possible to make the life and the sentient spirit of flowers, plants and the earth really come alive in a fragrance?

The fragrance industry is very much like the art world, there’s a lot of variety in the equation from those who work as an art director or figure head to those working on a deep level with the plants and earth elementals. I completely agree with your observation on the sentience of plants and the earth. The challenge is to assist humans in connecting to the refined, subtle energies of the plant divas. When we do this as a collective then Mother Earth will begin to sense our awakening and respond to us. One of my teachers said that dancing outside on the land is acupuncture for the planet. The simple gesture is a conduit between heaven and earth that gets us out of the logical brain, away from electronics, connecting to our physical bodies and the subtle earth energies.

There have been a number of recent scientific studies of plant communication involving enzymes and mycorrhizal networks. Do you believe that there is a historical precedent or background to this work?

It’s fabulous how modern science is now validating ideas that great yogis and masters have been communicating for centuries within sacred texts like the Bhagavad Gita and our more modern sages like Rudolf Steiner and Machaelle Small Wright. In the answer to your first question in this interview, I briefly mentioned an experience a little bottle of Juniperus virginiana. Inhaling the aromatic molecules of the red cedar produced a moment out of time where I was transported to a dense forest of ancient Redwoods. I felt as if I was deeply rooted, connected with the trees and a feeling of expansion that traveled upward up to the sky. Then, pop, I came back to the scene of the women and sweat lodge feeling with a sense of profound gift from the plant kingdom.

Where do you stand on plant communication, plant sentience and this “secret life of plants”?

I stand amongst the ancient redwoods and the California native oaks. The mycorrhizal networks is another example of how the plant, insect and segments of the animal kingdom function as a collective. For example in an ancient forest you will have a “Mother” tree while in a hive of european honey bees you will have a Queen, in both instances the Mother and the Queen are integral to the whole. These are examples of systems that work together as a team that benefit their own community and the greater good. As humans we seem to be stuck in a cycle, like the Karmic Wheel, we have periods of enlightenment like the stage in the mid 50’s when we became conscious of civil rights. Then the wheel turns and dark forces of unconscious behavior of corruption and greed take root where we once again must awaken and ascend. There are many metaphors of this cycle in traditions throughout the world, one of my favorites from western story telling is the trilogy of the Lord of the Rings.

Here’s are two examples of how in tune nature is, the first explains how the mycorrhizal networks work:

and the second (sorry about the commercial) shows how wolves change rivers:

Everything is connected.

(Ed: Please watch the two under 5 minute videos, they will change the way you see the world)

All Photos Stolen Roxana Illuminated Perfume

If you would like to try Roxana’s Illuminated Perfume <<<JUMP

Stay tuned tomorrow for a continuation of Roxana Villa’s incredible and inspirational journey to now…….

CHANEL: Coco Mademoiselle: Mini Movie + Making of

January 4, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 4 Comments

Heya.

We are cleaning the Perfume Room and giving it a new paint job. Also I am culling my collection, it’s so freaking painful I can’t write, sorry. It’s quite a BIG DEAL so over the next couple of days I am dropping in some Video stuff that I’ve found interesting, educational or took me outside my box. Some of it is ONE TOPIC but some will also be TOTALLY OFF TOPIC!

CHANEL: Coco Mademoiselle: Mini Movie + Making of

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Kiera Knightly, CHANEL, beige catsuit, motorbike and a super dooper budget shot in what looks to me like Paris. YES PLEASE!!

Enjoy!
Portia xx

Coco Mademoiselle: Behind The Scenes – CHANEL

Coco Mademoiselle: The Film – CHANEL

Angelo Orazio Pregon Interview: Peety by O’Driu

January 1, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 136 Comments

Interview by Azar

CONTINUED FROM YESTERDAY<<<JUMP

Hello APJ,

In a recent APJ post, Peety, the new fragrance by O’DRIÙ, drew critical comments from almost every direction. Some people were amused or repulsed by the idea of adding their own urine to a perfume. Others were wary of O’DRIÙ’S marketing strategies.

Today I am excited to have the opportunity to ask questions and speak with the perfumer himself. Thank you so much, Mr. Pregoni, for visiting us here at APJ.

Angelo Orazio Pregon Interview: Peety by O’Driu

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Tobacco, jasmine, rose, sandalwood, tonka bean and pink pepper

In addition to a perfumer you are also a poet and a performance artist. O’DRIÙ is obviously selling fine fragrances in the luxury market. How do you reconcile the constraints and often-conservative outlook of luxury and niche with the freedom and innovation that is performance art? Have you ever had to “reformulate” your perfumes or your aesthetic to conform to the image of the luxury goods marketplace?
I believe that luxury or, if we prefer, the extreme version of tastes towards high cost products, is a phenomenon which is still fighting against illuminist’s wastes. Illuminism is the background of the same cosmopolitism; on the other hand it has drawn the attention towards the ideals of freedom of thought giving to France the cultural leadership in the western area.
Since then, the rational approach has been adopted for the aesthetic experience also, trying to bring back the reflection on the subject of the canon of beauty under an objective condition. This has led to a lack of aesthetic values and, as an effect of this, also led to the idea of “taste” as merely subjective.
So, subjective “tastes” could even sublimate the “classical” beauty… preferring something ugly but with the power to awaken emotionalism in the human soul.
The current, motionless fashion world is imbued by this idea of “taste” as it was an ultimate achievement which no one could leave from. By the way, Andy Warhol pointed out that the “pop” taste (the masses’ one) was going to be the new rule in taste! Well, fashion world seems uncertain between two opposite roads: persisting in a rigid vision about luxury or embracing the ultra-commercial consumerist horizon. As a Nose and as an artist I’m trying to go back to the subjective roots of taste, and to propose them as the real meaning of luxury.
I regenerated my thoughts starting from non western anthropological and cultural concept. From these ideas Peety has been conceived: an exclusive and luxury perfume, which (after ten drops of pee) becomes a not reproducible and “su misura” one; a creation which has truly “pop” marketing characteristics, as well as primeval, superstitious or magical meanings. Peety is my contribution to luxury and art: a fetish perfume!

Peety’s classical profile and the suggested addition of urine can’t help but bring to mind the portraits of Robert Mapplethorpe and the controversial 1987 photo series Immersion by Andres Serrano . Have you been at all influenced by the work of Mapplethorpe or Serrano?
Peety, the very first perfume which becomes a “su misura” after ten drops of pee, has given me the opportunity to put together cultural and artistic concepts, using perfume as a language, with an unpredictable “pop” energy.
Just a few day ago, Andy Cohen –a TV top manager and talk show host- collected Lady Gaga’s pee making a perfume from it, I think that it stems from a sort of viral spreading. Peety is someway a threshold: before of it, the creation of perfume using some pee was simply unproposable, after Peety it doesn’t create sensation anymore, it has become an anti-establishment paradigm. At the same time Peety consolidated a different kind of approach to smells and to their ancestral meanings. Peety is the past and the future of perfumery: it was launched in September 2013 and already it’s a part of perfumery history.
Each artist, somehow, plunges its roots in other artists issues. I have to say that I feel myself close to Urs Lüthi’s provocative work, and to its very first body art concept, full of irony and without signs of tragicalness.
Peety rejects at the same time the mawkish and sexualizing clichés of todays perfumery; it looks at the outer world, to the wide set of visual stimulus which continuously surround and tempt us, what ones could call “the urban folklore”.
This is why the Peety advertising generates a linguistic chaos: it embodies masculine and feminine, the Virgin and Lawrence of Arabia, Rudolph Valentine and a nun too.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Could you describe a few of the fragrance notes and a little about the chemistry of Peety? How did you know that urine would work better in this composition than in another?
Peety is a powerful and unexpected perfume. It opens itself with some liberty tones, between yellow tangerine, sweet orange and cinnamon. Then it changes, and we enter in a dance room with tangos and milongas, tobacco notes, castoreum, woods, pink pepper. Later, it finds the levity o a rose kissing a woman neck, or the elation of the jasmine, under the dark elegant black of a fine man.
An exotic smell of vanilla emerges from moss and patchouli, with ethnical stains which are made ancestral by the Tonka beans.
But the only way to achieve Peety’s complete roundness is adding ten drops of pee. Water, salt and the acid elements in urine react with alcohol and perfume ingredients; they slightly oxidize the perfume leading to some carboxylic acids generation, and this gives an original, unrepeatable “stain” to each Peety.
Now, one can smell fruits traces, while some animal notes give room to more pungent perceptions which complete and “close” the perfume. It’s important to say that, in no way, adding pee can link the final result to what one has eaten. Nevertheless, a strong psychical element exists when one uses this “added” version of Peety. It’s something like an unconscious self-satisfaction; it seems that this feeling modifies the way our brain controls secretions, changing our body odors, and making it more attractive.

Last question: I know that I can purchase samples of Peety at Surrender to Chance and from your O’DRIÙ websites. Will your fragrances be available soon from other retailers, online or otherwise?
Really? We don’t have any distributor for our samples! The only chance to have Peety and Eva Kant samples is to order them on our odriu.com store.
Indeed, Peety and Eva Kant samples are sent with an art work from me: it’s made in a very limited series, only 100 pieces. As in O’DRIÙ samples tradition, the cost is a very affordable one. We are focusing on the creation of an European network of retailers but or e-commerce works in almost the entire world -except a few countries- with the same price all over the world, handling & shipping included…
Finally, Azar, let me allow to thank you and Portia for giving me the opportunity to answer to your kind questions, and to thank your readers also, for their patience!

Peety is available from the O’Driu site €150/49ml

Surrender To Chance starts at $6/.5ml

Photo Stolen TheTruthAboutMummy

Peety by O’Driu GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have FIVE winners:

2 MAIN WINNERS who will each receive:
1 x 49ml Peety™ bottle
P&H Anywhere in the world

3 RUNNER UPS who will each receive:
1 x Peety™ Sample Kits
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DO YOU WIN?

Open to everyone worldwide who follows AustralianPerfumeJunkies via eMail, WordPress, Bloglovin or RSS. Please leave how you follow in the comments to be eligible. I must be able to check that you follow so if you have an email address on your gravatar that’s different to your follow address then please email me so I know. Yes, you can start following to enter, in fact it’s encouraged.

You must tell me how you follow APJ and tell us would you personalise the product or not and why.

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie ~~Peety O’Driu~~ GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-2lX #Perfume #Giveaway @ODRIUperfumes

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 5th January 2014 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by random.org or some other more fun way at the discretion of Azar, our host for this giveaway
The winners will have till Wednesday 5th January 2014 to get in touch (portia underscore turbo at yahoo dot com dot au) with their address or the prize will go to someone else.
No responsibility taken for lost or damaged goods in transit.

Angelo Orazio Pregon Interview: Peety by O’Driu 2013

December 31, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 14 Comments

Interview by Azar

Hello APJ,

Until Peety came on the fragrance scene in 2013, many of us had never heard of the niche house O’DRIÙ or of its creator/perfumer Angelo Orazio Pregoni. My first experience of Peety was a 1ml virgin sample purchased from Surrender to Chance. I discovered that my skin was in love with Peety and I couldn’t understand what an addition of urine could possibly contribute to what I perceived as already golden, animalic and spicy perfection.

Today I am excited to have the opportunity to ask questions and speak with the perfumer himself. Thank you so much, Mr. Pregoni, for visiting us here at APJ.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Your company name O’DRIÙ is an anagram derived from the Celtic word for “oak” and “druid” and you have described yourself as a shaman. How have these images of magic and ritual shaped your creative process and the evolution of O’DRIÙ as a niche brand?
Indeed, the brand name O’DRIÙ comes as a crasis of two words: “duir” – the keltic word for oak, and “vir”, a latin word which stands for “sapience”. But, as you know, the same Pliny “the elder”, described as the Druids performed the “ritual of oak and mistletoe” in its “Naturalis Historia”
Druids were the connecting elements and the depositaries of the keltic culture, one of the few connecting element in this people, so socially and politically divided.
After such an extraordinary length of time, Europe is a socially and politically divided nation, and I thought about a brand name which could symbolize an international vision on perfumery, an European and unifying one, which not necessarily had to go after French perfumery clichés.
So, O’DRIÙ wants to dig up ideas and concept that transcend the mere perfumes production!
Druids not only were like nowadays priests, they were philosophers, scientists, teachers and mentors also.
Somehow, I also wanted to transcend today’s perfumery boundaries, proposing an ancestral paradigm about smells, and opposing my knowledge and art rooted vision against the mass-market. I’m fighting to throw away “classical” banalizations which seem to rule the fragrances world.

Is there a perfumer (living or dead) whose work you especially admire? Who or what has influenced your decision to use scent as an artistic medium?
Giovanni Paolo Feminis, which is widely acknowledged as the very creator of “ACQUA MIRABILIS”. Looking at some of my production techniques I feel myself as I was a ‘700 perfumer. These were the days when one could, and it had to freely create! Raw materials were a few, so it needed to do one’s best, using each and every creative resource, as well as production tools and techniques. This is the scenario in which great intuition and great ideas come to life!
I also feel to be close to the Pierre François Pascal Guerlain modus operandi: as Guerlaine did, I also started creating “su misura” (bespoken) fragrances; only time will tell the O’DRIÙ business size, still it seems true to me that O’DRIÙ is an important linkage between the past and the future.

Who or what has influenced your decision to use scent as an artistic medium?
Art, in its most sublime meaning, is the aesthetic expression of human inwardness. My need was to depict the inner universe of the human being, going beyond every denomination, in a non-aesthetic and non-retinal way. My artistic vocation has been influenced by my background, my closeness to so many artists, I could say my DNA and my uselessness, because –first of all- an artist is useless, that is to say “vain” and yet dramatically fruitful.

Do you wear fragrance? This seems an odd question but I’ve been told that some perfumers rarely, if ever, wear anyone’s perfume.
Oh yes, my perfumes, specially the newest ones, that I’m near to launch: I want to understand how they “live” on my own skin! I don’t wear perfumes when I’m working at the laboratory. Sometimes I run something like a “social experiment” wearing an “antisocial fragrance” which I created for me: it creates a certain repulsion that –absurdly- seems to become fascination when the one who is speaking with you discovers that you are a “Nose”. At that time the incredible happens: this person “wants” to love my perfume, just because he knows about me. It’s like having a mystic fragrance: a different and a mysterious one!

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

O’DRIÙ releases fragrances strictly as limited editions. Is this solely an artistic decision or are there practical considerations as well?
Creating ultra-limited series of perfumes is –at the same time- a sign of craftsmanship and a way to push in the market my vision about the perfume exclusiveness.
Fashion stylists change their collections and this continuously regenerates their style. I never understood why perfumers don’t act in a similar way, proposing their fall/winter or spring/summer collections! Indeed, it seems that there is a tremendous lack of creativity in Noses, so they pretend their creations are “eternal poems”, while this is only a sluggish marketing strategy.

How does the availability of natural materials play into the creation of your perfume?
Nowadays, raw materials are available every day of the year. Yes, it’s possible to have even huge variations in prices, but the problem is not the availability one. My perfumes come to life in my mind: I don’t need to smell anything, and I don’t permit to materials to influence my creativity. I use materials, I bend them to my needs, not the opposite. I could use some basil and bergamot and just another essence to create a great perfume: may be oxidizing part of the basil with sunlight, or burning a part of the bergamot essence while freezing the other part…
At this point I could play, yes: play, feigning most common odors…
And the third essence could be pure and precious, this could be enough to create a great perfume: technique overcomes every unavailability.

Since its inception in 2011 O’DRIÙ has released 19 fragrances (that’s a lot!). What do you see in the future for O’DRIÙ (the company) and for your own vocation as an artist and perfumer?
A lot of them simply are expired… but you should add four more perfumes from the Perfhumance performance, then “Supercilium con una C” and “Subcilium” which came from “Mise en Abyme”. Sometimes, when I go back to smell them, I’m surprised. I’d want to regenerate some highly costly concepts, as the JMT (Jasmine Mean Time), in a inexpensive fashion, but without renouncing to quality! My efforts are aimed to create great perfumes with an affordable price. This is not possible simply following the traditional marketing processes, so I tried to change the rules with Peety and Eva Kant. Both Peety and Eva Kant are principally purchasable via our odriu.com store; there are also some perfumeries in Europe where is possible to test them, but the perfumes will arrive at our customers home as a mail order.
I’d like to have a production plant in USA also, so to cut production and export costs, but it will be possible only finding a partner… hopefully in this life!
As an artist, I have the particular need to create a new communication pathway in perfumery. From this point of view, Peety has been simply a phenomenon, due to its advertising and its related new visual concept. We are also in the creative process for the next step in Peety communication: a viral video which we want to issue on line… we expect it will be explosive!

TO BE CONTINUED TOMORROW WITH A GIVEAWAY!!

Peety is available from the O’Driu site €150/49ml

Surrender To Chance starts at $6/.5ml

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Chandler Burr Interview: Untitled + Art Of Scent Exhibition

September 8, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 34 Comments

Hello APJ Friends and Family,

Admission time everyone, I have a crush. Since I found you all on the scentbloggosphere, and started reading the stuff you’d all known for years, I have been hearing and reading about one name consistently. Some people love him, others feel otherwise, but no one can dismiss the changes he has helped bring to the way personal scenting is viewed by the greater public. This man, alongside Luca Turin/Tanya Sanchez, Victoria of Bois de Jasmin, Denyse of Grain de Musc, Robin of Now Smell This, Patty from Perfume Posse, has been a positive voice for change. Educating, expanding the horizons and realigning perfume into the modern consciousness in ways it’s never been before in modern times.

He was the New York Times fragrance reviewer, yes, but have you read his books? The Emperor of Scent, The Perfect Scent? Excellent reads in the perfumed maze of literature but did you also know he wrote a book, A Separate Creation, about how we are biologically pre programmed if we are gay? Or his novel, You or Someone Like You, a story about a gay Jewish young man whose mother was not Jewish? This man is not only sexy, erudite and engaging: he can also write a rollicking tale that is a page turner without being a pot boiler.

You might want to grab a cuppa, or a glass of something, I hope you really enjoy this interview….Please welcome APJs very special guest today

Chandler Burr

Interview: Untitled + Art Of Scent Exhibition

Photo Stolen kris krüg Flickr

I have a couple of questions firstly about your very interesting “Untitled” series please Chandler. There is so much I love about it, the blind testing and the history of that being the way you measured your frags for the NYTimes reviews, that you have brought all these prominent houses together to do it, the hype and fuss you were able to generate: all these things thrilled me. I’d like to know why you felt the need to send 50ml bottles: surely a 10ml atomiser would have served the purpose as well and been easier to ship?

Actually they’re all 30ml bottles except for E03, which was 15ml. Mailing a 30ml and a 10ml is virtually the same thing logistically, and I very consciously chose to give those who bought each episode a serious amount of the work and not a mere sample.

It was a great shame that it wasn’t open to the world as I’d’ve loved to have been part of the experiment and so would some of the rest of the crew down under?

It’s infuriating and disappointing for us as well. We tried every possible way of getting around it, but it is just flatly illegal to ship alcohol outside the US. That includes 10mls. We talked to people at the US Postal Service, UPS, FedEx, etc. Maybe in the future. People send perfume illicitly all the time—you just write “book” or “sample” or something on the customs form—but if it’s caught the contents are either refused or destroyed and, if it comes from a business like Open Sky, the fact that it’s illegal can lead to serious problems. So there we are, unfortunately.

What were the most important things that the fragrances needed to possess before being put into the series?

One criterion was the inclusion of works that in my opinion are hugely underestimated. The quintessential example is Mugler Cologne, one of the most ingenious works of olfactory art ever created, a masterpiece by Morillas. I have another coming up in the next three episodes. It was and is very important to me in this series that participants re-experience—as pure works in and of themselves with no interference—these pieces. A second criterion was presenting works that I think are the most aesthetically important, that changed the state of the art. Sel de Vetiver by, brilliantly, Celine Ellena. A third: works whose structure and technical performance are landmarks. Epinette’s Rose Noir. A fourth criterion: The introduction of artists whose work is not well-known but which I think will stand the test of time. E10.

I suppose the fundamental criterion is that the Series be utterly unlike anything else in the world or anything anyone’s done before. I’m continually reimagining it.

Are there any in the series that you would prefer not to wear but judge them purely as excellent fragrant pieces that are best enjoyed without their usual accompanying fanfare?

Very interesting question. There are actually two. I included Schwieger’s Vanille Insensee Cologne because it is a fascinating reinvention of the cologne trope in the most unlikely way possible—a structure indelibly (we thought) associated with “fresh,” as in the olfactory concept of fresh, which has nothing to do with a natural-world freshness but is a brilliant aesthetic / social construction, built from a material (we thought) fundamentally contrary to the idea of “fresh,” a material of opaque sensuality.

The cologne trope was irrelevant and outmoded; Schwieger did a Modernist version—this is the most trenchant, perfectly-fitted example of Modernism’s mission and definition, “the reinvention of old, traditional art forms with new materials, technologies, and aesthetics so that they speak to the modern person,” that it’s possible to find—and suddenly it became fascinating again. I simply wouldn’t wear it because…I don’t know why, I just wouldn’t, but I wouldn’t watch Midnight Cowboy again and I loved it the first time and it is a masterpiece. Likewise Bal d’Afrique, a 21st century abstract expressionist work that is like being choked to death with a silk rope dipped in mango and passion fruit. A great work.

Currently you have just finished, I think, the first The Art of Scent exhibition. Were you happy with how it went, did you get your desired result?

Yes, absolutely. 150,000 people saw the exhibition, it was a huge success with the public I’m very happy to be able to say, and it established the aesthetic and design premise I will build my curatorial work on.

Photo Stolen Sam Fam Flickr

What will you do differently when you take it on a world tour? (I have no doubt that this will happen)

We’re working on the touring exhibitions, and we’re planning on adding an entry section that will prepare the visitor better for the experience, provide context. Nothing big. The show’s Museum of Arts and Design / New York installation has been retired permanently, and we’ll be looking for new architects and designers with whom to collaborate on the traveling shows, which is going to be fascinating.

Please give me the most important reasons that you think people should treat Perfume as Art, because though it ticks some of my art boxes I still lean towards craft/trade as a whole, especially in these days of fragrant chemistry.

That scent is a major artistic medium, equal to photography, paint, music, and dance is simply incontrovertible in my view. Indeed, it’s grossly obvious. The medium is utterly artificial, which all art mediums must be to allow artists to create fictional works, works of art, which are defined in part by the condition of being artificial things created by human artistic visions. Music is made of tones that exist in the natural world, and it is the most wildly synthetic, artificial, human-manufactured thing there is; when the hell would a group of notes in a man-made key come together to produce “Claire de Lune” or “Beat It”? Answer: never. When would any perfume—any—come together, those materials, all made by people, in those quantities by anything even remotely resembling natural means? Answer, obviously: never.

I’m not sure why there is this ridiculous confusion coming from the fact that some of the materials used by scent artists are “naturals”—very much in quotation marks since there’s nothing natural, at all, about a rose petal whose oil has been extracted in a man-made machine with steam or by a gas at critical phase in yet another man-made machine. Clay is actually natural, or a hell of a lot closer to natural than a vetiver absolute that’s been manufactured with a solvent; sculpture is utterly artificial. Wood is natural; architecture is utterly artificial. All these materials are used to create works that force the public experiencing them to grapple with the artist’s purpose: to change the way we perceive the world, reality, and ourselves. Any work that does that is a work of art. In my view I think it would be impossible to find any logical, intellectually honest way to exclude scent from all the others mediums as an art medium.

Could you tell me about the exhibition catalog that came with the piece and how to get one please?

I’m as proud of The Art of Scent catalog that we put together as I am of the exhibition itself. If that seems strange to you, well, I believe it is arguably a greater achievement than the show. (“We” by the way is our heroic team at MAD, Yasi Ghanbari who oversaw the entire incredibly complex project, the wonderful catalog designers Christian Hansen and Gloria Pak of Hnt Creative, Heather Barrett, Patrick Gosse, Eric Koelmel, James Reardon, Tony Perez, and everyone from The Estée Lauder Companies, Hermes, Guerlain, l’Oreal, IFF, Givaudan—I’d make the list three times this long if I included everyone.) When I arrived at MAD the catalog we created was deemed by everyone flatly and categorically impossible. The brands would never allow their works to be taken out of the packaging. It would be impossible to convince them to allow the works to be treated as true works of art and sold with competitors’ works as a curated art historical collection. And so on.

Photo Stolen Now Smell This

And we did the impossible. We created a limited 1,000 pieces of this catalog of which only a few hundred remain for sale—a single collector bought 25 copies the first hour it became available—it will never, ever be reproduced, and it is, I think, with all due humility, an object that will multiply in value both monetary and historic as the first and only one of its kind. There will be future catalogs from my future exhibitions. But there will never again be The Art of Scent catalog.

http://thestore.madmuseum.org/products/the-art-of-scent-1889-2012

Best to you,

Chandler

Photo Stolen VromansBookStore

Stolen Post Script from The Perfumed Dandy…

To learn more about Chandler and his various projects, including where to buy ‘The Art of Scent’ catalogue and join the ‘Untitled Series’ simply click on any of the links in the article, there’s also that intriguing profile of Chandler by the art critic Blake Gopnik, that’s worth a peek.

My conversation with Chandler is one of a series with a number of bloggers organised by the inimitable Lanier of Scents Memory. Do look out for the others in the project which will be appearing over the weeks ahead at:

Another Perfume Blog: http://anotherperfumeblog.com/

Australian Perfume Junkies 8/9/13: https://australianperfumejunkies.com/

EauMG: http://www.eaumg.net/

Scents Memory 20/8/13: https://sentsmemory.wordpress.com/

Smelly Thoughts: http://smellythoughts.wordpress.com/

The Fragrant Man: http://thefragrantman.com/

The Perfumed Dandy 31/8/13: http://theperfumeddandy.com

The Scented Hound: http://thescentedhound.wordpress.com/

What Men Should Smell Like: http://whatmenshouldsmelllike.com/

Matt Lukjanenko Interview about Olfaction and Personality Survey

July 5, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 3 Comments

Guest Post by Jordan River

Matt Lukjanenko Interview

Olfaction and Personality Survey

Sydney. Photo: Matt Lukjanenko

Tonight The Scented Salon is in Sydney. With us we have Matt Lukjanenko, an Australian student writing a thesis on Olfaction and Personality. Olfaction is the science of smell.

You can assist his research, if it suits you, by filling out the survey on the link below:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/personalityandexpertise

The study will provide useful information regarding the differences in how thoughts and emotions are processed and expressed between those with a keen interest in fragrances and those without.

The study takes approximately 15 minutes to complete. Further details about the survey are after the interview with Matt.

Now let’s find out more about Matt.

G’day Matt, welcome to The Scented Salon. Thank you for joining us. I know some people may like to know more about you before they fill in your research survey.

Matt Lukjanenko

Thank you for your kind welcome.
A little bit about me – I was born in Sydney as were both my parents but both families are from Ukraine and Belarus. My parent’s first languages were Ukrainian and Russian and there was definitely an eastern European influence on my life growing up.

What was your first fragrance?

The first fragrance I bought for myself was Acqua di Gio by Armani. I liked the citrus and saltwater scents and its softness.

What did you waft in the 80′s and 90′s?

I am the youngest of 3 boys so whatever I wore was usually passed down from my brothers.

Do you buy for yourself?

I do buy for myself but I remember a while ago my partner at the time left for the UK. He gave me a bottle of what he used to wear as a parting gift which was Calvin Klein Crave. Whenever I wore it it would remind me of him. I thought that was a very smart and sweet gesture.

Or possibly completely debilitating. What are your perfume preferences or notes that you like?

Frangipani, Sandalwood and Lavender. I also love anything citrus or marine and natural.

My favourite at the moment is the Bulvgari Aqva – anything to remind me of the ocean when I’m not near it.

Perfume Collection – theres some Bulvgari, Paul Smith, Boss, Burberry and Natio which is a natural Australian brand.

What are you studying?

I am currently in my honours year of a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology at Macquarie University.

Which career will this lead to?

Following this year, I hope to get into a Masters program in Clinical Forensic Psychology either in Canada or here in Australia. I went on an exchange semester to Canada as part of my undergraduate degree and would love to spend some more time there. After Masters I hope to work for a government agency in correctional services or some other forensic setting.

What is your current research about?

The current study is about olfaction and personality. It builds on previous research looking into the effect that expertise in a particular field has on the brain. Expert musicians, athletes and even taxi drivers have shown functional and structural changes in the way their brains are organised when compared with novices and we are interested in how expertise in olfaction elicits similar changes in the brain and how this then relates to certain personality characteristics.

What about a fragrant experience?

Travelling is my absolute passion. I’ve been fortunate to rake up a number of stamps in my passport and the scents from each of the countries I have visited have always stayed with me long after I’ve left.

One of the most memorable pieces of information I learnt during my degree was that the pathway for the olfactory system has quicker connections with our memory when compared to any of the other senses. I experience that when I pass a person walking in the street who smells like someone else I know or somewhere I’ve been and all those memories come flooding back.

Just two of the highlights for me on my travels have been the smell of burning cigars in a Havana street in Cuba – it was exactly as how I had imagined it and it is one of my favourite cities. The decaying grand buildings, old cars and joyous people. We were fortunate to stay in a homestay with a great host and the lady upstairs would cook our meals and bring down roasted meats, rice and beans, cakes and fresh fruit. You would be intoxicated by the smells alone. But I remember the cigars most vividly.

Cuban flag draped from a building in Havana. Photo: Matt Lukjanenko

Also the smell of freshly baked bread from a Parisian boulangerie as you walk home from a club in the early hours of the morning and knock on the back door to buy a baguette fresh out of the oven and eat it on the way home. Simple things like that bring me a lot of joy.

Machu Picchu – I had always dreamt of visiting Peru and in particular Machu Picchu. We also climbed Huayna Picchu which is a bigger mountain next to Machu Picchu and it was probably the most physically challenging thing I had done. A steep vertical climb for almost an hour hugging onto the side of the mountain with a sheer drop if you put a foot wrong.

What suits you for work?

I work alone most of the time so I could come in smelling like anything really and no one would notice but for everyday wear I prefer natural fragrant oils. Just taking a twig of lavender from a neighbour’s garden and rolling it between my fingers and dabbing it on my neck and wrists.

What do men smell like in Sydney?

Sydney is a summer city, it comes alive during summer and people, men and women in my area usually smell of the beach: saltwater, sunscreen and coconut oil. Having said that it does changes from season to season; in spring it’s more floral and in winter more cedar and spices.

Besides study and travel what occupies your time?

Surfing – at Bondi Beach near my home in Sydney. This photo was taken by the instructor on my first lesson. I’ve since had a few more and am keeping it up.

Aside from travelling, I love swimming, in the ocean or pool and going to the cinema. I go a few times a week and will watch pretty much anything; particularly films from Almodovar or Francois Ozon.

Here I am snorkeling in Cartagena. I met many great people in Colombia and one who is very special. I have Colombian friends all over the world. They seem to travel as much as Australians.

The Gaining of Knowledge

my brother and I went to hear the Dalai Lama talk recently in Sydney and I like reading about his history and that of Tibetans and Buddhists. There's also a lot of travel guides and a few adult comics.

My brother and I went to hear the Dalai Lama talk recently in Sydney and I liked reading about his history and that of Tibetans and Buddhists. There’s also a lot of travel guides and a few adult comics.

Where and how did you gain perfume knowledge?

Online mostly, from websites like yours Portia and The Fragrant Man as well as from meeting people who then pass their knowledge onto me. I’m still very much a novice but I am enjoying the learning experience.

Do you think perfumery is art, artisanal, design and manufacturing, molecular architecture or something else?

All of the above, as someone you interviewed earlier noted it is both a science and an art but has different interpretations for different people.

What is the purpose of perfume?
Simply, to elicit an emotion in a person, whether it is arousal, calm, joy or sometimes disgust haha.

Vivid – Sydney has a lot of great festivals one being Vivid which is a light festival in May/June. There are installations and projections onto iconic sites like the Opera House (see top photo) and Harbour Bridge in this photo. Photo: Matt Lukjanenko

Thank you Matt. All the very best with your research and studies.

Further Information
Research Survey

My name is Matthew Lukjanenko and I am a Psychology Honours student under the supervision of Dr Mem Mahmut at Macquarie University in Sydney (mem.mahmut@mq.edu.au) completing my thesis this year on Olfaction and Personality. I am interested in whether people who have a keen sense of smell, by profession or through interest, have differing scores of certain personality traits when compared with the general public. This is an online study and can be completed anonymously. The study should take no longer than 10-15 minutes and will involve completing online questionnaires. If you complete the study you can elect to enter into a draw to win one of three $20 iTunes cards which will be drawn in late October 2013.

Below is the link to the study

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/personalityandexpertise

Please feel free to share the link with your colleagues or anyone you might think suitable to participate.

The study will provide useful information regarding the differences in how thoughts and emotions are processed and expressed between those with a keen interest in fragrances and those without.

I am hoping to recruit as many people as possible, there are no exemptions.

If people choose to participate, they will need to do so by Monday 22 July 2013.

Any questions please email: matthew.lukjanenko@students.mq.edu.au

Jordan River

The End of Oudh: Ensar Oud: Interview

June 18, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 13 Comments

Guest Post by Jordan River

Hello APJ Family,

Many of you will be familiar with the smell of synthetic Oud in modern perfumes. This is not what we are talking about. We are talking about oud from nature, from a tree. Most of you would not have come across this smell in daily life unless you have spent some time in an Islamic culture. We will explore this culture today through the prism of scent.

The End of Oudh: An Interview with Ensar Oud

Agarwood, Oud, Aloeswood, Gaharu, and Jinko are all names for the Aquilaria tree which grows in South East Asia. This tree can be invaded by tree eating insects. To self-inoculate the tree produces a fragrant resin to repel the invaders. Not every wild tree produces resin and the older the tree the better the resin. The best resin was found in trees that were 60 to 80 years old. These trees have been over harvested and it is now rare to find a wild resin producing tree. They have all but vanished.

The best agarwood is called sinking wood as the amount of resin causes the wood to sink in water instead of floating. This grade of wood is usually reserved for Japanese incense. Chinese carvers also use this grade of agarwood for making fragrant beads and statues.

Khao Yai Oud wood chip. Private Collection: Jordan River

Portia and I have often spoken about how intense a particular Oud Artisan is. So tonight let’s talk with him. His name is Ensar from Ensar Oud. Ensar Oud specializes in Artisanal Oud oils that are traceable to specific jungle locations. In April 2012 Ensar rang the bell on the end of wild harvested oud by traditional gaharu hunters. He then researched organic Oud sources and re-imagined his business into the 21st century.

Oud Artisan Ensar at work.

Let’s zoom over to Medina now for a chat with Ensar.

Welcome Ensar, Peace.
Peace to you too Jordan.

Outside al-Masjid al-Nabawi in Medina, after morning prayer. Photo: Americophile

What are the smells of Medina?
The copious smoke of Oud wood and burning bukhoor reaches you from all sides as you walk down the street. But to quote one vendor: “Oud is finished. There is no more wood these days. Back in 2004, you had Indian wood that was mumtaz (excellent). You had Malaysian as late as 2006 that used to boggle your mind. Real chips, solid. Now all you get is this stuff… (he points to a drawer of well polished Papuan gyrinops agarwood that feels as light as packing peanuts when you hold it) Nothing is real. Fabricated wood is all you get these days.”

This is known as Black Magic wood because it is impregnanted with synthetic scent and streaked with black paint to give the impression of Oud resin.
Indeed. As for the oils that you smell here, that’s an even bleaker story. I hate to say, none of the stuff you find is natural. Everything (literally) is a scent chemical, whether it be from the so-called ‘big houses’ or the small timers tending the corner shops. The French perfume industry is booming; that is certain; and Medina is one major outlet.

Al-Masjid an-Nabawi, The Prophet’s Mosque

How do Muslim men think of fragrance?
As Muslim men, we are taught that to wear perfume is an act of charity towards others around you. Enabling others to smell something pleasant is equal to giving them a gift.

Why is incense burnt in the Middle East? Is this for fumigation or for spiritual reasons?
Incense burning for remembrance and invocation as well as personal scenting is woven into Arab and Muslim culture. Again, an innate love of anything that perfumes one is what drives Muslims to bukhoor and Oud wood. Fumigating the house, scenting clothing, and cleansing an area of evil spirits who abhor beautiful fragrance; spreading an unearthly scent to facilitate remembrance in circles of invocation;these are some of the uses of incense in the Middle East.

Do you scent your beard? Under your chin?
The way I apply Oud oil is by first taking a swipe on the inside of my left wrist. Then I rub the insides of both wrists. Then I apply that sheen to the left and right sides of my neck, right under the beard. I do not apply any Oud to the beard itself as the scent would be too overpowering.

What terroir of Oud are you distilling next?
We have some logs of incense grade wood, of the quality that was offered by Baieido back in the day, going into the boilers this very week. They were harvested in Chanthaburi Province (in Thailand) a few years back, and are the last specimens of wild Thai oud wood of this calibre that I’ve seen in a very long time.

Ensar, thank you for your time and for sharing your fragrant thoughts. Let’s catch up with you soon in Amman. Khuda Hafiz.

The end of wild harvested Oud has become the beginning of organically farmed trees. All over South East Asia there are plantations, many of which need several more years to age the resin.

Ensar on an Organic and Sustainable Oud Plantation

See you soon,
Jordan River

(Ed: This is a much edited version of an incredibly interesting interview. If you’d like to learn how Ensar gets his oils, some of his best selling fragrances and a whole lot more go to TheFragrantMan<<<JUMP)

Dot by Annie Buzantian and Ann Gottlieb for Marc Jacobs 2012

December 1, 2012 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 18 Comments

Hello Christmas Shoppers,

Buying for tweens, teens and young adults can be hard. Perfume buying for same a NIGHTMARE! Not only because they are mainly so indoctrinated and brain washed to think that sweet, fruity, patchouli and clean musks are the only things that smell good but also because they are often so damn ungrateful about the time you’ve taken to get something that you feel is just right. In the end it’s easier to go with the flow.

Dot by Marc Jacobs 2012

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Pitahaya (Dragon Fruit), red berries, honeysuckle
Heart: Coconut, orange blossom, jasmine
Base: Musk, vanilla, driftwood

When I first saw that Marc Jacobs was doing Dot with the super crazy bottle I was all, ” Oh Gawd! What a freakin’ SHOCKER! Why bother with that gimmicky CRAPOLA! He has insulted our intelligence with BLEAGH!” And then I read the note list and thought maybe this will be a little different. Still I only gave it a mini spritz as I was wandering the department store counters and smelled sweet fruits, went immediately to the bathroom and after that washed my hands, so the only impression I got of Marc Jacob’s Dot was the Gawd awful bottle and sweet fruit. Then I saw the below interview and read a bit about the 2 perfumers responsible for Dot who between them are responsible for some super great fragrances, Annie Buzantian, Pleasures & Puredistance 1 and Ann Gottlieb, CK Contradiction & SJP Covet. Maybe it’s time to revisit Dot with Christmas coming up because if I buy the young ones fragrance that I would wear then it will sit unused forever.

So it was with great trepidation I decided to go back to the mall. At this point I just finished reading PerfumePosseHATEList and guess what? Dot was #2 after Marc Jacobs Lola. Oh Dear!

OK. Dot was nice, but not amazing, and not something I could imagine myself wearing. I can see the youth market enjoying it and it lasted about 5 hours before I lost it completely. Opens big and bright and fruity, calms quickly and then pretty linear but the fruity sweetness becomes more vanilla towards the dry down. I did not hate it and can’t imagine anyone being offended by your wearing it.

Photo Stolen langhamherbs

If you want to read further NowSmellThis

FragranceShop has 50ml $71
MyPerfumeSamples starts at $3/ml but I got the $9/5ml deal

I hope this has been some help when searching for a more youthful fragrance and idea. It’s pretty and safe but will be an excellent gateway product for budding perfumistas, they will have a cut above their peer celebuscents but not be out of their league.
Good luck,
Portia xx

Marc Jacobs talks about Dot

Dot Ad

Mandy Aftel of Aftelier Perfumes: Interview

November 28, 2012 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 18 Comments

Hello APJ Family,

We are thrilled that one of the world’s leading and most loved niche perfumers, teachers and authors has agreed to chat to us. There are few in the industry whose perfumes and self are spoken about with such reverence and respect as our special guest today. We have given her a tweaked version of the APJ Questionnaire and edited the answers slightly.

Mandy Aftel

Photo Stolen anuessentials

1. Do you have any mentors/inspirations in the perfume world? The person who has most inspired me in my creative life has always been Bob Dylan. I admire his great genius at expressing the vagaries of the heart — he is able to capture rich emotional states and memories which is something I seek to do in my perfumes. I think the first way I have of understanding the world is through my feelings… so strong in me that the only place that I can capture them and put them down is in a perfume.
My other great inspiration is the beauty of the essences themselves: the complexity, beauty, range, texture, and shape of the natural essences. I happily spend large chunks of time sourcing materials from all over the world. When I get a new essence in my hands, I’m always thinking about how I can bring it to life in a perfume and find my way to understanding each essence from the inside…. I love the range from funky stinky to drop-dead gorgeous and everything in between. They intrigue, inspire, fascinate and thrill me. I love holding in my hand the essences that have been used since the beginning of time in every culture across the world.

2. What is your philosophy regarding the use of natural ingredients as opposed to synthetics? I don’t really have a philosophy about using natural ingredients. I, myself, am more interested in the talent of the perfumer rather than the palette that they use. Personally, I am deeply inspired by the natural essences, and synthetics hold no magic for me. There is a texture and shape to the naturals aromas that’s extremely beautiful to me, and I feel as though I’m able to enter them and see them from the inside. I also must confess that their history intertwined with the history of man around the planet is something that’s quite thrilling to me.

5. Did you have a formal education in perfume or are you self-taught and tell us about your school please? I am a self-taught perfumer — I have a collection of 200 turn-of-the-century perfume books which I have studied over the years but my biggest teacher was the essences themselves. My Level 1 Workbook gives you the necessary perfumery vocabulary, the basics of relative intensity, the very important aspects of construction, and a deep understanding of what makes a top note, a middle note, or a base note. You will learn about the textures, smells, and intensities that differentiate these notes. The exercises in this workbook introduce various families of scents, familiarize you with the blending capacities of similar essences, and refine your ability to distinguish between essences within each family.
After completing the Level 1 Workbook, you can come to work with me in person at the in-studio class. This level of instruction can’t be done remotely – I need to see how you interact with the materials, and spend some time one-on-one (the class size is very small). This is a key step in learning how to critique your perfume formulas. It is very important to understand what contributes to the essences burying or locking with each other; both effects can have either a positive or negative outcome in a perfume blend.

Essence & Alchemy $15.50 @ BookDepository delivered worldwide

6. Your book, Essence & Alchemy, A Natural History of Perfume is a go-to tome often the first that new perfumistas pick up, how did that come about? When I wrote essence and alchemy I felt I had discovered this useful lost world of natural aromatics and want to share. I could not believe all the treasures I found in the antique perfume books and in the essences themselves…. I had no idea that the book would go on to have such a life and be treasured by so many people. I am now working on a new book, which I see as the successor to essence and alchemy. That feels slightly intimidating and I’m hoping that this will pick up where essence and alchemy left off.

Photo Stolen perfumepharmer

7. Can you tell us a little about your new perfume release Wild Roses? Each of my perfumes is created around solving a design challenge and capturing emotional memory. I usually start with a pair of essences that I am interested in working with and from there I build the perfume. The foundation of Wild Roses was the relationship between apricot and rose, and I anchored it with a foundation of tarragon absolute. It was a difficult design challenge to have the rose aromas evolving all the way through the perfume from beginning to end, revealing the various facets and shades of roses.
Having grown roses in my garden for years, I was smitten with the unique beauty and great variety of rose aromas. I wanted to capture in perfume the experience of walking around my garden and smelling each rose, as their perfumes blended in my nose. This is the rose that exists in your mind after you have smelled so many garden roses — blush, ruby, canary, purple, crimson edged with brown, pure white, candy-cane striped — that you feel intoxicated.

Mandy Aftel’s store Aftelier Perfumes Shop
Aftelier also has an Excellent Sample Program

I feel like we have been able to look a little into Mandy Aftel’s soul and now when I smell her fragrances I will understand them a bit more too. Very seriously considering doing the Perfume Course right now also.

This week we are dedicating to Mandy Aftel and Aftelier Perfumes. Wednesday we will look at some of the range and Thursday there will be a GIVEAWAY!! Don’t forget.

Till we see you tomorrow,
Take care of you and those in your orbit,
Portia xx