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Post by Azar

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Judith Muller: Bat-Sheba

Three Legendary Women and a Perfume Bottle

International Flavors and Fragrances (through various incarnations) has been in the business of creating scents and tastes for every imaginable application since 1833. In the late 1960’s the Hungarian born, Israeli perfumer, cosmetologist and entrepreneur Judith Muller (1935-2012) chose IFF to develop a fine fragrance designed for the mass market as well as for her personal and business clients (including El Al Airlines). Her flagship fragrance, Bat-Sheba, named after the biblical beauty, would be one of the first perfumes created by the IFF employee, soon to be super star perfumer, Sophia Grojsman.

Photo Stolen hetek.hu

Bat-Sheba appeared as two distinct scents, Exotic Oriental and Woody Modern. A number of other fragrances, including Judith, King David and Shalom, were produced in Muller’s Mt. Carmel plant and exported to 17 countries.

Judith Muller’s perfumery enjoyed over twenty years of success until the sudden death of her husband/business partner forced her to stop production and close her Haifa operation. She moved to Tel Aviv in the late 1990’s where she continued to create bespoke and private label fragrances for personal and corporate clients. Eventually she relocated to Budapest, remaining creative and vibrant as ever, returning at last to Israel just before her death in 2012.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Sophia Grojsman, the nose who is credited with the creation of Bat-Sheba, was born in Belarus in 1945. She was educated as a chemist in Poland and immigrated to New York in1965 where she began working for IFF as a lab assistant to Ellie Fox. Eventually IFF realized her talent. She was encouraged and mentored by world-renowned perfumers Ernest Shiftan and Josephine Catapano. Her long and productive career at IFF included her appointment as corporate VP in 1998 and the creation of over 30 of the most successful and well known fragrances of our time, including Eternity by Calvin Klein, Prescriptive’s Calyx, Paris by Yves Saint Laurent and Tresor by Lancome.

So much more can be said of these legendary women and we all know the story of passion and betrayal, murder and atonement surrounding the biblical legend Bat-Sheba. Now what about the Perfume Bottle?

Judith Muller designed gorgeous, collectable bottles for her exotic, evocative perfumes.
Most of these bottles from the Haifa period were shaped like tiny, ancient amphorae painted with one of a kind, watery, organic patterns. The patterns and coloring of every bottle was different, ranging from muted and silky mauves to brilliant, sparkling purples and golds.

I have several full bottles of different Judith Muller perfumes and perfume “trinkets”. These lovelies should have been displayed but instead have been squirreled away for years in my cool, dark perfume storage. The Exotic Oriental fragrance has been described as a dry, dusty floral chypre with a honeyed heart.

Photo Stolen myprettypaints

Bat-Sheba GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

I am offering a draw for two winners, each will receive

2ml decants of Bat-Sheba Exotic Oriental.
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.

To be eligible for the draw just leave a comment on a favorite commercial perfume bottle and how you follow APJ.

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie Bat-Sheba GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-25k #Perfume #Giveaway

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Thursday 17th October 2013 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by random.org
The winners will have till Sunday 20th October 2013 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.