The Smell of Freedom - 2014 Edition of "Smells Like Canada"

MRS. LANDINGHAM: Consumer Reports rates it very high. It's very safe. And when you get inside, there's this... (Mrs. Landingham gestures, trying to find the right word).
BARTLET: Smell? MRS. LANDINGHAM: How did you know?
BARTLET: It's the smell of freedom...and the chemicals they treat the dashboard with.
(Aaron Sorkin, "The West Wing", S2 E21 "18th and Potomac")

I've covered almost any scent that I consider Canadian in the last 2 years since I've started "Smells Like Canada". Douglas fir, maple syrup, rhubarb, tobacco, mildew, snow, artemisia (known in this parts of the world as "sage" even though it's not), elderflowers, Canadian gin, cherry red cedar, and castoreum from the Canadian beaver. To that list I can only add two more scents that somehow got ignored in previous years:
 
1) Black Locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) aka False Acacia - a native to the Eastern parts of the continent; and which smells like a sweet blend between heliotrope and orange blossom.

2) Linden blossoms (Tilia vulgaris) which although are not native to here, are in full bloom at this very moment, and line many of the streets and boulevards of Vancouver, painting the city's olfactory landscape with the colour of clear, blue sky.

3) Sweet Grass (Hierochloe odorata), aka Holy Grass or Vanilla Grass -
neatly braided and ceremonially burnt by the prairie First Nation people for its coumarin-sweet character to invite positive energy into the circle (after it's been cleansed with sage).

This year I want to focus on what freedoms smells like. To the fictional American President Bartlett it's the smell of new car. What is it to you?

To me it's the smell of chlorine as you approach the pool in the summer. The smell of hay stacks on which you can jump and free-fall with complete oblivion to any risk of injury. The scent of saltwater and marine life at low tide - complete with fermented seaweed, muscles and barnacles and jet fuel and boat fuel. And the knowledge that for the next few hours the world's worries will come to a halt because you're at the beach. The smell of coconutty tanning oil and tropical sunscreen won't hurt either. But now I'm really getting carried away...

No matter what smell association freedom, summertime or Canada has to you - freedom itself is priceless. And the commitment to this value is what makes this country so special. Of course it doesn't hurt that we're not really at war with anyone, at least not at our borders. Which of course makes for a lot less conflict of interest between "freedom" and "safety". Something that a lot of Canadians are either not aware of - or just haven't ever needed to experience that kind of conflict.
To be a Canadian means to live in peace, in a country where everyone is indeed considered equal, and where the mandate in public schools is to educate our young children to accept the other without prejudice. As long as public schools are open (which is a whole other issue...). Additionally we get to drink clean water and breathe pure air. Or at least cleaner and purer than many other countries - both industrial and third world ones. Yes, we can be better, but that does not mean we should not appreciate what we do have going for us. Not to mention we don't need to worry about our kids getting kidnapped, or murdered, by terrorists, and that pretty much tops it all, doesn't it? 
We are truly blessed.

And now, to this year's contest: What does freedom smell to you? Add your thoughts in the comment section, or add any Canadian smells that I might have missed.
Winner gets a mini of my Gaucho perfume, which is the closest thing to the smell of sweetgrass; and incense cones that are inspired by the First Nations ceremonial smudging. It has tobacco leaf and sage (true sage from the Mediterranean, not the white sage grown locally). It smells amazing, and I only share this with very few people.

EauMG Reviews Beard Oils

Visit EauMG to read Victoria Jent's reviews of my Blackbeard Oil and Orcas Beard Oil. Both can be used to condition both hair and beard and are made primarily from argan oil.
"...if you like natural oils and if you think you’d like smelling like a lumberyard or salt air, then don’t let 'beard' shy you away. These are high-quality oils with great fragrances".

Happy Summer Solstice!

Happy Summer Solstice!

Scents that mean summer to me: Splitting watermelons and slicing fresh rhubarb; tomato plants and heirloom tomatoes carrying that tomato-leaf scent in their still-green parts; suntan lotion mingled with poolside chlorine, vanilla and banana flavoured ice cream bars (the cheaper the better), night blooming flowers (Cestrum nocturnum, honeysuckle and jasmine), cut flowers with intoxicating aroma filling the house - white and pink peonies, peppery white and yellow freesias, but tuberose after dark being the queen of them all.  Dewy gardenias and frangipannis, reminiscent of happy days by the beach - and of course, endless amounts of salty sea breeze.


When summer start hinting about getting serious at all, I bring out some of the bottles that are waiting patiently 10 months out of the year, making their debut with much needed TLC:

Cooling off with hydrating fruits: 
Citrus are famous for their cooling, refreshing qualities in the summertime. But they are not the only fruit-based scents that I reach for in the summer. Figs, cantaloupes and mango seem to be making an appearance in my olfactory fruit-bowl.

Philosykos
There is nothing like green figs, and when you can't have them - the longing for them makes the heart even fonder. Philosykos makes me feel as if I'm sitting under a fig tree by a cool brook in the Galilee, and picking ripe green figs, their milky sap dripping off their stems (and that's the part you want to avoid, but is represented by a green coconutty note).

Un Jardin Apres la Mousson
This singular perfume is simultaneously cool and refreshing yet at the same time juicey and sweet. I love the contrast between cantaloupe and the cool vetiver, fresh ginger and coriander.

Eau d'Orange Verte
To a classic eau de cologne frehsness, there is a hint of green mango added (in the new formulation, which isn't as bad as I feared). I still stick to my

Orcas
There is no scent that screams "West Coast" more than Orcas. I dreamed it while vacationing in Tofino and fine tuned it when spending an entire summer at SunsetBeach. Its main citrus component is lime - a surprisingly coconutty citrus note. Paired with seaweed and rosemary and smoothed out by violets

Tropical Island Vacation: 
Unless you count my dreams (and daydreaming) - I never did go on a tropical island vacation. But this fantasy is an inevitable part of my summer enjoyment, which includes spending as much time at the beach as possible. 
 Terra Cotta Eau de Sous le Vent
Supposedly a tan enhancer, I wear this for the scent alone. It's like a beach vacation in a bottle. And even if mine usually happen 10 minutes away at the beach down the hill, and go for only a few hours at a time - it creates an illusion that I actually went away somewhere exotic.

Azuree de Soleil Body Oil 
Who said you can't be sophisticated at the beach? This European suntan lotion inspired scent is much more than that. It's very light yet has depth. The white florals are toned down, and unusual resinous notes and subtle musk are what make it so charming.

Vanille Banane 
Just like the banana ice cream bars we'd have at the beach as kids. The flavour is fake, but oh so charming. Banana esters rule! 

Tamya
Plumeria tucked behind the ear, yellow sarong, flip flops and a spritz of this subtle beach scent - frangipanni, ylang ylang, cedar and soft musk and hint of vanilla make it a feel like an authentic tropical getaway. Cassis and yuzu add a fruity lift, reminiscent of ripe mango.

Midsummer Night: It is not surprising that on summer evenings I tend to reach to white florals. Tuberose, gardenia and jasmine perfumes are at forefront of my evening summer wardrobe.

Opium Fleur de Shanghai is a more subdued, easy to wear spicy-oriental with magnolia as an added twist to the original rich formula. There is still plenty of spice and resinous goodness (myrrh especially), but it can be worn with dignity even in heat and humidity.

Songes
Ylang ylang, frangipani and jasmine over a soft ambery base. Songes is the roundest, most pampering of all the Annick Goutal perfumes, with no sharp edges or heady floralcy which prevents me to be able to fully connect to the rest.

Moon Breath
Soft, smooth yet meditative, I love wearing this incensey white-floral in an evening while enjoying the potted star jasmine and burning a good incense on my balcony on those rare balmy summer nights we get here maybe twice a year if we're lucky...

GiGi
Luscious gardenia soliflore, that makes me feel like I have the real flower pinned to my hair. It's heady and rounded, distinctively gardenia and makes me feel happy.

What about you? What scents do you crack open when the summer arrives?

Read my previous years Summer Lists: 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013.

And now - off to the beach! 

Now Smell This Reviews Musk Malabi

 Visit Now Smell This to read Robin's review of my newest perfume, Musk Malabi.

"It's bright and cheerful, and perfect for spring. Very much worth a try for anyone, but especially recommended for neroli freaks. I would love to have a bottle of Musk Malabi, along with Moriel's equally cheerful Etrog Oy de Cologne".

Perfume School Updates: Fall Courses + Private Lessons + New Book Pre-Order

A wonderful week of Oriental Perfumes Studies took place this past month (May 26-30, 2014). Students from around the world participated and thoroughly enjoyed themselves!

We began by learning how to make incense - the most ancient form of perfume (we made traditional Indian-style incense cones), then proceeded to learn about the history of the spice trails, discovery of distillation methods, and how the ancient traditions of incense and attars from India, Egypt and Arabia influenced the art of French perfumery at the turn of the century. We studied vintage classics such as Shalimar, Emeraude, Tabu, Youth Dew and Opium. and learned to make our own amber bases, accords, and then build a fully-developed Ambery Oriental perfume and Spicy Oriental perfume. It was fun and another one of the week’s highlight was a trip to a Chinatown to immerse in the aesthetics of authentic classic Chinese garden and its fragrant plant, and learn how to translate a concept or an inspiration into a beautiful perfume with unique structure.
Now it’s time to plan the next term in my perfume school, coming up this fall, with two courses at the end of September and beginning of October: Chypres week (September 22-27, 2014) and Leather/Tobacco Week (September 29 - October 3, 2014). Early Bird rates (20% off) are in effect till June 22nd. If you're a new student, please apply by emailing me with a CV and a coverletter. 

Correspondence Course, Private Lessons & New Book!

If you were not able to attend in person, you can sign up for my correspondence course which includes the Foundation of Natural Perfumery Book plus 5 one hour sessions with me via phone/Skype. I also offer private sessions - either in person at my studio, or via phone/Skype for $200/hr -  perfect for students who live remotely and need to brush up on certain lab skills, techniques or want to get personal feedback for their work. The 2014 edition of the  Foundations of Natural Perfumery Book is now available for pre-order, and will be completed late summer/early fall. Pre-orders are helping me greatly in setting off some of the printing and graphic re-design costs, as this will be self published. We are printing it here in Vancouver; and also will be offering an electronic edition online later this year.

Here's what one of my private students had to say about her lesson this spring:
"Thanks for an amazing, special day and I learned so much.  I can't believe how much we covered and yet I want to meet with you tomorrow, the next day, and the next!  I love the blend and it brings back wonderful memories of the beach".
- Elizabeth Michaels
Aromatherapis & Reiki Healer
Bellevue, Washington, US

And here are a few more testimonials for your amusement - from all four students who attended the Oriental Week this past May:

"Thank you for the wonderful Oriental Perfumes Study that I attended with you in Vancouver.  The entire experience was an amazing one – falling in love with the city itself, the ambience of the workshop that we were in – making it feel like home and a cherished place, all the vital information that you lavishly shared with us and the insight that you managed to give us into the magical world of natural perfume blending…it all sums up to a remarkable experience that I hope I will repeat very soon".
- Mohammad Khalaf
EmmKay Beaute
Toronto, Ontario 
 
"Studying under Ayala far exceeded my expectations. I entered the program with no previous blending knowledge or hands-on experience with raw materials, and left with the confidence to further pursue my intrigue back home. While I'll continue to blend on my own, I'm really looking forward to next season's session."
- Kacey Ivey
Nashville, Tennessee 
 
"I learned about Ayala and her work through Twitter, and in my nascent attempts to compose fragrances for my homemade soaps, she provided helpful advice and input. Later, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to attend her week-long perfumery course on the fougère family of fragrances.  Although the emphasis of study was fougères, we students also learned a lot of fundamentals of perfumery, including getting to know various essences and composing perfumes. I particularly enjoyed the blind scent tests at the beginning of each class.
Ayala is a very supportive teacher, and having her immediate feedback was invaluable, since there is no substitute for a well-trained nose. One can learn a lot of things from books and the internet (including Ayala's course book), but there is currently no technology that allows us to smell things from a distance. I am very pleased with my experience attending the course, and I hope to return someday to learn about the other fragrance families".
- Schuyler Corry
Chemist / Soapmaker
Open Source Soap
Eugene, Oregon, USA

"Thanks again for an extraordinary week!"
- Elizabeth Michaels
Aromatherapis & Reiki Healer
Bellevue, Washington, US

Rosy Head Count

This is my classmate from Poland visiting the rose fields extraction plant near Grasse, France. She's sitting in this big drums, and ecstatic to be surrounded by soft, plush, freshly-picked rose-flowers.. 

Did you know that to make 600gr of rose absolute, 400kg of flowers need to be picked? That is exactly 200,000 roses - all handpicked within 2 hrs every morning in the short 2-week season of rose harvest!


In case you were wondering why natural perfumes cost as much as they do, this should give you some idea. And to put it into smaller scale that you will be able to understand: A single drop of rose oil costs. In Roses et Chocolat, one of my top-selling rosy perfumes, there is 0.3gr of rose absolutes, which means at least 100 roses were picked in order for me to be able to make each 15ml bottle of Roses et Chocolat.


P.s. If financial value speaks to you more clearly: please know that in this formula, the roses alone accounts for about $7 per 15ml aka 0.25oz bottle on account of roses alone.
In most perfumes you'll find in the market come in a 50ml aka 1.7oz bottle - they don't even spend as much on the jus (the most that is spent on any jus is about $5 - the rest of what you're paying for is marketing, distribution and many other things that don't contribute at all to your perfume enjoyment.
If I were to sell this size (1.7oz), it will cost me 8 times (aka $40 or more) then what they are paying for (and not including bottle, label, packaging or labour). And of course I wouldn't be making any profit whatsoever if I were to sell it for the average $50 or so which is the going price for 50ml fragrances.

Seven Fragrant White Flowers for Shavuot

Shavuot is beginning this evening, and to celebrate, I've put together a bouquet of 7 white flowers that are currently in bloom. Wearing white is a Shavuot tradition, and so is wearing wreaths of flowers on the head. When I was a little girl, this was the time of the year when fragrant roses will be in full bloom, and the children lucky enough to grow them in their garden will have a flower or two of deep, wine-coloured burgundy rose in their baskets of first fruit - alongside apricots and green almonds. I am grown up enough now to own up to it and say I was deeply jealous of their baskets, and couldn't keep my nose away from it. This collection of seven flowers will not include white rose (or jasmine, for that matter) because I would like to make room for less known white flowers and hope that you find this post inspiring and alluring.

1. White Peony:

I find the white variety to be more well-rounded. White peonies smell a little more heady  than the pink and a tad jasmine-y but still also peppery and fresh. There is a strong resemblance to lily of the valley, and also there's a hint of hyacinth's heady floral and sharp green-onion-y notes. The flowers fills the room with their beautiful scent for a full week after being brought home from the florist. The pink ones are a bit of a hit-and-miss. Some smell rosy and with a hint of spicy carnation note; others are more green and dewy; and some smell funky, like rotten vegetables...

There is no shortage of peony-themed fragrances, but non has captured my nose as of yet. If you have any recommendations, I'll be happy to try them!

2. Choisya "Aztec Pearl" (aka Mexican Mock Orange)

Smells more like heliotropin than orange blossom to me, but is related to the same family (Rutaceae). The flowers have a powdery-sweet aroma with hints of methyl anthranilate. Very soft and alluring. I only know of one fragrance that is centred around it - Choisya candle by Dyptique.

3. Black Locust (Robinia pseudoacacia): 


The black locust tree is native to the Southeastern United States, but have found its way to many a gardens across the world, where it has become naturalized (and in some cases invasive) in temperate North America, Europe, South Africa, Asia. The origin of the name: Because of their similar fruit shape, Jesuit missionaries confused it with the carob tree Carob Tree (Ceratonia siliqua). 

The flowers have a havenly sweet-pea aroma mingled with the scent of intensified orange blossom. The methyl anthranilate aspect really coming through like a candy from the gods in this tree flower from Fabaceae family. The flowers are edible, having a sweet and aromatic flavour, but the fruit is not (though some say the seeds are edible too). Try using the flowers in a sugar syrup for desserts, or crystallize them in a similar way that rose and violet petals are treated. The entire flower clustered are dipped in batter and deepfried into fritters! 

I'm currently experimenting with some black locust syrup and tinctures recipes, and will report to you once they've rendered successful (which they are bound to be! The syrup is already tasting amazing halfway through the maceration process).

4. White Carnation (Dianthus): 

Dianthus seems to be the flower of the season, popping up in many gardens in the West End this year more than I've ever seen it before. I finally planted my own two Dianthus "Coconut Surprise" plants in my balcony's forelorn planter. They will only go till the end of fall, and I plan to thoroughly enjoy them!

I've gone into much detail about the scent of carnation. The white variety is what's mostly used for carnation absolute production for perfumery. The flowers have a beautiful, sweet-warm and soft-powdery scent and I can't help myself but get on my knees to smell everyone I meet on my walks in the neighbourhood.

Favourite carnation perfumes: InCarnation, Bellodgia, 

5. Philadelphium:


To my nose, Philadelphium smells like fedjoia - fruity, exotic, edible and unusual.
Is is also known as Mock Orange, but is a different plant than Choisya, and smells completely different. 

6. White Magnolia (Magnolia × wieseneri):


This particular magnolia has a magical scent. According to Wikipedia: 
"Its most notable feature is the remarkable fragrance of the ivory-coloured flowers, which has been likened to pineapples and seen adjectives such as "ethereal", "spicy" and "aromatic" used". It significantly changes its scent throughout the day, smelling like a dewy jasmine-tea in the evening, and developing a more fruity-aldehydic and lactonic character during the day, reminiscent of peach (aldehyde C-14) and a fatty, oily-skin-like scent (aldehyde C-13) during the day and once the flower is "overripe".

Favourite magnolia perfumes: New Orleans, Opium Fleur de Shanghai. 


7. White Lilac:

White lilac has more indole than the purple or pink ones, giving them a more perfumey character. Additionally, lilacs have the scent of powder, hints of green fig and cucumber, and in many cases also a rather dominant styrene presence.

Favourite lilac perfumes: Ineke's After My Own Heart and Olivia Giacobetti's En Passant (for Frederic Malle Editions de Parfum). 

If you want to celebrate Shavuot with the traditional desserts, here are my recipes for the perfect blintzes and best ever cheesecake!

Gourmands: Main Course or Dessert?

The "Dessert" of the Oriental Week this past Friday was an afternoon dedicated to Gourmand perfumes - a modern sub-category of the Oriental fragrance family. This relatively recent trend turned into an established genre beginning with Thierry Mugler's Angel. This cult perfume was created for avant-garde fashion designer Thierry Mugler by nose Olivier Cresp in 1992, and closely followed by the iconic licorice, cherry and violet based Lolita Lempicka (designed by perfumer Annick Menardo in1997).

Angel, now one of the top five best-selling perfumes in the world, was not an immediate success. It took Thierry Mugler's devotion and deep conviction in the fragrance, matched by investing plenty of creative marketing effort into before the world warmed up to Angel - first through a cult of loyal customers who were completely addicted to its unique combination of patchouli, blackberry, helional, citrus and ethyl maltol (a novel scent molecule reminiscent of cotton candy) - and later, a world-wide loyalty to Angel as a brand, with a star-shaped refillable bottles and unusual spray mechanism, hi-tech urns for refilling in most retail locations, and many sequels, limited edition bottles, advertisement with unique haute-couture gown made for each model (some of which were celebrities).

Lolita Lempicka also belongs to a fashion house (of the same name), and like Angel it was cleverly marketed, yet with more earthly, whimsical fairytale-like visuals and connotations. The unique bottle, asymetrical apple-shaped with a stem that doubles as the spray nozzle - has highly imaginative posters and video clips to boot. It took the Lolita fantasy to a different level - while the name of the brand (and perfume) alone evokes that not-so-innocent child-woman from Nabokov's famous novel (the Lempicka part is named after the Polish painter, Tamara de Lempicka). there is more magic added to the mix in what feels very personable (if that's your taste), resonating on a rather deep level of self-identity, appealing to the artistic, whimsical girl-at-heart personality. And what did it smell like? Reminiscent of candy, but with hints of green freshness from ivy leaves and anise notes, Lolita Lempicka focuses its foody obsession on licorice candy, giving it a more floral treatment than Angel with the addition of violets, and the sweetness comes primarily from heliotropin (which smells like a very sweet cherry pie), coumarin and vanilla - evoking the scent of Amarena cherries. There is a lot more powderiness to it than Angel, and the contrasting earthy quality comes from a vetiver root.

Niche perfumeries did not escape from this trend either, with dessert-like creations such as the artificially almondy, syrupy-sweet Rahat Loukum (Serge Lutens), and cherry-like Luctor et Emergo (The People of the Labyrinth). The sweetness in these perfumes went completely overboard, even more than the vanilla and ethyl-vanillin saturated Shalimar (which is one of the first Ambery Orientals, created in 1925). The use of all of these sweet notes, and their dosage, suggested a full-calorie dessert, making them feel deceivingly edible. And both are closely related to Hypnotic Poison (1998, also created by Annick Menardo, and smells like almond and vanilla with hints of caraway).

Gourmands' inherent comforting impact is what made this fragrance category dominate the women's fragrance market well into the new millennia, providing a rather extreme counterpoint to the scrubbed-down aquatic florals of the same era. But it was in the early new millennia that gourmands really reached traction. After 9-11, the gourmands provided to the traumatized masses exactly the kind of comfort they needed: something child-like, innocent, familiar, cozy, sweet, a little simplistic even. Like a mother handing her sobbing child a square of chocolate caramel, the perfume companies went overboard with this trend, and it bled onto the other genres - tainting anything from florals (countless celebrity scents come to mind) to chypres (Fruitchouli, anyone?) with a sugary sweet cotton candy note; or one novel fruit or another.

Savoury gourmands are less talked about, and provide an interesting and more sophisticated take on culinary inspiration. While the dessert-inspired gourmands we've discussed so far relied on novel molecules to emanate the strong association of sweetness, a different trend, which is now becoming more popular, is the new obsession with "salty". But before we digress into mineral notes - let's just mention some of the earlier "savoury" gourmands - those that were designed to smell like earlier courses in the meal.

Dinner by Bobo (2002) is the first example that springs to mind. This perfume played up the cumin presence to create a rather controversial effect at the time. While cumin is popular spice around the world, and has been used in best-selling perfumes in France (in Rochas Femme reformulation, for example). many people in North America associated cumin with "sweat" and find it unsavoury. Dinner by Bobo brings to mind a candle-lit dinner in a French-Moroccan restaurant, complete with red wine - but no dessert in sight. It plays like a complex tajin with dried apricots and prunes and warm spices - not that far in concept from the fruity Chypres of the mid-twentieth century.

Serge Lutens plays up the exotic spices in its souk-evoking perfume Arabie. The notes are a lot more realistic, but still remain in a very clear context of perfume, with the edible association perhaps more known to those familiar with the complex spices used in Arabic and North African cooking. in Santal de Mysore, a similar accord of Indian curry is used in contrast to East Indian sandalwood.

Later still, Jo Malone introduced a couple of fragrances that explored a more savoury aspect of food: the Mexican inspired Blue Agave & Cacao, bringing to the fore a dusty cacao note mingled with salt, lime and blue agave. Sweet Lime & Cedar was inspired by Thai cuisine, and at its core is kaffir lime leaf mingled with coconut water and cedarwood. Again - not a sweet interpretation (although coconut could have brought it easily all the way to the realm of celebrity scents, Malibu beach style). Last but not least: Anima Dulcis presents its cacao notes alongside cumin, cinnamon, vanilla, salted caramel and chili. It's not exactly sugar-free, but it balances all of the sweet and savoury elements so well, that it won my heart completely.

Here are some of the most famous if not influential Gourmand fragrances:
Angel (1992)
A*Men(1996)
Lolita Lempicka (1997)
Lolita Lempicka Au Masculin (2000)
Wish (Chopard)
Rochas Man
Hanae Mori Butterfly
Pink Sugar (Aqualina)
Popi Moreni
Yohji 
Yohji Homme
Rahat Loukum (Serge Lutens)
Luctor et Emergo (The People of the Labyrinth)
Rahat Loukum (Serge Lutens)
Rosewater & Vanilla (Jo Malone)
Hypnotic Poison (Dior)
Réglisse Noire (1000Flowers)

Savoury Gourmands of Interest: 
Dinner by Bobo
Arabie (Serge Lutens)
Santal de Mysore (Serge Lutens)
Blue Agave & Cacao (Jo Malone)
Sweet Lime & Cedar (Jo Malone) 
Anima Dulcis (Arquiste)