The Velvet Room

I'm excited and proud to announce that Ayala Moriel Parfums are now sold at The Velvet Room.
2248 West 41st Ave Vancouver (Kerrisdale) 604-264-8664
Mon-Sat 10:30 am-5:30 pm and Sunday 12-4pm
http://www.thevelvetroomboutique.com/
The boutique carries Bon Zai, Roses et Chocolat and Tamya.

The Velvet Room exclusively showcases Canadian designers. All products are designed AND manufactured in Canada!
I can't begin to tell you how thrilled I am to have my perfumes displayed at the same location as some of my local fashion herose whose designs I adore and wear all the time.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Happy Sukkot!

Etrog, originally uploaded by Ayala Moriel.

Dear SmellyBlog Readers,
Wishing you a happy Sukkot and harvest season.
This year I have bought my own citron fruit for the first time and I'm very excited! I will be posting pics and tell you more about my citron odyssey, as I'm on a journey for the 2nd year now to create an etrog perfume. This year it has an even more special meaning than ever and I hope by the end of the holiday I will have enough essence to actually make it.
The fruit cannot be used until after Sukkot is over, so I must pray for patience first and foremost!
Hag Samecah,
Ayala

P.s. the above photo is from last year. Now I'm off to assemble my Etrog and Lulav et al and to dinner with my daughter and brother who's just arrived last week and is already cooking for us!

Byzance (Rochas)

Blue River of Byzance (parfume bottle), originally uploaded by MichaelaBrnova Art.

Byzance opens soapy, aldehydic and with a big perfumey blast that characterizes olfactory decade of the 80’s with an obvious wink towards the floral aldehydes of the 20’s. A big tuberose comes through right away with a heady bitter-sweetness and a touch of greens. Underlining base notes of musk and amber make themselves immediately apparent as well. And a spicy yet balsamic warmth of cardamom makes for a slightly exotic opening. It settles into a green yet sweet tuberose for quite some time. The dry down reveals more of the woods as well as vanilla, and sweet berry-like undertones which reminds me of the final dryout of Ivoire. And there is always a sense of sweetness about it – although not as overbearing as the first few moments.

Byzance interestingly has some characteristics of a chypre (perhaps the juxtaposition of potent florals with greens creates that illusion), but it is not. It is a flamboyant, outgoing floriental.

I am still trying ot figure out what is the connection to the name though. It does not smell particularly typical of the region or the religious connotations of the Eastern Church. The bottle design is the only point of reference I can see (the circle being reminiscent of that found inside the basilicas in Turkey) - see image below. It also reminds me of the bottle design of Soir de Paris.

Fresco, Kariye Camii, originally uploaded by Feuillu.

Byzance also happens to be the perfume that Fiona from Urban Rush was not able to find. It is, however, still on display at Shifeon in Vancouver (though I’m not sure they have any left in stock), so you can try it there. And it’s also still available on various online outlets. I am not sure if it is officially discontinued or just hard to find.

Although no one guessed the perfume correctly, I will be giving the Magnolia Petal bottle to Mark, who had the right brand (Rochas). Congratulations, Mark!

A more through search for the notes leads to the Perfume Addicts Database:

Top notes: Citrus, cardamon, spices, greens, mandarin, aldehydes, basil
Heart notes: Jasmine, tuberose, Turkish rose, lily of the valley, ylang-ylang
Base notes: Sandalwood, vanilla, musk, heliotrope, amber

Alchemy and Artistry

Last Sunday, Nov 16, a unique art show opened in FibreWorks Gallery in the Sunshine Coast, titled Alchemy and Aritstry.
The show was initiated and hosted/currated by Anita Kalnay, certified aromatherapist, visual artists and a Spiritual PhytoEssencing practitioner who lives and works in Alert Bay, BC and is currently studying Ayala Moriel's Foundation of Natural Perfumery Course.
Eight artists explore the concept of Spiritual PhytoEssencing by creating visual art in response to different essences and PhytoEssence blends created by Anita.

FibreWorks Gallery
12887 - 12889 Sunshine Coast Hwy
Madeira Park, BC
Tel.: (604) 883-2380

New Poison Rings

Visit my Etsy shop to view the new poison rings from my collection that are for sale now. There are some true beauties in here, including some that I would rather keep for myself but decided I'll let others enjoy.
Each ring will be filled to order with your choice of a solid perfume from my collection.

GiGi: Grand Gardenia Sans the Drama

Elegance, originally uploaded by _wintermute.

While evolution often follows challenge and crisis, few will admit that a sign that you have truly evolved is when your life, all of a sudden, has everything you dreamed of, sans the drama. Strangely enough, I find myself today, the scheduled launch date of my grand gardenia soliflore GiGi to be quite lacking any deeply emotional stories tales related to this dramatic floral note.

Where to begin? Perhaps the name choice. It is in reference to the musical of that name, starring the youthful, innocently tomboyish Leslie Caron. Somehow, the sentence about “making love in a gardenia scented garden” is the only thing from the film that got stuck in my mind forever and that’s where the name came from... While I can’t say there is anything un-romantic about it, in that context it seems so overtly dramatic to the point of ridicule. Which is precisely the direction I was heading for - lighthearted even if a bit mysterious (you can’t avoid that with gardenia!); rather than the Bluesy, Billie-Holiday-esque gardenia ornaments, a gardenia that is open to your own interpretation, with a mood that is easy to manipulate.



The focus here is on creating a rich, creamy gardenia from complex natural essences only. A true challenge indeed, when you cannot use Benzyl acetate; not to mention (E)-ocimene, linalool, asmine lactone, or gamma-decalactone (used to create gardenia headspace).

Instead, I have created an odour profile reminiscent of gardenia using the following notes:
Top notes:

Yellow Mandarin - chosen for it’s intense heady-floral aroma, reminiscent of creamy tuberose

Coriander essential oil and Cardamom CO2 - for their exotic spiciness, adding a hint of spice to the gardenia profile

Kewda Attar - for the sharpness, headiness, and hyacinth-like top notes that are somewhat resembling the head notes of gardenia

Rosewood - chosen for the abundance of linalol content, creating that smooth and soft, clean yet heady floral top notes.
For the heart notes I created a rich, creamy white-floral-indolic accord, using precious absolutes of:

Jasmine Sambac - the closest I’ve ever found to the scent of fresh gardenia, persistent, and somewhat green and fruity all at once

Jonquille - richly indolic, powdery, animalic and sweet, somewhat green as well

Tuberose - creamy, soft, suave and very close to gardenia absolute (which is a rare find that turns out only very rarely).

As for the base - the trick was to not overdo it as to not overpower the delicate floral heart, while extending the life of these fragile notes. I’ve chosen notes that complement the other ones, but are also rich and soft and subtle:

Myrrh - adding a hint of bittersweetness, which is very important in a gardenia.

Sandalwood from India - from the very last batch I was able to obtain; sandalwood trees in India are becoming extinct, and hence GiGi will probably not be around for too long... At least not in its exact current form - as other sandalwoods do smell different and are less creamy and deeply rich.

Ambrette CO2 - adding depth and a soft muskiness, sweet but not cloying, and adding an effect that is reminiscent of Monoi de Tahiti on a sun-warmed skin.

Vetiver from Sri-Lanka - contributing to the sun-warmed skin and beach notes in the dry out phase.

Vanilla CO2 and Absolute - for a round, soft sweetness.

GiGi is available for a limited time only (until my sandalwood runs out!!!), in the 1/4oz parfum extrait flacons, or parfum oil roll-on bottles, and of course the 1ml sample vials so you can try before you buy.

Win-Win Situation x6

Well well, dear readers, I lied.
There is no draw for any samples of my In A Station of the Metro 1st mod.

SORRY!

Instead, all the readers who commented (except for Heather, who already got one of course) are the winners of a sample vial. We only have 1 little problem - I only have 5 vials; so I will be decanting just a little bit of each one of them to create a 6th one. They will be only ever so slightly less than 1ml, and I am sure you will be able to derive much pleasure from your slightly reduced jus.

So, please contact me, all 6 of you, with a mailing address. In case you don't know who you are, here's the official list of winners:
oh, true apothecary
roxana
claudia
pavlova
monica
chayaruchama

I thank you again for commenting, and hope you enjoy my little perfumed poem!
And one last thank you to Heather for initiating this fascinating project and inviting me into her beautiful poetic world.

Last Chance to Vote in Prix Eau Faux 2008

Don't miss the chance to vote for the best hilarious ad-copy in Now Smell This' Prix Eau Faux competition. Not only will you laugh your head off reading these ridiculous (yet not far from the truth) imaginary perfume ad-copies, you will also help our drying-up minds in the corporate perfume world discover the next star ad-copy-writer to convince you to buy more perfumes in the future. The reward for the winner is a $100 gift certificate from LuckyScent.

Poll is closing tomorrow morning, so hurry up and vote!!!

Ayala Moriel now at BeautyMark

Ayala Moriel Parfums are now available in BeautyMark!

As of today, Ayala Moriel Parfums can be found at Beautymark - the snazziest place in town for beauty advice and a cutting edge beauty experience. This is where fashionistas and movie stars get all their beauty must-haves including make up, skin care and fragrances from the leading niche brands.

Ayala Moriel now offers three distinct & original fragrances for the Vancouver perfumistas at this glamorous location - the naughty & delicious Film Noir, the playful & floral Tamya and the serene & woody-fresh Bon Zai.

With your support, there will be many more fragrances to come to BeautyMark's shelves, so let's empty these first ;) ... So go grab your chic handbag and your favourite friends and take them down to BeautyMark to sniff some lovely fragrances and support a local perfumer!

BeautyMark
1120 Hamilton Street (just off the corner with Helmcken)
Yaletown, Vancouver
Tel:604-642-2294
Toll Free:1-877-8BEAUTY (1-877-823-2889)

Blunda Seasonal Exhibition December 15

For those of you in greater LA - don't miss this unique event, where art meets perfume. There will be a new perfume to Blunde that night - Palas Atena in an oil form. The goddess of wisdom and war would sure be happy to join Tamya and Espionage for a Finjan-full of darkly brewed coffee... All four in a highly concentrated oil form (30% essence) and are just exquisite.

October Monthly Draw Winner & November Giveaway Announcment

Lady Of Justice, originally uploaded by MacBuckley.

The winner for October's monthly draw is....

Melissa from Australia!

Congratulations, Melissa! You are the lucky winner of a roll-on bottle of Libra perfume oil. Hope you will enjoy this unique, creamy white floral with green nuances, with its notes of Galbanum, Clementine, Tuberose, Rose de Mai, Sandalwood and Tonka Bean.

On November 30th will have another draw for a bottle of Scorpio perfume.

How to enter the draw?
All customers who ordered online during the month of November will be automatically entered into the draw to win the Zodiac perfume oil of the month.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Pumpkins, originally uploaded by Ayala Moriel.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of SmellyBlog's Canadian readers celebrating this delicious harvest festival
May we all have an easy winter, nourished by these abundant crops we're blessed with. This is not something that should be taken for granted, neither should these corps be taken from someone else. May there be enough food for all of us, to nourish our bodies and souls on this earth.
And as a Haida wisdom tells us (and was passed to me by a friend over Thanksgiving dinner yesterday) - our wealth is measured by what we give of ourselves, not by what we possess.

Happy Sukkot!

venice - square version, originally uploaded by Pay No Mind.

To all SmellyBlog readers who are celebrating Sukkot - Happy Holiday!
May your sukkah be blessed with the the 7 Ushpizin and loving friends and family!

Monthly Draw: Zodiac Parfum Oils

Zodiac Perfumes, originally uploaded by Ayala Moriel.

To celebrate the new website (and encourage you to use it...), I have decided to hold a monthly draw for all of you who have ordered online. Each month, I will be giving away one Zodiac Parfum Oil (as pictured above) with the Zodiac sign of the month. The draw in September will be for one bottle of Virgo parfum.

October will be Libra, November - Scorpio; December - Saggitarius; January - Capricorn; February - Aquarius; and so on and so forth.

The draw will take place on the last day of the month and the winners will be announced that day on SmellyBlog and to my mailing list.

If you want to read more about the Zodiac Parfums, you can only read about them on my old website.

You can also read reviews of the Zodiac perfumes on Basenotes (or add your own review!).

P.s. The Zodiac line is being discontinued, so no samples are available. We are now at the very last drops of our very last batch for each Zodiac sign. Therefore you may only order a bottle (via the old website). They come in 10ml parfum oil (the base is jojoba oil) and are very unusual, powerful and long lasting as most of them contain precious resins used in incense and perfumery since the very beginning of time...

Happy New Year!

Out of the Arc, originally uploaded by Tirau Dan.

Happy New Year to all of us celebrating Jewish New Year's Eve today.
May this year be a year of peace, above anything else.

P.s. If you have a moment - go read the comment for this photo on Flickr, I really liked it...

Happy Canada Day!

Moraine Lake, originally uploaded by champy1013.

Happy Canada Day to all of SmellyBlog's Canadian readers!
Hope you had a fun and a fair weather today to celebrate the special day of our magnificent country. My day, personally, was mostly full of Salsa dancing at Robson Square...

Silhouette, originally uploaded by CharlieBrown.

SmellyBlog Logo Poll Contest Winner Announcement

Draw Logo Contest, originally uploaded by Ayala Moriel.

It's time to announce the results of the last few contests I run here on SmellyBlog.

First of all, I'd like to thank all of you who participated in the poll for choosing SmellyBlog's new logo. As you can see, I have completely disregarded your advice, and went for my own favourite... I'm kidding, of course. You can probably imagine that there were other factors for my decision making besides your opinion (which matters to me a lot). I asked many people in person, besides on the blog, and consulted with friends and family. The logo with the little "cartoony" nose seems to be the best choice - my decision committee (lead by myself and my devoted graphic designer) felt that this was the most original, and we liked how it was humorous and a bit of a parody on my company's logo. Instead of the graceful and dreamy fairy, we now have a snotty nose with a similar line qualities (and the same font, by the way) and an amused expression of scent enjoyment smeared all over that minimalistic face.

After I have got my graphic designer, the talented Terry Sunderland, to perfect it and clean it up (the lines and the angles are a bit different - you'll need to have an eye for detail to really notice the difference between what I posted originally here as part of the poll, and what you can see above as the header for this humbly stinky blog). It's been up for a while, with no frilly introductions. Now is the time to announce its presence, as well as who won a full bottle of Opium Fleur Imperiale!

SAMANTHA, you are the winner - so please contact me with your mailing address (your bogger profile is secret, so I have no way of contacting you other than through this announcement). Once I hear from you, Fleur Imperiale will be shipped to you immediately!

Flora Linden Ingredients Contest Winners

msiagirl and divina are the two winners of the Flora Linden guess-the-ingredients contest, because you are the only two who guessed a correct ingredient - the green tea (msiagirl) and the spearmint (divina)!

The complete list of ingredients is as follows:
Premium Organic Japanese Sencha Tea
Premium Osmanthus Blossoms
Lemon Verbena Leaf
Linden Blossom & Leaf
Organic Orange Peel
Organic Lemon Peel
Oranic Spearmint Leaf

Please email me with your mailing addresses so I can send you the sample of Tirzah parfum and Flora Linden tea blend from Inner Alchemy Tea Co!

Happy Father's Day!

A Father's Love...., originally uploaded by cowgirlrightup.

Happy Father's Day to all of the dads, pappas, abbas and babbas etc. reading SmellyBlog!
And also to those who don't. Hope this day is amazing for you all that your kids got to spend some fabulous time with you.

Here is a song dedicated to a father that was wroth listening to. And below is a post about what makes a scent masculine, especially for today.

Upcoming Workshops at Ayala Moriel Parfums

Starting June 2007, Ayala Moriel Parfums will be offering a series of workshop related to natural perfumery and fragrance appreciation. The series will take place once weekly, every Thursday evening between 5:30-8:00pm.

A detailed calendar will be published shortly, with the curriculum for each workshop. Each class is self-contained, and fees include materials. You will come out of each class with a wonderful smelling (or tasting!) product, that you made all by yourself!

Here are some details on our very first workshop – The Scented Chocolate Truffles Workshop!

When:
Thursday, June 7th
5:30-8:00pm

Where:
#314-1230 Haro Street (Buzz #295)

What:
In this fun and interactive workshop, you will learn how to make exquisite chocolate truffles and flavour them with fine floral essences. We will be making two flavours of truffles, and you will take them home with you!

How much: $15 per participant (materials included).

PLEASE RSVP (778) 863-0806 or ayala@ayalamoriel.com as space is extremely limited!

NOTE ABOUT UPCOMING PERFUME PARTIES:
We will also be holding a monthly perfume party, usually in the middle of the month, when you can come in to the studio, meet the perfumer and receive your personal free fragrance consultation. Chocolate truffles and beverages are compliment of the house, and we will sometimes have special guests and special program for the night too…

Our next party: Saturday, June 16th 7-10pm
We will celebrate the launch Ayala Moriel’s new soliflore perfume, Tirzah, which is a linden blossom single-note with fresh woody accents. Linden blossoms bloom in June and that's why Tirzah will be launched next month!

Hope to see you all here - Vancouverites as well as visitors!

:)

Ayala