I woke up this morning to a rainy fall day, which is likely to be followed by weeks of typical gray gloom, forcing me and most Vancouverites to stay indoors more than we'd like to. and while I do enjoy concentrating on my work now that summer's s0-called "distractions" are gone - it can be a little unmotivating to be constantly homebound and listen to the raindrops constantly hit my skylight.

Now is when I bring out my fall wardrobe of scents - richer, warmer and more dense and sensual scents that reflect the mood of the season, and bring to mind the rich colours of the dying autumn leaves - burnt orange, russet red, mustard yellow and golden ochre.

Chypres and Orientals are the staples for the season, and it's nice to have a couple of scents that will make you feel as if you're wrapped up in cozy warm sweater. But you might want something brighter and more cheerful for daytime wear or for days when you're in the mood for something different.

The ultimate scent for fall is of course Autumn, and not just because of the name. It is a fruity chypre - mossy with hints of spice. It reminds me of plum and apple picking season, with some scents of overripe fruit that hit the ground and stayed there. So it's always very appropriate for the season.

Schizm is an unusual chypre, featuring precious white flowers (tuberose, jasmine and orange blossom) the strange, animalic note of cepes, which are porcini mushrooms and a very carnal note that begins both gamey and mushroomy and evolves into a nutty pecan note. It plays on the duality between a harsh woody dryness and animalic-sultry sweetness. A little fickle like the weather we experience in transitional season...

These suggestions are more on the dark side; but you can also brighten your autumn day with a bit of crisper green scents that have some depth, such as in Rainforest.

If you need help building your own customized fragrance wardrobe for fall, don't hesitate to email or call the studio. Wardrobe can be as small as 3 scents (in all sizes - 9ml extraits, 5ml or 10ml roll-ons) and up to 8 scents for the mini-coffret.