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SmellyBlog

This is the last you smell of...

After a long time of trying to give these perfume a chance to make it to my customers, I've finally given up and I'm going to file all the vats in a box that will be labeled "Unloved" and just leave it at that. There is a bit of a relief in admitting one's failures, and I'm glad to share them with you as well as my guesses to why they are such a flop. And my definition of flop is selling 5 bottles or less, so please don't beg me to bring them back in. It's just not going to be worth it. Although as usual - I will be glad to make a minimum batch 15ml just for you if you are such a lover of any of these scents.

This is the last you will smell of the following scents:

Coeli - Apparently, my customers are not too keen on aquatic florals. Point taken.
It was hard to let go of this one, because it's one of the very few (if not the only) natural aquatic floral perfume.

Democracy - the name must have scared my customers away. Clearly, perfume and politics don't mix well.

Arsenal - either there is something offensive about this name (though I doubt it, by the reaction I see at my studio and other events, usually it induces giggles and humorous comments. I think the reason this is doing so pathetically bad is because it's such a light citrus scent. And for my price margin, you really want to get something more long lasting than a citrus. For a citrus kick, you will get more for your bucks by buying 4711. Another reason why nobody seems to excited about adding this to their arsenal of fragrances, is because it's a bit of a novelty scent: everyone likes to the refreshing aroma of gin and tonic, but who actually wants to smell like that?
There's a 10ml perfume oil of Arsenal, and that would be the last time I'll make this cocktail.

Sutul - This white floral started out as a personal joke about Samsara's name. I'd have really hard time to describe what this means in Arabic (and Hebrew slang). So those of you who speak either will probably get the joke... Anyway, it's a sheer white floral with lots of jasmine, sandalwood and rosewood. It's pretty, but it's not as exciting or unusual as my other white florals. There are a handful of sample, and the 5ml roll-on bottle we got now will be the very last of it.

I also have my doubts on bottles that have been selling more than the hopeless flops mentioned above, but very sporadically although they have been around for a while. So these ones too are going to go:

Guilt - Is it the name or the fragrance? I can't tell... And I got to admit: I'm still on the fence with this perfume and whether or not to discontinue it. While the perfume sells very slowly, the truffles named and flavoured after it (dark chocolate with orange blossom and wild orange) sell like hot cakes. Next year I will be launching my Guilt sugar scrub (those who are coming to my tea party August 8th will get to test it!). Perhaps the concept of "Guilt" works better for luxury food and body care products?! That being said, there is still a flacon left if you like chocolate, amber and orange blossom.

Coralle - this is a Ylang Ylang soliflore. Although usually a low-profile floral (albeit heady), it's not as alluring as jasmine, tuberose or orange blossom (Yasmin, White Potion and Zohar are my best selling soliflores). I think it did well for a limited edition, but now it's time is up. There are one flacon and one miniature left, and that's it. After they are sold there will be no more Coralle made in my studio.

Magnolia Petal - another limited edition soliflore, that should have been taken off the shelf long ago, but everytime someone wants it back. Magnolia is not usually a very popular soliflore theme, and I love the scent so that's why I wanted to create a soliflore. But I think it's time to let go. There is magnolia in quite a few other scents that are more sophisticated and interesting (Cabaret, Hanami, Razala). One parfum extrait flacon and one roll-on are still in stock, and that's that.

And last but not least - Ayala. It's hard to let go of the scent that has such significant personal history for me, but it's time to move on. Ayala was my first formulation, and I loved it and worn it a lot. It has its following, but I've definitely improved along the way enough to forget all about it.

Sève Exquise


Poplar Buds, originally uploaded by Ron.McCauley.

Sève Exquise transports me to a field of green scattered with wild flowers and surrounded by blooming cottonwood trees. Sunshine warms my heart and steeps out the aromas of spring floral into the air like tea.

Opening with fresh green notes that are juicy rather than crisp. Lemon, galbanum and poplar buds unite in a honeyed accord. Liatrix (Deer’s Tongue) contributes a soft earthy sweetness of coumarin. Sappy galbanum absolute and hints of labdanum make an underlining resinous balsamic statement with hints of powdery and incense. Exquisite sap. Utter bliss.

This is hands-down the most easy-to-wear green perfume I’ve ever come across. One that only brings me happiness with no ambivalence. There is no sharpness in it whatsoever, and the sweetness in it is not forced or artificial as in most of the others I smelled. There is none of the severity or melancholy as in No. 19, nor the decadent confectionery base notes as in Ivoire, Yerbamate or Yohji. Created by French natural perfumer Victoire Gobin-Daudé. This line that is now sadly non-available.

Read other reviews:

I Smell Therefore I Am

Now Smell This


Surprising Seaweed and a Lost Perfume (Contest)


Seaweed, originally uploaded by Ed Wenn.

My brief yet effective encounter with Shaw TV's Urban Rush hosts Mike and Fiona is an example for how different creating custom perfume for different people can be. Among custom-perfume seekers, I think there are two main kinds of people: There is the fragrance connoisseur (knowingly or unknowingly) that indulges in every moment of the process without necessarily knowing what they want the perfume to smell in the end; and than there is the very determined, goal-oriented person who know exactly what they want to achieve by the end of the process.

Fiona knew exactly what she wanted: a perfume to replace her favourite of 11 years, now sadly discontinued. She researched the notes, and came up with top notes of citron, rosewood and cardamom, heart notes of jasmine and lily of the valley, and a base of musk, vanilla and amber. And sure enough, a fan containing these notes (except for the lily of the valley, which does not yield its scent successfully to any form of distillation) brought back some of the spicy floriental characteristics of her signature scent. Sweet yet spicy and bold and delicious.

Mike, on the other hand, always goes au naturelle and seemed to be generally unaware of having any particular interest in fragrance (unless someone else is wearing it). From lack of a better word, he guessed he likes “musky” scents. But we quickly found out that he really “clicked” with my archetypal masculine scents ArbitRary and l’Herbe Rouge, and fell in love instantly with juniper, key lime, Seville and Kashmir lavender and liatrix. Even though there was hay and oakmoss and patchouli in both ArbitRary and l’Herbe Rouge he did not enjoy the notes on their own. Just before we run out of time, I decided to pull out a little unusual note - seaweed essential oil. To everyone’s surprise, this was an immediate love, and added an incredible lightness of sea breeze to the other herbaceous and woody notes.

There is never a right way or a wrong way in making your own custom scent. But each way is different, and walking a different path or following a different approach will definitely create a completely different scent in the end. The result depends on the person's sense of adventure and willingness to take olfactory risks; and ultimately - on the perfumer's listening abilities and attention to detail as well as intuition. I'm very curious to see how these two perfumes might turn out!

Now to the “contest”: Guess Fiona’s lost perfume correctly and you’ll be entered to win a bottle of hand-painted Magnolia Petal 30ml spray bottle.

* Enter the contest simply by adding a comment to this post. Contest closes March 21st.

Last Bottle of Tirzah


Tirzah perfume and tea are now officially discontinued. There is, however, one bottle in stock and in the future we will be taking orders of full sizes only for this perfume (refer to website for full list of available products). For fans of the tea, we will be releasing a new tea this spring with a green tea and floral bouquet, and we hope you will enjoy it just as much!

Tirzah is a linden blossom soliflore with a woody floral green-tea like aroma.

Top notes: Elemi, Frangipani, Green Lemon, Mimosa
Heart notes: Linden Blossom, Guiacwood, Orris Root
Base notes: Ambrette (Musk) Seed , Fokienia (Siamwood), Hay Absolute

Lavender-Basil, Sahleb and Other Stock Updates

Lovender-Basil One-of-a-Kind perfume is taken!
It was adopted by a Susan, a British Colmubian island-dweller and is now officially her signature perfume.
To view other one-of-a-kind perfumes available for adoption as your own signature perfume, vist my Etsy shop.

A few more news about what's in and what's out of stock:

The last bottle of Sahleb was sold today. A new batch, however, with a new crop of orris butter 15% irone was prepared recently and will be available in a few weeks' time once it is matured. Although the orris is not the same as the original batch, Sahleb maintains its buttery, milky smoothness, which is what it's all about.


On another note, it's time to bid farewell to Magnolia Petal. From now on it will be only produced on-demand and will no longer be available in sample sizes.

Tirzah and Gaucho teas are out of stock and will not be produced again in the foreseeable future. We do, however, have a new beautiful floral-green-tea coming up this spring to accompany Charisma - which is going to be very exciting. I will be posting more about it in the near future.
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