Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
- Albert Einstein

When inspiration strikes, it meets all kinds of challenges before being fulfilled. Obstacles once met pave a different path and at times a different creation than that which inspired its quest. The aromas of India have been on my mind recently, beginning to develop into a clear olfactory vision with name, ideas for notes and everything. I envisioned this perfume to have leis of marigold in it strewn with spices and woods. But, once starting to work with the actual materials, I always find that things don't really go quite as planned... If it's not the name, it's the notes that are missing; and if there is a name and notes put together in a blueprint "formula" - they are bound to not work... Such is the ironic humour of life. And rather than becoming frustrated with it, I learned to enjoy the journey. And also accept the failures, frustrations and banging the head in the wall so to speak...

And while Albert Einstein's saying (also echoed more humorously by Samantha Jones of Sex and the City), after repeating the same mistake more than once, it's definitely unrealistic to expect any success. Creating perfumes certainly takes more than just a little bit of madness... And sometimes banging the head against the wall is exactly what you need to realize it's time to change direction. And I'm talking about way more than just twice. Or thrice. With this particular adventure, it wasn't till the 4th take that I realized that perhaps, using marigold, cumin and turmetic together is most certain to make my perfume smell sour, instead of richly spicy like a curry.

So 7th take into this adventure I've finally hitting the nail in the head this morning. And I've not only decided to abandon the marigold I was so attached to (visually, metaphorically, spiritually...), and just move on to what the scent is supposed to smell. And what seemed to work here, was using another golden flower instead of marigold: the modest, everlasting aroma of the curry plant (Immortelle absolute). I've likely used too much and will need to adjust the formula greatly to make up for this potent material; but it's definitely smelling like a woody Indian curry!

Immortal Rose is a new one of a kind perfume that I've just added to the website yesterday afternoon. It's a beautiful and unusual combination between two very bold notes: immortelle absolute and rose geranium absolute.
How this perfume came about is interesting: when I was working on my Immortelle l'Amour back in 2007, I asked for feedback from one of my long time customers, and a fellow perfumista who's known to many of you as FiveoaksBouquet on Perfume of Life forum.
The reason why FiveoaksBouquet was the perfect person to ask opinion about was because she loves immortelle so much, and is a huge fan of Annick Goutal's Sables, which she kindly sent me a sample of, since it is no available in Vancouver. She even sent me a handful of beautiful immortelle potpourri made over 20 years ago by Caswell-Massey.
One of her suggestions was to add rose to my 1st mod, and so I did. Neither of us was too smitted with the result, and 4 mods later, the Immortelle l'Amour that you all learned to known and love is non other than the very first mod that I created...
However, the idea of immortelle and rose note appeals to me, and 3 years later, when I have at my disposal a bold and beautiful geranium absolute, I decided to play with this perfume again. I feel that the rose geranium (both oil and absolute), in addition to some rose absolute creates the desired effect that I was hoping to find originally. Gernaium has the "rosier than rose" quality, and although it's not as fine and complex as rose absolute, it is exactly that quality that makes it so suitable for the dark, dusky and earthy maple tonalities of immortelle absolute.
I have decided to offer this perfume as a one of a kind perfume because I think it takes a very unique personality to pull such a perfume off. It is very sweet, with an overdose of vanilla like my original formula; yet earthy and rosy as well, with fresh notes from the geranium and orange that balance it well. And 3 years in it is also beautifully matured into a very smooth elixir.

Smoke is the origin of perfume: an ancient ritual of burning resins to create and purify mental space and exalt one’s soul to connect to the divine. By fire and alchemy physical matter (resins, spices) transform into spirit through smoke.

Burning loose incense is one of my most favourite ways to experience and enjoy fragrance. There’s something magical about the transformation of golden frankincense tears into smoke. Sparks fly when the charcoal is lit on fire, and that’s just the beginning of the excitement. Once the heat takes over the charcoal, a few precious resinous tears are placed on the ember. At first, they just rest quietly with their majestic dusted gold appearance. But soon enough, they can’t stand the heat any longer and begin to sweat their perfect aroma into the air, which turns from invisible vapours in the first few moments into smoldering smoke the next.

Frankincense has a way of affecting the human mind, coaxing it into relaxation and a meditative state of consciousness. The mere act of burning incense connects one to different elements of nature: fire, wood, metal. It gives me a sense of connection to my ancestors, the deserts of the Middle East and ancient rituals that were meant to bring people closer to themselves and closer to the gods. When I burn incense, a fransformation occurs in front of my eyes, taking over my space with its smoky perfume that is at once balsamic, sweet, woody, resinous, fresh and calming. All that remains to do is to let go and devote oneself to the experience this ancient perfume

With Liquid Fume I tried to create a perfume that captures the experience of burning incense, within the liquid medium of grain spirits. Without any matches or charcoal and real smoke, I tried to bring a sensation of warmth, dryness and the rich, resinous balsamaic odour of burning frankincense. I tried to imagine the most dense incense condensed in a bottle, with the warmth of embers and the dripping honey of melted frankincense tears… This is what I hope Liquid Fume will be for you.

Frankincense is of course the core of this perfume. But other notes were added for bringing out different qualities of an incense burning ritual: Virginian cedarwood and guiacwood were chosen for their smokiness, liquidamber for its molden-gold sweetness, helicrysum and labdanum absolutes for their rich, sweet honeyed and resinous qualities, and sweet orange to brighten everything up and remind us of the fresh, almost citrusy aspects of frankincense.

Top notes:
Sweet Orange, Virginian Cedarwood, Copaiba Balsam

Heart notes:
Liquidambar, Guiacwood, Atlas Cedarwood

Base notes:
Golden Frankincense, Labdanum, Helicrysum Absolute

Liquid Fume one-of-a-kind perfume is available on AyalaMoriel.com or via Etsy.