Now, what about the scent? How does Covet smells like? The EDP and the solid perfume are quite different. I've go the solid perfume because they didn't have the samples. Yet. Don't make that mistake, or you'll end up with a series of photos like the ones you've just observed. Instead, try the EDP testers.
The EDP smells green and classy at first (I told you green is back!), than floral (with lily being the most dominant) and afterwards drying down to a non-nondescript sweet musk. There is nothing of the boldness or originality of Lovely here. The solid, on the other hand, skips the fooling stage of a classy green at first, and jumps straight into the sweetness. It starts as a fresh and slightly tart green apple and hints of lemon, and than it's all about fake cocoa and musk. It's not unpleasant, but it's really not exciting and I can't see it becoming what Lovely has become - a staple in many ladies' fragrance wardrobe. As if to make it all worse, the lasting power of the solid perfume is very poor. Perfume usually lasts long on me, but this one doesn't. And it has a strange texture of glitter and dust - nothing like the rich and creamy all-natural cream parfums that I've been spoiled with...
My first ever solid perfume workshop happened tonight and was plenty of fun! Everybody just loved the perfume they've created for themselves. I had a great time too, as there is nothing more pleasant for me than to share my passion and knowledge with like minded people who love and appreciate scent, and are eager to learn.
I was also happy that we had just enough time and didn't need to rush anything at all. We started with tea and than smelled all the essences that I had picked for us to use. We than planed our perfumes and went step by step through the process of fragrance creation, drop by drop until each one was happy with the result. The
Above are the results of the first solid perfume workshop:
Keona's Green Queen - with notes of Peru balsam, Rose Absolute, Lime, Ginger, Myrrh and Labdanum
Marcia's Fiesta - with notes of Cocoa Absolute, Lavender Concrete, Rose Absolute, Fresh Ginger Essential Oil and Lime Essential Oil. Marcia picked a lovely vintage pillbox for her perfume (the label is on the bottom) with a yellow-rose decoration on the porcelain lid.
Ty's Middle Earth Essence - with notes of Peru Balsam, Copaiba Balsam, Clary Sage, Violet Leaf Floral Wax and Juniper Berry Essential Oil.
The next Solid Perfume workshop is scheduled for July 12th. There will be another one on July 31st, and at least one more in August. For more information about the workshops, click on the Workshop Calendar button on the right.
You won’t ever hear me complaining about my work as a perfumer. I have the most creative freedom possible on this earth and I enjoy every bit of the process from concept to getting dirty and messing up with the scents. It is also very rare that I find myself “stuck” and in a sort of an awkward situation when it comes to fragrance development.
But now I am. I am feeling quite frustrated with a particular composition I was commissioned to create for a client. There are a few technical issues at hand, one being that the medium is a solid perfume (rather than the alcohol I usually prefer to work in). The second is that the scent itself is an ambery fragrance, and is meant to be mostly amber. The issue is not so much with the scent itself as it is with the medium it’s in. You see, most of the essences used to create an amber accord are stickier than molasses. Benzoin, Peru balsam, labdanum… These are all thick and sticky materials that without the helping hand of alcohol are really difficult to work with. I feel like I hit that spot in Candyland and I am just not seeing the way out… I already missed 8 turns, and that's more than I'm used to...
The other problem I am finding myself in is that originally, this was meant to be an amber/incense scent. I am feeling a lack of direction, even though these two seemingly have no conflict with one another whatsoever. When it comes to a scent that is rather simple, they seem to just not get to where I’d like them to be. Amber and incense should be rich, deep, penetrating and sweet. Instead, I am getting a gooey mess that smells more like rancid resins than anything else. Plus you get that sticky feeling when you finally get to smear it on your skin. Not fun at all, I’m telling you. And with the amber pulling one direction and incense pulling the other, I am feeling totally stuck in the middle from an olfactory design point of view.
Last night, what I did was blend together a new amber base. I already developed 5 different ambers which I love. But for this client I think they deserve to get something new. It is mostly based on Peru balsam with hints of other balsams, vanilla, benzoin and styrax. What makes this interesting is the added note of helicrysum absolute. And this is what I am hoping would set this apart from other ambers (meaning: keep it from being lame…). To that amber base I would like to add a tad of smoky-resinous notes of Choya Loban (the distractive distillation of benzoin, meaning it is left ot burn and scortch a little in the process, to produce a wonderfully smoky burnt caramel scent). Aside from that, a bit orange for sweetness and a lift, guiacwood for additional smokiness and finally a bit of cedar to thin out the consistency and add a smooth woodsy touch.
Cross your fingers for me... I am hoping in the morning, after I melt these all together into a solid perfume, I will finally get what I want: A stunning smoky amber.
