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Seaweed and Seasalt


Raccoon Ocean 03, originally uploaded by Ayala Moriel.

The salty air is what I miss the most about the ocean in my home country. It is so cold during most of the year, and there is no saltiness reflecting from the water. If you didn’t have a map, you’d think it was a river or a lake, not the Pacific ocean. The water is not even all that salty here to being with (it does not burn your eyes so much if you manage to get pass the freezing temperature and jump in). Heat makes the water warmer and their scent changes. Particularly so with ocean water. The seaweed and the salt lend their fragrance to the rays of the glowing sun. It takes just a little bit more sun, and than the scent of seaweed and salt is unleashed form its oceanic prison. Even the raccoons seem to like it!

Forest in the Summer

Besides the stench of skink cabbage and the rotting leaves in the murky, thickening ponds, I can’t help notice the sweet earthy Chypre scent that comes out of the forest floor when it’s hot out. The dried coniferous (and other) leaves on the floor must release their scent better in the heat than in the cold, damp winter. It smells sweet, warm, intoxicating but subtle. Like labdanum, but earthier (rather than resinous). I first noticed this scent in the early fall, when it wasn’t quite cold yet. Than I smelled it again this summer, and I am delighter to find another beautiful scent to look forward to for my strolls in the park.

Closing the Summer with Philosykos

Figs are irresistible. Considered the fruit of Venus and Aphrodite in the Roman and Greek traditions, figs are believed to awaken a healthy passion and bring fertility. The sensuality of figs combines some ambivalence, just as sexuality can sometimes be both disturbing and pleasurable. And while the fruit is utterly seductive, lest we forget the leaves, who are responsible for the development of fashion for generations to come. And

This is perhaps why it took an Italian perfumer, Olivia Giacobetti, to recognize these intriguing traits in figs, and create the very first fig soliflore (Premier Figuier for l’Artisan Parfumeur). This green concoction opened with complementary (yet melancholy) notes of mastic bush, which accentuated the crisp and tangy greenness of figs, and was daring enough to pay attention to fig milk in the way of adding a coconut milk to the concoction.

But it wasn’t until Ms. Giacobetti has created Philosykos that the sensual experience of green figs was completely squeezed into a bottle. Anything from the very first aroma surrounding the trees baring the ripe (or not-so-ripe) fruit in summer can be experienced from first whiff of Philosykos. One can feel the fuzziness of the fig skin and the roughness of the leaves as they rub against a bare shoulder. One can hear the crumbling of dry wild grass underneath the tree as the eyes are set up to the branches searching for that paler, slightly yellowish waxy look of the just-ripe fruit. One can feel the surprising stinging sensation of the skin when the fig-milk drips from the slightly under ripe fruit’s stem, and crawls along a trembling finger and sticks to greedy lips and burning tongue.

Green figs are best eaten fresh. To be more accurate, they must be eaten straight from the tree, and not be washed at all. If they are dusty, considered the dust a gourmand addition from the earth itself. If the milk burns your lips, consider it a blessing of fire, as even the purest spring water cannot wash the milk away.

Many secrets were whispered below the fig trees, many warts were banished by the burn of the firey milk, and many summers were seasoned by aromatic green figs. When I can’t hop on the plane to pick figs with my brother along the sides of Road no. 6, at least I have Philosykos to marinate myself in, with it’s dry and green edible notes of green fig, coconut milk and cedar.

Favourite Tropical Body Products

Continuing the tropical theme, I want to share some of my favourite body products this summer.

Being a perfumer and an avid perfume wearer, I actually prefer my body products to be very lightly scents, if at all. Unfortunately, unscented body products often smell like white glue… So I usually opt for the more attractive options, usually with as many natural moisturizers as possible, and with a subtle scent that will not overpower the perfumes that I would like to wear, or better yet – will complement them somehow. Cocoa and coconut based products are the most fun to wear, and instead of overpowering other scents, they melt into the skin and leave it only lightly scented for a while. My newest discovery from only a few months ago, after years of using only unscented body lotions, was the Alba Botanica line, and in particular - their Hawaiian line. It is a delightful to smell, lightweight and makes the skin feel smooth and delcious.

I like both their Coconut Milk Body Cream and Cocoa Butter Hand & Body Lotion.
The Coconut Milk Body Cream Smells like coconut milk and a hint of pineapple, fresh and silky smooth. The Cocoa Butter Hand & Body Lotion is a bit heavier in texture, satiny-smooth, and nevertheless absorbs well into the skin. It is delicately scented with cocoa and honey.

Another coconut delight is Vancouver based Escents’ Coconut Escape Body Milk, which comes in the form of spray. An ideal solution for preventing stretch mark in your teenage daughters – all you need to do is attack her with this fragrant spray of tonka bean, benzoin and coconut, and the skin will become flexible and rejuvenated and resist the temptation to show signs of stretching.

I already told you about my love to Azurée Body Oil from Estee Lauder - a new take on the mossy scent Azurée from 1969. An interesting take on beachy scents, this includes incense, myrrh, vetiver and gardenia notes and a hint of allspice. It took me a little while to get used to the idea of spraying oil on my body – but the scent is gentle and heavenly, and the oil is very lightweight. The scent is more dominant than the other body products I mentioned above, but it is light enough to wear another perfume at the same time, if desired. I love it on its own – one of the very few “perfumey” body products that I don’t find overwhelming. The oil itself includes olive oil and macademia nut oils, and feels as gentle on the skin as it is to the nose.

For the face, I am even more picky – cleasers and moisturizers have to not only smell good, but also absorb well, perform, and most importantly – be hypoallergenic. My favourite for years was Jason Natural’s Tea Time Green Tea Moisturizer. It had a green tea and nutty scent, and was perfect in almost everyway. Recently, I stuck with my new discovery of Alba’s Jasmine & Vitamin E Moisture Cream, which has a lovely scent of jasmine that goes particularly well with Le Parfum de Thérèse...

P.s. Painting of Gauguin from Gallery Lafayette.

P.s.s. Tomorrow: closing the summer with figs.

Tiaré

This is again a review of the older version of the scent from Comptoir Sud Pacifique. The new version, Aloha Tiaré, is not the same scent at all. Generally speaking, the new one is more of a gardenia and tuberose scent, while the older version reminds, while the original, baring the simple name Tiaré, is a creamy and indulging Monoi Oil scent – an infusion of the Tahitian gardenia named Tiaré in coconut oil.

Unfortunately, the beginning of Tiaré is overwhelming and smells strongly of artificial jasmine and gardenia on an oily background of coconut and vanilla. The intensity level is so overwhelming that it gives off the impression of fueling gas. Luckily, after about half an hour it softens into a creamy scent of white flowers condensed and immersed into coconut oil infused with vanilla beans. The dry down is not unlike Songes, but I find Songes to be more sophisticated and magical.

Tiaré reminds me very much of Yves Rocher’s Monoi de Tahiti body and hair oil – also discontinued, unfortunately. I think I prefer the scent of Monoi as a body product, in an oil base, rather than as a perfume. There is something more appealing about it as a beach scent per-se, rather than a scent that suppose to remind us of the beach. There is something about this that just makes it feel fake.

P.s. This would be the last review of beachy scents for this summer. I am really trying to push it, but I should have taken the hint from the rain in JFK airport and realized it's fall already. One more post as a summer grand finale, and I will officially settle myself into my autumn moods, scents and clothes...
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