As you may remember, Les Exclusifs left my nose generally unimpressed and my wallet completely unaffected (except that, of course, I immediately bough the last parfum extrait of Bois des Îles upon learning this was the sacrifice for the new line). Even though all the 6 new scents were very well made from quality materials and nevertheless elegant – they left me cold and, well, disappointed. Mostly because most of the collection seemed to be elaborating on already-familiar-Chanel themes: the cool green iris scent (28 La Pausa, Bel Respiro – both reflecion of No. 19); the over-the-top oriental (Coromandel, a modern oriental with an obvious wink towards Coco from the 80’s); and finally - the sophisticated abstract woody: No. 18 and 31 Rue Cambon, both paying an homage to Bois des Îles but barely scrape the bottom of its feet in my opinion, but nevertheless are the only two that I found interesting so far. Until Sycomore came around.


Sycomore was love at first sniff. It encompasses everything that I wish was in a vetiver perfume but haven’t really smelled yet. I have to admit: for a moment I felt so comfortable I even thought I am smelling my own familiar and odd Vetiver Racinettes. . It is the first vetiver that I encounter that is nearly as complex and full bodied, dark and spicy, earthy and sweet as how I like this root to be. It has many of the lements I liked in Vetiver Tonka. It even has a nutty coffee note (which I really enoyed in Jo Malon’s Black Vetiver Café); and it has a lot of Haitian vetiver from what I can tell – which is my all-time favourite vetiver oil. I've been reaching for the Sycomore mini for a week now and enjoy it's versatility, easy-going nature and find that it is distinctive and perhaps even timeless. But perhaps more than anything else I'm surprised that is so unpretentious.

Sycomore is nutty, woody, earthy, sweet, clean, tart and complex like vetiver should be. It has whiffs of odd and familiar notes weaving in and out – mint, pepper, mastic, cypress, juniper and coffee. And the woodiness of vetiver is accentuated by other woody notes such as sandalwood. It truly captures the vastness of earth, nature, trees and woods.

Dear Fragrant Friends,

In this newsletter:

• Father's Day Celebrations
  
• New Arrival: ArbitRary Candle
  
• Candle Burning Tips
  
• Enjoying Scents in Summer
  
• Limited Edition: Vetiver Racinettes

Father's Day Celebrations

Two years ago I was fortunate to celebrate Father's Day with my dad going to the Van Dussen Gardens and enjoying a day outdoors among the beautiful plants. This is where I captured this scene of a child sitting on a tree branch, just like in Oscar Wilde's "The Selfish Giant", waiting to be helped down by someone bigger and stronger.

I was talking to my brother today about scents that reminds him of our father. These turned out to be primarily turpentine and paint thinner. He never wore a fragrance and kept a beard so didn't even use as much as an aftershave by way of fragrance products. This is maybe a bit extreme, but most dads, it seems, would go scentless unless they receive gifts of fragrance. And so this is suppose to be the point where I should have a little spiel in my newsletter convincing you to buy a fragrance for your father. Well, I'll be doomed if that's what I'm suppose to do every year on Father's Day for the rest of my career. I trust that you know what your dad likes, and be it an electronic gadget, hardware or a tie, what will really make him happy is your thoughts of him and spending time together with his children.

So instead of advocating for more fragrance shopping (by all means, go for it if you must...) I just wanted to acknowledge that special day coming up on Sunday June 15th and wish you all a Happy Father's Day. It is a secular holiday that celebrates something that is essential and universally meaningful - parenthood, and thanking our parents for all that they did for us. Aside from that, I highly recommend you read my myth-crashing article titled What Makes a Fragrance Masculine?

New arrival: ArbitRary Candle

ArbitRary candle is based in food-grade soy wax with pure cotton wick. It has a stunning cold throw that is as refreshing and bright as the perfume itself. It burns with its lovely, refreshing

aroma, filling the room gently with its mélange of basil, lime, lemon
verbena, oakmoss and hay.

Each 8oz candle burns for 50-60 hours and retails for $45. They are now available for ordering and will be in stock next week

In all of our products - perfumes, jewelry, teas and now candles - we put quality, integrity and craftsmanship as a top priotiry. When sourcing production from outside of our atelier, we collaborate with independent artisans who are passionate about their art and value quality and integrity in their business just as much as we do. In doing so, we are committed to creating positive change in our world: we give you the best, pure product we can possibly create and also support like-minded artisans and their businesses. This is our way of creating small change in the way business is conducted around the world.
Our perfumed candles are made with attention to purity, quality and detail: each candle is created and hand-poured especially for us by hand by Nikki Sherritt, the talented and passionate artisan candle maker and the founder of Seattle-based, independent candle company Gabriel’s Aunt. The candle was custom-made especially for Ayala Moriel Parfums, based on the perfume formula of ArbitRary. Nikki and I have been working on adding all-natural perfumed candles to

my line since the fall, and we hope that ArbitRary will be received in the enthusiasm it deserves so that we can create more beautiful candles for you (the next candles are going to be gorgeous!).

Candle Burning Tips

To get the most out of your candle, follow these simple steps:

Safety tips:

- Never leave a burning candle unattended

- Place burning candle away from any flammable materials

- Place the candle away from reach of children and pets; keep matches and lighters away from children as well.

- To avoid large flame, always trip the wick before lighting your candle to the recommended length of 1/8”

- Burn the candle away from open windows

How to care for your candle:

- When burning your candle for the first time, burn it for 4 hours straight, or until there a melted wax pool forms on the entire surface of the candle. This will help avoiding the formation of a hole or a “tunnel” in the middle of the candle.

- To ensure an even burn, always trip the wick before burning, and ensure it is centered.

- Burn the candle away from open windows or drafts to avoid uneven burn and enlarged flame

Enjoying Scents in the Summer

That is why I recommend only the lightest and preferably "dry" scents for those unbearable humid days. Notes such as woods and vetiver, as well as citrus and fragrances with only a light touch of spices and very little floral notes if at all. For example: Bon Zai with its dry vetiver and sandalwood; Lovender's captivating fresh and calming lavender, lemon, sandalwood and iris notes; and last but not least Sabotage - a clean, sophisticated and somewhat soapy concoction of vetiver, tobacco and lemon leaves with a hint of pepper.

Heat increases the evaporation rate of scents and so you may need re-apply scents more often during the summer. Traditionally, citrus and light cologne or eau fraiche type fragrances are worn in the summer. These are very light and not long lasting to begin with and the simple action of applying the scent is perceived as cooling, which adds to their appeal. Aside from using your favourite light summer fragrances you may also want to try using simple floral water to freshen up in the heat of the day. Neroli (orange flower water) and Rosewater are widely available in many Middle-Eastern, Greece and East Indian grocery stores and are fairly inexpensive. Decant some into a spray bottle or a mister and enjoy the cool water on your face, neck and arms. Some other floral waters or hydrosols can be found as well - including sandalwood and vetiver. Likewise, floral waters or pure spring water can be sprinkled on vetiver fans to produce a cooling waft of air.

When it's really hot, I particularly enjoy wearing ArbitRary, with its citrus-herbal notes of basil, lime and verbena; Fetish, bursting with grapefruit, mandarin and rhododendron; and Charisma, with its exotic green-tea, osmanthus and spearmint notes.

Limited Edition: Vetiver Racinettes

Vetiver Racinettes was born out of two forces: my curiousity to study this intriguing and versatile note; and a deep need that I can only describe as therapeutic at that time, which lead me specifically to that essence. The result of this vetiver journey is a perfume that contains all of the elements that I've ever loved in the vetiver scents I've tried, as well as my own conclusions from my journey in the route of vetiver. It has the warmth of earth and firey spices and at the same time - the coolness of clay and vetiver curtains sprinkled with water; the medicinal dryness of herbs and grasses and the luxurious tenacity of woods; the sweetness of tarragon and earth with the bitterness of coffee and mud.

Top notes: Black Pepper, Fresh Ginger, Cardamom, Kaffir Lime Leaf
Heart notes: Haitian Vetiver , Nutmeg Asbolute, Coffee, Spikenard
Base notes: Ruh Khus, Indonesian Vetiver, Vetiver Bourbon, Attar Mitti, Tarragon Absolute, Cepes

I had difficult time deciding when to release Vetiver Racinettes; and after consulting with all of my "sniffing bunnies" I have arrived at the conclusion that the summer would be the best time of year to appreciate the calm coolness that it brings while also accentuating the extremist attitude this scent has. And so Vetiver Racinettes is now at your service, as a limited edition for summertime.

Happy Father's Day!

Warm regards,

Ayala

My last experiment with vetiver was actually a solid perfume. I was so smitten with my Vetiver Rouge, that I wanted to turn it into a crème parfum. But I also really loved the coffee & vetiver accord, so I decided to use some coffee oil in the formula. In that sense, there is nothing new in this particular vetiver, except for merging Vetiver Rouge with Vetiver Noir. Bear with me for a few more lines and you’ll see what’s new in this particular vetiver rendition.

I usually use a base of jojoba oil and raw beeswax (the unbleached one, which still retains the lovely honey and pollen notes, and adds a new dimension to the final product). This time, I decided to do something a bit different: This time, for my vetiver solid perfume, I decided to use a completely different base oil: Black Truffle Oil!

Black Truffle Oil is an infusion of the rare fungi into olive oil. So you see, the base oil is actually an olive oil. The result is a slightly different texture – a bit lighter, and more like an unguent. The black truffle note is very tenacious – earthy, dirty and sensual. Along with the subtle honey notes, the tarragon, coffee and 5 types of artisanal vetiver oils (including the Ruhs from India) this is definitely a different vetiver from what I’ve smelled before. I may even be tempted to turn it into a parfum oil, with a base oil made of a combination of Black Truffle Oil and jojoba oil.
Thinking about it - that would be much easier to pack as a sample and share with you as well. The reason why I didn't think of it before completely escapes me...

This vetiver entry closes this cycle of vetiver posts. I love vetiver, so I won’t be surprised to come back to it later. But for now, I need my vetiver ideas to be brewing on low heat, until the right ideas will bubble up to the surface…

* The silver box above, containing the vetiver solid perfume is an ethnic Moroccan piece given to me by my X in-laws when they came back from Morocco years ago. Isn't it lovely?

** If you wish to try Vetiver Truffle, or any of the previous four vetivers (Wilde Vetyver, Vetiver Blanc, Vetiver Noir and Vetiver Rouge) samples can be obtained via email. The price is the same for all my other samples ($5.99 plus shipping). If you order all four, you will also get a free sample of the solid vetiver perfume (to be announced here tomorrow).