<
s
c

s
Home / SmellyBlog

SmellyBlog

Monkey Monday: Sweet Dreams...

As our patchouli theme is coming to a close, and my trip back from LA has drained about every ounce of energy from me today - and we're amidst the high holidays season - there is no Monkey Monday giveaway today. I'm simply too tired to check what's in my stash of perfumes to give away and put together a more sensible post... So, I'm so very sorry, and promise to return next Monday with another giveaway and contest/discussion theme.

For now, I'd love to hear from those among my readers who have visited the Los Angeles Artisan Fragrance Salon about any feedback, favourites from the show, and so on. The highlight of the day for me, as usual, was reuniting with my perfumer friends, making new connections in the industry - and last but not least: meeting face to face with unusual people such as yourself, who truly appreciate the olfactory arts.

Sweet dreams!

Guava Odour

Guava vendor by Coshipi
Guava vendor, a photo by Coshipi on Flickr.
Few scents signify the scent of fall for me better than guavas. The lush, in-your-face ripeness of this sub-tropical fruit has always been a topic of controversy. You'd either love it, or hate it with a passion!

How can I describe it to someone who never smelled it?
Would it be of any help if I told you that 173 components were identified in guava GC, with (E)-beta-caryophyllene, alpha-terpineol, alpha-pinene, alpha-selinene, beta-selinene, delta-cadinene, 4,11-selinadiene, and alpha-copaene being the major ones. Aliphatic esters are the most important contributors to guava's flavour. I have a suspicion that guavas have some sulphur in them,

A single fruit is plenty to scent a room with an unmistakable odour that is simultaneously pungent, ripe, rude and opulent. As Flavors of Brazil blog points out, the scent is "strong aromatic, sometimes alarmingly so... very flower and heady".  It has green aspects, as well as spicy, herbal and even woodsy notes. But perhaps the disturbing or funky part is somewhat, just ever so slightly reminiscent of stinky socks (especially when the fruit is over ripe - which is very common in store-bought guavas).

Guavas are native to South America, and from there they have spread to different tropical and sub-tropical parts of the world. Their significance in the culture of the tropics is exemplified in the book title Fragrance of Guava, which is conversations with Nobel Prize Columbian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez. They are even grown with much success and popularity in Israel, and there is no better way to break the Yom Kippur fast than eat a fruit freshly picked from the tree. My personal favourite variety is a cultivar called "Ben Dov" which is most fragrant and has a very firm yet creamy texture. The pink guavas, in my humble opinion, are watery and not nearly as fragrant - and this variety is what is used for most guava juices. The fruit is extremely rich in vitamin C - and, most unusual for any fruit - also in calcium.

Guavas are mostly prepared as fruit juice, candy, jam and the ever so popular South American guava fruit paste called goiabada which has an intriguing consistency and texture reminiscent of quince marmalade. It has such a distinct, stand-alone aroma that it usually takes centre stage in desserts such as sobretto or gelato, and stuffing dessert empanadas (usually with cream cheese or coconut); although it pairs really nicely with creamy bananas and even in refreshing, aromatic fresh fruit salsas, as in Cuban tomato and guava salsa.

Have you experienced fresh guavas? How would you describe their scent?

Vetiver Racinettes Soap V.01

Vetiver Racinettes has arrived back from S.C. - my student and soap maker down in Oregon. And the timing couldn't be better for the Artisan Fragrance Salon in Los Angeles!

We had some challenges with this experimental batch as we tried a few ingredients that are not normally used in soap, so we will have to make another test batch this fall. However, it only affected the look of the soap, and not it's other important attributes: V.01 still performs wonderfully and smells incredibly true to the scent that inspired it.

This cold processed soap has amazing lather - in fact, enough to challenge most shaving creams, and can be easily use as such. It is also quite moisturizing, with castor oil added to the mix for that purpose.

The soap is scented with refreshing, invigorating and quirky notes of vetiver, cardamom, espresso and kaffir lime leaf. I'm especially grateful for this clean scent in my shower while staying in over-heated Los Angeles (highs of 32c/89F today). Makes for a very fresh start for the day and a much-needed cleansing experience in the evening. The scent lingers on the skin after the shower and even garnered some unsolicited comments from my lovely hostess Persephenie!

Los Angeles Artisan Fragrance Salon

The 1st LA Artisan Fragrance Salon is just a couple of days away - and Ayala Moriel Parfums is thrilled to take part in it! Visit me at booth no. 16 to experience our newest creations: Etrog Oy de Cologne (just in times for Sukkot!), our new Vetiver Racinettes soap bar, and a pre-sniff of Treazon - aka my killer tuberose!

Participating perfumers: Velvet & Sweet Pea's Purrfumery, SmellBent , COGNOSCENTI, Roxana Illuminated Perfume, Artemisia Natural Perfume , Parfums Lalun, 40notes Perfume, Sarah Horowitz Parfums, Sebastian Signs Fragrances, Olympic Orchids Artisan Perfumes, House of Matriarch, Luckyscent, Opus Oils, A Perfume Organic, PK Perfumes, JoAnne Bassett, Ayala Moriel Parfums, Sanae Intoxicants, Imaginary Authors.

Where:
Civic Center Auditorium
1855 Main Street
Santa Monica
California 90401

When:
Sunday, September 23rd, 11am-5pm

Get your tickets here. 

18ain Street, Santa Monica California 90401

Who Needs a Boyfriend?!

When Boyfriend perfume came out, the story behind it as I recall was that Kate Walsh (not sure who she is - Comedian? Actress? Singer? All of the above?) longed for a long gone boyfriend's smell and thus created a perfume that will remind her of the shirt he leaves behind.

It's comforting to know that not only I sniff old boyfriend's sweaters (blush); and also, unlike the endless possibilities of cheesy videos that a perfume with such name could have rendered - I think it has a brilliant marketing campaign: It walks the tightrope of being nostalgic and emotional to a fault yet laughs at oneself while at it. Which is a healthy balance when delving into the dangerous world of romance. Even the packaging is well done - the bottle, engraved with a long list of popular Anglo-Saxone names (if you haven't dated them all, please circle the one that best applies). The only thing they overlooked in that regard is a big red marker to circle around the boyf's name/s that apply to you... I suppose I will have to source mine elsewhere.  But either way - the bottom line is that the whole campaign made me have a good laugh. Which is most welcome when it comes to the most "serious" matters of the heart... 

I guess all in all, I was the perfect target for this product: endlessly single gal in her 30's, career oriented, pretty hopeless when it comes to romance, and pathetically smelling old boyfriend's t-shirt when nobody's watching... Well, mine has gone stale long ago. I was so worried that the perfume will disappoint me that it took me another year to come closer to it (responding with a big smiling recoil at the daring dose of patchouli). And remembering that, I had to come back for a real try this week to complete my patchouli series.

Boyfriend begins with a robust fruity notes of dark plum, underscored with massive amounts of resinous benzoin - a sheer foundation for the most popular amber personality of the decade - "crystalline amber"*, whose sweetness can only be forgiven as it's anchored in a woody, dry, musky notes: bitter myrrh, reminiscent of the tears of sacrificial love that every woman worth her salt has put into a relationship only to find out that yet again, it isn't working; patchouli, to reminisce after his patchouli-lade Eau Sauvage aftershave (I'm just making things up... If I met a man who uses Eau Sauvage aftershave I would be single no more!). Vanilla kicks in shortly after the myrrh, but it's rather full-bodied and thick, bringing to mind real vanilla extract with a powdery heliotropin finish.

And lastly, Boyfriend dries into a clean patchouli and musk cocktail, that is not too uncommon for present day, but quite nicely done - a clean skin scent that is not unlike Pure Turquoise, though with a much warmer beginnings.

Boyfriend is surprisingly well-done, not just in comparison to other celebrity scents, but even just as it is. It's refreshing to see a celebrity taking her scent so seriously and bringing so much humour to a rather sore subject - kudos to her! Please don't kill it with meaningless flankers! (too late...?).  

*Crystalline amber is the kind that is light on the sweet resinous animalic aspects of labdanum, rendering its amberiness from fraction distillation of labdanum, which are more transparent, woody and clear in colour as well - plus some synthetics that I won't get into right now)
Back to the top