Thank you to everyone who participated in the Monkey Monday Smelly Commute contest of the week. You all did a great job guessing (Exotic Green Tea - how many cups of green tea did Elizabeth Arden have to brew before realized the tea bag run out of flavour?!), CK Summer (one among many CK flankers, that I cannot possibly keep track of), Hugo Woman and JOOP!

But the correct answer, which was Lindaloo's (also the first commenter - are you a mind reader?!), is Allure Sensuelle (2006) - the flanker to Allure (1996), a rather flat, linear and colourless floriental that they tried to make more raspy and throaty by marrying it with their accidental best-selling flanker Coco Mademoiselle (to Coco).

But two flankers do not a masterpiece make (or even a bestseller). Allure Sensuelle, I regret to say, was rather disappointing to me even though it had a lot of promise at the time. The patchouli and vanilla base sure were refreshing when fruity gourmand florals were still at their height (if they are ever going to not be, we'll all be better off). It had that rancid aquatic fruity top note (supposedly melon or lychee or both) that really works bad with patchouli and vetiver, but seems to be the mark of sophistication for perfume users who don't know any better (yet).

And now I will stop my rare anti-perfume rant and ask Lindaloo to send me your snail mail addy so I can send you a package of samples from the SF Sniff and 1st Artisan Fragrance Salon. I hope you will find something to your liking among these artisan perfumers' creations!

After a very eventful weekend, it was a special treat that Lisa has agreed to take a little road trip to Sonoma County to visit Laurie Erickson at her Sonoma Scent Studio. We were also hoping to sneak in a visit at Eden Botanicals, who recently moved to Petaluma (more about that in the next post).

The drive to Sonoma is scenic and picturesque. After crossing the bay's lengthy bridge, the hillsides in the summertime are all the colour of pale gold and look like a paint horse with big splashes of dark green oaks (the winter gives the exact opposite: dormant oaks, which are covered in parasitic moss, and green-grass-covered hills.

We ended up arriving to the county a bit to early, and it was lunch time, so thanks to my bad memory (Graton and Guerneville both start with a "G") we ended up in the wrong place after a very nice drive in the quite freeway along Russian River. And than, of course, we arrived a bit later than we hoped.

Climbing up Chalk Hill Road towards Laurie Erickson's Healdsburg studio, the country road is dappled with the generous shade of ancient oaks, and deer is not a rare sight (and they eat everything that Laurie and her parents try to grow - unless it's protected with a fence). Laurie's beautiful cottage is surrounded by a lovely garden with fragrant roses and violets, and is overlooking Chalk Hill Winery's vineyards, which were now completely covered in luscious green leaves (my first visit with her was in the spring, when they were still barren).


It was there in Laurie's own living room that I experienced Forest Walk for the first time. It immediately struck a familiar chord, and it took me a few minutes to realize that it was just like the scent that emerges from certain spots in Stanley Park in late summer and early fall. The same warmth and sweet dryness of cedar and moss, plus a funky wet earth note that is reminiscent of the dark, musty scent of earth awakening from frost in spring time.

The funky wet-earth scent is very much owing to a synthetic molecule (whose name I failed to ask Laurie about, and is probably top secret) that you could easily recognize as the only thing in Demeter's "Dirt". It's also in Neil Morris' Dark Earth, but not nearly as much of it in Forest Walk - just enough to give it a realistic wet earth and a bit wild edge.

Forest Walk unfolds with many phases, always revealing a different aspect of the forest: a branch there, a leaf there, and oh - have you noticed this patch of wild violets over there? It's like a walk in a warm, needle-covered forest in summer (except, perhaps, for the violet patch), with oak trees and hanging moss adding a dry, tannin quality.

As the perfume develops on the skin further, the strange wet earth note dissipates, the Western red cedar softens and shifts to the background, and give way to deeper, earthier notes of many natural essences that I'm not only familiar with but also extremely fond of: labdanum and oakmoss with their brown, comforting warmth; black hemlock absolute (which I smelled at Laurie's studio for the first time - it's similar to pine needle absolute, less sweet and more dry-woody conifer absolute - where as fir (which is also present in this composition) takes on an extremely sweet, jam-like character. Other woodsy notes also add mystery and lasting power: New Caledonian sandalwood, aged Indian patchouli.

The labdanum intensifies over time on my skin, giving a rich ambery foundation to the rather rustic experience of hiking in the forest on a hot summer day and collecting needles in your hair and clothing after sitting down in a forest clearing to relax a bit, skin all salty and warm from the mild excursion.

The final dryout is woody yet smooth on my skin, with ambery-resinous notes amplifying (which is to be expected on my skin, it tends to make the sweeter notes grow), and only bare hints of sandalwood and patchouli. Interestingly, on Lisa's skin, the dry woodsy notes, including the red cedar, were far more apparent, and the "wet earth" facet lasted for far longer period of time. A living proof for the mysteries of differences between skin-chemistry.

When wearing it again for the 3rd time, and dousing it generously, an initial herbaceous note grabs my attention - is is sage, rosemary, or simply the herbaceous cineole from the needles? It might even be both. The jasmine sambac makes a glimpse of an appearance, though it's not exactly there as an identified note, but rather a clearing between the lush leafy tree tops that allows the light to shine through. And there is also the cool, clean, sweet yet tart note of vetiver in there that I haven't noticed before, and which adds a precious-woods aroma yet without ever touching a tree with an axe (vetiver oil comes from the roots of a tropical grass related to lemongrass).

Like all of Laurie's creations, Forest Walk radiates warmth, depth, complexity and is very multilayered. It is about 50% or even more natural, which really gives it the aesthetic of turn of the century perfumes, which were only accentuated with synthetics for special effects (as opposed to cost-reduction, which is the main force behind most of what you smell nowadays). But it also stands out among all the collection of very fine perfumes for its unique storytelling, and also feels a lot less dense and floral than most.

Top notes: Wet Earth Notes, Western Red Cedar, Rosemary
Heart notes: Violet, Orris, Jasmine Sambac, Vetiver
Base notes: Black Hemlock Absolute, Fir Absolute, Patchouli, Labdanum, Benzoin, Galbanum, Sandalwood (New Caledonia)

Read other reviews of Forest Walk:
Mark's Review on Cafleurebon
Ida's Review on Fragrantica
Gaia's Review on The Non-Blonde

And for those of you dying to try it, I'm giving away a sample of Forest Walk as part of the package that's going on to this week's Monkey Monday winner. So don't forget to make a guess before tomorrow at noon about my smelly commute!

It certainly felt like making history at the 1st Artisan Fragrance Salon in San Francisco July 8th, 2012.
The event was a breakthrough on many levels:
- 1st artisanal perfumeries show in North America
- 1st fragrance industry event on the West Coast
- 1st time independent perfumers across North America have gathered up to join forces and support each other in a formal way (there was a lot of informal stuff going on for a while, especially in the West Coast there is a strong independent, artisan spirit, and thankfully most of us see ourselves as colleagues, rather than competitors, and support each other in what is otherwise a very solitary profession).
- Last but not least: Diversity and respect. It was the most diverse, all-encompassing gathering of perfumers of very different philosophies, styles, business models, ethics, approach to raw materials, etc. You could find there artisans who still make their own tinctures the old-fashioned way, measure everything in small batches, and only sell at the own studio or website; some that have expanded to sell into many doors around the world and have grown to the point of needing to have a contract-manufacturer for their line; artisan perfumers who pick a very limited palette - i.e.: only naturals, only botanical ingredients (i.e.: no animal extracts), or even all certified organic, to those who use both natural and synthetics (coined by some as "mixed media"). And somehow, despite all our differences - we not only managed to pull together a very successful event, but also enjoyed every moment of it, each other's company, and the benefits of having a growing, strong and supportive community.


Some individuals worked particularly hard at bringing our community together, and there is no doubt that Yosh took a lot on her own shoulders, in initiating the event and teaming up with TasteTV to create the first of its kind.
Thank you, Yosh!


So, I will start by telling you a bit about Yosh's perfumes and her gorgeous display - each one of the glass mini-cake-covers encapsules one of her scents - the existing line (now with world wide distribution all the way to Dubai and Japan in the far east, and leading retailers in Europe in the West), includes distinctively different perfumes that she originally handcrafted in small batches, and now have adapted to work on the large scale that she does. She still conceptualizes her perfumes, and the flacons of extrait oil are made by hand, including the all-natural Winter Rose (rose and cardamom), Trompeur (formerly know as "The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things") and Kismet (which is a mysterious dark floral featuring precious boronia absolute).

There is a perfume for the main seasons or moods - Ginger Ciao (spicy oriental), Stargzer, U4EAHH!, Kismet Sombre Negra, and Omniscent - which is my newly discovered favourite (with sandalwood, aloe vera, ripe fig and tuberose). She also brought some unique scents just for the show - experimental fragrances, such as Lush - a fruity yet tart floral with accents of cilantro - yum!


Nikki Sherritt (Rebel & Mercury) is a talented candle maker (Gabriel's Aunt) whom I'm very thankful for helping me out with my own candles. Nikki's style in perfumry is as unique and surprising as her candles, only more sophisticated and with even more precious aromatics and twists and turns. Encens Blanc is a smouldering incense underscored with white florals and musk and with a heavenly drydown, and Bohem is an uncompromising tobacco.


Ragna Rostad-Ruffner is a former student, and lives in Shasta. Originally a nurse with a passion for soapmaking, Ragna launched her Divine Life perfume & body care line in 2011. The Dharma Rose Collection launched especially for the salon, and includes:
Dharma Rose Castile Soap, Botanical Mist, Eau de Cologne and Perfume Oil, and guests were also able to catch a whiff of a limited edition Incense Oud Perfume Oil.


Laurie Stern, the sweet lady of Velvet & Sweet Pea's Purrfumery has a way with the bees, cats, flowers and her displays shows it all too well! Every bottle is beautifully packaged and decorated with fabric pansies, ribbons and collectible labels. Her newest creations that launched last weekend is titled "Fleur de Caramel". Yum!

You might also like to know, that Laurie is very passionate about animal rights, and does not use animal materials, or materials that were tested on animals.



Artemisia Natural Perfume , whose creations I've been admiring for as long as I know Lisa Fong (we met for the first time in 2006, but were exchanging samples and emails before that). Eros is a honeyed, musky wine-like rose to die for; Ondine is a serpentine like woody mystical floral; Drifting Sparks is a study in musk; Rayon Vert is an unusual licorice-like fougere built around flouve and licorice mint; Yuzu Citrus is a beautiful, honeyed sweet yet tart citrus with greens thrown in for balance; and the list goes on...

Persephenie
I can't say enough good things about Persephenie, an artist of scent, beautifully textured body products, and also a jeweler and a visual artists. She brought a series of 3 limited edition, pure botanical perfumes with hand-painted labels (!) to the salon, including Snuff, a beautiful leathery-tobacco concoction, and Ocean Siren, which is more floral. I'm particularly smitten with her elegant white-on-black jars and bottles, her Rose Pakka, Linden Blossom Dry Body Oil and Bedouin perfume, which is a beautiful rose-cardamom aphrodisiac. Keep in mind though, that even her "mixed media" only contain about 1% synthetics, so they feel very real, alive and complex (Kildren is a cozy floral gourmand with ginger & amber, Datura an intoxicating white floral, and


Brent from SmellBent (Los Angeles) creates whimsical fragrances that are the olfactory equivalent of pop-art. The scent that grabbed my nose the most was Mountain High from the North by Northwest collection - with fresh cannabis, balsam fir, lavender, vanilla, tonka, patchouli and sandalwood.

COGNOSCENTI
Debuted that very weekend, with perfumes created by Danielle Sergent. They are all very abstract and unusual, and are numbered rather than named (although, each is accompanied by a short scent-description to make it just a little less abstract). My favourite is the tobacco and tomato scent.


Ineke Ruhland & Bill O'Such at Ineke's display at the artisan fragrance salon. Ineke has lots of good news to share this year - and visitors to the salon were the first ones to smell Hothouse Flower (to be released in the fall) and Sweet William and the new travel-size spray bottles in collectible book-shaped boxes (for Anthropologie - to be released around the holidays).


Roxana Illuminated Perfume
is an artist, alchemist and a beekeeper. Her perfume "Q" was part of her activism to preserve Californian wilderness. Chaparral is my favourite of her earlier creations (redolent of Californian sage and a very peppery, dry and desert-like). Unfortunatley, I was unable to smell any of her new perfumes, GreenWitch being one of her most popular and with great acclaim in perfume blogs since it was released (I'm a huge lover of the ocean, and this promises to be just my cup of "tea").

EnVoyage Perfumes
Shelley Waddington's Carmel-based perfumery is a known name in the indie perfumer world, not only for her creations, but also her recent book on natural isolates. To the salon, Shelley brought a few new perfumes, New debuts were A Study in Water (which I was able to get a whiff of during the SF Sniff - it's a ethereal aquatic-floral with notes of green apple and neroli), Chang Chang, Durango, Lorelei and L'Ombre, which were enthusiastically received. Her biggest show hits were Havane pour Homme and the award-winning Vents Ardents.


Sonoma Scent Studio's new perfume: Forest Walk, on which I will touch on my next post, as I was fortunate to visit Laurie in her own studio in Healdsburg the following day (July 9th). More in our next post, which will cover my little road trip to Sonoma with Lisa Fong.

The other artisan perfumers who participated, and whom I wasn't able to take a photo of or smell their creations (yet) are:

Olympic Orchids Artisan Perfumes
Ellen Covey is an orchid grower, and lives just south of me in Seattle.

40notes Perfume
Miriam Varledzis was involved in the corporate fragrance world before she opened her very own indie perfumery in Portland, Oregon. She kindly helped to organize the perfumers' breakfast, and ended up the one presenting us, together with Yosh (the original presenter had to cancel because of sudden death in her family). Miriam is professional, passionate and eager to help other businesses in advice and consulting about growing their fragrance brand. Unfortunatley, I was not able to smell any of her perfumes (yet!), but her booth and packaging looked lovely!

Sarah Horowitz Parfums
Probably needs no introduction, and her Perfect Veil perfume has cult following. It was wonderful that Sarah was able to come up all the way from Los Angeles and take part in this historic event!

Leila Castle Botanical Fragrance
Also known as the "Green Witch from Marin" - Leila creates natural perfumes as well as body products, greatly inspired by where she lives.

Smells & Bells Organics
Based in San Francisco, and handcrafts their own soap as well.

Parfums DelRae
DelRae Roth commissioned some of the world's best indie noses to design their perfumes; Michel Roudnitska and Yann Vasnier. I love their Eau Emotionelle. The perfumes all have a sophisticated, European air paired with American boldness.

L'Aromatica Perfume
Loreto Remsing is also based in San Francisco, and is a graphic designer - which comes very handy as you can see from her beautiful label designs: minimalist, hand-drawn patterns that are simple yet evocative. Some of her perfumes are 100% naturals, including her newest ones that she brought to the salon: Madrone (inspired by Indian Summer in Northern Carolina) and Bourbon (Inspired by rich oak-aged whiskey).

Some of the perfumers had presentations, and also Alyssa Harad was also there, with her new book "Coming To My Senses", and Felicia Hazzard (Fragrance Belles Lettres blog) - both did presentations as well. Raphaella Barkley from the Perfume Magazine was present the evening before at the perfumers' soiree. It was really a great experience seeing everyone come together like this!


And this is the booth of Ayala Moriel Parfums - I was very lucky to have the artwork match my colour scheme! And was very close to the door with a large sitting area so my guests could relax for a bit after doing their rounds in the entire gallery. It was such a wonderful experience to meet so many familiar people in person after years of email correspondence, blog comments, online orders and mutual Facebook liking.

A nice surprise was to meet Renee Ghert-Zand in person (she wrote the lovely article and interviews about my newest release, Etrog) for the Times of Israel. And Amanda Walker, who came all the way from New York.

I really could have not hoped for a better weekend - the audience was passionate, educated and adorable perfume-nerds, and received everything I brought - including some quirky perfumes such as New Orleans, Espionage, Razala and Treazon - with so much enthusiasm and support. People came after doing their research, and wanted to smell specific things (some of which did not make it into the suitcase - but they will receive samples in the mail). And some were also interested in more perfumery training (thank goodness I had my book for them to browse!). It was so refreshing and wonderful to speak to such intelligent and interesting customers.

Etrog all but sold out at the show, and people had wonderful responses to the new upcoming release - Treazon (aka my killer tuberose, launching 12.12.12). Samples will become available on the website at the end of the summer.

And last but not least, my very personal thanks to:
Alex Sandor for hosting yet another amazing workshop at his space
Christi Meshell (House of Matriarch) for tending to my booth while I was doing my presentation about "Scent, Seduction & Storytelling".
Ross Urrere (Olfactory Rescue Services) for helping me set up, hand out fragrant articles & scent strips during my presentation, and continuing to man my booth and assist me way beyond the call of duty (not to mention coming bearing gifts of incense!). Ross is a fascinating incense and Koh-Doh enthusiast and I've learned so much from our correspondence in the past and am looking forward to meeting him again in other fragrant occasions.
Yosh, for being such a positive force in connecting us all and bringing the best of us, and for connecting me to the right people at the right time.
And last but not least - Lisa Fong (Artemisia) for hosting me (and putting up with me and my oversized luggage...) for a week!