Early spring scented egotrip of 2012.

Spring in Sweden can be divided into two phases. The latter is "real" spring when the trees starts getting leaves, there are tiny flowers on the ground and the air starts to warm. And there is the "not-really-spring" (yes, I'm paraphrasing Undina here :) ). A season that is winter by most peoples standards, it's just that it happens during months normally associated with spring.

When peeking at what other perfume bloggers seem to like during that fragile time of the year many seem to mirror their environment in the scent they choose, going for taut green scents and cold florals, especially roses. I've been doing the very opposite. When the view outside my window says "snow" I've been reaching for my biggest and boldest florals, compensating for everything that's not there. I'm naming this trend of mine "Escapism by Florals".

And, for "not-really-spring" of 2012, there are 3 notes I've been craving more than anything else, they are:

Tuberose - it started out when I unintentionally scented my phone with by Kilian Beyond Love. All of a sudden I wanted to cuddle that poor thing and never let it go. Then, again and again, when I went to stores to sniff perfume, and when I found a tuberose I just relaxed and thought, "Mmmmmmmm, yummy, THIS is what I've been looking for!" Tuberose has become my "relax" note. The note I "slip into" when I come home on Fridays after a hectic work week and want to get a break from any professional, responsible and serious parts of myself. Some scents featuring tuberose that I've loved to wear are Honore de Près Vamp á NY, Penhaligons Gardenia, L'Artisans La Chasse aux Papillons and Frederic Malles Carnal Flower.

Aldehydic florals - in my blog post Winter recap 2012 I wrote about how I was starting to appereciate the "aldehydic clean" note. I guess the next logical step was "aldehydic florals". So, I've been enjoying scents like Amouage Gold, Chanel 22 and Lanvin Arpege. I love how they have this old fashioned luxury feel. While wearing them I can imagine being a wealthy lady during the 50-ies whose biggest worries are weather the servants are careful while cleaning her fur coats or if she's gonna wear rubies or diamonds for dinner. It's a little fantasy I like to nuture when, in reality, my dinners mostly consist of me watching my daughter mash her fish fingers into her hair...

Peach - all of a sudden, I smell peaches everywhere. They're in the exquisite dry down of Amouage Gold Woman, they're in Mitsuko (yes, I seem to be her type, after all). Ormond Jaynes Frangipani comes across very peachy and there is Etat Libre d'Oranges Vrai Blonde. First time I tried it, about a year ago, I was expecting the detonation of a fruit bomb. That's not what I got, and I was dissappointed. Fortunately I've tried it again since and after having unintentionally prepared myself using all those aldehydic florals, I was able to approach the composision from another angle. And it's lovely! Bright and happy like a Bellini champagne cocktail - and it's a well know fact we all need lots of thos in order to get through winter ;)

And, since this is such an ego tripping post anyway, let me share my current music love, Frida Hyvönen. This is a great love song and big nostalgia trip for anyone who grew up with Dirty Dancing...

Image: staffanhuss.wordpress.com

In the mood for Spring - Ormonde Jayne Osmanthus

Winter seems to have (at least temporary) lost its grip of Sweden and we've had a week of melting snow, water dripping off roofs and green patches showing up all over the lawn. I'm so amazed with how this affects my perception of perfume. All of a sudden I'm no longer interested in "cozy", "comforting" or even "chilly ethereal". I want florid fruits, vivid florals and prolific playfulness, I've even been wearing my dress with bunny rabbits printed all over it, and I can tell you, that's not a dress for just any occasion :)

A perfume that has proven itself to be perfect for the last few days is Ormonde Jaynes Osmanthus. This is the only perfume that I know of where pomelo plays a major part. Pomelo are sometimes as big as a persons head and believed to be an ancestor to the grape fruit. In latin it's aptly named  "Citrus maxima". The flavour can best be described as a sweeter, milder and more floral variety of grape fruit.

Pomelo also happens to be one of my very favorite fruits and one I'm very familiar with - in high school I spent a year as an exchange student in Thailand and one of my host families there were pomelo farmers. After dinner we used to cut up a pomelo, tear off pieces of the flesh, dip in "nam jim" (= a mixture of sugar, salt and chili that seems maximize the flavors of any fruits it's applied on), shoveit   into our mouths and just "sabai sabai", a quintessential Thai expression that means to relax and feel good about things.

But back to perfume, the intro of Osmanthus is like digging your nails deep into the zest of a pomelo. There is that aromatic sharpness you get when using grated zest in foods, and there is an extra boost from pimento, but there is none of the tartness you get when using citrus juice itself.

About an hour into wearing, Osmanthus goes a bit watery. The zesty sharpness of the intro has mellowed down and I'd almost say it has an aquatic phase. But not to worry, one hour more and the osmanthus absolute seems to be in full bloom, intimately intertwined with the pomelo note. This is my favorite phase, the perfect balance between citrus, flowers and basenots and this is pretty much how it stays for the remainder of the wear.

In all, Ormonde Jaynes Osmanthus is a great scent for spring. It's sunny, happy and energizing, without being annoyingly cheery (as some citruses can be). And it goes great with bunny printed clothes.

Top Notes: Pomelo, davana (sweet Egyptian herb), pimento
Heart Notes: Osmanthus absolute, water lily and sambac (Indian jasmine)
Base Notes: Cedarwood, labdanum resin, musk and vetiver

Spring Scent Experiment, part 3

Anyone who's not familiar with my Spring scent experiment can read up in these blog posts: Spring Scent Experiment 1 and Spring scent experiment 2

I've now managed to create a alcohol based blend that's actually not that stinky. It took a while getting it right and I wouldn't say it's deep and mesmerizing in any way, but at least it's not painful to inhale.

I used the following:
5 ml strawberry greens extract
1 ml rowanblossom extract
5 drops of vanilla extract

The result is something that smells a bit like strawberry white chocolate. The strawberry greens smell of, well, strawberries, the vanilla is barely detectable and the rowanblossoms add weight and oiliness, thus creating a scent vision of strawberry white chocolate.

So now I am thinking, what should I use it for? A problem is that it's weak, it's difficult to feel a thing unless you're sniffing it directly from the cup. If I rub some in I don't feel much after the initial minutes. I thought about getting a soap making hobby kit and pour it into soaps, but when reading on the internet it seems like you're supposed to have an oil based blend to do that. So, now I'm a bit at loss with what I should do with my creation. Pour it into my perfume free deodorant, maybe? That one at least I'm pretty sure is alcohol based.

This was my first try, I just wish I had more stuff to blend from, with a proper library of scents, I would have so much fun! And I've ordered Mandy Aftels "Essence and Alchemy" so if anyone has felt alarmed by my approach to things, just breathe calmly and relax, everything will be just fine.

Spring scent experiment, part 2

My two little jars containing rowan blossoms, mentioned and depicted in the blog post Spring scent experiment, have been waiting in my liquor cabinet for a few days. Every now and than I've opened the jars and pondered on the smell inside. It's very hard to describe. The scent of rowan blossoms is pretty funky to start with and after maturation it is now sweeter, fruitier and somehow oilier and wider. If I'm going to try to explain, think about fermented honeysuckle that's on the verge of going bad and you'd be somewhere in the right neighbourhood.

A scent like this might need something fresher and lighter to go with it, so I've been thinking about using green or citrus notes to add a bit of freshness. I've also been thinking about the old chefs proverb: "Grows together, goes together". Great to keep in mind while composing a meal, it will be interesting to see how it works when composing a perfume.

Yesterday we were having strawberries with cream for dessert and I collected the green little cut-offs from the strawberries and put into alcohol. I was hoping to capture the "greenness" that should rightfully be in them. However, the result is more on the fruity side so far. An idea I have is to pair the strawberry booze and rowan blossom extract with nettles. Or maybe I might jump on the dessert bandwagon and go for vanilla instead? Hm, I'm waiting for my cold to pass before I decide... 

About the oil, I'm thinking of pairing the rowan with lemon and spices, heading towards lemon gingerbread. Might not be so "springy" but I've a feeling that the oil will carry the spices well and the lemon will mostly just be a contrast. I'm getting inspiration from South Indian food where it's common, when finishing a dish, to fry spices in a good helping of oil and then pouring the oil on top of your dish. Again, when my cold is getting better I'll be ready to start the real experimentation. God, I'm looking forward to that!

Spring scent experiment

In my former blog post, the Zeta review, I mentioned that Zeta influenced me to do stuff I normally don't do. While wearing Zeta I kept thinking about different spring scents and I just got this enormous urge to create a spring scent of my own.

My first thought where to start was getting lilacs. There is plenty of them here and they are in bloom right now. So I packed my daughter into her pram and went out in search of them. But the ones I saw were all very obviously growing in some ones garden or in a pot on some ones balcony. I just couldn't bring myself to snatch some sprigs.

However, what I did find, growing freely, was my old pal, the rowan. I tried eating it in my Spring scent safari 2 blog post and was surprised that it tasted not very sour or bitter, but more like nougat. There were lots of rowans in full bloom near my house, so I promptly picked a big bunch of flowers to take home.

Now, rowan blossoms do not have a very pleasant smell. I think they cater more towards insects than people. They smell smokey, fishy and a little bit funky. Interesting, in other words. They might not make a great soliflore, but might help add character to something else.

In order to get as much scent out of the blossoms as possible I ran them in the blender to smash them up real good. I'm not sure if this was a great idea. In a matter of seconds the flowers started to oxidise and went from cauliflower white to brown. With fruits and wine oxidation damages taste so a note to self: No more flowers in the blender.

Then I needed a medium to carry the scent. I decided to split the blossoms into two jars containing two different mediums; rapseed oil and alcohol.  Now I suppose pure alcohol is better than a half used up bottle of Bacardi, but in the spur of the moment, this is what I could come up with digging through my cupboards. Note the label on the bottle of oil, it must be a sign ;)

So, this is what I've got so far. One jar of mashed rowan blossoms in oil and one in alcohol. Andy Tauer, I'm sure you have better things to do than reading this, but if you do, just so you know, you made me do this!

And, just to be clear, I don't have the slightest idea how you're supposed to extract scent from flowers. I'll read up on it eventually but for now, this is just a crazy little experiment. You got to start somewhere, right?

Zeta by Andy Tauer

The only thing I ever recall winning in a lottery or drawing was a can of Coke I got at a lecture at the computer club (Lysator) back in University. I suppose that was their evil scheme to lure people to come to those lectures. But now that has changed, Olfactarama hosted a drawing of 3 Zeta samples over at her blog and I was the lucky winner of one of those!

Zeta is labled to be a linden blossom themed perfume. We do have linden here, but I can't recall them ever smelling much. But I suppose there might be different kinds, some more fragrant than others. So I'm a bit handicapped reviewing Zeta, but lets try anyway. It starts out pretty heavy. There are tons of dewy honey laced white spring flowers. I also thought about honeysuckle and sweet yellow apples. There is beeswax, old fashioned nivea skin creme and oily orange in there, adding weight. To you wine nerds, if Zeta would be a wine it would be a Sémillion.

After an hour or so it lightens up and most of the heavy sweetness disappeares. No more honeysuckle. Now I'm starting to love Zeta! I wouldn't say it's so much about how linden blossom actually are, more about how they would be in a very perfect world. Still very delicate but a tad sweeter, fresher and gentler, somehow.

This is not a scent that makes me walk around sniffing my writs all day, discovering different notes and thinking about how they are fitted together (like the Serge Lutens I've been trying lately). This scent is more about being enveloped in a small cloud of spring air, very energizing and inspiring, nudging me towards new ideas and encouraging me to try out fun stuff that I normally wouldn't do.

I'm rating Zeta 5 out of 5. It's a scent I think everyone should try at least once and I'm very grateful I got the opportunity!
 

Scent of Spring

I just wanted to share this with you, a bird cherry tree (hägg in Swedish) growing by my balcony. The scent of the flowers is honeylike and intoxicating at the same time. In Sweden, this is the scent of spring.

Bird Cherry Tree

Close up of the flowers

Spring Scent Safari, Part 2 -Trees

In the blog post "Spring Scent Safari, Part 1" I showed some pictures of the earliest spring flowers that show up around my in-laws house. But, if anyone remembers, I also said that they hardly have any scent at all. So is Sweden all scentless during spring, one might ask? No, I wouldn't say so. There are lots of scents, but at this time of the year, if you want to experience them, you have to look toward the trees.

Now, if you just stand there, pressing your nose to the trunk and leaves there are some scents, but not very strong. How do you get to the more substantial ones?  You can cut the tree down, of course. A warm chainsaw is grinding it's way through the trunk would release lots of scent. But I somehow doubt that my mother in law would still like me if I cut down the trees in her garden. And I like them myself so it would be pretty stupid to cut them down. So, what other options are there?

Well, just pick some fresh buds and new baby leaves, stuff into your mouth, chew them and pond upon what sensations you get! Most of what you think you taste are actually scents. A great way to get a close experience of the raw materials in your surrounding. Of course, be very careful to try only trees and plants that you know are not poisonous in any way.

Here are the one I tried:

Birch. This one gave me a very astringent feeling in my mouth. It was bitter but very fresh and leafy.

Spruce. Extremely resinous. Spicy and bitter. Somehow more feminine than the pine.

Pine. What can you say, the king of Swedish trees? Also resinous but a lot less acid than the spruce. Feels very manly somehow, probably as it is used mainly in masculine fragrances :)

Rowan. This was a big suprise. Hardly any astringency. A hint of soft nougat or hazelnuts. I'm dying to try putting some of this in alcohol to see what happens.

Moss. This one did not have any smell at all, nor taste. Mabye the moss I tried was dead but I wouldn't be able to tell the difference...

Blackcurrant bush leaves. Lovely, the blackcurrant note shows up in the leaves, but much greener. Like a Sauvignon Blanc. If you're into wines, this is a must try. The baby leaves might be great in a spring salad, hm, what to pair them with?

Spring Scent Safari, Part 1 - Springflowers

I live in Stockholm, the Swedish capital city. For a big city Stockholm has a lot of nature, after all, it's built on an archipelago and there are plenty of parks and green areas. But hanging out in a park only gets you that far. Sometimes you want to experience REAL, unspoilt, unplanned nature. I'm lucky enough to have some of the nicest in-laws imaginable, and they live far out in the Swedish countryside. This Easter we visited them for the holidays. I thought I'd make the most of my visit and had a stroll around the house, taking in scents and the generally hopeful ambiance of spring by photographing the spring flowers. Unfortunately non of these flowers has much of a scent, but they are beautiful all the same!

Vitsippor

Vårkrage

Snöddroppe

Krokus

Scilla