It may be cold in the Pacific Northwest, but the cherry
trees don’t seem to know it. The ornamental cherries on the university campus are
just finishing up a long extravaganza of blooming, as are our ornamental plums
and other non-fruit-producing “fruit” trees. This week it’s the turn of the
blue-collar, working-class, fruit-producing, pear, apple, and cherry trees. The
bees are buzzing around them today, enjoying a sun break, so the outlook for
fruit production this summer is good.
The interesting thing about cherry blossoms, which we have in
abundance, is that they have a faint cherry-fruit scent in addition to a light,
airy, moist floral fragrance. People often ask if I have a “light” fragrance,
but nothing I make is what I would call “light”. In fact that’s the whole idea,
to make strong, full-bodied fragrances with decent longevity. However, I’ve
been toying with the idea of making a light EdT, fashioned around the cherry
blossom theme, something people could spray with abandon. This week I go out repeatedly each day to smell the cherry blossoms and
get the scent imprinted on my memory so that I can work from it.
I've tried 2 cherry blossom perfumes, the Guerlain from about 10 years ago (it's got about 3 flankers), and an Elizabeth Arden. Neither smells remotely like real cherry blossom. Both are "tea" fragrances with clean white florals. The "tea" accord smells nothing like tea. They are fine, but I'd rather smell what you come up with. So...OK...get to work!
ReplyDeleteI haven't tried either of the ones you mention, but from your description can imagine pretty much how they smell. I really dislike that synthetic "tea" note that's used in so many fragrances, often ruining something that might otherwise smell good. To me the "tea" is overpoweringly strong and scratchy-prickly. It lasts forever. Ugh. It certainly doesn't belong in cherry blossom.
DeleteGreat Idea Ellen! I would love to be able to "spray with abandon". I wonder what the fruit orchards in Wenatchee smell like when all the trees are blooming!
ReplyDeleteI imagine the cherry orchards in Wenatchee smell amazing when they're blooming. Pears, not so good. Last night I made the first version of the bare-bones cherry blossom fragrance. It needs more work, but it's a sketch. It will get there.
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