Yesterday I made my first full production batch of Tropic of
Capricorn, the all-natural tropical floral perfume that I’ll be launching a
week from today at the Seattle Artisan Fragrance Salon. With
more-than-sample-size bottles of frangipani, osmanthus, and tuberose absolute
lined up on my work table along with New Caledonian sandalwood absolute and three different
kinds of jasmine, I realized how my perception of the cost of materials has
changed over the years.
When I first started out dabbling in essential oils, I
avoided anything over $30 an ounce, but have gradually pushed this boundary
ever-higher as I’ve added more materials to my palette. Now I don’t bat an eye
when the cost of a tiny bottle of an absolute or other rare material is in the
triple-digit range, or when an order that comes in a relatively small box
pushes toward the 4-digit boundary. What has happened? Have I become a
materials snob?
I think the answer to these questions is complex. When I
first started out, before I was selling my perfumes and before I was selling
many plants, the materials I bought were all coming from my paycheck, and I was
understandably cautious. Now that I have a reasonably steady cash flow from
both the orchid business and the perfume business, I have been putting
everything I make from sales back into buying more and better materials. As I
sell more perfumes, I need to make larger batches, so the amount I buy at any
given time has been steadily creeping up. I’m now the proud owner of a good many 1 kg
bottles of various things. Space in my nice new studio is once again getting
crowded, illustrating the principle that everything expands and multiplies to
fill all of the available space.
As I’ve experimented with both natural and synthetic
materials, my tastes have changed, and my confidence in using expensive
materials without the risk of “wasting” them has increased exponentially.
Making a high-end all-natural perfume may have been a turning point in the process,
pushing some of my fragrances into a different category where I feel justified in charging a
little more for the product. However, by selling in small quantities (5 ml or
15 ml) those perfumes that are expensive to make, I can still keep them
affordable by people like myself and my academic and artist friends, who have more
skills and education than disposable income.
After the Seattle show, I plan to work intensively on the
perfume business, reorganizing categories, doing a pricing analysis, upgrading
my packaging, labeling, branding, and website and, most importantly, sending samples out to
those people who should be getting samples. I love making perfume, but tend to
be lazy about promoting it.
Here’s a question for you, dear reader. How has your
perception of perfume purchasing changed over the years that you’ve been doing
it? Has there been a change in your perception of how much you spend? Have your
tastes changed? Leave a comment and be entered in a drawing to win 1 ml carded
samples of Tropic of Capricorn and California Chocolate, a 3-ml spray sample of
the newest gourmand scent, Seattle Chocolate, and a small box of handmade
edible confections in an unusual flavor (not coffee!) that matches that of Seattle
Chocolate. The drawing will be held on May 5, the day of the salon.
[photos of frangipani, osmanthus, and tuberose adapted from Wikimedia]
Since my early days as a scent enthusiast, raiding my grandmother's and mother's medicine cabinets, I have learned that just like my tastes in music -my tastes in scent are not only infinitely diverse but are heavily linked to both mood, occasion and weather. My scent memory is very strong so one of my favorite things to do is to purchase when I travel so that whatever scent I buy will forever remind me of the place where it was purchased. A thing that has changed in my personal perfume evolution however is my new fondness for a good collection, especially a more nature-based one. I love how with the scents I bought from O.O. I can say, up the femininity of Gujarat with a splash of O. Amber or Siam Proun, or downplay the sweetness of Ballet Rouges with a touch of Amber, or sweeten my Siam with just a hint of Javanaica. How much I am willing to spend on a scent these days relies a lot on the drydown and lasting power. A chemical-y drydown is a huge turn off for me so I lean toward more natural scents. And I have to say, the lasting power of the O.O. line is an important purchasing in(s)centive! There is a certain perfumer (we'll just refer to them as A.B.) who makes one scent that I truly enjoy and might even be willing to pay the exorbitant asking for a bottle of, did it not have the lasting power of walking past a lilac bush. If I am going to invest in a scent it has to cover all its bases. It should be different on every wearer, it should be adaptable and fluid when mixed with other scents, it should change over the course of each wear according to time, temperature and weather, and above all it should last all day long.
ReplyDeleteRachael, You're entered in the drawing. I find it particularly interesting that you mix the Olympic Orchids scents as you describe. I'm happy to know that it works for you. Sometimes when I'm working, I'll get several scents on my hands and/or clothing, and people will ask what I'm wearing. I have to say that I really don't know because it could be a mix of several different things.
DeleteI agree that even all-natural perfumes should have lasting power, and that's a big consideration in the ones that I make. I think the problem is that many natural perfumers stick to mainly top notes, shying away from longer-lasting ones for fear they'll decrease sillage. Or maybe it's just that there's a big cohort who were all trained in a certain way, influenced by the aromatherapy community.
I was a single note gourmand girl that hated mainstream perfumes... I have always hated the typical fruity florals and fresh citrus scents. So I used essential oils as perfumes, mostly vanilla and coconut. Then, about a year and a half ago I found perfume oils through Etsy and liked them much better than the mainstream stuff. Since then I have moved on from gourmands and discovered that the perfumes that I realy enjoy are the ones with an intriguing concept, the ones that paint images or evoke memories. But I'm more and more open to many different types of scents, even florals nowadays! I don't spend a lot on perfumes, mostly because I don't have much to spend. I generally stick to affordable indie brands but I think that when I get a steady income I will probably sample some of the more expensive niche brands too!
ReplyDeleteNadja, you're entered in the drawing. It sounds like your taste in perfume has evolved a lot over the years. I've sampled perfumes at every price point and have to say that there's not a strong correlation between price and whether I like it. The affordable indies are some of the most interesting fragrances out there.
DeleteIn the past three years my relationship with fragrance as well as my perfume purchasing have completely changed. In early 2010, prior to a very serious illness, I was happy using one or two fragrances as "signature scents" even though I did have quite a collection of older and vintage perfumes stored away in the "cool, dark closet". By late 2010, after major surgery and recuperation my senses and appreciation for life were heightened. I suppose I had developed a "hunger" for scent. As a result my perfume purchasing has changed dramatically.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate and purchase not only the perfume made from the best materials but the mass produced, "cheap" stuff as well. Because my budget is limited and my curiosity is not, I am always looking for a bargain and would probably never make a major perfume purchase without first buying a sample and then, even if I loved the fragrance, the sample might have to suffice. Because there are so many new perfumes showing up all the time I am learning to limit my curiosity and understand that I don't have to possess something to appreciate it. That being said, I am always tempted by a what happens up front. The initial impression of the scent, including the packaging, the top notes and the sillage draw me to the scent, the dry down seals the deal. Right now my collection is so extensive that I probably have more than enough fragrance to satisfy three more lifetimes of critical sniffing.
Gail, You're entered in the drawing, but if you get samples from me at the fragrance salon on Sunday, and if you win, your prize will be something different.
DeleteI'm definitely with you in having more than enough fragrance to last many lifetimes, but it's just one of those things that I'm obsessed with.
I think fragrance has a way of helping us through traumatic times, as you describe with your health issues. Anything that reminds us of our mortality makes us want to enjoy every possible experience, including the whole range of smells.
Well, at one point in my life I was able to buy perfumes like 'Coco' and 'Chloe', which took some adjustment after years of buying my mother mostly Estee Lauder scents. Then my economic status changed drastically and I no longer buy perfume at all; I hoard what I have and dole it out to myself sparingly. But I buy scent materials instead; at first just common essential oils but I got tired of the fact that, no matter what oils I blended, I could not come up with something that did not smell like aromatherapy. Then I figured out what absolutes were, and what aldehydes were, and started buying the cheaper ones of those. Things like the Givcos have allowed me to create expensive smelling things without spending a fortune- well, relatively speaking. Givcos are expensive, but not nearly so as the naturals. Rose Givco is a hell of a lot cheaper than rose absolute!
ReplyDeleteLaurie, you're entered in the drawing. There's something to be said for enjoying the fragrance collection that you have and not constantly running after the next new thing.
DeleteIt sounds like you're really developing your skills as a perfumer!
When I started exploring natural perfumery or perfumes relying highly on naturals, I definitely had to up the budget for perfumes. Don't get me wrong, some times I still cringe at some of the prices, but I know how much those natural materials can cost, not to mention to time and devotion that goes in to the scent from the perfumer. I loved it when I found your Kyphi, a really great scent for a great price! The Devilscent sampler is next on my to buy list!
ReplyDeleteMichael, you're entered in the drawing. I just did a cost analysis on my new, all-natural perfume, Tropic of Capricorn. Although I cringed at the prices of some of the materials I used, once the numbers were crunched the bottom line wasn't as bad as I'd feared. It will be more expensive than my standard line, but well below some of the other all-natural lines out there.
DeleteKyphi is an example of an all-natural scent that isn't horrendously expensive to make, but has sillage and longevity equal to most synthetics. Somehow, the materials are really synergistic that way. I hope you'll like the Devilscents when you try them.
The thing that has changed, for me, in my years of perfume exploration is that I enjoy a much greater range of scents than I did before. Due to financial constraints, much of that exploration consists of discovering gems from the past, like Azuree, that cost little but smell complex and expensive. The proliferation of the $175+ for a small bottle niche perfumes makes me sad, because it's less likely that I'll even try them, and those that cost more than $300 I don't sample at all. It's the same reason I don't try to smell vintage Mitsouko or Chanel No. 19 or anything else: if I love it I won't be able to get more of it, and I'd rather not know what I'm missing.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the naturals are concerned, I understand and appreciate what the artisans are doing, and the cost and quality of the materials, but I'm a little too practical to spend major money on a scent that will have to be reapplied 4x as often to get the all-day happiness of, say, my $7.99 bottle of Cabochard. Perhaps, like physical beauty in people, the fleeting and ephemeral nature of natural perfumes is part of their appeal and the very thing that makes them desirable. I'd certainly be buying lots of them if I had scads of extra cash.
My perception of perfume has definitely changed over the years. I used to want to buy all the perfume in existence, natural or synthetic did not matter so much. After the initial excitement of collecting wore off, I realized its better to buy what I will actually use and not just hoard. Strong synthetics and certain reformulations give me a headache so I avoid those or just give them away. For this reason I prefer small sizes unless I already know its absolute love. I also began to read about perfumery on amazing blogs like yours, which have altered my perception deeply. I know which natural notes I enjoy now as I have smelled them, labdanum and champaca for example. I wear perfume based on my mood now, and what I am doing with my time. Even what I plan to eat can affect my choice in fragrance. I dislike dining when my perfume clashes with the scent of the food. I sometimes wear perfume that I know a friend loves on me if they have commented on it before. I also sometimes choose based on what my boyfriend is wearing, so we don't clash. I think about and notice smells all the time. I get a huge amount of enjoyment from fragrance, and natural things like flowers blooming. I can no longer stand my first favorite perfume, which was rather synthetic. It makes me realize how very much my tastes have changed with time.
ReplyDeleteZen
I'm late but nevertheless want to answer the question. :)
ReplyDeleteMy perfume purchases tend to be fewer these days and I no longer spend an inordinate amount of money on perfume. I think there are several reasons for that - one, I have way too much perfume that it's hard for me to keep up with my collection, let alone willingly add to it. and secondly, it takes quite a lot to make me fall in love with perfume so much that I need to buy it so my purchases are far in between. Although, I did get a bottle of Dries Van Noten recently. ;)
Thanks to everyone for your comments! There were so many good observations that I decided to draw two winners instead of just one.
ReplyDelete