What is the Perfume Project?

This blog is a constantly evolving forum for thoughts on perfume, perfume-making, plants (especially orchids and flora of the Pacific Northwest) and life in general. It started out chronicling the adventures of Olympic Orchids Perfumes, established in July 2010, and has expanded in other directions. A big part of the blog is thinking about the ongoing process of learning and experimentation that leads to new perfumes, the exploration of perfumery materials, the theory and practice of perfume making, the challenges of marketing perfumes and other fragrance products, and random observations on philosophy and society. Spam comments will be marked as such and deleted; any comments that go beyond the boundaries of civil discourse will also be deleted. I am grateful to all of you, the readers, who contribute to the blog by commenting and making this a truly interactive perfume project.

Thursday, June 30, 2016

NO MORE REVIEWS: A SHORT HISTORY BEHIND THE DECISION

In life, everything evolves. Ever since I can remember I have always tried to get samples of as many fragrances as possible, and have tried to test one or more every day. I started out doing this simply because I enjoyed it, and eventually continued to do it because I felt like I needed to know what was going on in the perfume world outside my studio, so it was not only fun, but educational. Whenever I tested a perfume, I wrote notes to myself about it. I have a huge archive of these notes from over the years stored in digital form.

Before I started making my own perfumes, I used to post reviews on Fragrantica on a fairly regular basis. Soon after my business started to take off and I started this blog, I stopped posting reviews on Fragrantica, partly prompted by a colleague’s complaint that my modest praise was actually a condemnation, and partly because I now had a new platform for my reviews.

A few companies started sending me samples to review, and I happily did so. A couple of years ago I made it a rule to review only what I considered mass-market perfumes because reviewing the work of artisan or small independent brands with limited distribution could be perceived as a conflict of interest. In the meantime, the lines among categories have become progressively blurred, and as I’ve become more generally known as a perfumer my degrees of separation from colleagues have become ever-smaller and more intricately enmeshed.

I have been surprised several times to find that one of my old reviews or posts is the first item that shows up in a Google search. Unfortunately this increased visibility has started to attract vitriolic comments on some review posts as well as spammers who vainly hope that readers of the comments will click on their links. I don’t need this.

The fact that one never really knows where a perfumer’s work will show up means that I could unknowingly write an honest review of a colleague’s work and only discover the direct or indirect connection later. For better or worse, I have reached a point where everyone in the perfume community is my colleague. The danger of creating a conflict of interest is too great to take that risk. 

For that reason, if you look at my blog today you will see that I have gone back and deleted all perfume reviews (at least I think I got them all). I will no longer post reviews of any type, but will continue to do giveaways. Instead of Mass-Market Mondays there will be some new feature associated with a giveaway. I haven’t decided what it will be, but it will definitely be something meant to promote engagement and constructive discussion. I welcome any ideas about a regular feature you would like to see here.

[All images are by M C Escher]


8 comments:

  1. I enjoyed reading your reviews, but I understand why had decided to remove them. It is indeed a very small world. I wish I had read all of them before they're gone.

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    1. Victor, I have everything archived, so they're not totally gone. We can still share thoughts confidentially.

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  2. Good choice! When I started scribbling out reviews, I made the decision that I wouldn't write, or say anything bad about small indies/niche perfumeries. The potential for damage is too great, and that's not the point. Besides, there are enough great scents out there to write about to keep one busy for the next hundred years or so!
    Robert H.

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    1. Robert, it's unfortunate that people can't take honest reviews as being just one person's subjective opinion regardless of who is expressing that opinion. On another note, too often I see people who are superficially polite, never expressing a negative opinion, but behaving in unkind ways.

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  3. I have found that over the years, a well-crafted and thoughtful negative review has been a very helpful thing. Snarky ones can be fun, but their potential for damage is too great. Especially if one has an Evil Scent Twin, negative reviews can point one to a new perfume love! I found a couple of those via Luca Turin, who seems to be an Evil Scent Twin of mine.... I agree that for a working perfumer, reviews probably aren't the thing. It's one reason I remain a hobbyist!

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    1. Marla, I think some of the damage done by a snarky review is to the perfumer's ego, not to the brand in general. Coming from a long career in a science field where sharp criticism of everyone's work by everyone else working in the field is a way of life, I'm immune to taking anything personally.

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  4. Hey Ellen,
    Whatever you chose to do I will drop by and have a peek.
    How about some more photos of your life, the small things of beauty you notice and the big.
    I'd like to see more of that.
    Portia xx

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    1. Portia, More views of my life might not be the most exciting feature, but it would be fairly easy to do. I've started posting things of beauty on Instagram, but can also do it here as long as those things of beauty aren't other people's perfumes!

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