I don’t even know how to begin this. I can’t remember when I
last wrote a blog post. I think it was last summer sometime, and now it’s the
winter solstice. First things first, here’s wishing you a happy lengthening of
the days! I know I and the orchids are looking forward to gradually seeing more
light over the next few months.
Fall quarter went by in a blur as I frantically tried to
balance my life at the university with running two businesses. It’s been a continuous
mad scramble to keep up with everything, so much so that I haven’t had time to
release any new fragrances this past year, nor the time to update websites,
keep up with making stock and ordering supplies, and all of the other things
that I’m now trying to catch up on in between the demands of people who say,
“oh, you have this nice long vacation, so let’s …. ”. I love socializing, don’t
get me wrong, but it can quickly become a time sink. This is especially true
when the first week of my “vacation” is spent cleaning up teaching and
administrative stuff from fall quarter and the rest of the time is spent
preparing for winter quarter.
I don’t want to make this a depressing post (the political
scene notwithstanding), so want to observe that day before yesterday I looked
out my work area window and saw a brightly colored full rainbow in the west, an
unusual occurrence because they’re usually on the east side as rain showers
move away.
Yesterday the sun was shining, temperatures were moderate
for this time of year, and I made time to go on a run. Exercising always feels
great. Then I finally planted the spring bulbs that have been sitting on our
front porch since September. They were alive and well, with the crocuses
sprouting significantly. I realized that this is a good time to plant bulbs
because the old ones are starting to poke up through the ground and I can see
where I need to fill in.
I’m working on my own (non-science) writing projects again,
plays and blog posts, and I’m going to start working intensively on all of my
new perfumes this week and next, which makes me extremely happy.
Look for a post here from time to time as we move forward
into “winter”, which I see as the beginning of spring!
[All photos are adapted from webcam shots from our local ski area, which
I hope to get to at least once this year]
Everything feels so much nicer with a little more light! Happy Day After the Solstice!
ReplyDeleteI have no idea whatsoever how you manage to keep up with it all, I'd be in a coma! Always good to see a new post, though, and a big hug and Happy Holidays to you and yours!
ReplyDeleteWelcome back to the blogosphere. Looking forward to the new creations!
ReplyDeleteThanks to those who have commented. It's good to know that there are still some readers out there!
ReplyDeleteGood to see you back! I was really starting to wonder if you were okay. A joyous lengthening of days!
ReplyDeleteLaurie, Thanks for wondering! I'm OK, but of course OK is relative. In fact, I'm probably doing better than most people. Here's wishing you a joyous lengthening of days as well!
DeleteHappy New Year Ellen looking forward to 2017
ReplyDeleteThere's much to be thankful for always
Happy New Year! I look forward to hearing about your new projects, both perfume and non-perfume ones :)
ReplyDeleteHello. I'm new to this site and had a question about using labdanum absolute Clear in my bases (Cistus ladaniferus) or Cistus Traditional (Cistus Ladaniferus). To me, they smell different. The Cistus traditional is tarry and smokey, while the labdanum is ambery and softer at 10%. Also, I'm blending a base experimenting with calamus root and read an older blog here about that. I love using ancient ingredients in my fragrances and building less complex base, on top of which I can layer. Any thoughts on this would be so appreciated.
ReplyDeleteLisa, I find that every version of labdanum is different. I assume the "clear" to which you refer is the one from Eden. It is softer and more "ambery" than the darker version. Labdanum from other sources is also different. Cistus EO is very different from labdanum absolute, and a little goes a long way. Calamus is another material that varies tremendously depending on the source. There's one from Nepal that I like.
ReplyDeleteHello and thank you - yes from Eden and so is the Cistus. I love their oils. I'm trying to impart the slightest ever smoky smell in a fragrance collection and I sent an email to you Ellen about this as well. Would you suggest Cistus or Cade ? I'm looking for tarry or smoke ever so slight. Any suggestions? I've waved Cade at 1% under my fragrance and Cistus as well. What is the dry down on each of these- do they turn bitter ? And thank you.
ReplyDeleteCistus oil isn't really smoky smelling, so I'm not sure that would have the effect you want. Cade is incredibly strong, so could easily overpower your blend. Have you tried choya loban? It's smoky, but not as strong as cade. I'll look for your e-mail.
DeleteHi again..thank you. Yes, I've tried Cade at << 1% and I'll look at the choya loban. Is that the roasted seashells? I've been working to set up Political Perfume, as well as Wordpress plans. I'm frustrated with dilution of resins such as oakmoss and labdanum, etc. I found a 20% tonka bean at Eden B. Do you Any suggestions for a pre-diluted oakmoss, labdanum, etc. I like doing it myself I thought, but I find with the resins, im not able to recreate the exact proportions for repeating a blend. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteLisa, choya loban is burnt olibanum (or other wood, depending on supplier). Choya nakh is burnt seashells. I never use pre-diluted materials, choosing to always dilute them myself. For tonka beans, a tincture works very well. With tinctures and resinous natural materials your proportions will never be 100% exact, although you can get very close by weighing accurately. More disturbing to me is the fact that you will never get complete uniformity from one batch of a given raw material to another. I know that's frustrating, but it's an inherent difficulty in working with natural materials.
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