SNOW FOR THE SOLSTICE

When Jasper the cat woke me up this morning, his fur was wet and his nose was cold. It was 7:00 AM and pitch dark outside, except for an eerie glow that came from the white coating that had appeared on the ground during the night. As I sat typing, taking care of e-mail that had arrived overnight, I watched the fluffy snowflakes fall in the light shining from the window and thought about what a perfect scene it was with snow on the shortest day of the year. Eventually the black sky started turning faintly pink in the southeast, and by 8:30 it’s as light as it’s going to get given the dense cloud cover and the low position of the sun. Snow is still falling in huge, clumpy flakes.

I’ve always been fascinated by watching snow fall. Living in a place where a significant amount of snow is unusual, there’s something magical, exotic and romantic about it. I know snow is no fun in a place where it’s a regular occurrence and sticks around more than a few days, but here where we only get a snow accumulation once every few years, it’s a special event.

This gorgeous snow day is the perfect occasion to mark the changing of the seasons and the fact that days will start getting longer soon. Here’s wishing you all a happy winter solstice (or a happy summer  solstice if you’re down under)! 

[I haven't gone outside with my camera yet today, so the snow photo is one taken a few years ago, back when our now-mature palm tree was still young and cute. I like it because it shows the snowflakes falling. The "solstice-flower" photo is one that I took earlier this fall, when the sun was just starting to get lower in the sky.] 

CRITICISM, HALF-BAKED RELEASES, AND REFORMULATION

The other day when I was sampling Lush/Gorilla Perfumes’ Old Delhi Station, I wanted to read the official list of notes and what others said about it so, as usual, I did an internet search. The first bona fide review that came up was this one. It was not just a review, it was a philosophical discourse on the art of reviewing perfumes and speaking one’s mind. It’s an old post, but it’s still an enjoyable and thought-provoking read.

Unfortunately, as a perfumer, I have to be very careful about speaking my mind about other people's perfumes unless they ask me to, not wanting any appearance of a conflict of interest. However, as a consumer, one can say anything about anything. It's always refreshing to hear honest words, and I hope that all of those reviewers who are consumers feel free to exercise the wonderful freedom they have to speak their minds, never feeling guilty about doing so.

In any case, no one should be offended by honest criticism in an art/craft where value is highly subjective. Fans of a perfume or a brand should realize that others may not share their enthusiasm for it, and criticism is no reflection on their taste. Perfumers should know that if they produce anything other than bland, mainstream compositions, some people will not like them.

Perfume means something different to each person who smells it, and a cheap floral fragrance oil mixed with clove may be just as evocative to one person as an artistically conceived, superbly executed high-end composition is to someone else. However, there's no harm in calling each what it is and objectively comparing value with price. Some people love mass-produced, spray-painted garden gnomes. Others would prefer to have an original Henry Moore sculpture on their lawn. The only time there’s a problem with this is when garden gnomes are sold at Henry Moore prices. And yes, it does happen in sculpture, art, perfume, and every other area of endeavor.

A second issue raised in the post was that of perfumers releasing perfumes that are not finished products, with an individual perfumers’ work showing evidence of a learning curve. Unfortunately (or fortunately?), perfumers (like other artists) never stop learning and developing. As new materials become available, we learn to incorporate them into our palettes. As old materials disappear, we learn how to substitute for them. The longer we work in perfumery, the more our skills increase and our tastes change. We constantly want to try new things and set new challenges for ourselves. I agree that there are too many half-baked releases, and I know I am guilty of some of them. I take this criticism to heart.

This post has inspired me to do something that’s been bugging me for a long time, and that is to reformulate Little Stars, the first perfume that I ever released, making it better without changing its essential character. Little Stars has been a nagging theme playing at the back of my mind for a long time because I haven’t been satisfied with it and know I could make a better version of it today. Over the next few weeks, the reformulation will be a project that I’ll report on from time to time here. 

[Little stars bottle and flower photos are mine; garden gnomes and Henry Moore sculpture photos are from Wikimedia]

PERFUME AS MEDITATION

It’s been one hell of a fall quarter, but it’s finally over. Last weekend I took care of a huge backlog of old orders. Yesterday was the first day that I’ve been able to really relax at home, take care of some grading and other academic cleanup operations, and actually make a small amount of progress.

I’m making lots of ready-to-ship stock for the new shelves. This is going to make my life much easier. I also ordered new custom boxes for the little triangular 15 ml bottles, which I’m going to keep because I like the way they look. The new boxes will give them a much-needed makeover.  I was running out of the old brown cardboard boxes that didn't quite fit, and I either had to get more of them or change.  Not surprisingly, I decided to change. The new boxes will match the new 30 ml and 100 ml boxes, making for a unified look.

I’m also finally getting back into my routine of testing one or two perfumes every day, something that I didn’t feel like doing when I was constantly on the go from morning through night. When I experience perfume, it’s like a form of meditation. I like to be in a quiet, calm environment where I can just breathe it in, concentrate on it fully, think about it, and feel its intent and whatever memories or emotions it evokes. I always write down notes, a habit that persists from my pre-perfumer days when I used to post a lot of perfume reviews. These days the notes are mostly just for me, to remind me of what each perfume was like and help reduce the chances that I’ll inadvertently remake something that already exists.

I’m almost ready to start work on formulating a few new perfumes, but this week I’m just going to finish up a good part of the work that was neglected all fall. What a delight to start getting caught up!

[Upper graphic is my perfume bottle photo and the box manufacturer's proof. Lower photo is from Wikimedia.] 

HOLIDAY GIVEAWAY WINNERS

This blogger-perfumer

Started a rumor

That there would be gifts to win

She fumbled about

And two names came out

She said, “let the shipping begin!”

The winners are: Colin I and Carla M

There were 24 entries, an all-time high for one of these drawings, so I decided to choose a runner-up who will receive one 5-ml spray, their choice of the three included in the gift box.

The runner-up is Jessie V

Please contact me with your shipping information. If you are in the US, you will receive the big box. If you are international, you will receive the small box with 3 x 5-ml sprays. If you are the runner-up, please contact me with your shipping info and choice of fragrance. If you click on the Doc Elly link at the right, you will find my e-mail address. 

[Little Jack Horner illustration from the archives of Wikimedia]

A MIDWINTER GIVEAWAY

I’ve been away from the blog for way too long, so as a way to lure back those readers who have given up reading, thinking that I would never post again, I’m doing a random drawing. I’m sure the extreme cold has numbed the brain of everyone in the northern hemisphere and turned you into shivering zombies huddled around a fire somewhere, so I’m not expecting you to think, and I’m not expecting you to write anything more than a random word or two to let me know that you’re still out there and surviving whatever the winter has brought you.

What can you win? One of the Olympic Orchids Holiday Gift Sets. For readers in the US, it includes three 15-ml sprays, an ounce of bath oil, and a full-size soap. For international readers, it’s a small gift box with three 15-ml sprays. There will be one winner in each category.

All you have to do is leave some sort of comment. It doesn’t matter what, as long as it isn’t spam. The drawing will take place a week from today, on Sunday, December 15.