The title of this post says it all. A few weeks ago, when I was mixing up a batch of
Tropic of Capricorn, I reached for the maile vine-mango fruit tincture that I
use to dilute the concentrate, but accidentally picked up a hibiscus flower
tincture that I’d been saving for who knows what purpose. The bottle was the
same, it looked roughly similar in color, and it was sitting on the shelf next
to the tincture that I intended to use. I was in a hurry and didn’t discover
the mistake until it was too late, when I looked at the label on the bottle and
realized what I’d done.
It just stands to reason that if I were going to screw up on
mixing a formula, it would be the one with the most expensive materials in it.
That’s a lot of osmanthus, frangipani, jasmine, and other good things wasted.
All those flowers that gave their lives to make the absolutes. I decided to go
ahead and age and filter the stuff and see how it turned out.
Actually, it’s not that much different from the real formula.
It’s missing some of the warm, fruity nuances of the original, but is still a
powerful tropical floral scent. What I have decided to do is bottle it and sell
it at a bargain price, under a different name – Tropic of Capricorn Hibiscus - an
accidental flanker, if you will. That makes me speculate about the origin of
flankers. Were some of them formulas of the original that someone screwed up
on?
It also made me think about a possible way to balance my
insatiable drive to make more and more perfumes with the need to restrict my
regular line to a manageable number of fragrances. The solution would be a
series of single-batch perfumes that would be sold one at a time until that
batch is gone, to then be replaced by another, different, single-batch formula.
They would be hand-labeled, but possibly bottled in either super-basic bottles
or special, fancy bottles. What I have in mind isn’t meant to be an “exclusive”,
ridiculously-priced collector’s-item sort of thing, it would just be a fun art
form, a way to share my noodling around in the lab with others, and a way to use small amounts of materials that I can’t be sure of getting more of on a regular basis in the
foreseeable future.
Does the single-batch strategy seem like a good idea? Or
does it just make the selection more complicated and overwhelming?
[Hibiscus flower and mad Martian chemist images adapted from Wikimedia]
Posts
It seems like a fun idea, but you know what will happen: everyone who loves the single batch fragrance will hound you to make it again!
ReplyDeleteLaurie, if enough people hound me and I can source materials on a regular basis, I might occasionally consider releasing a single-batch fragrance to the main line, but as Gail points out below, I always have the option of "just saying no".
DeleteThe single batch appeals to me too, Ellen. If you can't or don't want to make more "just say no". I would even subscribe to a "Single Batch of the Month Club".
ReplyDeleteWhen I began my interest in orchids years ago I belonged to a "Species Orchid of the Month Club". I received a surprise orchid once a month that met the growing conditions in my greenhouse and my level of experience (which at the time was zero). I learned a lot and really expanded my collection. Not knowing exactly what I would receive was part of the fun. The plants were always in great condition and sometimes even in spike! Even though I might not have picked some of those orchids myself I was never disappointed and many of the surprises became dependable favorites.
Gail, both the "single batch of the month club" and the "orchid species of the month club" sound like good ideas in theory. The problem is that shipping costs have gone up considerably in the past few years, especially on orchids which are relatively heavy and have to go by priority mail. The starting cost for any size priority mail package is $8-11, depending on where it's going, so multiply that by 12 months and you see that I would have to charge $100 or more for shipping, to say nothing of the plants. For 5 ml perfume sprays or samples it might work, so it's something to think about.
DeleteThat's true! Sometimes I spend more on the shipping for a new Tillandsia than for the Tillandsia itself....
DeleteMarla, That's true of orchids, too. People often spend as much or more on shipping than on the plant itself. Come to think of it, it costs me more to ship a single perfume sample than the price of the sample itself. I don't mind too much losing money on that because I consider it a form of advertising.
DeleteSpecial batches are a good idea. Especially if a key material is very limited. If it becomes wildly popular, you can always have a "reissue", I've seen several perfume houses do that.
ReplyDeleteMarla, I'm glad you like the idea. I think one of the good things about special batches is the opportunity to use materials that are difficult to source.
DeleteI like the idea as well. It sounds like it would be a fun and interesting thing to experience.
ReplyDeleteI think there'd be a lot of freedom for you to experiment with this single-batch idea and share your joy in what you create with others, without the stress of creating something that "fits in" with your core line. If that makes sense--it's rather late here!
Quillis, Thanks. I'm glad you like the single-batch idea. The way things are evolving, there's the long-running core line, the special editions that hang around as long as they're popular, and now the single-batch "fringe" line. It does make sense!
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