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.

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

WINNER OF THE NOTHING IS FOREVER DRAWING AND ARTEMISIA TRIDENTATA

The winner of the latest drawing is CRYSTAL. 

To claim your box of samples, send me at e-mail at olympicorchids at gmail dot com or leave a comment on the Olympic Orchids Facebook page 

I will be away from the blog, traveling in Europe from September 4-17, so would like to get this drawing finished up and the prize sent off before I leave. 

There will be a new drawing once I’m back in Seattle, once again for a big box of samples and anything else related that will fit in the box. 

Several years ago I wrote about Artemisia, but have become newly fascinated with Artemisia tridentata, also called big sagebrush. You can read a little bit about it here. I have discovered that it grows everywhere east of the Cascades, and last month harvested some, thinking we might want to distill it. Life intervened and we waited too long, but I took the dried-out leaves and tinctured them, thinking it might be interesting. 

Much to my surprise, within a day the alcohol had turned a bright green, and within a week it was dark emerald green, so I removed the plant matter and filtered it. It is so dark now that it is hard to photograph. I think you can see it best when the bottle is turned on its side and the light shines through. The bright green color was surprising given that the plant itself looks grayish. Best of all, the tincture has quite a strong scent that really captures the fragrance of the fresh plant. I think this tincture would make a great perfume!

To enter the next drawing, leave a comment about where you would like to travel in Europe or some association you have with sagebrush.

[All photos are mine] 

14 comments:

  1. Lette Germany to see my cousins :)

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    1. We will be visiting friends who live near Bonn. You're entered in the drawing.

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  2. I hope you enjoy your travels! I'd love to visit Ireland. My friends that have visited on vacation there say such lovely things about the people and the landscape.

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    1. Annalyn, We were in Ireland about 3 years ago, and it certainly is a great place to visit. You're entered in the drawing.

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  3. Hello Ellen,
    I hope you'll have a great time in Germany. Eventually if you want to pass by Brussels you're more than welcome :-)
    This summer i spent one week in Dublin, one in Oslo and one in Paris. I would like to also visit the east like maybe a tour in Polland.

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    1. Frederic, we will come to Brussels at some time, but not this trip, which is mainly to Poland, just stopping in Germany for a couple of days. If you visit Seattle again, please let me know! You're entered in the drawing.

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  4. Italy is where I'd go back over and over again. I'd also revisit Ireland, Spain, Denmark, to name a few. Belgium is something of a second home already, so I'm not even counting that ;) The Scandinavian countries are yet to be discovered ;)

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    1. El, it sounds like you have lots of travel plans! You're entered in the drawing.

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  5. A sagebrush tincture! How exciting to see the plant being used in perfumery, instead of it tumbling around, lol.

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  6. Mary, I've never seen sagebrush tumbling - it mostly just sits there and grows a little in the spring when there's rain. But I'm looking forward to doing something with that green tincture! You're entered in the drawing.

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  7. I was in Provence three years ago and Seville two years ago. I want to explore Basque Country. I’ve been reading about the history of the region and San Sebastián is supposed to be a foodie destination. I wonder if there are many perfumers in the region.

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  8. That's so cool!

    I tried to tincture shiso leaf and it also came out very bright green.

    In Europe I would love to see Ireland and Croatia because my mother's family came from those places... Croatia has an awesome park with natural water formation things whose name I forget.
    Scotland again because kilts.
    Italy? Everywhere really. Finland, Spain, etc

    And of course France-- Paris,Grasse, all the fragrant places.

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  9. Happy New Year Ellen. We miss your posts.

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  10. Ellen, greetings from Durango, Colorado! I’m a middle school teacher enduring teaching in-person during C-19. The challenges and restrictions required for safety are so tough on the kids and teachers, but we’re learning and growing behind our masks! A fellow teacher shared some Blackbird with me, what a joyous surprise! Thank you for your creation, it helped me so much this first week of school.
    While I live surrounded by Big sagebrush and her sister, Rabbitbrush, my favorite Artemesia tridentata memory comes from a rare foggy day in Gunnison, Colorado, a high elevation desert town that lies in a sea of sage. It was like smelling the wild sky. Transcendent!!
    Oh, and being a Durango bicycle fanatic, I’d definitely try to see some Tour de France (now!!!), or one of the Northen Classic races in early summer, or I’d head to Belgium in winter to watch cyclocross!!!
    Travel safe, and again, THANK YOU for bringing Blackbird into this world. It saved me!!!

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