Sunday, June 21, 2009

Summer Solstice - Scents of Summer




"His face was turned without regret toward the endless
possibilities of Summer." - F.Scott Fitzgerald

Summer Solstice takes place today June 21,2009 at 5:46
(1:46)AM,Universal Time. Today is the longest day of
the year,and this year it corresponds with Father's Day.
This seems very fitting,as the sun is a male symbol
of constancy and growth.

Today as I was walking,I paid special attention to the
familiar scents of summer that are abundant and bountiful
in beautiful sunny Southern California. The first scent
to hit my nose is a lush blast of Jasmine - heavy,sticky,
sweet and mercilessly indolic,I pet a fence of little
white blossoms and they release their heavenly scent for
me to enjoy & savor. The next scent to hit me is
the airy lemony sweetness of Magnolia Blossoms, floating
above my head from several over flowing trees. There is
a gardener nearby, mowing a lawn and the green sweetness
of fresh cut grass is unmistakable. Next comes the sticky
sweet slightly spicy Yellow Datura, I stick my face in it's
delightful cups and inhale a whiff of pure Summer heaven...

When I get to the coffee shop on Kenmore I smell the warm
inviting scent of fresh dark Mid-Eastern coffee mixed with
the sweet smokiness of the charcoals heating in the back
for the hookah pipes. I walk past the usual crew sitting
outside puffing away like Caterpillars (in Alice's'
Wonderland),and inhale the sweet aroma of Apricot tobacco .
Next,is the bakery and the unmistakable sweetness of baking
sugary delights. Finally,as I open the door at the Jitterbug,
I am greeted by a delicious mysterious aroma that has become
so familiar to me that it is almost in-describable, but hints
of Incense and Musk, and Floral sweetness...

SOTD: Tropique (from our Island Girl Collection)
KEY NOTES: Cocoa, Coconut, Vanilla, Coffee Bean,Yuzo

TASTY TID-BIT:
Pagans called the Midsummer Moon the "Honey Moon",
for the mead made from fermented honey that was served
at midsummer celebrations. Ancient Pagans celebrated
Midsummer with bonfires,when couples would leap through
the flames. It was believed that a persons crops would grow
as high as they were able to jump. Midsummer was thought
to be a time of magic, when evil spirits would appear,people
would wear garlands of flowers and herbs to ward them off.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

He wants a "Lady Killer" Scent...

Tiger sniffs at my wrist and wrinkles his nose, "Too earthy", he says..."and too leathery -I don't want to smell like leather,or s**t!"(Must be the Civet note).... It's too old... I'd rather smell like 'Old Spice' or better yet Drakkar Noir.

This is not what I want to hear! Especially when I was going for "Earthy, Leathery, Vintage, & Animalic"...

So for a point of reference,it's off to google I go, to look up the notes for DN . Come to find, they are very close to the notes in my working blend!
To please the Tiger - it's his image on the bottle,and he wants "A Lady Killer Scent" he can get behind, it seems all I have to do is a bit of rearranging. Hmmm....

Days later, after a bit of tweaking,and a healthy infusion of green notes(galbanum +),the working blend passes Tiger's rigorous sniff test, and I am headed to a gathering with some friends and a tester bottle in tow. My mission for the evening is to do a bit of market research...

After a healthy feasting on a most delicious spread, the guests were all gathered in the kitchen,as our host spontaneously broke out into song(A Capella,and pulled it off,no less!), when my little bottle started to get passed around... Well, even in my wildest dreams, I was not expecting the reaction it caused - I won't get any more specific than the squeals of delight and actual licking of persons
(AXE cologne eat your heart out!), but it was certainly something verging on the XXX rated... And by all accounts it lived up to the name "Dirty Sexy Wilde"...

SOTD: Dirty Sexy Wilde
KEY NOTES: Galbanum,Red Mandarin,Carnation,Violet,Rose,Night Jasmine,Blond Tobacco,Oakmoss,Coumarin,Musk,Civet,Ambergris


TASTY TID-BIT: (Per Wikipedia)
Sex pheromones
In animals, sex pheromones indicate the availability of the female for breeding. Male animals may also emit pheromones that convey information about their species and genotype. Many insect species release sex pheromones to attract a mate, and many lepidopterans (moths and butterflies) can detect a potential mate from as far away as 10 kilometers (6.25 mi). Traps containing pheromones are used by farmers to detect and monitor insect population in orchards. At the microscopic level, a gamete pheromone may provide a trail leading the opposite sex's gametes towards it to accomplish fertilization. Pheromones are also used in the detection of oestrus in sows. Boar pheromones are sprayed into the sty, and those sows which exhibit sexual arousal are known to be currently available for breeding. Sea urchins release pheromones into the surrounding water, sending a chemical message that triggers other urchins in the colony to eject their sex cells simultaneously.