What's so great about light blue perfume

Refreshing oil


70 ml of almond oil, 30 ml of jojoba oil,
20 drops of ethereal oils: rosemary, lemon, grapefruit, juniper.

(fresh, citrus fragrance with a herbal overtone).

Spot remover


Trying to remove a stain from your favourite suede jacket or skirt? Lightly rub over the stain with an emery board to get rid of the spot.

href="http://ayalamoriel.com/index.cfm?PageName=Scents&View=Details&PerfumeID=2">Arsenal, my quite-realistic gin & tonic fragrance has been reformulated. I admit, this is entirely my fault. No one told me to reformulate it. I did it on my own accord. The main reason being the poor longevity of the scent, as well as the fact that it was just a tad too "realistic" and not so much of a scent of its own. I wanted it to be a little more perfumey...

It still smells very much like gin and tonic, but with the addition of a few elements that make it a little more complex: lemon leaf, orris root CO2, litsea cubeba, lime and copaiba balsam. I have also decided to use both the green and the white cognac, to add a little more depth to the base. I have insisted on using no floral notes and no vanilla (even though the latter was very, very tempting! I had to tie both of my arms to not add a touch of vanilla CO2 to the cocktail!).

The new Arsenal is just a little longer lasting citrusy-summery twist on the Eau de Cologne type (albeit more concentrated than a traditional cologne water), and smells especially delicious in the oil version (which is what got me to reformulate it in the first place). If you have ordered Arsenal earlier this year and were unhappy with its longevity, contact me and I will be happy to send you a free sample of the new version.Ayala Senderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11542536171134508229noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16701445.post-73112529611539637902008-05-26T19:18:00.005-07:002008-05-27T00:09:25.292-07:00Mental Notes: Apple Breeze and More SweatI woke up this morning to a surprisingly familiar scent accompanied by the sound of lawn-mowing. It was obviously coming from the grass 4 stories below; but it had the crisp scent of green apples - just like the artificial symbol of green apples, to be precise.

The weather was muggy again, but not so sunny; I was brave enough to go out (even in the evening) with no umbrella and no jacket despite of the clouds though... Aside from a pashimna scurf, the only added accessories to cover my skin were, yet again, Azuree body lotion (ahem, yes, with sprakles), and Film Noir in solid perfume (and inside my pendant). I am again surprised at how dry it comes across on a sweaty day.
Ayala Senderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11542536171134508229noreply@blogger.com
tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16701445.post-64400575357652079342008-05-26T16:21:00.004-07:002008-05-26T17:01:56.368-07:00Sold Out: Perfumed Teas
My perfumed teas have been very popular this past weekend and are now nearly completely sold out: none of Tirzah is left, and I'm down to the last tin of Gaucho and the last tin of Immortelle l'Amour tea. All teas are organic and wild crafted, with no artifical flavouring. They are perfumed with the aromas of high quality dried leaves, fruit and flowers (i.e.: osmanthus blossom, vanilla beans, citrus peel, damiana leaf and so on).

I don't know when the next batch will be made available again for all three; but in the future, the tins will be lighter (with less tea blend) to make them more affordable. We have been filling them all the way up, making for a full tin of between 70-80gr of tea, which is a lot more than the standard in the market for such a small tin.
Ayala Senderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11542536171134508229noreply@blogger.com
tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16701445.post-29656539664736273542008-05-25T22:49:00.004-07:002008-05-26T16:21:42.171-07:00Neil Morris Vault Fragrances Now Available OnlineRemember how I was drooling over Neil Morris' and Ida's collaboration, Burnt Amber?
Well, now I know where you can find it - it's up on Neil Morris' website, as well as many other of his Vault Fragrances (most of which I haven't tried yet).

This collection includes interesting concepts, such as a series of florals for men (gardenia, lilac, and rose, nevertheless), and of course the formidable Parfum d'Ida.

I don't like to make promises, but, yes, some of these will be reviewed in SmellyBlog in the foreseeable future. In the meantime - check them out for yourself!
Ayala Senderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11542536171134508229noreply@blogger.com
tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16701445.post-23504549467103897592008-05-25T22:29:00.003-07:002008-05-25T22:37:22.777-07:00Mental Notes: It's HOT!I is over room temperature in Vancouver today (verrrry unusual), and we are all cooking... To top it off, I spent most of the day at the market, not the beach...
I wore my Charisma, with its refreshing spearmint and green tea notes. And served a cool Tirzah tea (which is now sold out until a new batch is made! Yay!).
I suppose the need for hydration is excellent day for increasing tea sales...

Being one of those days that calls for an extra shower in the evening, I was given the opportunity to switch my perfume once again. So this evening I am wearing Bronze Goddess lotion (the scent has already faded into a warm-skin-and-sand subtlety) as a background, and in the foreground, I've anointed my wrists and pulse points with nothing less than Film Noir in creme parfum. The creme parfum makes it smell drier, somehow.

Tomorrow I'll be back with some more substantial entries. In the meantime - share your parfum de jour or any other interesting olfactory encounters of the day. Alternatively, I'll be more than just a little curious to hear what fragrances help you cool off in a very hot and humid day.

Good night!
Ayala Senderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11542536171134508229noreply@blogger.com
tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16701445.post-40304760527970661642008-05-24T22:49:00.002-07:002008-05-30T14:21:29.157-07:00Of Breadth, Depth, Illusion, Reality, Chaos and Where They All Meet…


*, originally uploaded by futureancient.

A nose approaches a field of wild flowers. The air is intoxicated with the scent of myriad different species in various stages of bloom – fresh buds, flowers in full bloom, petals dying and rotting in the warm sun… You know the scent comes from the flowers, but yet if you were to go blindfolded into the field you won’t be able to tell exactly which flower is responsible to what part of the overall “wild flowers” scent. They all play like a large orchestra tuning its instrument in no particular direction or rhythm. This is reality.

Take No. 5 on the other hand, worn on a woman’s skin: it starts out certain way, and develops into different things, revealing an internal structure or hierarchy that exists all at once in one olfactory source – the perfume. Or a wine or tea for that matter, with all their different layers of top, heart and base, revealing depth in various stages of the experience. These can be likened to the orchestra already playing in perfect sync, accompanying the Mezzo-Soprano diva at any given moment.
But is there anything out there in nature, completely non man-made, that has a hierarchical olfactory existence such as perfume?

I have to confess - all the Jean-Claude Elena talk yesterday neatly got me to almost lose sleep as I was contemplating those two principles that seem to pull modern perfumery into two different directions: expansion, diffusion and breadth versus hierarchy/structure, evolution and depth. These two concepts are what Octavian Sever Coifan refers to as the principles of Musk and Amber.

I noticed that I have difficult time understanding or fully grasping certain modern perfumes. I only now noticed why: these are made to evolve differently. Although I may be able to detect one note or another in composition such as Narcisso Rodriguez, Agent Provocateur and Osmanthe Yunnan – I can’t say I perceive them as clearly as in, say, the classic Carons and Guerlains. These perfumes are fickle like the scent of an ocean breeze or a field of wild flowers. It’s almost as if their source has blurred (even though I know they are on my skin when I wear them). They are even more ephemeral the scent is to begin with. It’s hard to tell when they move from one phase to another. It’s hard to tell if the dry down is still apparent or if the perfume left the skin hours ago. They exisit in a different dimension altogether...

The classic orientals, chypres and fougeres, however, have a well-kept structure that reveals itself as you go along. They are still abstract and intangible (as fragrance always is); but it’s easier to see what’s going on at any given time. There is a flow and it’s heading forward at all times. Where as in the other genre, there is constant movement to all direction in an attempt to diffuse and disperse the molecules, almost as if attempting to hide their source.

I found it particularly fascinating that these perfumes that are more abstract and conceptual and follow the “musk” principle (i.e. Jean-Claude Elena’s) actually behave a lot more like scents do in nature; where as perfumes following the “amber” principle are in fact restricting the scents and coaxing them into pre-established forms.

It is interesting to note that the latest attempts to modernize the genre of chypre have mostly focused on rearing these compositions into the “musk” direction. I was nearly awe-struck last night when I re-applied Terre d’Hermes and noticed that what made it smell familiar to me is its resemblance to Agent Provocateur of all things!
And no, it is not just a question of vetiver, it’s the usage of synthetic musk that create that there-but-not-quite-with-you feel that I find to underline all musk-oriented fragrances. To illustrate my point, think of what happened in 31, Rue Cambon where iris and pepper were used to create the illusion of chypre, and how little it has to do with Miss Dior and how much more it has to do with scents such as Osmanthe Yunnan or Terre d’Hermes.
A nose approaches a field of wild flowers. The air is intoxicated with the scent of myriad different species in various stages of bloom – fresh buds, flowers in full bloom, petals dying and rotting in the warm sun… You know the scent comes from the flowers, but yet if you were to go blindfolded into the field you won’t be able to tell exactly which flower is responsible to what part of the overall “wild flowers” scent. They all play like a large orchestra tuning its instrument in no particular direction or rhythm. This is reality.

Take No. 5 on the other hand, worn on a woman’s skin: it starts out certain way, and develops into different things, revealing an internal structure or hierarchy that exists all at once in one olfactory source – the perfume. Or a wine or tea for that matter, with all their different layers of top, heart and base, revealing depth in various stages of the experience. These can be likened to the orchestra already playing in perfect sync, accompanying the Mezzo-Soprano diva at any given moment.
But is there anything out there in nature, completely non man-made, that has a hierarchical olfactory existence such as perfume?

I have to confess - all the Jean-Claude Elena talk yesterday neatly got me to almost lose sleep as I was contemplating those two principles that seem to pull modern perfumery into two different directions: expansion, diffusion and breadth versus hierarchy/structure, evolution and depth. These two concepts are what Octavian Sever Coifan refers to as the principles of Musk and Amber.

I noticed that I have difficult time understanding or fully grasping certain modern perfumes. I only now noticed why: these are made to evolve differently. Although I may be able to detect one note or another in composition such as Narcisso Rodriguez, Agent Provocateur and Osmanthe Yunnan – I can’t say I perceive them as clearly as in, say, the classic Carons and Guerlains. These perfumes are fickle like the scent of an ocean breeze or a field of wild flowers. It’s almost as if their source has blurred (even though I know they are on my skin when I wear them). They are even more ephemeral the scent is to begin with. It’s hard to tell when they move from one phase to another. It’s hard to tell if the dry down is still apparent or if the perfume left the skin hours ago. They exisit in a different dimension altogether...

The classic orientals, chypres and fougeres, however, have a well-kept structure that reveals itself as you go along. They are still abstract and intangible (as fragrance always is); but it’s easier to see what’s going on at any given time. There is a flow and it’s heading forward at all times. Where as in the other genre, there is constant movement to all direction in an attempt to diffuse and disperse the molecules, almost as if attempting to hide their source.

I found it particularly fascinating that these perfumes that are more abstract and conceptual and follow the “musk” principle (i.e. Jean-Claude Elena’s) actually behave a lot more like scents do in nature; where as perfumes following the “amber” principle are in fact restricting the scents and coaxing them into pre-established forms.

It is interesting to note that the latest attempts to modernize the genre of chypre have mostly focused on rearing these compositions into the “musk” direction. I was nearly awe-struck last night when I re-applied Terre d’Hermes and noticed that what made it smell familiar to me is its resemblance to Agent Provocateur of all things!
And no, it is not just a question of vetiver, it’s the usage of synthetic musk that create that there-but-not-quite-with-you feel that I find to underline all musk-oriented fragrances. To illustrate my point, think of what happened in 31, Rue Cambon where iris and pepper were used to create the illusion of chypre, and how little it has to do with Miss Dior and how much more it has to do with scents such as Osmanthe Yunnan or Terre d’Hermes.





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