Showing posts with label mandy aftel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mandy aftel. Show all posts

Friday, December 11, 2015

Perfume Book and Companion Kit of Essences Giveaway: Fragrant the Secret Life of Scent

This is the first of our Perfume Shrine giveaways for the holiday season and it's going to warm the cockles of the winner's heart; because it not only involves a perfume book that's sure to be referenced again and again along the way but it's also accompanied by a compaion kit that includes 5 natural essences among them the rare and precious ambergris for a better understanding of how perfumery works. The book in question? Fragrant the secret life of Scent by Mandy Aftel. Mandy has generously offered to give one signed copy of her book and a companion kit of essences to one lucky reader of Perfume Shrine.
So if interested don't miss your chance by writing a comment below this post. Draw is open internationally till Monday midnight and winner will be announced next week.

via rimanlibrary.com

The book doesn't simply address the fans of natural perfumery but aims at the hearts of everyone with an interest in the sensual and spiritual aspects of scents. It's more of a journey into discovering what the world around has to offer as well as the mystical bond between the senses and our grasp of the cosmos. Using scent as the medium Aftel with her usual sensuous prose explores basic essences and rarer or more exceptional ones with the same passion for observation and analytical deconstruction. Without requesting insider knowledge or expertise in perfumery jargon Fragrant takes the reader into a 5 part adventure; each punctured by a single momentous essence that can turn into fragrance.

Cinnamon marks with its spicy trail the beginning of man's search for the exotic East and the wealth it offers.

Mint is the smell of familiarity. Know throughout the world and marking home and homeland mint can act as a powerful symbol for that which is luxurious in its easing into the comfort of the "here and now".

Incense stands for mysticism and for a spiritual endeavor. The smoky trail these resins produce which rises in the air is our gateway to the realm of the gods.

Ambergris from the whale is the seafaring adventure turned prized loot; a substance as soft as a sable coat and as sensuous as bare supple skin itself. It's symbolizes human curiosity and evokes all the quirkiness that animal essences stand for.

Jasmine stands for beauty and the unapologetic pleasure in savoring that beauty; whether it be permanent or ethereal... like the vapors of a perfume.


Little anecdotes are dotting the pages and recipes for easily composed perfumes (in a variety of forms such as solid or oil or alcohol based) are included. A few of them involve the addition of one rare and unexpected ingredient into an otherwise familiar mix; like the chocolate drink laced with ambergris that Charles the I of Englad used to enjoy!

Fragrant the Secret Life of Scent is a book that should be part of every well versed library on scent and olfaction but also a welcome gift to anyone wanting to explore the sensuous facets of our everyday life.

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Fragrant by Mandy Aftel: perfume book giveaway

More of a biographical mapping out of the discovery of a new career path and the richness with which it has gifted its author than a mainstream guide, Fragrant: The secret life of scent by Mandy Aftel is a fascinating journey into four key materials (cinnamon, incense, mint, jasmine and ambergris), their mystical significance, their aura, their historical pathway and with it the trajectory of natural perfumery. The book takes the form of a meditation on the sensuality and pleasure that natural materials offer, divided into 5 parts corresponding to each material) and a plea for the embracing of their sensuous capabilities in our increasingly sterilized world.


Aftel's Essence and Alchemy is already a perfume book classic, aimed at the fragrance enthusiast with the desire to learn (it includes a hands down approach to learning to build fragrant chords with natural essences and a classic fragrance pyramid structure tutorial a la Jean Carles), while Fragrant: The Secret Life of Scent is less of a traditional guide. Instead Aftel muses on several points on scent while adding tidbits that are always interesting and a handful of recipes for edible stuff that would make you see things in a new light. For that reason it would appeal to the novice, as it does not require special knowledge in order to follow its beautiful prose, but also to the more accomplished fragrance collector as a tome to stand proudly in their library.

You can order the book on Amazon at a special price.

I have a new hardback copy to share with a lucky reader. Please enter a comment below to be eligible. Draw is open internationally till Friday midnight.

Friday, October 24, 2014

Aftelier Perfume Palimpsest: fragrance review

I recall a particularly tough professor back in my University days demanded such hard-to-crack questions that one way to bypass embarrassment and speech impediments during the ordeal of the oral examination was to begin by defining what a thing wasn't supposed to be, the latter part of the definition implied to be known to both partners in the discussion at least.  Example: "Kintsugi has absolutely no relation to ikebana."  [ed.note all right, all right, apart from both being Japanese concepts, I mean].  This kind of "definition by negation" is sometimes useful to the fragrance writer because perfume descriptions are so very hard to do justice to in the first place. Palimpsest is one such case, not only because it has an indefinable quality of pure exquisiteness, but also because it is perfumer Mandy Aftel's very best.

Zil Hoque; Oil, 2009, "Palimpsest I"  via (recalling the horse in Salvador Dali's Tempation of St.Anthony

I can begin by saying that Aftelier Palimpsest is nothing like you'd expect an all naturals perfume to smell like; although I'm fond of the raw energy of some all naturals, there is a certain medicinal or vegetal quality that sometimes comes a bit too forcefully at first, which is probably the reason there is so much hesitation among perfume enthusiasts regarding this branch of perfumery art. One of the reasons for avoiding that might be that Mandy is using natural isolates for the first time in such a context, such as gamma dodecalactone (peachy, apricot-y) and phenylacetic acid (a honeyed note). They play out beautifully.
Another thing that I could negate is the official definition of a "fruity floral". Yes, the ripe peachiness is not unknown among fruity floral perfumes, but it's as far removed from the typical Barbie wannabe on the Sephora counter as could possibly be. With a name like Palimpsest I suppose one would expect it to deviate far and wide!

Palimpsest is a word I first came by when I was 15 and reading The Name of the Rose, the famous novel by Umberto Eco, "a palimpsest" as the author  introduced it. The cunning of the narrative technique relied on making the narrator retell a story that is based on an even earlier narration, lifted from an older manuscript and with extensive quotations from other books often in their turn referencing even older books. As Eco maintains throughout his opus in an intertextual turn of mind "books talk about other books" which is true enough in my, lesser than his, experience. All the tales are being woven into a "palimpsest", the old parchment scroll that bears writing over former writing that had been carefully scratched off to make room for new but is still vaguely visible beneath. In a similar manner perfumes talk about other perfumes and intertextuality in scent is a wonderful dialogue that I had occupied myself with breaking down a bit in the past.

via

Aftelier Palimpsest is one such perfume, taking inspirations from several points of departure and offering something new and coherent, recapitulating the history of perfumery, a given since it sprang from the research Aftel did for her book "Fragrant" out this October (you can order it on discount on this link), but being contemporary all the same! Midnight in the Garden of Eden; honeyed streams of lush florals (jasmine grandiflorum) with a sensuous and mysterious Lilith undercurrent of what I perceive as ambergris (a refined animalic perfume note), speak of a layered tapestry where one is hard pressed to see where one golden thread ends and another, in a slightly different hue, begins.

As Gaia, The Non Blonde, notes in her excellent review on the origins of the inspiration for Palimpsest:
"The gum of the Australian firetree (also known as Christmas tree), or by its official name, Nuytsia floribunda, is sweet and eaten raw by the ingenious people of Western Australia. It's not a common ingredient in perfumery (the only other one I know of was the limited edition Fire Tree by Australian brand Nomad Two Worlds, and I had a hard time warming up to its rawness). I never smelled the firetree as a raw ingredient, so it's hard for me to tell how much of what I smell in Palimpsest comes from it and what is pure imagination. But fantasy is a big part of the perfume joy, isn't it?"

My palette of raw materials, though rather extensive, is similarly limited in regards to this particular essence, so any opinion I might proffer on the adherence to the natural facets of the material would be illusory and misleading. Mandy herself mentions that firetree has rose and lilac facets with a milky undertone that the longer it develops the more it reveals smoky, oud-like, leathery tones. Talk about a multi-tasker! "It possesses an unearthly beauty which, ironically, arises from the soil", says fragrance connoisseur and fairy godmother to indies Ida Meister.
What I can say with certainty myself is that the golden incandescence of Aftelier Palimpsest has to be experienced first hand and quickly at that.

Aftelier Palimpsest comes as an eau de parfum (full bottle costs $170) and an extrait de parfum (same price). Samples of either retail at $6, while a mini of the pure parfum will set you back $50 on aftelier.com.

In the interests of disclosure, I was sent a sample vial directly by the perfumer for reviewing purposes. 

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Aftelier Cuir de Gardenia: fragrance review

"And at night I love to listen to the stars. It's like five hundred million little bells. [...]"You...you alone will have the stars as no one else has them....only you will have stars that can laugh."
~Antoine de Saint Exypery, Le Petit Prince.

Cuir de Gardenia, gardenia's leather. It is my tendency to focus on names, believing that they carry their own wisdom. So coming across this enigmatic coinage I couldn't help but pause and think, maybe lost a bit into my own lethologica. The leathery facets of gardenia, a flower becoming skin-like, the hide of an animal thrown atop tender skin. Yes, it sounded sexy as hell. Is sexy all there is when it comes to perfumes though?


Working with gardenia for a perfumer presents its own challenges. The flower doesn't yield a sufficient or steadily available extract (though there is one in extremely limited quantities) so an approximation is conducted through the synergy of pliable materials; doubly difficult when sourcing only off the natural palette. Of those, I sense the generous use of jasmine, with its lactonic and green facets highlighted, in Aftelier's Cuir de Gardenia; they produce an at once fresh and creamy variation on the gardenia theme, a sort of Pur Desir de Gardenia meets Hedy Lammar.
The mossy element in the base suggests that this deceptive floral hides a more introspective core beneath its veneer and it's worth waiting for it to surface beyond the delicious flower atop.

Artisanal perfumer Mandy Afteler did use a tiare flower absolute from a small producer (tiare is the Tahitian gardenia), which accounts for the more exotic and, yes, the "creamy smelling" feel you get upon testing this bewitching fragranc. The candied aspects meet the roughness of castoreum (an animalic note traditionally used in leather blends). She also mentions ethyl phenyl acetate, which although is usually rendering a rosy not in perfumes, here she describes it as lending a whiff of sweet peas. The liquid version of Cuir de Gardenia is oily, lending a softer ambience, but it doesn't feel oily, it absorbs quickly and well.

I did not find a huge stonking beat of leathery butchness, nor a dark, dangerous, skanky gardenia that would shriek Norma Desmond like off the vial (for a different take read Gaia's The Non Blonde's review), but then neither did I expect to: Cuir de Gardenia isn't a "cuir" per se, it's an illusion of an animal turned into a flower. If anything, it's more musky than leathery. It's a daydream, a waxy memento of sensuality hidden in a drawer for a rainy day, the feeling of physical happiness. It's a matutine moment stolen, when you can hear the stars laugh.

Aftelier's Cuir de Gardenia is available in liquid extrait de parfum and solid versions, on the official Aftelier eboutique. Although natural perfumes come at an increased cost per ml compared to commercial perfumes (even niche), I find that the options of owning minis and solids are a lovely way to get a feel of the work of artisans in the field.

The Fragranta Man has some interesting info on the sourcing of the materials. 

In the interests of disclosure I was sent a sample by the perfumer. 


Friday, November 15, 2013

Indie & Artisan Perfumers and Owners Speak: Mandy Aftel of Aftelier

Mandy Aftel granted me an interview on subjects which are usually never touched, such as business positioning & online only distribution, her unique place in the artisan universe as an all naturals perfumer, her experience with the luxury customers and how regional preferences shape (or rather do not shape) her output and the interest of the online aficionado/blogosphere. You can read the interview (and feel free to comment with your agreement/disagreement or questions) on this link on Fragrantica.


Here are two interesting quotes from Mandy to get you going.

About her distribution channels:
"I have chosen to now be only a web-based business; I previously also sold my perfumes in Henri Bendel’s and several small boutiques. I've been approached by almost every prestigious department store to sell my perfumes—when I turned down Neiman Marcus, their response was to ask me if I knew who they were? I personally like knowing that my customers are well taken care of and that everything is perfect about my products. When I sold in stores, I would see that the presentation of my perfumes was not up to my standards, which upset me. I take a lot of pleasure in individually wrapping each order and writing cards to people—I like having this relationship with my customer."

And about the price rises in the luxury & niche segment of the perfume business:
"As far as the industry justification for overpricing, that seems like a complete dodge at best! It reveals those perfume companies’ values—those are not my values and I don’t pay any attention to them. Yet there can actually be a blessing-in-disguise from high prices, since I like to encourage people to “buy less, better”—to have a meaningful connection with what they’ve bought and not be swayed by status concerns and marketing."

This interview comes as a follow-up of some issues we have discussed with Andy Tauer of Tauer Perfumes on this link, as well as a presentation of my views on the marketing side of perfume business, so if you missed those and the fascinating discussion that erupted in the comments, you might want to check them out to get things in context. Hopefully the series will continue with more artisans, indies and business insiders sharing their views with us.

Friday, December 2, 2011

Aftelier Secret Garden: fragrance review

The velvet feel of rose, the sweet nectar of jasmine, the tartness of raspberry...the human presence, felt subtly like the paws of furry animals trailing amongst the fallen leaves of an unattended garden...feelings, memories, awakenings, scattered; brought back like the rays of spring sun after a long, torturous winter. The endless repetition of the cycle of life just a snapsnot in the all too ephemeral space of childhood. This is what The Secret Garden stands for.

Secret Garden the perfume is named after the homonymous 1910 novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett. In it a young girl blossoms herself, after discovering a barren secret garden and bringing it back to life.This coming of age story and the metamorphosis of a sour, unaffactionate brat into an empathetic human being. The garden motif serves as the symbol of living things being spiritual healers. And how could this not be, as all natural perfumery, as represented by Aftelier, focuses exactly on the life force of essences derived from outdoors.

All naturals guru perfumer Mandy Aftel used two truly precious ingredients into the formula of Secret Garden, much like has been her practice in her opus, exploring the length and the breadth of the natural world. These two natural animalic essences are all but vanished from modern perfumery (except for very, very specific and far between cases): a batch of old civet, which she bought from a retired perfumer, and castoreum tinctured from the beaver. These bring out the warmth, the candied aspect of the floral notes, opening them up, citrusy honeyed backdrops of newly-discovered joy, a glimpse into a new world full of colour, of aroma, of pleasure. Jasmine and rose are the chief magicians, mingled into a duality that represents the heroine's, Mary Lennox's, past and present: jasmine sambac ~humid, narcotic, languorous, candied~ for India; rose ~satin-like, sentimental, feminine~ for Enland. The floral notes take more than a supporting role in this typically floriental composition, a classic aimed at everyone who loves perfume, boosting the generosity of the heart; hesperidic and seemingly spicy up top, vibrating with passion on the underside. The underlying sweetness is akin to opening up yourself to the wonder that is life.

Notes for Aftelier Secret Garden:
top: bergamot, bois de rose, Geraniol, blood orange
middle: jasmine sambac, raspberry (compounded isolate), Turkish rose, blue lotus
base: civet, castoreum, vanilla, deertongue*, benzoin, aged patchouli

*NOT an animal ingredient

The lasting power is quite good for an all naturals scent, no complaints there. 

Aftelier's Secret Garden is available in a 1/4 oz. bottle ($150), a 30 ml Eau de Parfum spray ($150), a 2 ml Mini bottle ($45), and a sample size ($6).
Available directly from www.aftelier.com



Painting by Marc Chagall, The Three Candles

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

The Alchemy of Taste and Smell: Fragrant Exhibition

Cutting-edge Event with Top Chefs and Perfumer Mandy Aftel Explores Aroma
and Essential Oils in Cooking and Cocktails at Astor Center NYC November 12-13

The Alchemy of Taste and SmellAstor Center, New York City
November 12-13, 2010
For info & tickets: http://www.astorcenternyc.com/

Cooking is alchemy: the art of transforming raw materials into a perfected form. Cooking fuses taste and smell, emotion and memory, culture and nature. The work of chefs today is much discussed, but the process by which new dishes and flavor combinations are created remains mysterious. This event will explore creativity in cooking, the composite nature of flavors and the importance of aroma in food and drink.

The event starts Friday night, with a cocktail making demonstration, followed by a reception and cocktail party that will feature creative cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. Saturday will have demonstrations and talks, followed by a meal.

Seven chefs will collaborate on the dinner on Saturday night. The seven-course meal (one course by each chef) will be experimental in nature, exploring new flavor combinations and making explicit the connection between what we smell and what we taste. For instance, a cucumber/melon salad served on a plate scented with mint essence, as a sensory sleight of hand where by the end of the dish the diner thinks that they have eaten the herb, even though they have only smelled it. Mandy Aftel will collaborate on the dinners. The dishes would be accompanied by appropriate wines.

PROGRAM SCHEDULE

Friday Night, November 12

5:00PM Demonstration - Dave Arnold and Audrey Saunders Using Aroma inCocktails (The Study, up to 36 people) $55

7:00-10:00PM Opening Party (The Lounge and The Gallery, up to 250 people) $95

Creative cocktails by Dave Arnold and Audrey Saunders. Participating Chefs: David Chang, Alexander Talbot and Aki Kamozawa, Daniel Patterson, Nils Noren, Bill Corbett

Saturday Day, November 13

11:30PM Demonstration- David Chang, Wylie Dufresne New Flavor Combinations (The Study, up to 36 people) $55

1:00PM Harold McGee Thinking about Flavor (The Gallery, up to 100 people) $45

McGee will outline the chemical and biological nature of flavor. He will describe the molecules that stimulate our senses of taste and smell, how taste and smell work together to create the perception of flavor, and how that perception is influenced by past experience and by context.

2:30PM Demonstration - Daniel Patterson and Johnny Iuzzini Flavor and Aroma (The Study, up to 36 people) $55

Dishes that focus on the interaction between taste and smell. They will each make dishes starting from the same flavor combinations, demonstrating a range of styles and techniques.

3:45PM Panel Discussion Creativity and Flavor (The Gallery, up to 100 people) $35

Five leading chefs will discuss the process by which they create new dishes. (ingredients, technique, childhood memories, cultural associations)

5:00PM Mandy Aftel Creating with Aromas (The Study, up to 36 people) $35
Aftel will demonstrate the process of how she creates with scent --- showing you how to orchestrate the interactions between pure and natural essences when blending a flavor or fragrance. This architecture of aroma will be illustrated graphically by smelling some unexpected combinations, over a range of concentration ratios.

Saturday Night, November 13

7:00PM Dinner. The Lounge (40 people) $300

David Chang, Wylie Dufresne, George Mendes, Alexander Talbot and Aki Kamozawa, Nils Noren, Daniel Patterson, Bill Corbett, some in collaboration with perfumer Mandy Aftel using her essential oils. The price includes beverage and service.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Aftelier Fir and Roses: fragrance reviews


Mandy Aftel is behind Aftelier, a niche brand of all natural perfumes which has a cult following. Mandy herself is considered a perfumery guru. In her words: "When creating a formula, I aim to capture a sensuous feeling that results in an aesthetic experience that is both modern and luxurious [...] It gives me great joy when Aftelier Perfumes become part of people's lives and enhance their sense of luxury, well-being, and beauty". It was in that spirit that I came to sample two of her new solids, Roses and Fir. (Hot on the heels of the news that Mandy had collaborated with AHAlife.com where she was distributing a trio of her perfumes in elegant bottles, by the way). Solid perfume is a good idea, especially in our times as you can slip some into your handbag and travel through Draconian measures at airports or never care for accidental spillage. When they come in a beautiful compact it's even better. I haven't seen the latter, because my samples were poured into plastic, but I bet it's pretty as it's supposed to be Mexican sterling silver. But the important issue is what hides inside.

The fragrances are mixed into a base of organic unfiltered beeswax and jojoba oil and they meld at body temperature leaving behind a veil of scent. Roses is a warm honeyed rose aroma which smells lush and warm, that feeling of euphoria upon smelling the first blossoms absorbing the rays of a fondling sun. Contrary to most rose renditions in mainstream perfumery which project with a sharp and sour scent on my skin, natural essences of rose can veer into either liquer-like, almost boozy fruitiness or hesperidic-honey facets (it reminds me of honey harvested by bees grazing on orange groves). Depending on the dosage in the mix, they both do nice things on me, assuming they do not end up engulfing me. In Aftelier Roses despite the name, although unmistakeable a rose blend, the roses aren't agressive but reveal welcome spicy and incense-y nuances.
Fir is more of a classic resinous (and quite mossy!) composition which plays on many a perfumista's favourite tune: the smells of autumn in the country, a walk in the woods, leaves trampled underfoot... The overall ambience is one of gentle sweetness and a little bit of dustiness, as if I am striding into said woods, a cane on my side and tweeds on my back, never knowing I had that urge. The mossiness can be rendered through IFRA-defying revolt and I wonder just how many of the natural perfumers will continue to be able to source the proper materials to do so. At any rate, Aftelier Fir is warm and inviting, possessing a succulent quality which I cannot put in better words than "jammy".
But the best tip was given by Mandy herself: layering the two on skin (she even has one compact with the two scents featured side by side) creates the coveted effect of having roses stretching, reaching out for the sun in a big, shady forest. Autumn, here we come!Product samples are available on this Aftelier page.

Photo of "Roses in the Woods" byWithrow/flickr, some rights reserved.
Disclosure: I was sent two solid miniatures/samples by the brand itself.

Monday, June 28, 2010

Aftelier Perfumes Giveaway!

Mandy Aftel is the perfumery guru and pioneer who managed to alight an all naturals aromatics Renaissance with her body of work and especially her seminal book Essence & Alchemy, the cornerstone on which the naturals movement has flourished; absolutely delightful and all around highly recommended reading. She has just revamped her Aftelier Perfumes site into a friendlier and prettier format, including many rare vintage photographs. To celebrate this launch she asked us to host a Giveaway of some of her products.

There will be four winners in this drawing, and each winner gets to pick out one of the following: a Face Elixir, a Bath Oil, a Body Oil, or a perfume Mini of their choice (except Parfum Privé).
You need to do something to be entered, so read carefully!
1). Go to the Aftelier website and give a little feedback in your comment here about the new design.
2) You need to see the visuals on the store website to answer this question: What flowers are shown growing on the vintage postcards from Grasse on Mandy's site? (Except on the Samples page) Clue: They're four of them and they're extremely popular perfume notes! Include the answer in your comment here.
Bonus points if you follow Mandy at Facebook or Twitter. (just click the links and leave some feedback if you like)

The winners choose their own perfume Mini gift from this page and the next one!
DRAW is open till Friday 2nd July midnight.

While you're at it, don't miss the new samples page as well as the solids, the traditional liquid perfumes of course, my favourite new feature: the chef's essences (for adventurous cooks!) and the perfumed teas.

Other giveaway hosts: Scenthive, Cafleurebon, The Non Blonde, Now Smell This.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Adventures in the Global Kitchen: Aromatics Along the Silk Road

The American Museum of Natural History will be hosting Adventures in the Global Kitchen: Aromatics Along the Silk Road, featuring renowed natural perfumer Mandy Aftel, which we have hosted on our pages in the past.
Frankincense, myrrh, patchouli, and jasmine were among the valuable commodities traded along the ancient Silk Road , and they are still prized today. Renowned perfumer Mandy Aftel, the nose behind Aftelier perfumes, will awaken the senses as she leads visitors on an aromatic journey.
Attendees will learn about the fascinating world of fragrances and have the chance to sample authentic and pure essences during a discussion about aromatics’ history. This program is part of a series of tastings and lectures for adults and educational programming for children that are being offered in conjunction with the exhibition Traveling the Silk Road : Ancient Pathway to the Modern World, on view until August 15, 2010.

WHEN : Wednesday, January 20, 6:30 pm

WHERE: Linder Theater, first floor
Enter at 77th Street

HOW MUCH: $20

You can purchase tickets online on this link.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Aftelier Living Pefume Exhibit ~and Lumiere by Mandy Aftel: new fragrance

Mandy Aftel needs no introduction. Everyone interested in natural perfumes ~and in perfumes period~ has given at the very least a passing glance to her writing in Essence and Alchemy one of the most jam-packed with delicious info papeback to ever come out fom the printer's. Now Henri Bendel, the iconic New York retailer announced that it will hold an exhibit Living Perfume: The Natural Alchemy of Mandy Aftel April 18 – May 11, 2009, featuring the perfume, the craft, and the collection of leading natural perfumer, Mandy Aftel. Henri Bendel is the exclusive retailer of Aftel’s Aftelier line of hand-blended scents which are created from the world’s finest natural ingredients.


This interactive and historic exhibit will showcase the extraordinary materials that bring to life the art and science of natural perfume. It will be created and installed using the responsible design principles of sustainable materials and eco-friendly sourcing, and draw its inspiration from the natural world where natural fragrance originates.
"It is rare to have the opportunity to usher in a new art form, especially one that embodies such great beauty. We consider Aftelier to be the leader in natural perfume and are excited about sharing it with our customers through this historic exhibit" states Claudia Lucas, Senior Vice President of Beauty & Gifts for Henri Bendel.
All Aftelier Perfumes are created by Mandy Aftel, author of the award-winning Essence and Alchemy: A Book of Perfume, a publishing success in seven languages which prompted Vanity Fair to dub Mandy “angel of alchemy”. Yet Mandy has touched earth too, also designing several custom blends for Hollywood stars, writers, and restaurants, as well as private labels. The recipient of the Sense of Smell Institute’s Richard B. Solomon Award, Mandy Aftel stands in the threshold of a new art form that is set to create new directions given the attention it has been receiving by connoisseurs in recent years.
According to Mandy: “As potent as it can be, smell is the most neglected of our senses. Rational precepts and the industrial age have separated our minds, bodies and spirits, and further separated us from nature. Natural Perfume, created from natural materials and aromatics is a multi-layered phenomenon: In a breath, we are able to reconnect with the natural world and ourselves in new and profound ways.”
Thus the Living Perfume Exhibit is dedicated to the sense of smell, aromatics, and the art of natural perfume, with interactive learning opportunities for the public. The Exhibit will feature Aftel’s body of work: her perfumes and oils, her research and writings, her personal library of rare books, graphics, and artifacts - to offer a unique and foundational view of this world.
The Living Perfume Exhibit runs from April 18 through May 11 on the 3rd floor of Henri Bendel. Not to be missed!

Mandy Aftel is also introducing a new pefume in her all-natuals line, called Lumière which means of course Light." Lumière is a sheer elegant floral composed of the precious essences of boronia, blue lotus and sacred frankincense. A sophisticated floral that is restrained but sensual. The base chord is built upon notes of fine green tea absolute and the rarest of Frankincense ~boswellia sacra from Oman~ with its ethereal and mysterious resinous woody notes. Lumière's exquisite heart features Tasmanian boronia with its aroma of freesias and raspberries, and the transparent watery floral note of blue lotus". Aftelier uses no artificial colours, no synthetic fragrances, no petrochemicals, no phthalates, and no parabens
Lumière will be available in 0.25oz for $195) and 2.2ml mini size for $60. (NB: The price is justifiable due to the very high cost of all natural raw mateials) The one quarter ounce perfume comes with a complimentary mini kit! Contact info@aftelier.com

See the whole line at: Aftelier.com And you can download the catalogue here.

Monday, August 20, 2007

London Calling...part 4: at Roja Dove's place


When one is faced with greatness it manifests itself in no uncertain terms. Awe, amazement and a feeling of having tingles down the spine greet you upon entering one of the sacred altars of perfume, Roja Dove’s Haute Parfumerie on the 5th floor of Harrod’s, the Titanic of all stores: impressive, astounding in fact and certain to lead you to your doom. Financially speaking, that is.

Roja Dove is no stranger to perfume and his very special place in that Mecca of shoppers is magnificent. Formerly professeur de parfums at Guerlain (a title he gave himself, when they were at a loss on how to call him, as he is not a “nose” ~meaning a practicing perfumer) he is in reality a Roger who spelled his name the way it is pronounced in a heavy-set aristocratic English accent.
Haute Parfumerie was a concept near and dear to his heart, as it is meant to work like a museum and a shop combined: among the myriads of vintage bottles in opulent Bacarrat crystals there are many recreations and infinitesimal versions of favourite smells for customers to pick and choose, so that they are guaranteed to find their perfect holy grail scent or just the latest fling with which to dance the night away. All subject to their taste.

The grand staircase that recalls an Egyptian tomb fit for a Pharaoh in a modern version of Liz Taylor’s "Cleopatra"is nowhere near possible to describe without being unjust and the evocative lighting of the space is akin to entering a shrine to the high priest of perfume indeed. Rows and rows of vintage bottles with impressive names stand in aloof poise, among them the Bacarrat rarity Les Larmes Sacrees de Thebes (=sacred tears of Thebes ~fit for the Egyptian theme!), Nina Ricci’s discontinued classic Coeur Joie (=heart of joy), Ombre Rose by Jean Charles Brosseau with its rich powdery hay and oppoponax base or the individual Caron masterpiece of Ernest Daltroff En Avion, dedicated to aviation and its brave first steps. Indeed they do have many of the Caron urn perfumes: those are the pure parfum/extrait perfumes that the venerable French house only sells from big crystal “vats” at their boutiques by request.
They also have the rare gems of Christian Dior from the days of their illustrious past: Diorama and Diorling. They are too beautiful to dismiss in a single expletive, so they deserve their own space and time in the near future to which you will be treated shortly.

Additionally Roja has created some individual scents for selling there, as I found out for about £2000 a bottle. The price being prohibitive I was reluctant to even try them out for fear I might have to break down and put a little mortgage to acquire one of them. On the other hand he is also launching three more moderately priced yet quality superior feminine scents for the upcoming season (October to be precise). They are based around one fragrance family each and they are named Scandal (a rich white floral), Enslaved(an oriental) and Unspoken (a chypre).

Roja’s theory of why smell is so important to us is interesting though and worth recounting. He maintains that the part of the brain that deals with odour is empty when we are born and we spend the first years of our lives (well into our puberty and beyond, I get to understand) forming preferences and distastes. This might be the reason why babies and small children often do not have a notion of “bad” smells and they venture into skatole-filled adventures that would make us shudder. It might also explain why there are definite preferences in certain aromas when we grow up that we can’t seem to shake off: they just move us on a deeper level, reminiscing of our childhood experiences and memories.

Roja elaborates that this is what is called an “odour profile”, sounding very much like a special FBI agent intent on capturing a serial killer, and in a way, you might want to think that smell is a serial killer, the way it strikes again and again and again with shocking results every single time. This odour profile constitutes what we find appealing and what not and also pinpoints which fragrance families tend to attract us more, giving a glimpse into our personalities in the process. This also coincides with what Mandy Aftel has to say when creating a bespoke fragrance for a client, by the way. She maintains that you can judge somewhat the tendencies of a personality according to the basenotes they choose for their tailor-made fragrance: shy or conventional types go for vanilla; hell-cats go for hay or blond tobacco and so on.
It’s an interesting thought, to be sure.

To revert to the subject at hand though, Roja continues by elaborating on how to choose an appropriate scent for oneself, using the odour profile. First there is some testing to determine which fragrance family is most appealing in general. For general purposes this is three-fold, encompassing floral, chypre and oriental. It is essential to clarify at this point that this is not meant to exclude one from the other or indeed disregard the nuances of cross-pollination that very often happen across families. It is simply a matter of simplifying a basic tendency that might produce more recommendations that would be most suitable. It doesn’t mean that a person can’t very well enjoy certain fragrances from all those families above.
Indeed after establishing a preference, one then goes through a process of elimination and specification that involves smelling separate notes. This is done through the use of scented candles, Diptyque it was from what I recall, and they let you smell the glasses they came in and share your impressions, as those particular candles are single-note based. My own preference for Oak, Oeillet, Jasmine and Pomander resulted in recommendations of Bellodgia, Mitsouko, Bal a Versailles and Coup de Fouet. Oh, dear, I already knew that…, I inwardly think.
Still, the process is fascinating, especially as there is no divulging of what you are smelling till after you have proffered an opinion. Which maintains the quintessential factors of a good test: objectivity and no influence by advertising or packaging.
I highly recommend the trip!



Pic "Favourably inclined" originally uploaded by cishikilauren /flickr

This Month's Popular Posts on Perfume Shrine