New for Autumn

Autumn seems far away for anyone who hasn't taken their summer vacations yet, but we like to be prepared! Traditionally it's the time to replace your light and fruity fragrances with warmer, heavier notes. However, Denise Estrada, owner of Mélange Apothecary in Sherman Oaks, California, is noticing that fruit-based fragrances such as Cassis (berry), Framboise (raspberry leaf) and Poire (pear) as well as crisp citrus are beating out the competition, no matter if it’s raining, snowing, or sweltering out. Well, we had a suspicion it was so, after witnessing the plethora of fruity fragrances out!
Having worked in the fragrance industry for nearly 20 years as a formulator, esthetician and manufacturer, Estrada considers Mélange a “living lab,” where she is able to track and trend forecast what will be the next big scent in the world of fragrance. Here is what Mélange is creating for the upcoming autumn season:

Fragrances:
Eau de Parfum:
Casablanca Lily: Takes the warm and fragrant Oriental Casablanca Lily and blends it with a touch of rich Sandalwood oil.
Pomegranate & Grapefruit: A wonderful combination of fresh, uplifting Grapefruit, blended with a tart, fresh Pomegranate fragrance reserved especially for this blend.
Mandarin & Orchid: A blend of fresh Mandarin oil, Orchid, Jasmine and green accords.
Feuille de Fromboise: A fresh Red Raspberry Leaf with sweet Green Tea.
Parfum Concentrated Rollers:
Athene with Gardenia & Amber: A full ounce of Athene (a blend of Dark Chocolate, Guava, Vanilla and Tuberose) with sweet Gardenia and golden Amber.
Natural Jasmine, with Mandarin & Cypress: A full ounce of sweet Jasmine, Mandarin Orange Blossoms and the clean scent of Cypress.

Concrete Parfum Blending Kit: To mix and match in the following scents: Feuille de Fromboise (Red Raspberry Leaf); Tuberose (rich Floral); Green Tea (tea leaves with citrus and fruit accords), Grenade (sweet Pomegranate fruit).

For Home:
Candles (with soy-blend wax, no dyes and cotton wicks) in Pomegranate & Citrus, Poire and Casis Noir (sic). There is also the accompanying home scent diffusers in Pomegranate & Citrus and Poire & Casis (sic).

Mélange is quite popular for its one-of-a-kind blending bar, with more than 70 permanent fragrances and essential oils are readily available to sniff, blend and play with (cool!)
The products are available online at www.melangeapothecary.com.

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