The Victorian Pharmacy

Alec Lawless, founder and perfumer at Essentially Me Artisan Perfumery, is to appear in the fourth episode of a BBC2 TV series "The Victorian Pharmacy" scheduled on Thursday 5th August at 9pm. On the progamme he works with the three presenters to create a new fragrance using traditional ingredients. The perfume will also be available to buy exclusively from Essentially Me from the same date.

Here's what Alec had to say about the experience:
"For the TV documentary I looked at late Victorian recipes for three perfumes and decided to use many of those ingredients with the addition of some oils from India. As I was going to call the fragrance Empress of India I decided it should contain the finest quality aromatics in fitting tribute to the traditions of perfumery in a bygone age.I chose classic Orientals for the base: sandalwood, vetivert Bourbon, frankincense, vanilla, opoponax and patchouli. For the heart: tuberose, jasmines Sambac and grandiflorum, rose Maroc and orange blossom absolute. Citrus top notes of neroli, bergamot and mandarin were complimented by rose Otto, orris root and coriander.As for the purposes of the television I had three apprentices, I got each to experiment with one of the accords before assessing them as a group and blending them in just proportion to produce the finished fragrance. It was quite engaging and even the guys on sound and camera came to check it when it was finished."
More details from the BBC website can be accessed here. And also on BBC iPlayer.
The corresponding perfume, "Empress of India", will be available exclusively from Essentially Me from 4th August in a 56ml bottle, either as an Eau de Parfum (£65) or Eau de Toilette (£45). There will also be a special edition sample size bottle of Eau de Parfum.

The winners of the draw....

....for the full bottles of the new Tauer scent are La Bonne Vivante and Bloody Frida. Congratulations and please mail me with a shipping address, using the email on the Profile page, so these can be sent your way soon.
Thanks everyone for the enthusiastic participation and till the next one!

I have just returned from a little trip which promises a lot of surprises for you...shortly, very shortly my darlings!

Ineke Guilded Lily: new fragrance

Ineke, the San Francisco-based niche brand, presents “Gilded Lily” , the next installment in her ABCD series.
“Gilding the lily with sparkling fruits and cypriot woods"”
Ineke Rühland announces the latest eau de parfum
in her alphabetical line of fragrances, called “Gilded Lily”. When Ineke read
about the amazing scent of the Goldband Lily of Japan (lilium auratum), she felt
compelled to order a few for her garden to study their fragrance. This note became the heart of Gilded Lily. Historically, Victorian plant hunters discovered this lily growing wild in the mountains of northern Japan, where it is known as “yama yuri”, and brought it back to England. Afterwards, it became the basis for many of today's lily hybrids.
Gilded Lily’s "fruity chypre" structure opens with sparkling top notes of
pineapple and rhubarb followed by the goldband lily, and closes with patchouli, oakmoss and amber. Gilded Lily is the quintessential well-groomed scent,
accompanied by a head-turning deliciousness.
The phrase “gilding the lily” was coined by William Shakespeare in his play,
King John. Ineke feels it is an apt description for perfumery in general since perfumers are always looking for ways to embellish the beauty of nature. To
convey the intersection of Elizabethan England and modern Japan, the artwork for Gilded Lily has a “Shakespeare meets manga” theme.
Gilded Lily and the rest of Ineke's line (After My Own Heart, Balmy Days &Sundays, Chemical Bonding, Derring-Do, Evening Edged in Gold and Field
Notes from Paris) are sold worldwide at the fine stores listed on her website,
www.ineke.com. Gilded Lily will be available in late September 2010.


via press release

Miller Harris candles for a First Lady

Michelle Obama was gifted a Miller Harris mini candle set from the original Notting Hill store, chosen by Samantha Cameron herself, the wife of British Prime Minister David Cameron, while the latter were visiting the US.
Apparently Michelle apart from being a prime target for being given scented gifts from companies (i.e.Creed) is keen on scents herself as attested by her Boedicea fragrance shopping we had reported. Good to know!

Mystery of Musk: Sensual Embrace by JoAnne Bassett, Drifting Sparks by Artemisia Natural Perfume reviews

I smelled a lot of fragrances made of all naturals for the Mystery of Musk project. Some went for carnality (see Kewda), some opted for sensuality (see Eau Natural), others were firmly into gourmand territory (Craving anyone?) and others still were bacchic (Graines de Paradis and Dionysus). Sensual Embrace by JoAnne Bassett was a surprise: Uncitrusy citrus on top (mandarin and clementine have a mellower, sweeter aspect than what we usually associate with tangy tart citrus, i.e. bergamot and lemon), almost aqueous progression, a hint of violet and rose of all things and then less suprisingly tobacco muskiness; honeyed and smooth, baby, yeah, let's get into that groovy feeling! Not exactly what we have come to associate musk per se (or at least what most people conditioned into drugstore musks have come to expect), yet very animalistically and pleasantly so (jasmine pairs incredibly well with musky smells, its indoles enhanced). Sensual Embrace is a proper perfume rather than a plain musk "accord" for sure, like a diaphanous and creamy-retro scent for dilettanti. The only drawback is its lasting power is rather short.
Joanne Bassett's site can be found on this link.


Difting Sparks was composed by Lisa Fong and if your idea of musk is close to powdery rose and honey (or if you like Lorenzo Villoresi's take on his Musk, to make things simper), then it's a must try! Mastic gum for instance gives that hazy, fluffy, and at once oleaginous feel that could be close to a rose-musk. The rose here is resting atop polished woods, like a parqueted floor in an old appartment: aristocratic, classy, inviting, warm. Ambergris provides the right touch, someplace between an object and human flesh. The intriguing ingredient of motia attar I learned is jasmine sambac from India co-distilled in sandalwood, producing a soft note without the heaviness of traditional full-on jasmine ~curiously enough. Makes your mouth water at the thought of those two delicious essences coupled...Still, very well blended, so you can't pinpoint it as such, you just feel the creaminess and the depth.
I found that the overall smoothness, almost linear (after the first three minutes), assured progression and the good manners of this perfume managed to please me, even if a muskier or more animalistic composition was at the back of my mind initially. I can't see Lisa having too much trouble selling this one!

The notes for Drifting Sparks are mastic absolute, beeswax absolute, rose otto, bois rose and cedarwood for the top; rose absolute, orange blossom absolute, jasmine sambac absolute, and essential oil of the blossoms of the nyctanthes aboritistus tree, from India for the heart; ambergris, agarwood, angelica root, ambrette seed absolute, black current absolute, motia attar, sandalwood and siam wood for the base.
Lisa Fong resides in Oakland, California and her Artemisia Natural Perfume site can be reached here.

Please visit the rest of the participating blogs and fora on the Mystery of Musk project following the links provided.

Pic via img3.visualizeus.com