Anya's Garden Enticing: fragrance review & giveaway

"The Tuberose, with her silvery light,
That Is in the gardens of Malay
Is called the mistress of the night,
So like a bride, scented and bright,
She comes out when the sun’s away.

Then, by a secret virtue, these grateful odours
will add an inexpressible charm to your enjoyment;
but if, regardless of the precepts of moderation,
you will approach too near, this divine
flower will then be but a dangerous enchantress,
which will pour into your bosom a deadly poison,
Thus the love which descends from heaven purities
and exalts the delights of a chaste passion ; but
that which springs from the earth proves the bane
and the destruction of imprudent youth."
[source]

The seduction of Polianthes tuberosa starts in the mind, even if the consummation lies on a warm bed. Destabilizing one's mind, giving impure thoughts, thoughts of opiate intoxication, of abandoning one's self to pleasures of a forbidden nature, in the words of one writer "a voluptuous intoxication from which one does not easily become liberated".

Literally "flower of the city" (from the Greek πόλις/polis for city and  άνθος/anthos for flower), tuberose has been linked with a demi-mondaine existence in the big cities of Western Europe, where courtesans used it alongside other "crass" scents, such as musk and ambergris, to infiltrate themselves unto the lives of their lovers. The Victorian abstinence from using perfume on the body itself, unless it was in the form of a lightly scented product (hair pomade, mouth rinse, linen scent and the like), made the use of intimate forms of perfume even more daring by those deviating outwards of the accepted path of manners. Perfumer Anya McCoy of Anya's Garden chose wisely when she paired the dynamo of tuberose with animalic perfume notes (among them the human-meets-herbaceous scent of clary sage, beeswax and musk tincture), thus allying the two faces of Janus into a composite that is as narcotic as a forbidden substance, as dark as the night and as addictive as good chocolate. The lady is not quite covered, rather surreptitiously revealing, and quite old-fashioned in her naturalness; then again fashions are cyclical and animalic florals are off for a revival at the moment.

When I asked Anya about the process of creation she replied: "I used a combo of purchased absolute and extrait (pure absolute) made from pomade that I made. The pomade was washed with alcohol for two weeks, chilled, filtered. Very old school." Smelling the finished product I can vouch for the old school moniker myself; in the very best possible sense, that is!

Although the scent launched last summer, it took me a while to discover its many facets and to enjoy it on the warmer days of spring that we've been having. The natural warmth of the climate ramps up the carnal aspects to the max and it hangs into the humid air with the insistence of a lover always hungry for more. Maybe this is the deep, dangerous, complicit floral for summer to come.

Ingredients: Organic Sugar Cane Alcohol, Tuberose Absolute, Scented Alcohol extracted from Anya’s handmade Tuberose Enfleurage Pomade, Butter CO2, Opoponax Absolute, Clary Sage essential oil, Terpene Acetate Isolate ex. Cardamom, Beeswax Absolute and Anya’s handmade Beeswax Tincture, Patchouli essential oil, Mushroom Absolute, Siberian Musk Tincture.

Enticing is available in both pure perfume form as a 4ml mini, and as an Eau de Parfum 15ml spray from Anya’s Garden Perfumes store available here.

For our readers Anya McCoy has generously offered a FREE 4ml extrait de parfum of Enticing sent anywhere within the USA. All you have to do is leave a comment under the review and I will draw a winner after the weekend.

Related reading on Perfume Shrine:

Anya's Garden Perfume Reviews 

Animalic & "Skanky" Perfumes

Musk: natural Tonquin musk and synthetics

The historic Animalis base

Parfums Fourrure (so called "fur perfumes")

Home for the Holidays: Home Fragrance Project

The holiday season means it’s cold outside and everyone is spending more time indoors, with the windows and doors closed. It’s time to feature beautiful natural scents to highlight the festive spirit.

The Natural Perfumers Guild members are dedicated to using 100% natural aromatics, and for this season, members of the Natural Perfumers Guild created ambient fragrance for the home and office, using incense, candles, room sprays and wax melts. Eight Guild perfumers and associates have independently created lovely ambient scent products to celebrate “Home for the Holidays” 2012.
 The natural scents work hand-in-hand with the idea of fragrant Christmas trees, boughs and wreaths fragrancing the homes and offices. The Guild members were matched up with eight scent bloggers, several of whom have never previously reviewed ambient fragrance products.

The rationale behind the idea makes sense, as it's supremely difficult to find natural-sourced products for home use. "We in the Guild thought this was a great challenge, and love the idea of being the first to introduce them to this scenting concept. Many homes are awash with synthetic room scents, from plug-ins to automatic spritzers. How lovely, we thought, to keep in the spirit of the holidays, when pine and cinnamon and frankincense, all natural aromatics, in addition to our creative takes on indoor fragrance, can be introduced!"

The scents in which Anya's Garden presents her home fragrance wax melts in are:
Outlaw Perfume (named after the challenge to the government regulations on perfume allergens back in 2010 the perfumer took) - Oakmoss, bergamot and lime! Believed to be the first oakmoss/chypre room fragrance
Lemon Vetiver - Lemon myrtle with its lemon candy/herbal scent pairs with woodsy vetiver
Bay Rum and Honey - Oh, honey, so yummy - like a tropical night, and surprisingly, a holiday scent, too.
Each scent variation is available in 6-8 pieces 3oz. hand-poured and costs 30$.

I was sent sample wax melts to try, presented in a lovely purple pouch, obviously hand-poured with love into cookie and candy "molds" that resemble fleur de lys (or small platypus feet, it all depends on your level of humor!) and as soon as I opened the sachet I was greeted by a delicious waft of assorted freshness and spiciness.

They're all good, but my favorite has to be Bay Rum and Honey. It has that aromatic spiciness with that clove-like tinge which I adore. The throw is very good and it avoids that pitfall that many "sensual" scents get trapped into: too much sweetness to the point of nausea (though it is sweet, but in a good way). If you're bringing this to the bedroom or the living-room while entertaining you won't have people thinking some random cable melted or that you forgot something sweet on the stove! It also has an outdoorsy nuance that is not common for this genre, Christmas-y, like pine or fir. It smells delicious!
Lemon Vetiver emphasizes the fresher, brighter and vivid aspects common on both materials. These two also have other, differently nuanced facets, aromatic for lemon myrtle (which should not be confused with either lemon the citrus or with myrtle, it is backhousia citriodora and it's technically a spice) and licorice for vetiver, which are not explored here. The Lemon Vetiver wax melts would be very popular for de-stuffying a room naturally, sort of actually opening the window; it's a head-clearing, alert scent that would go down very well for a working environment or a home office, it seems to bring on a dynamism and energy to it.
Outlaw Perfume is perhaps the most outdoorsy of them all, an oxymoron for fragrance intended for the home. Its mossy, green, even slightly soapy scent from some angles invites contemplation, novel reading in overcast days when the rain pits-pats on the window pane and a foreshadowing of the good, long walk into the woods that comes after everything is properly washed down after the storm...

Wax melts are a great value since they're also the ultimate recycleable fragrance product (you can stash the cooled melts in a closet or -as Anya suggests, but I haven't tried it personally- use as a polish on furniture).

Anya's Garden has offered us the option of a giveaway: To USA-based readers only, a Room Candy tin of the scent of their choice, plus a tea candle burner, a $40 value.
Enter a comment, saying what are you desires/concerns regarding home fragrance and you are eligible. Draw remains open till Sunday 4th midnight.

Products reviewed available at Anya's Garden site. There is a good value for money Starter Kit at 40$ which includes a 3oz. tin of wax melts, tea light burner (not sold separately) and one organic beeswax tea light.

Like mentioned above this is part of a greater project including natural perfumers (from Andrea Shanti to Elisa Pearlstine and Anita Casamento) and bloggers (for instance The passionate parfumista, Feminine Things and Perfume Critic) , so if you are really interested you can consult Anya McCoy's  blog page for reference and to see other links.

Anya's Garden Royal Lotus: fragrance review of a Brave New Scent & Giveaway

The lotus...floating upon river waters where ancient civilizations flourished and died. Jasmine...the pervader of the night, its piercingly sweet floral aroma the intoxicating scent of carnality.

Alcaloids contained inside the lotus produce a sedative effect, inspiring hypotheses as to its relation to the mythical fruit consumed by the Lotophagi. And the indolic aspects of natural jasmine essence are but an invitation to ponder on our life's primal instincts and how they're sublimated into the poetry of flowers. But in Royal Lotus by Anya's Garden we never quite forget we're dealing with a floral fragrance that though based on modern, cutting-edge sourced materials is always mindful of its pretty, primal nature of aromatics: to smell good!
Indeed, even if it's built on all natural essences, with lots of real jasmine, the less polite aspects of this formidable little night bloom have been smoothed into a silky, gentle canopy that floats in the evening breeze softly promising sweet nothings; thus allowing those curious about jasmine's many fascinating facets to explore into a fragrance that won't scare the horses or prompt anyone to inspect the soles of your shoes!
Royal Lotus is zesty on top with a bursting hesperidic top note that is succulent and fresh, progressing into a soft, floral heart where the sweeter, mating aspects are highlighted rather than the fetid and decaying inherent in white flowers. Lotus essences (uniting absolute and the waxier concrete) bring a light, airated, sivery thread into the mix. The fragrance is very lightly anchored by an equally soft, well-mingled base where no note protrudes above the rest. 

Royal Lotus, part of the Brave New Scents porject, therefore takes modern ingredients into creating what feels like a solid floral: classically topped by an expansive citrus bouquet that reinforces the freshness of the white and acqueous flowers, while a subtle base of woods and coumarin smooth the nectarous essences.
Anya McCoy created Royal Lotus using 21st century materials, referencing only one wildcard from the 20th century, namely clementine essence. Anya after all is no stranger to beautiful citruses and I consider them ~as well as her beautiful floral tinctures~ as the hallmark of her brand: Anyone who likes hesperidia and white flowers would surely find something to appreciate in her all naturals line.

For her inspiration the perfumer states: "My muse was ancient India, brought into the present, once again (remember Kewdra from the Mystery of Musk project)? I chose pink and blue lotus and the extrememly rare night queen absolute (aka Night-blooming jasmine, Cestrum nocturnun) for my heart. Night queen absolute is so rare, this perfume may be, due to lack of any more NQ absolute coming to market, a very limited edition."

The perfumer worked on these notes:

for the top:
wild orange from the Dominican Republic
yuzu from Korea
orange juice essential oil from Brazil
clementine from the USA

for the heart:
blue lotus absolute from Thailand
blue lotus concrete from India
pink lotus concrete from India
Queen of the Night absolute (cestrum nocturnum) from India
Queen of the Night tincture from Anya's garden in Florida
jasmine grandiflorum tincture from Anya's garden in Florida
jasmine sambac Grand Duke of Tuscany tincture from Anya's garden in Florida
orange flower tincture from Anya's garden in Florida

for the base:
sandalwood from Australia
ambergris absolute from Utah
tonka bean absolute from France

The perfumer suggests wearing this fragrance on one's hair, as this would reward the wearer with 24 hours of floral and woody pleasure. Indeed I found that skin application left the more delicate floral elements missing sooner than desired, while a generous blotter application suggests that there is no serious colour staining hazzard for non-silk clothes.

For our readers, a giveaway of a mini 3.5ml of Royal Lotus, courtesy of Anya's Garden. (Perfumer sends prize to the winner). Please state your interest in the comments. Draw is open till Sunday midnight.

Tweet

pic via flowerpicturegallery.com

Cooking with Essential Oils: Perfuming Food with Tuberose and Dill

One of the greatest joys of being a perfume writer and an amateur cook is combining the appreciation of scents into fields that surpass their own boundaries and leep into peripheral matter. Whenever I pick up a fresh cucumber at the open market for my preparation of tzatziki dip I lean to smell its smooth peel, often asking the seller to cut one in half in front of my very eyes so I can judge by smell; and nary does a day of food shopping goes by that I am not reminded by the aromata in front of me of ingredients in fine fragrance. The same principle applies when picking up flowers to adorn my house at the florist's, the hothouse or just while trailblaizing in the countryside; succumbing to the grace of the scent bouquet that even the simplest blossom exhibits is akin to discovering the complexity of the cosmos.

Imagine my elation when I was asked by a perfumer who has been using, procuring and even harvesting her own aromatic essences for long to test her newly-launched essences for food. For a long time I thought I was the only one to use orange blossom hydrosol for my Christmas cookies, yuzu essence to aromatize my sponge cake and peppermint drops into the big vat of Mojito cocktail served on the verandahs when entertaining in the summertime. Apparently, I was not and now many more will find it easier still.


Anya McCoy who just launched this line assures us that the essential oils used are of the highest quality and tested for tolerance in use in food: "I've been using natural essential oils and absolutes to perfume my food and drinks since 1978. I have been sourcing quality oils since 1970, so please know that the oils I offer for the Anya's Garden food and drink line are of the highest quality. These are the same aromatic oils that I use in my perfumes. [...]These oils and absolutes are GRAS - Generally Recognized as Safe by the USDA. They may also be used for creating perfumes.".



In what is thought of as "oils" she also has several things to divulge: "Essential oils are made by steam- or hydrodiffusion of plant materials, in a process called 'distillation'. The "oils" aren't necessarily oils as we think of them, meaning the fixed oils. They're often much more ethereal than that, and many are lighter than water, and will float on water. However, water can also be used to disperse them, especially when the tiny amount you'll be using is placed in water. You can experiment with seltzer water, some simple syrup and ice."

The two essences with which I played extensively were tuberose and dill, tuberose being an essence I picked myself exactly because of its challenging nature which doesn't immediately produce thoughts related to food. And yet Tuberose Absolute (Polianthus tuberosa) is a must for anyone with an interest in perfumery, but also anyone with the desire to experience the complexity of nature, red in tooth and claw! Perfumes try to approximate with Beyond Love by Kilian and Carnal Flower being perhaps the truest to realism, although a few, such as Fracas or Tubereuse Criminelle, tend to overshadow some aspects in order to highlight others; butteriness and sweetness via copious orange blossom in the Piguet classic, menthol via camphoraceous notes in the Lutens cult scent.
My thinking about experiencing this marvel of nature in consumable form went around the facets of tuberose essence itself: Being familiar with Indian tuberose absolute I well knew the intensity of its deep, intoxicating aroma with rubbery and green tonalities over the lactonic sweet and "cheesier" ones.
My mind went into the route of cordials, long cool drinks that are always a refreshing and aromatic proposition welcome on our shores, to exploit the sweeter side of tuberose, but also giving an unexpected jolt that would create the effect that juniper produces in good gin: aromatic depth and crispness. The following recipe can be a good substitute of a Kir Royale or a Spritzer if instead of water you add some brut Champagne.
I'm also starting to think of what it might do to a decent Margherita!

Recipe for Lime and Tuberose Cordial
Ingredients

• Limes
• Sugar granulated
• Anya's Garden tuberose essence
• crushed ice
• fresh spearmint for decoration
  
• optional: Champagne, brut
  

Method

• Hand-juice as many limes as you like (I like the rougher "texture" of hand-juicing)
  
• Measure the juice using a measuring jug to determine sugar ratio
  
• For every litre of juice you will need 1 kilo of granulated sugar
• Put the juice and sugar into a large pan and heat very gently over low heat
  
• Stirring continually heat till the sugar is completely dissolved
• Add one drop of tuberose essence for every litre of juice when "cooking" has finished
  
• Let it cool, then add chilled water/champagne and crushed ice and decorate with spearmint
  

À votre santé!

Dill is another aroma with which I am intimately familiar. Fresh dill is a joy; small bunches of long, stamen-like delicate "leaves" that get routinely chopped off into soups, yoghurt pastes and cheese-pies, alongside shallots and fresh spearmint, or sprinkled onto fresh sliced cucumbers themselves sprinkled with salt. They aromatize the whole kitchen with the scents of springtime.
I also adore dill in hovmästarsås, the traditional Swedish sauce that accompanies gravlax, the cured hearty salmon dish. The fresh, slightly peppery, slightly wet aroma of dill mixes with sugary mustard and is cut by the saltiness of the fish.

To play with dill essence, I used it in something I make almost every week: tzatziki dip. This garlicky, thick paste is traditionally Greek and accompanies almost every variety of charcoal-grilled meat as well as several dishes of pasta, such as the famous Kahzak and Kyrguz recipe for Tatar Böregi (which the Turkish and the Greek who borrowed it call it "manti"). It's also the meanest dip for crudites! Just remember to brush your teeth and tongue afterwards to get rid of the garlic smell.


Recipe for Tzatziki Paste with Dill essence

Ingredients

• 2 fresh and aromatic cucumbers (do NOT buy if they don't smell fresh and green)
  
• 2 large pots of fresh, super thick strained Greek yoghurt with at least 8% solid fats (Fage is the widest distrubted brand and it's very good in 10% fat content, but if you have a local Middle-Eastern deli go and ask for fresh "strained yoghurt" served and packed by weight on cellophane)
  
• Anya's Garden dill essence
• 5-8 cloves of garlic (it's best to use raw garlic than powdered, it's more authentic)
  
• salt and lemon zest to taste
• a spoonful of extra virgin olive oil
• optional: capers and black olives for decorating
  

Method

• Empty the yoghurt into a big bowl and let it sit covered with a towel. It might have a little bit of water surfacing. Throw that out with a spoon carefully. You want it to be as thick and creamy as possible.
  
• Wash the cucumbers thoroughly and shred them in an onion hand-shredder/grater roughly
  
• Add the cucumbers into the yoghurt
• Clean and slice the garlic finely, you want it to be imperceptible, add to yoghurt
  
• Put 3-4 drops of dill essence into the mix
• Add lemon zest and salt to taste
• Decorate with the capers and olives and refrigerate. The longer it sits the richer it tastes.
• When you serve, spill the extra virgin olive oil on top. It makes the colours and flavours come alive!

Καλή όρεξη!


You can purchase the aromatic essences directly off Anya's Garden site. There will be more additions in the beginning of May. Tuberose is among them.

Other bloggers are writing about this too! Check out Anne's Food, Ca Fleure Bon, Better Baking, Bois de Jasmin and Stirring the Senses.

Educational Resource:
Guide to Career Education can assist amateur cooks with finding a good mix of art and cooking classes that will help you think outside the box when it comes to your cooking creations.

Disclosure: I was sent a sample of the essential oils by the perfumer.

Anya's Garden Light and Amberess: fragrance review & bottle giveaway

In the season of thanks, I'm especially thankful for being part of a discourse on perfumery which takes diverse and interesting turns all the time. The Outlaw perfume project was one of those moments in time which I feel might kickstart something bigger soon. And I'm hopeful! For now, I'm thankful that I got sent samples of two outlaw perfumes created for it by its instigator, Anya McCoy, president of the the Natural Perfumers' Guild: Light and Amberess.

I will come back for Amberess soon because it's so very snuggly and unusual for an amber-based scent (an amber mix that's not too sweet and is more spicy-rosy than most, yeah!), but Light just needs to be brought into the light (ha!) now that the natural light is diminishing in the Northern hemisphere and we tend to hanker after it. It's no accident the feast of St.Lucia (which means..."light") is on the shortest day of the year...

Anya based the composition of Light on the flower absolute of a Chinese perfume tree with beautiful yellowish blossoms belonging in the family of mahogany, named Aglaia odorata (also known as Chinese Rice Tree). Originally she meant to call the perfume Aglaia after it; a Greek name which comes from the verb αγλαΐζω (ah-gla-EEzo); it means "to beautify", to "aesthetically enhance" and is literally the origin of the english word "glamour" (nifty, eh?) In Greek mythology, Aglaia is one of the Three Kharites (the Three Graces) symbolising splendour, glory, magnificence and adornment. I personally wish Anya would have kept it, for reasons of uniqueness and...well, fitting the spirit of the perfume! But hey, I know most people would have a hard time manipulating their tongue over those heavy Greek ls and the most difficult γ for which is there is no English sounding equivalent, really... The name change into Light came naturally: The fragrance is luminous and breezy!

It's built on a "cologne style" (lots of that neroli and citrusy-woody-musky impression you get when you use a really good traditional Eau de Cologne), floral and citrusy and admist it all, the aglaia flower is the soliflore which sings the beauty of "less is more". Aglaia smells between neroli and a light, green jasmine to my nose in this mix and it's an absolutely delightful impression. Frankincense lends beautiful citrusy aspects with a gentle bitterish smokiness which couples very well with the slightly tarry-cool note of broom (that's what the French call genet); the combination makes the whole quite sophisticated!

How is Light, so delicate, so innocent, an Outlaw? The notes that are either limited by, or untested by IFRA are shown in red:
Top notes: Sicilian cedrat, Israeli yellow grapefruit, French juniper berry.
Middle notes: Chinese aglaia flower, French genet flower, North Carolina
ambergris.
Base notes: Hojari frankincense oil, edible frankincense sacra resinoid.

In order to get the most lasting power from this Outlaw perfume it's advisable to use on hair, clothes (it doesn't stain as far as I was able to test on regular non-silk fabric) or in a perfume locket! (A romantic idea which is enthusiastically embraced by the Outlaw perfumers!)
Light and Amberess are included in the newest sample set at Anya's Garden online, ten samples of all-naturals perfumes for 65$ with the option of a 10% discount with voucher code OUTLAW used upon purchase.

Anya is doing a giveaway of both Light and Amberess in 3.5ml minis, pure perfume/extrait de parfum. She prefers to ship in the USA only at the moment. Enter your name in the comments if you are eligible and I will pick two random winners! Draw is now closed.

pic via http://home.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/

Mystery of Musk Project: Kickstarting with Kewdra by Anya's Garden

The Mystery of Musk began as an innovative project in which natural perfumers tried to render a viable, sustainable animalic musk through non-animal sources. As we had announced, the time has come and now we're reaping the benefits of that effort. Samples have flown across the globe, mixing the arcane with the imaginative and the puzzling, challenging us into coming up with the right words to do them justice. Expect to see posts tackling these new perfumes and a giveaway of a whole bottle of them tomorrow. So check up daily for news and updates!

As homage to the instigator of the project and the president of the Natural Perfumers' Guild, I decided to kickstart with Anya McCoy, no stranger to these pages, whom most of you know from her fragrance line Anya's Garden. Literally, as she grows all sort of interesting and lush things in her Miami Shores garden, things that would take your breath away.
Her entry? Kewdra, a “modern Indian-style musk perfume”, inspired by Alobar’s Hindu beloved, the highly-fragrant Kudra, as featured in Tom Robbins’ famous novel Jitterbug Perfume. Anya introduced it thus: Kudra surely loved the Kewda flower of her native India and would have blended it as a masala formula that spread the gardenia and boronia flowers in a seamless heart that beats over the Kama-Sutra evocative "smell of your lover's skin" base notes.

Natural perfumes create their own web of intricacy, their drawbacks just as a many as their advantages, the challenge lying into making the materials pliable and tenacious enough to conform to classic perfumery needs. Pandanus has been already used in her unique Fairchild while an animalic note from the most improbable source (tincture of a real living rutting billie goat's hair) was explored in Pan. So you could say that Anya knows more than a few things about how to construct a complex animalic.
Pandanus flower- aka Kewda or Kewra- is the star performer in the new fragrance, a diva-esque scent which reminds me of an ample-blossomed lady spilling out of her tube top. I knew Pandanus flower from Indian chutneys which customarily accompany meat dishes, where its honeyed facets reveal themselves like liqueur; I also knew boronia from my trip to Australia, where the magical smell permeates the air when in season.
Then of course there is also beeswax in there, an exalted animalic note produced through a gentle technique involving bees' complex constructions without harming the animals.

In Kewdra pandanus makes its entrance all a-bust, proud, heavy, rich. But the effect dissipates soon, leaving a mingle of flower essences (Anya used a rural Chinese 5-petal gardenia which I can only assume is supremely costly) and natural sources of musk (such as angelica root and ambrette seed). These blend into a sweet, smooth vibe which licks the skin the way an Indian heroine in the Kama Sutra would.

Getting into the process of Kewdra requires a little patience but once you're there, the drydown cannot but appeal. Its sweet, intimate aspect evokes the scent of honey dribbled on skin. I am reminded of Baroness Moura Budberg, a Russian aristocrat who allegedly became a Soviet spy. Enigmatic to the end, she famously led an affair with the British spy R. H. Bruce Lockhart during the Revolution and later became the lover of both Maxim Gorky and H. G. Wells. Now Wells wasn't a pretty man, not attractive in any visual way. Moura’s own explanation for the unlikely liaison was that the attraction was sexual, even as she refused to marry him or remain faithful - "Wells’s skin", she said, "smelled of honey"...

Kewdra will be available at Anya's Garden e-boutique shortly and the 10ml bottle depicted will be given away by the Non Blonde soon!
Participating Sites on The Mystery of Musk Project:
Yahoo Natural Perfumery group
I Smell Therefore I Am – Abigail Levin
Perfume Shrine – Elena Vosnaki
The Non Blonde – Gaia Fishler
Indie Perfumes – Lucy Raubertas
Bitter Grace Notes – Maria Browning
CaFleureBon Michelyn Camen, Mark Behnke, Ida Meister, Skye Miller, Marlene Goldsmith
Olfactarama – Pat Borow
First Nerve – Avery Gilbert
Olfactory Rescue Service – Ross Urrere
Grain de Musc – Denyse Beaulieu
Basenotes



Painting Mother India by Maqbool Fida Hussain via razarumi.com

Anya's Garden Moondance and Starflower: fragrance reviews (& a draw!)

When the well-trodden becomes anew there is reason for joy. If certain white flowers have always seem unatainable to you, if you found yourself avoiding tuberose for reasons too complicated to unfold, all naturals indie brand Anya's Garden has two aces up her sleeves: Moondance and Starflower, two unconventional new fragrances that ~in typical Anya style~ will surprise you!

In the words of Anya McCoy in Moondance "water mint is underfoot as you dance among the violets and tuberose, as apple herb and roses sing softly".
The ethereal touch of violets opens with a trompe l'oeil touch of the mint: is it there or isn't it? "This is not the direction toothpaste is going", I said to myself, when testing, as the familiar cold-on-a-hot-tongue feeling of industrial-strength fake mint didn't register. Yet, prompted by my desire to locate it, after reading the notes, I paid more attention and it is there if very subtly: But how strange! It only maxes out the dryad feeling of the woody-orris violets into cool green pistas! Herbal scents are difficult to harness, because they seem to project at a frequency that registers them either in the culinary (lamb chops roast) or the marginally aromatherapeutic: think tisanes and hot compresses. Yet, in Moondance the chamomille reminds one of nothing of the sort. Instead it fuses with the Rose de Mai absolute and the natural alpha ionone isolates (i.e.violet) into a synergistic ritual dance in the forest under, you guessed it, a full moon. Tuberose only hints at its presence, if you're not specifically searching for it, you might not realise that it is delicately weaved in here: its bombastic nature is well-behaved for once, like a loud, overactive child who is mesmerised briefly by the shooting stars into silence, as furry animals watch from a distance (Anya used hyrax tincture and hyrax absolute to render this fuzzy animalic comfort blanket). The general ambience is not unlike Isabel Doyen's creation for Les Nez The Unicorn Spell (which is similarly unisex) and lovers of the latter should definitely give a try to Moondance! My only gripe would be its relatively short lasting power, which means that you could use it on a scarf or ~even better~ a leather band on your wrist (How utterly charming! Why should Kurkdjian have all the fun?)

If your tastes do not run into the timid, but you're set for no-limits throttle, full-on speed, then Starflower is more your thing, and by Jove, ain't it mine! Anya McCoy presents floral gourmand Starflower as "candy flower, dreamy and steamy, almond cherry, chocolate and tuberose bring Mexico to you". A Mexican delicasy doesn't even begin to describe it, as luscious chocolate, allied to beautiful, slightly camphoraceous but oh-so-good-it-hurts patchouli (and possibly a maple touch) tempt the taste buds before the nostrils claim all the pleasure. There is nothing of the sanitised patchouli that mainstream brands churn out by the bucketload aiming at the fatigued nose-velcro of urbanites burned out on the Angel-doused armpits of commuters. This is the spirited love affair of rich essences which do not succumb but to the skillful hands of a certain Miami shores artisanal perfumer. The result in Starflower is oddly animalic, deep, incredibly lasting for an all-naturals perfume, and somewhat buttyric: Indeed a CO2 butter essence is hiding under the narcotically-scented tuberose (rendered into her edible vestige, posing for a screen-test with Marcolini and melting into a pool of cream). Anya reveals: "I first became aware of its use in ice cream from an 18th Century book Encarnación's Kitchen: Mexican Recipes from Nineteenth-Century California, and further research showed its use in other sweet desserts. My perfume musings got me to thinking, well, let's see how it would pair with vanilla and chocolate, two other tasty and fragrant offerings from Mexico." I can only say that Starflower should come with a cautionary label attached: "Restrain application or you're seriously risking at having your arms (or other body parts) nibbled on!"

A small precaution if I may would be to sample Moondance before indulging in Starflower, so as not to suffocate the more ethereal into the more full-bodied, much as one would do when tasting wines of different attributes, and cork-off them for a couple of minutes before sniffing (as all-naturals are famous for being too intense to fully grasp at first).
Moondance and Starflower are available from Anya's Garden, in parfum extrait ($75 and $60) and an Eau de Parfum ($125 and $100) or $5 per sample.

Anya had the generosity of sending me two ample samples of the expensive scents for a lucky reader, along with those I sampled for reviewing. Enter a comment if you want to be in the drawing!

Related reading on Perfume Shrine: Natural scents and perfumers, Tuberose scents

Painting The Fairy Lovers by Theodore von Holst via touch of vaudeville. Women of Mexico Girclee print via fashionfling.blogspot.com.

Anya's Garden Kaffir and Temple

We have dabbled in Anya's Garden, an artisan natural perfumery stationed in Miami Shores, Florida USA before, here at the Shrine. We were really taken with her wild-hearted Fairchild and consider Pan to be one of the most unique things to ever grace the market. {click on the names to read reviews} Tincturing goat's hair itself is indeed a great way of rendering an animalistic note. So when she announced she has issued two new perfumes, Kaffir and Temple, we simply had to sniff!

The perfumes feature new-to-the-market citruses, paired in unexpected ways.
Kaffir lime peel - which is also known as Thai Lime Leaf, or Makrud lime (ghost lime or funny lime) - sparkles in the topnotes of the eponymous scent. Kaffir lime made a rather more subdued appearence in Armani's Sensi, but it wasn't allowed to steal the show. Here it is taking center stage.
On another note, Kaffir might sound like an ethnic slur, but the intention is far from such. Inspired by an ingredient that is actually starring in South East Asian cuisine, whose leaves have a natural aldehydic character, the term is sparkling some controversy.

But none is necessary. The word kaffir or kahfir derives from Arabic for "non-Muslim". Therefore it is used in some Muslim countries as a totally non-offensive, descriptive term for people of other faiths. Much like the ancient Greeks used the term "barbarians" for people who didn't speek Greek but with no intention of demeaning them; the term was not derogatory then. In many cases, such as those mentioned in Herodotus Historiae (where there are great examples of respect and admiration for the Persian empire), the contrary is true!
However long after the Arabs who came to South Africa applied it to the natives, it was picked up by the South Africans of European descent for black South Africans as an ethnic slur. {it has been brought to my attention -initially by our reader Samira, but I looked it up myself as well- that although this sounds like the arabic word, in fact it might not be the same; spelled "kaffer", it is derived from "cafard", meaning cockroach in French. The afrikaans people translated it to kaffer,because the french phonetic for cafard sound like kaffer (ka`fa:r)}.
It's high irony that Christians calling people "non-Muslims" became such a controversial term. But history is full of those...


Back to fragrant parlance, two different agarwoods were used to anchor the citruses. Anya explained that the agarwood for Kaffir is much lighter, golden and spicy with nuances of leather and freshy-sawn wood. While in Temple there is a blend of Laotian and Vietnamese dark, deep, hypnotic Ouds, a specialty grade of agarwood that is very expensive. That last part necessitated the lack of available samples for this scent due to limited amount of the perfume produced. If one is interested in good, real oud, they have to order it.

However in a generous gesture Temple samples will be gifted to those who need them and write up to Anya's Garden to claim them. Let's see what Anya Mc Coy has to say about it:

For the Survivors: Special offer for Temple Perfume

Blended along both Ayurvedic and Buddhist systems, Temple is a limited-edition perfume that is specially made for all of the survivors of the many physical disasters that have wrecked communities in the USA. It is hoped it will give courage in the face of post-traumatic stress - I know, because I am one of them. I have lived in Florida since 1985 and my first hurricane was Elena in Tampa, and the last - hopefully for some time - was Wilma.[...] Temple is also being offered to anyone who has been the victim of domestic abuse, poor health or other challenges that have caused trauma and ongoing stress.


The first 100 readers that write me at Anya's Garden will receive a sample for free. Fifty percent of the profits from Temple will be donated to various charities that assist people and animals via their rescue efforts. The offer will end when all of the samples have have been claimed.

And how do the scents smell, you ask.

Kaffir

Fragrance Family: Citrus-FloraLeather-Wood

Kaffir is really a drop of sunshine in the gloom of November. The juiciness of hesperidia, the lime nectar and the aroma of snapped leaves is almost tangible as you spray the fragrance on you and you instantly get happy thoughts. It's playful, with a verdancy that grabs you by the nose and gets your attention. The green touch of galbanum, that striking note in vintage Vent Vert of which Anya herself is a fan, makes for an arresting beginning.
Flowery with the indolic loveliness of jasmine and what seemed to me like orange blossom (but in fact is not)it take you places: you are in a mirage of summery pleasures that spin around you. Jasmime is a favourite note of mine of course and when one is using natural essences and absolutes, it is even more of an indulgence. It's a sensuous experience to be cherished.
As the scent of Kaffir dries down you realise just how good it is: there is a woody edge, some pungency that lingers seductively, a lived-in feeling. Leather is not usually combined with citrus and here it is a touch that sets it apart.
I think anyone would feel a little brighter for experiencing Kaffir. And that's a blessing in its own way.


Official notes:
Top: Kaffir Thai lime leaf, galbanum, French and Tropical tarragon accord
Middle: tinctures of eight jasmines, heritage oak extract, Grasse jasmine
Base: sustainable golden agarwood, musk seed, leather accord


Temple
Fragrance Family: Citrus-Incense-Spiced Wood


I have to admit that agarwood/oud is like a lumberjack of death to me and I usually cannot wear it on my skin. Some of the Montale ouds which receive so much accolades have proven to be simply unpalatable. And the irony is, they're not even that "real", since Perfume Shrine has indeed dabbled in smelling real oud thanks to the generosity of a friend who wanted to read my thoughts on some arabic essences from Yemen.
In Temple we have real, expensive, precious oud that would make lovers of this love-it-or-hate-it note jump with joy. The heart is truly like Zuko, the Japanese ritual powder, we found out. This exotic reference is further aiding in the centering and relaxation that oud would produce to those who love it. There is also warmth and roundness to the scent which is due to cassie and spices (some of which smell like star anise and cinnamon to me): it is as if it's tied to images of earth goddesses.

On Anya's coaxing, nevertheless, I tried putting a drop of Temple in a bowl of hot water to scent my home. And trully it subtly produced a serene mood and pleasant meditative ambience that was very welcome. This alternative use enthralled me and I plan on beginning to test more of my more "difficult" scents that way.
For the rest of you that find oud mannah from heaven, this is not to be missed.

Official notes:
Top : distilled orange juice, borneol crystals
Middle : aglaia flower, cassia, Ayurvedic herbs and spices
Base : sustainable Laotian and Vietnamese Oud agarwood, earth tincture




There is also a special voucher on Anya's Garden site for all perfumes and essences:

Through December 1st, type in the world natural in the voucher at checkout, and receive 10% off all purchases.

Sounds good!

Artwork by illustrator Rafal Olbinski courtesy of allposters.com. Pic with sitting woman from Anya's Garden site

Labdanum: an important material (in chypre fragrances & not only)

It is well known to our readers by now that chypre perfumes are dependent on a strict formula that juxtaposes bergamot and oakmoss, interlaying labdanum and other earthy elements such as vetiver or patchouli.
Perfume Shrine has already focused on oakmoss extensively (click for relevant article), so the other important material that needed tackling was labdanum. And so here we are today, trying to examine some of its facets.

First of all, what is it? It comes as a sticky dark brown resin exudate from two sources: from the shrubs Cistus ladaniferus (western Mediterranean) and Cistus creticus (eastern Mediterranean), both species of rockrose. Rockrose forms the Cistaceae (or rock-rose family), a rather small family of plants reknowned for their beautiful shrubs, covered by flowers at the time of blossom. It consists of about 170-200 species in eight genera and those are distributed primarily in the temperate areas of Europe and the Mediterranean basin, although they can be found in North and South America too in some instances. The flowers themselves have a faint odour and are not used in perfumery.

Labdanum is a natural oleoresin but it differs slightly from other oleoresins in that it contains more waxes and less volatile oil than most of the other natural oleoresins.

There is an ancient background to labdanum, as its etymology reveals: lôt in Hebrew (coming from a semetic root) which means resinous herb, ladunu in assyrian, lâdhan in Arabic, ledanon in Greek and ladanum/labdanum in Latin. Egyptians used it in their Kyphi mixtures whereas the Hebrews burned it in their temples as incense, so it had a ceremonial character.
It is even referenced in The Bible (as Balm of Gilead): The Ishmaelite caravan coming from Gilead to which Joseph was sold, was transporting labdanum (Genesis 37, 25). Subsequently, Jacob ordered his sons to offer labdanum, along with other local products, to their brother, now an Egyptian dignitary:

"And their father Israel said unto them, If it must be so now, do this; take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts and almonds."

(Genesis 43, 11) {found through Bible fragrances}.

It is believed that the above refers to the resin from the Pink Rockrose as "myrrh", although the two are not interchangeable. Myrrh per se is mentioned in the Bible (Psalm 45:8; Song of Solomon 4:14) and is believed to have been a mixture of natural myrrh (extracted from a tree in Africa and Arabia, like franckincense used to be got as well) and the oleoresin labdanum.

The Japanese use labdanum today in their Neriko mixtures, used during tea ceremony. The tradition is alive!

The use of ladbanum in medicine is well documented. Its high content in polyphenols makes it an excellent food supplement protecting the immune system.
In ancient times it was used for its properties of protection against bacteria and fungi.

It is suggested that the Pharaohs used fake beards made of goat hair (from animals that had grazed upon the resiny bushes) for that reason, but also to surround themselves with an aura of distinction.
Greek physician Hippocrates prescribed "myrrh" (the mixture of natural myrrh and labdanum, as above) for sores and the Romans used it to treat worm infestations, the common cold, coughs, and some infections. Up to 3000 tons of frankincense and myrrh were transported each year during the height of Nabataean trade!
According to Cocker, J. D.; Halsall, T. G.; Bowers, A. (1956). "The chemistry of gum labdanum. I. Some acidic constituents" (Journal of the Chemical Society: 4259-62) and II. The structure of labdanolic acid" (Journal of the Chemical Society: 4262-71):

Labdane is a natural bicyclic diterpene that forms the structural core for a wide variety of natural products collectively known as labdanes or labdane diterpenes. The labdanes were so named because the first members of the class were originally obtained from labdanum, a resin derived from rockrose plants."

while

A variety of biological activities have been determined for labdane diterpenes including antibacterial, antifungal, antiprotozoal, and anti-inflammatory activities.

(Studies in Natural Product Chemistry : Bioactive Natural Products, Part F, Atta-Ur-Rahman)

Theophrastus and Pliny mention labdanum as does Herodotus in his Historia, in the book "Thalia" (one of a total of 9,named after the Muses):

"Ledanum, which the Arabs* call ladanum, is procured in a yet stranger fashion. Found in a most inodorous place, it is the sweetest-scented of all substances. It is gathered from the beards of he-goats, where it is found sticking like gum, having come from the bushes on which they browse. It is used in many sorts of unguents, and is what the Arabs burn chiefly as incense.
Concerning the spices of Arabia let no more be said. The whole country is scented with them, and exhales an odour marvellously sweet."

{*please note that the Arabs referenced by Herodotus are ancient tribes inhabiting the region called Arabia and not today's islamic populace}.

But then why the confusion with opiates? The answer goes back to the Middle Ages and Paracelsus. A famous medical preparation of his own -which included gold, crushed pearls and other ingrendients (Opera, 1658, i. 492/2), but with opium as its chief component. Therefore the term is now used for the alcoholic tincture of opium (q.v.). The name was either invented by Paracelsus from Latin laudare (=to praise), or was a corrupted form of "ladanum" (from Persian ladan), a resinous juice or gum obtained from various kinds of the Cistus shrub, formerly used medicinally in external applications and as a stomach tonic." (Source 1911encyclopedia.org)


Labdanum's odour profile is highly complex. It is balsamlike, with woody, earthy, smoky, and even marshy undertones. Some even desrcibe it as ambergris-like, or leathery and honeylike with hints of plum or oakmoss after a rain. Usually it is referred to as ambery, but it is mostly used to render leather or ambergris notes, the latter especially after its ban on using the real animal-derived material, as there were concerns about the ethical production of it from sperm whales from which it originates (Ambergris is therefore very rare and costly if ethically harvested and is mostly synthesized in the lab. Please read this amber article for more info).

Its complexity is one of the reasons it has fascinated people since antiquity and it has been reported to affect the subconsious in profound ways. Its aromatheurapeutic value is that it is grounding, warming and sensual.

The method of extracting it is unusual and highly entertaing at that. Herodotus and Pliny report that labdanum was collected by combing the beards of goats, which were impregnated with the substance. The goats graze from the branches and the sticky resin gets stuck on their beards. Upon their return, their owners comb the resin our of their beards and extract the resin.

Also a rakelike instrument with long strips of leather attached to it, which they drag across the bushes to collect the resin, is used, called ladanesterion.
To this day labdanum is still gathered in Crete by driving goats into the thick forests overgrown with labdanum bushes. It is difficult work as it is best done in hot weather, under bright sunlight in the summer months. Sises is a Cretan village near Rethymnon, where such work is done to this day (coincidentally also the area from which El Greco/Dominikos Theotokopoulos comes).
You can read amazing detail on this matter on this site by Dimitris Niktaris: Labdanum Gr.

Today modern production is mainly concetrated in Spain and is done through easier means. However there is something to be said about the small, manual labour of cretan production that is of top quality.
The modern method involves boiling the leaves and twigs of this plant in water and the gum being skimmed off the surface and mixed with other resinous matter, which sinks to the bottom of the boiling water, as the resinoid is unsoluble in water. The extraction of the crude or cleaned labdanum gets done with a hydrocarbon solvent, whereas petroleum ether is being used increasingly because it yields a light amber resinoid which contains the most wanted odour principles in high concentration: cinnamon base - (isoeugenol) and labdanum resinoid. An absolute is obtained by solvent extraction whereas an essential oil is produced by steam distillation.

In perfumery it is used in many alloys, chypres notwithstanding and mixes well with hundreds of ingredients, interestingly one of which is lavender, another mediterranean herb.
Labdanum gum may contain up to 20% water, but this should be squeezed off or cautiously dried off. When in its fresh state, it is plastic but not pourable. It hardens on ageing, even to the point of becoming brittle. However if it is so at room temperature, it should be rejected as a starting material for the processing of labdanum derivatives.
Its shelf life is about 36 months and can be used in 10.0000 % in the fragrance concentrate.

One of the fragrances that focus on labdanum is Le Labo's Labdanum 18. Tagged as an enigma, to be used by both sexes, it focuses on the mysterious ambience that labdanum creates, fusing animalic and warm notes that meld on the skin.
Other fragrances that are rich with the note (but no guarantees on it always being naturally derived) are:
Donna Karan Essence Collection Labdanum ,Monia di Orio Lux, Dia for men by Amouage, L'eau Trois by Diptyque, Rien by Etat Libre d'Orange, Andy Tauer L'air du desert marocain ~Click for review~ (and reportedly it will feature in his Incense Duo as well), Patou pour Homme, Tabac Sport by Mäurer & Wirtz, Boucheron Pour Homme, Capucci Pour Homme, ST Dypont Signature pour homme, Eau Sauvage Extrême by Christian Dior, Whole Notes a floriental from Canadian perfumer Lyn Ayre of Coeur d’Esprit Natural Perfume, Prada, Prada Tendre and Prada Amber pour Homme, Mathew Williamson Incense, Ho Hang by Balenciaga, Jacques Bogart One man show, Ayala Moriel natural perfumes Ayalitta, Autumn and Democracy and Anya's Garden natural perfume Pan ~click for review~ that features real billy goat hair tincture.

Pics from bojensen.net, ladanisterion pic originally uploaded by labdanum.gr