I think I’ve mentioned before that the demands of my day job go through distinct phases. Most of the time, I’m fortunate enough not to have to take a great deal of work back home with me. Then there are moments – usually once every six weeks or so – when I have to give up a whole weekend for work-related joys. And then there are episodes – like the one I’ve been enjoying for the last three weeks – when pretty much every single evening of every single day is a breathless drive to meet a deadline. Naturally, this leaves almost no time for Passion #1 (writing) and even less for Passion #2 (perfumery).
Thankfully, the first deadline’s been met and I can breathe normally for the next three weeks… which means that I’d like to devote some attention to my bottles and potions. But I also think I need to abandon my leisurely approach and succumb to the rigours of a prescribed discipline. Or, to put it less portentously, I think I need to develop a specific perfume project. Where would I like to start? Well, this isn’t exactly original territory, but I feel inspired to formulate my own eau de cologne.
My wife and I are currently putting the finishing touches to our guest room. We’ve been waiting for years for an opportunity to decorate it (long story!) but we’ve now got fresh paint on the walls (in fact, we’ve got fresh walls!), a plush white carpet, a welcoming bed and flowing pink and lilac curtains. Last weekend, we found an antique mahogany dressing table which, we thought, might add a touch of belle époque Frenchness. And as we made the decision to buy it, I jokingly said, “I’ll make my own cologne and leave a bottle on the table for our guests to use. If they like it, I could give them their own bottle to keep.”
And my wife looked at me with total seriousness and said, “Why not?”
Why not indeed?
So here we go: a cologne for guests. The scent of hospitality. Fresh without being too zingy. Reassuring without being overfamiliar. Classical without being old-fashioned.
Let’s see how far I get with it… perhaps in a few weeks I might be in a position to send samples of the work-in-progress to readers of this blog. Anyone interested?
Discover more from
Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email.
oh how wonderful that you'll have time to devote to yourself and your passions!!
I think that is a terrific idea (re: guest room).
I'd love to sample – but I live in the US.
Well, I'll tell you what: seeing as you've proved yourself to be a loyal reader during this blog's relatively short life span, if I am fortunate enough to get to the stage where I have a scent worth sending to people, I will make sure that at least one sample goes speeding across the Atlantic… ash cloud or not!
hurrah! A couple of things that I like about your blog is the personal stories and the fact that you don't just talk about male perfume! Another (Brit) male perfume blog that I like is http://fromtoptobottom-perfumepatter.blogspot.com/
Thanks for the compliments Frida… and I absolutely don't want to restrict myself to 'male' scents! One of my favourite things to do is buy new perfumes for my wife, so feminine scents are very important to me. What would life be without Shalimar, No. 5 and Nahema?
Thanks also for the link; that does look like a fun blog. I just wish I had enough time to read all the excellent stuff that's out there on the Net.
I love Shalimar and Nahema, but I do have trouble w/aldehydes (hides my head in shame)