Whilst going through my files today, I encountered the very first perfume formula I put together, which – in my naive way – I thought smelled pretty good, until someone came along and told me about a group of nice people who call themselves IFRA and how much they dislike oakmoss…
Although there’s no way the formula can ever enter a public setting, I wonder if it might be worth revisiting. I’ve now got a bottle of a substance that is considered a fairly decent oakmoss substitute, so perhaps the bare bones of Persolaise #1 could be used as inspiration for something better suited to the demands of the big, bad, allergic world.
There won’t be any formulating this weekend, though, because I will hopefully be enjoying the delights of northern France for a couple of days, which, needless to say, will entail popping into as many perfumeries as Mrs Spouse will allow. And as food and fragrance are vital aspects of French culture, I thought I’d leave you with this link to a short, entertaining video in which the perfume critic Chandler Burr organises an ‘olfactory meal’ at the Four Seasons restaurant.
By the way, I should just mention that if you’re on the lookout for a perfume-related book, I recommend Burr’s The Emperor Of Scent and The Perfect Scent. The former tells the story of Luca Turin’s attempts to get the scientific establishment to consider the merits of his theory of smell; the latter is a detailed description of the creation of Hermès’ Un Jardin Sur Le Nil and Sarah Jessica Parker’s Lovely. Both of them are thoroughly good reads.
Finally, I should thank Andy Tauer for pointing me in the direction of the above video clip.
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I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time in Northern France. Enjoy! And oakmoss – oh my dear – love it love it!
BTW, I adore how you Brits use 'whilst' – I cannot get away with using that, but so enjoy when I hear/read it!
enjoy!
greetings from a fellow oakmoss lover…
on his way to amsterdam
Thanks Frida… and as for 'whilst', I agree, it is a particularly British word… but then I'm not really English, so go figure.
Andy: Bon voyage. You're heading north and I'm heading south. Have a wonderful time.