Boise Torride is coming October 15, 2009, unless the launch date changes as has happened with some. And Boise Torride is how the Guerlain paperwork spells it.

According to the paperwork, courtesy of Claire at the Palazzo Las Vegas location, here’s the scoop.

Words associated with this fragrance are:

woody, rebellious, provocative, triumphant, bold and beautiful

Sounds good already!

And the notes:

top: bergamot, tangerine, pink berries
middle: marshmallow harmony, orange blossom, jasmine
base: patchouli, white musk, cedar

Marsh mellow makes me think of Mariah Carey’s fragrance. Nothing wrong with marshmallow there.

It sounds like a good mix between old and new. Time will tell!

What do you think?
Does this sound like one you will try? I’ve never really met a Guerlain that wasn’t better than others with similar notes. The trick for me will be the orange blossom, as that is something that I usually have difficulties with. I look forward to trying this one just the same.

Karin

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Rose Geranium Field, originally uploaded by Ayala Moriel.

In the past year I’ve been quite obsessed with geranium. This seemingly simple, familiar note is far more interesting than I’ve expected, and if it wasn’t for a few exquisite samples that I have received from Eden Botanicals at the time, I probably would have gone about my ways completely overlooking its potential as a centerpiece in a composition, let alone treat it as an interesting perfume material.

Geranium is a very important and useful note in perfumery, but usually plays only a supporting role: its high contents of geraniol, citronellol (both present at very high ratio in rose oil and absolute) makes it a perfect rose extender. It is nearly considered “a poor man’s rose” as it is far less expensive than any rose oil or absolute.

Geranium is marvelous in fruity accords, where it adds body and wine-like sweetness. And its minty aspect (from menthone and isomenthone) is what makes geranium a perfect team player in leafy-green, fougere, herbaceous, citrusy and cologne-type fragrances. Although I have used gerainum extensively throughout my collection) it was never the centrepiece.

One challenge with geranium is that it is ever so potent. A little goes a very long way and it can easily overwhelm a formula. But that can be seen as an advantage too! Also, it is relatively more simple than rose, so it’s easier to use geranium in a formula that requires a rosy element without cluttering it. Rose is far more difficult to work with than rose geranium – it poses a great challenge of walking on a tightrope between having too little to be noticed and too much elements that creates “mud” instead of a clear statement in a perfume.

The reason for this attitude of mine was not because I didn’t like geranium. On the contrary. I love the smell of fresh geranium leaves and whenever I pass a plant I borrow a leaf and crush it between my fingers. However, for some unknown reason, it does not seem to work very well on my skin when it is in high dosage, and I can’t really explain why. So this is perhaps one of my greater biases that stopped me from exploring what else can be done with geranium.

But after testing a few very fine geraniums (which I will discuss shortly), I felt immensely inspired to start working with this raw material more “seriously” so to speak. And my experiments I will explore with you here over the pages of SmellyBlog over the next few weeks. A very suitable topic for summer, since geranium has such an open, summery feel about it.

The species most commonly and widely used in perfumery is Pelargonium graveolens. I’ve received two excellent samples of this species, one grown in the Bourbon islands (aka geranium Bourbon) and the other grown on the Himalayas in India.

Geranium Bourbon
This variety is rosy and candy-sweet. Although it is considered second only to “African Geranium” (this is the common name for the now very scarce Algerian Geranium), I’m afraid to admit that generally it is my least favourite of them all. It can be a little too sweet, bordering on candy. This particular geranium though, although still detectably candy-sweet, was very much to my liking. It is very full-bodied and wine-like, and develops into a woody dryout, with hints of green. For some reason it reminds me of the Mediterranean beach I used to go to growing up in Israel (it’s called “Banana Beach” and is up north between Nahariya and Rosh HaNikrah, if you’re ever in the area you must go – it’s one of the most beautiful beaches in Israel!).

Himalayan Geranium
Opens very rosy, fresh like crushed leaves, lightly floral, but also full-bodied and smooth with sweet herbal, minty, green undertones and a slightly powdery dry out. At certain phases it actually reminded me of Himalayan cedarwood, with the same clean, woody and smooth texture.

Madagascar Geranium
This beautiful organically-grown geranium is from the species Pelargonium roseum. It is more complex, warm, a little spicy even and very rose-like and sweet. It develops into a powdery, ambery and heavy rose, and remains complex and well-balanced. The final dryout is a little more fresh and lemony, while remaining rosy and rich.

Egyptian Geranium
Also organically grown, but from another species Pelargonium x asparum, this oil is completely different from the typical “Rose Geranium”. It begins fuzzy, like freshly picked geranium leaves. Very realistic, in fact. It’s simultaneously rosy, green and powdery but a little sharp with perceiveable musky undertones. Its dryout is lemony as well as grassy and earthy.

If there is one thing I learned from my visit to Grasse was to appreciate even more the simplest, most common natural raw materials. There is always something new to explore about them, discover new ways to unveil this aspect or another.

Stripes, originally uploaded by Eff Bee.

Stripes, originally uploaded by Eff Bee.

Happy Fourth of July to all my American readers and customers just across the border!

There is no other scent more American to me than wintergreen. It’s in American toothpastes and chewing gums, and also in the ever so popular and oddly flavoured root beer. I don’t think there is anywhere else in the world where wintergreen is perceived so fondly (except for Canada, perhaps, but I suspect we can blame it on proximity). In Europe, wintergreen and sweet birch are used only for cleaning purposes, and Europeans are puzzled by the American fondness for root beer. Just recently, a toilet bowl cleaner made its way to my home and it smelled intensely of root beer. It was a very odd reverse association (I can’t imagine how odd it is for someone used to clean their toilets with wintergreen solutions to actually be offered a drink with that stuff!

But peppermint is also very American. The best peppermint oil actually grows in the USA and it’s sweeter and fuller than some other sources. To me growing up peppermint is the scent of toothpaste (the way it should be…) and has more of a medicinal/therapeutic association. It would be an addition to your tea if your stomach hurts, for instance, or you could just rub pure peppermint oil on your tummy instead. In North America, I think most associate peppermint with the Christmas candy cane and it’s more of a sweet childhood smell… More similar to how I perceive spearmint, perhaps.

And there’s cinnamon – cinnamon buns, and cinnamon in apple pie, both of which I’m very fond of; and caramel to drip on both (I can do without that, but adore the scent of a freshly baked pecan pie). And of course the far less flattering scents of deepfried fast food, from donuts to French fries. Just the other day I passed a well-dressed lady, accessorized with an aldehydic floral AND a cone of French fries. The combination was horrendous. I imagine this is how diners smelled in the 50’s when aldehydic florals were at their prime…

I can’t really think of anything else at the moment. The US is such a wide and versatile country I’m sure it has different regional scents - where as here in Canada it’s all just coniferous and maple syrup from coast to coast, pretty much, perhaps with a touch of castoreum... I would love to hear from you what scents you think are typically American.

Just the other day I posted my list of 10 American perfumes on Helg’s excellent Perfume Shrine blog. I will re-post them here today (most have been reviewed here in the past, so I won’t be commenting much on them). They are not necessarily my favourites, but certainly what I consider to be very representative of what American perfumery is (even though I am not necessarily sure that they were all made and designed by Americans in the US). There’s something really bold about most American perfumes, at times even crude; but than there is also the modern school of thought, which is all about clean, clean, clean. As if there is a need for a proof for America’s sanitary system.

Youth Dew – it’s a classic. What else is there to say?

Private Collection – the epitome of what an American nobility should smell like.

Obsession – Another classic, even if obnoxious to some. Is it possible this is where all the candy scents begun?

Lovely – Balances nicely the clean-skin approach with a modern sensuality. And even though it’s very subtle and - let’s face it – a crowd pleaser, it has a boldness about it, its personality, which makes it stand out. Even though it is similar to Narciso Rodriguez for Her.

Glow – Although I can’t get myself to wear this (it is a scrubber on me) on the right person it does smell like coming out of the shower. And that appeal explains why it is such a success. JLo is one of the very few celebrity perfume brands I have respect for (even though, again, it does not mean I love all her scents – very far from it). I personally only wear her Deseo but didn’t think it’s appropriate for this list.

Old Spice – There has to be a drugstore scent in this list, and if I am to choose only one, this would be it!

Aromatics Elixir – speaking about bold!

And last but not least – we must mention some niche perfumes that create that have the starts and stripes all over them:

Anné Pliska – this one actually reminds me of root beer in an odd way. Although while I can’t drink root beer, I enjoy Anne Pliska perfume very much. It’s both distinct and well made.

Bourbon French's Dark Gift (unfortunately discontinued)

Hove Perfumery's Spanish Moss (it's the only scent I tried from the house, but I am sure there are others worth trying)

What notes smell like America to you? And which American perfumes are the most American of them all?

Well, finally I could send the three big boxes off yesterday late afternoon: 77 kg of boxed perfumes and samples and teasers driving south right now.

It was an ultra busy day and today, …actually, it is going to be busy too and I look very much forward to most of the planned tasks of today: Mixing more roses, pouring and labelling and working on …secret missions!
On Thursday I started exchanging a few mails with Linda (thank you!) who did not like my not careing about bottles. And in her second mail she proposed that I could try to make a visual like to my packaging in the leaflet version 2.  Now that stroke me as an excellent idea.

And I loved the Hotlanta Linda text “journeys with flowers” and actually, I do not care too much about the fact that there is no flower on page 1. Journes with flowers is great. And I thank you, Hotlanta Linda, as well as all commenters here and there in the previous post.

Thus, this morning, I added the two lines together: Hotlanta Linda and Linda (yep, another Linda) and … well,  actually: I really like it. The picture below shows a raw print, in actual size, held together with transparent tape. Now I just wonder whether it should be journeys WITH flowers or journeys AND flowers…

I wish you all a lovely weekend and thank you so much for your ideas. Actually, this is just great.
Picture:
Front and back page of the leaflet, actual size is 20x 10cm per page.

Picture:
A detail from Photoshop directly. The black thin line is just a layout help line, showing where the middle is.

face life with a smile!

Es sollte entschieden mehr Dinge auf Rezept geben und zudem sollten Ärztinnen und Ärzte einige Sachen häufiger verordnen. Das Eau de Toilette smiley gehört für mich unbedingt dazu. Es ist süß und lieblich und ach und hach und überhaupt. Voller Zucker, mit einer zarten Frische und rein - fast wie ein Urlaubstag mit Sonnencreme und Fruchtsorbet. Ein Duft, der gar nicht zu mir paßt und den ich trotzdem hin und wieder heimlich benutze; die Flasche gehört meiner Freundin. Doch ich kann einfach nicht anders. Wenn ich daran rieche, dann will ich es auch benutzen. Also sprühe ich heimlich und hoffe, daß mich der Duft nicht verrät - was für ein Irrtum. Und dann die Flasche. Das ist endlich mal ein richtig lustiges Design und die Verpackung sieht aus wie Apotheke. Sogar in Blindenschrift findet sich ein Hinweis. Wer etwas für die Seele sucht, wer es süß und lieblich und niedlich und lustig mag, wer für gutes Design und schöne Verpackungen etwas übrig hat, der sollte sich dieses Eau de Toilette mal anschauen. Das hilft auch bei Depressionen (kann ich mir jedenfalls vorstellen).

Ein schönes Wochenende.