As I dig for wild orchids
in the autumn fields,
it is the deeply-bedded root
that I desire, not the flower.

Izumi Shikibu (976 AD – 1030, Japan)

Iris, also called orris, is one of the most expensive perfumery raw materials, costing as much as 100,000 dollars per kilogram of absolute. Processing the roots takes a lot of manual labor and time. First, the knobby rhizomes are peeled by hand, then they are dried and left to mature for up to four years. During this time the content of irone increases, and irone is the main aroma-material that gives iris its unique scent of frozen wood and violet petals. It’s a perfume note that can play many different roles in a composition, from floral to woody. It will shimmer in the top notes and linger gently in the drydown. In short, iris is a spellbinding ingredient.

Given the exorbitant cost of natural essence, it’s not surprising that many perfumes don’t include natural iris, but rather a combination of natural and synthetic materials that mimics its scent. Ionones, a class of aroma-materials with a violet-like smell, are commonly used, since they are versatile and inexpensive. Accords based on ionones are vivid and floral, lacking the iced woods facets of iris, but with the addition of cedarwood or other dry woody materials the impression of iris becomes believable. Nevertheless, nothing compares to natural iris when it comes to depth and complexity, and for this reason I decided to highlight a few orris perfumes that include the real thing.

Continue reading →

Happy Thanksgiving weekend to my American readers! Our “Recommend Me a Perfume” thread is open this week. You can use this space to find perfume recommendations, to share your discoveries and favorite scents, and to ask any questions about scents, aromas and flavors. Or you can just tell us what perfume you are wearing!

How does it work: 1. Please post your requests or questions as comments here. You can also use this space to ask any fragrance related questions. To receive recommendations that are better tailored to your tastes, you can include details on what you like and don’t like, your signature perfumes, and your budget. And please let us know what you end up sampling. 2. Then please check the thread to see if there are other requests you can answer. Your responses are really valuable for navigating the big and sometimes confusing world of perfume, so let’s help each other!

To make this thread easier to read, when you reply to someone, please click on the blue “reply” link under their comment.

Photography by Bois de Jasmin

Last night I dreamt of making borsch with my late grandmother Valentina. It’s been three years since I last made it, but in my dream everything was as precise as it was in real life, down to the smells of vegetables and the rough texture of Valentina’s cutting board. My dreams of Ukraine recur frequently, but this particular one was especially vivid.

I have been writing about scents and memories for many years, and yet it always strikes me as remarkable how strong the recollections can be. I also noticed that the more I studied aromas, as part of my perfumery training and later during my practice, the more I could evoke scented memories. For this reason, I encourage everyone to practice simple exercises, such as selecting a couple of simple scents (black pepper, lemon, orange, or black tea,) and smelling them every morning for a few days in a row. As you smell, try to describe the associations that the smells conjure up for you. If you write them down, even better. Once you put something into words, it becomes easier to remember, even if it’s as intangible as a smell.

Continue reading →

Our “Recommend Me a Perfume” thread is open this week. You can use this space to find perfume recommendations, to share your discoveries and favorite scents, and to ask any questions about scents, aromas and flavors. Or you can just tell us what perfume you are wearing!

How does it work: 1. Please post your requests or questions as comments here. You can also use this space to ask any fragrance related questions. To receive recommendations that are better tailored to your tastes, you can include details on what you like and don’t like, your signature perfumes, and your budget. And please let us know what you end up sampling. 2. Then please check the thread to see if there are other requests you can answer. Your responses are really valuable for navigating the big and sometimes confusing world of perfume, so let’s help each other!

To make this thread easier to read, when you reply to someone, please click on the blue “reply” link under their comment.

Photography by Bois de Jasmin

Lavender is still in bloom around Brussels, its almond-like scent competing with the musty aroma of fallen leaves. I always find it a surprising and jarring scent image, as if summer and autumn existed at the same time. It also never fails to remind me why I love lavender and how readily it evokes sunshine and warmth.

Scent Diary is a place to write your observations about the scents around you. Whether you write down 1 recollection or 10 matters less than simply reminding yourself to smell. You can add as many comments as you wish. You can comment today or over the course of the week; this thread will always be open. Of course, do share what perfume you’re wearing or what particularly good scented products you’ve discovered.

While looking through my articles, I found this article that I wrote a few years ago but that still remains popular and often-read: A to Z Tips for Enjoyable, Affordable and Rewarding Perfume Hobby. If you have any tips to add, I’d love to hear them.

Photography by Bois de Jasmin