JoAnne Bassett's fragrances are AMAZING. How de we kow? Managing Editor Mark Behnke reviewed her scent of the same title during the Natural Perfumer's Guild Outlaw internet project. He was so impresses he wanted to understand her creative process and Behind the Bottle he went. I chose JoAnne as one of the "Green Goddesses" of perfume. Chandler Burr once quipped "why do so many American perfumers tend to name their fragrances using French names. After you read about JoAnne you will understand that she indeed is "entitled".
Profile:My Father's family comes from France and has been traced back to Charlemagne. My Mother's family comes from Germany. The Bassett family came over on the Mayflower and more family came 1 year later on the Fortune. I am a blue blood. A Bassett house is the oldest house in Hyannis Port, MA. There is royalty on both sides of my family. My roots come from very old families in Europe.I was born in Southern Minnesota and we were farmers. We had a very simple life with large vegetable gardens and very old flower gardens. We had old roses, lilacs the size of trees, peony bushes that were always covered with bees, flowering almonds, spirea bushes, irises, lilies, and on and on. Living in a climate of four distinct seasons we had different trees, bushes, and annuals flowering with the seasons. I loved the apple blossoms and mini purple irises as a child. I remember all of the flower smells wafting through the house. They intertwined with all of the cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, chocolate, coffee, and baking smells. My family loved to bake and cook large meals.
My Mother was a "fragrance queen" and wore Evening in Paris and Youth Dew. I will never forget going into her purse to put on fragrance. She wore fragrance every day along with lotion and powder. My Father told her she should just fill the bathtub and roll in it. She wafted wherever she went. This was completely different from other farm women I met. They usually wore fragrance on Sunday and for a special occasion.
I had a field day growing up in a house of 3 older sisters. There was Tabu, a lilac soliflore, and a rose soliflore, and many others. As a small child I received my very own fragrance on my birthday. It was Daisy from Avon. I was so proud. It had powder, lotion, and fragrance just like Mother wore. Needless to say I started with fragrance at a very young age. I learned about layering after going to my sisters rooms and trying on the bottles I could reach. A girlfriend let me spray on her Jungle Gardenia and I fell in love with it. That smell stayed in a heavy sweater of mine for years.
In the summer we would go "up to the lake" in Northern Minnesota. We also visited relatives and stayed on lakes in Wisconsin. There would be new smells for me to investigate. The lovely pine trees, birch, and sumac and many other wood and moss smells gave me new scent memories. I also remember the smell of cleaning fish, fishing with the stinky worms from the bucket, and picking up shells. The smell of lake water was so different than the water in the creek or the fresh rain water. More than once I got poison ivy or poison sumac from wandering in the woods with bare legs.
American Perfumery: I love being an Indie Niche Perfumer in America. I can choose the raw materials I want to work with, and decide how I want to create my fragrances and sell them. From a young age I appreciated the life force of a rose, and the incredibly beautiful scent of the flowers wafting in the sun. I choose to create 100% natural perfumes. Being a healer, artist, alchemist, and artisan perfumer I utilize the plant energy and impart my inner knowing in creating the perfume. I create Custom Couture Perfumes and enjoy the freedom to use the ingredients that resonate with my clients. That is the benefit of being an American perfumer at this moment of regulation in Europe.
My perfume Indulgence is what I feel represents America. The dictionary defines indulgence as the act or an instance of indulging; gratification: indulgence of every whim. We certainly indulge ourselves in America. We have access to almost anything we could ever want. My Indulgence is also formulated with the costly essential oils and absolutes. It feels luxurious and I feel beautiful wearing it. It is an indulgence of the senses with May roses, tuberose, neroli – orange blossoms, vintage Mysore sandalwood, vanilla, citrus, spices, and others.
Editor's Note: I chose the art of Mary Cassatt, a prolific impressionist painter, who was born in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, which is now part of Pittsburgh The ancestral name had been Cossart and Cassatt was a distant cousin of artist Robert Henri. Cassatt traveled extensively; she spent 5 years in Europe and visited many of the capitals, including London, Paris, and Berlin. While abroad she learned German and French and had her first lessons in drawing and music. She was well known for her ties to the impressionist movement and quite independant. Degas had considerable influence on Cassatt, in a time when female artists were dismissed without a mentor.
For our Draw CaFleureBon readers will receive the royal treatment. JoAnne graciously opens her world of natural fragrances to every reader who leaves a comment about something they learned about JoAnne Bassett. Your choice from her Natural Collection, Royal Collection and French Collection.YOU MUST SPECIFY THE PERFUME YOU WANT BY NAME TO BE ELIGIBLE. Draw ends Septemebr 21, 2011.