BLUEHILL Fragrances Zest tableau by Guest Contributor Tony Burgess©
Boston area artisanal perfumer Sandy Carr shares classic New England enthusiasm for summer: precious nurturing time in the garden during the growing season, sun-and-sea-kissed skin relishing the out-of-doors, the leisure of the recently retired, where one’s choice of venture is just that. She is blessed to experience the best of both worlds – living near the natural reserve of the Blue Hills where one may hike year ‘round and still be a stone’s throw from Boston culture – and that sweet pleasure of an abode in Maine, where the wild ocean is cool all the year and the pace of life is considerably slower and more gracious.
Sandy Carr of BLUEHILL Fragrances © Sandy Carr
Granted, a lifetime of very hard work has made this feasible – and Sandy is one of those folk whose joie de vivre and daily appreciation are palpable. This ebullience informs her latest composition entitled BLUEHILL Fragrances Zest; a textbook illustration of aromatic adventure presented as truth-in-advertising. She couldn’t have chosen a better four-letter descriptor if she tried…
Emile Vernon 1913, French, Young Woman by a Lemon Tree, Oil on Canvas
BLUEHILL Fragrances Zest began as the result of a client’s request for a refreshing eau de cologne type fragrance for their boutique – which then translated into the perfumer’s quest for ‘a citrus which would stay’. Anyone familiar with citruses is aware of their lightning-speed longevity: the lower the molecular weight of a substance, the more fleeting it is. It has always been challenging to create an hesperidic fragrance which lingers upon the skin, which is why all the traditional eau de colognes are sprayed with abandon as they revive themselves and ourselves in the process. As her work progressed, Sandy became inspired: CITRUS!!!
BLUEHILL Fragrances Zest tableau by Guest Contributor Tony Burgess©
There are SO many citrus fruits, each one possessed of its own singular charm. Given their innate collective tang, it feels fitting that counterbalance and complement would follow upon their jovial heels. Employing sweet orange and neroli contributes a certain measure of lusciousness to offset the effusive tonicity of lime, lemon, bergamot and cedrat (citron or etrog) – along with the tenderly sulphuric, slightly bitter tones of grapefruit. Enlivening as these materials are, they are enhanced considerably by the addition of deftly-dosed lavender with its appealing floral/herbal facets. They peek out of Zest periodically, just to make sure you’re not ignoring them – graceful and lilting. The radiance and sotto voce animalic murmur of ylang ylang (So buttery! Tinged with ripe banana!) and glowing, powdery mimosa are most welcome; these incrementally, but subtly – increase the breadth of olfactory palette in an elegant fashion. White musk helps sustain the tenacity of this perfume without suffocating it; its effect resembles gossamer in all its delicacy. Sandy doesn’t compose brash, loud perfumes – an attribute which renders them wearable, timeless and captivating. Her fragrances echo the ideal ensemble: you are comfortable in your own skin,able to move unrestrained and feel perfectly polished.
BLUEHILL Fragrances Zest is a form of olfactory time travel. One spritz and I am back in the Luberon barefoot, surrounded by a sea of sunflowers – bathed in that unique light which painters have always adored. Life is less fraught, complicated; we sally forth in a harmonious state of extended ecstasy – on tiptoe. Notes: lime essence, sweet orange, lemon, Italian bergamot, lavender, ylang ylang, mimosa olessence, neroli, grapefruit, cedrat, white musk.
~ Ida Meister, Senior Editor and Natural Perfumery Editor
Sample provided by Sandy Carr – many thanks! My nose is my own…
photo by Sandy©
Thanks to the generosity of Sandy Carr of BLUEHILL Fragrances, we are offering one 30 ml flacon of Zest (limited edition) for one registered reader in the USA ONLY. You can register here. Please leave a comment regarding what appealed to you about Ida’s review of BLUEHILL FRAGRANCES Zest. Draw closes 8/6/2020.
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